Working Waterfront

Vinalhaven’s watery dilemma is not new

On Feb. 9, 1895, 130 years before this January's devastating storm, the Secretary of War submitted to Congress a plan for constructing a breakwater from Lane’s Island—connected to Vinalhaven by a bridge—to Green Ledge to the west, a distance of more than a quarter mile. The plan was submitted in… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

What will we do with the water?

The ocean is knocking at our door. Since the torrential, monsoon-like rain in October, the island has been battered by four additional significant storms. In January, a devastating combination of wind and tide laid waste to Brown’s Boatyard, and took out boathouses, fish houses, docks, and piers. The next storm… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Offshore wind threatens centuries of fishing

The New England electric grid—ISO New England—has a website that includes a display featuring two pie charts that show where our electricity is coming from, updated in real time. Right now, “renewables” are at 7% of our total energy mix. Wind is 28% of that 7%, solar is 10% of… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Finding the essence of the Lost Kitchen

Big Heart Little Stove: Bringing Home Meals & Moments From The Lost Kitchen By Erin French (with Rachel Holtzman); Celadon Books, 2023. I think it’s safe to say, at least in Maine and for her many fans, Erin French is considered something of a treasure. She has put a spotlight… SEE MORE

The cottage on Long Island in Casco Bay. PHOTO: CANDICE DALE

Working Waterfront

Ode to an island cottage

On Long Island in Casco Bay, a summer cottage sits back from the road across from the conservation area and white sands of Fowler’s Beach. The full branches of pines and maples hide much of Hussey Sound from view off the high porch in the summer months. As autumn arrives,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Maine—our next big moves

I have a sharp memory of Angus King’s inauguration as governor in January of 1995. I was editor of the Republican Journal weekly newspaper in Belfast then, and we had endorsed him for the office. As an independent candidate, his thinking on the issues of the day were refreshing to… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The storm damage we cannot see

Almost two months after the January storms pummeled the Maine coast, we are still piecing together a full picture of the destruction. In the direct aftermath, of course, communities could document buildings now angled slightly off their foundations or entirely set adrift, pilings separated from their pins, and beaches and… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Maine—our next big moves

I have a sharp memory of Angus King’s inauguration as governor in January of 1995. I was editor of the Republican Journal weekly newspaper in Belfast then, and we had endorsed him for the office. As an independent candidate, I found his thinking on the issues of the day refreshing,… SEE MORE

John Wissemann’s “Friendship Harbor 2013,” mixed media on paper, 22 by 30 inches PHOTO: JEFF FULLER

Working Waterfront

John Wissemann stencils Friendship

In a scene in Jeffrey Mathias’s 2014 video “John Wissemann: Stencils & Pencils & Working Harbors of Maine,” the artist visits Friendship Harbor with fellow painter Sam Cady who lives in the neighborhood. As they admire the configurations of sheds, docks, and boats, Cady notes that Friendship has made “a… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Goodbye ‘Pandalus borealis’

Many years ago, my family and I began to spend summers on Vinalhaven. Over the years, first we were summer people, then longer term visitors, and now fortunately homeowners; much has changed. Not the island so much, although it has. But the oceanic world surrounding us. First to go were… SEE MORE