Working Waterfront

Fukushima conference suggests new ways to think about energy

Our imaginations often are limited when we face complex problems. For example, we assume the solution to heating homes must exist within the confines of the home. We also assume that our electricity must be generated at a distance. As we head into winter, the cost of heating and electricity… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Mom was a strong woman, ahead of her time

What an intriguing deadline for the Cranberry Report—the day before the presidential election! Even on a little island the political ads have been constant and inescapable. I will be glad to have a break from it, but then again, what a fascinating time in history. When I got my absentee ballot,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Navigating the joyous holiday season as a religious minority

I love Christmas on North Haven. Colored lights criss-cross Main Street, the community gathers at Waterman's for hot chocolate, cookies and carols before a tree lighting, and we usually have at least a dusting of snow. Paradoxically, perhaps, for a Jewish person, I look forward to the church service the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Long-time merchant mariner reflects on sea lessons

By Isabel Reddy The ship, a 100,000-ton, 750-foot-long cargo transport, was in heavy weather. The anchor was banging away against the bow. Weighing around 1,600 pounds, it could do considerable damage. The captain, Mike Flanagan, responded to the emergency by telling a crew member, “Secure the anchor.” The crew member… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

North Haven siblings, friend launch brewery

Ben Lovell didn't plan to return to North Haven and open a brewery after graduating from Bowdoin College, but after spending time in New York, he returned to his island home to work as a stern man on a lobster boat. "It was the off season and we had nothing… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Swan’s Island welcomes new ambulance

Swan’s Island residents Sonja Philbrook, Charlie Wiegle, Debbie Staples and Tammy Tripler had prepared for the special town meeting. They had slides, timelines, recommendations and everything else they might have needed to convince residents it was time for a new ambulance. But first responders on an island know to expect… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Bath’s beloved trolley driver loves his town…

The city of Bath has its well-known institutions. The Maine Maritime Museum, Bath Iron Works, the Chocolate Church Arts Center, the Patten Free Library. But the city’s best kept secret is not a place; rather, it’s a person. One Charles “Charlie” Williams. Known to most in the city of ships… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Marine trades sector thriving by blending tradition, innovation

This is the first in a three-part series about the role boatbuilders and boatyards play in Maine’s coastal and island economy. In the early 1990s, Ed Gray was walking across the beach at Spurling Cove on Great Cranberry Island, and came across Jarvis Newman trying to jack up an old… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Clock is ticking on vision for Southport’s ‘Ruth’s House’

It’s linked by a small bridge to busy Boothbay Harbor, but don’t tell Southport residents that theirs isn’t an island community. Summer houses, used by multi-generational seasonal visitors, line the shore. The pre-K to 6th-grade school educates just 30 kids. And the civic and business lives of the 600-plus year-round… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Thankful for one president, bracing for another

It’s the season of Thanksgiving and I try, as always, to remind myself of the things I’m most thankful for. For the last eight years, our American president has been among those things. Although I now and then disagreed with him or wished he’d done more or less, I found… SEE MORE