Working Waterfront

Island museum celebrates Islesford’s lobster fishing heritage

ISLESFORD—When Leeman Gilley Ham, a lifelong lobster fisherman and well-loved resident of Islesford, died in 2012 at age 99, the island's entire fleet held a flotilla procession in his memory. Katrina Winfield-Howard, a summer resident, recently recalled how moved she was to hear about the ceremony. Adam Olearcek, Ham's great-grandson,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Islesboro, Isle au Haut postpone town meetings

Islesboro and Isle au Haut have each postponed their annual town meetings. In Islesboro, residents are considering an ambitious plan that would have the town build a broadband Internet network on the island. Selectmen had proposed borrowing $3 million through a municipal bond for the project, but the article on the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Henry Mowat’s little-remembered role in Maine history

I took history—American history, world history—in high school like most kids but now, 50 years later, nearly everything I've learned about Maine's own history I've learned from Maine authors like Harry Gratwick. More specifically, I think it may be true that much, if not most of what I've learned about… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Helen’s Restaurant rises from the ashes

MACHIAS—To Julie Barker, Helen's Restaurant is more than a building. It's a manifestation of the love she and her husband David have for Machias—the falls, the tides, the open ocean nearby, the woods and wildlife, the "Helen's family" and a close-knit community of families and friends. When the restaurant… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

From Castine to the world—again

Picture in your mind a cargo ship and an aircraft carrier, one 900-feet and the other 1,200-feet-long and both 20 stories tall, traveling through the ocean only 100 yards away from each other. Water shoots between them, causing suction and push forces that make the two vessels want to steer… SEE MORE

Ellen Cohill and Glen Charles outside Cohill's Pub and Inn in Lubec.

Working Waterfront

Deer Isle community ‘glad to help’

Ian Watkins is an Island Fellow, a participant in a two-year service program operated by AmeriCorps and the Island Institute, doing community development work on islands and remote coastal communities. Watkins works on Deer Isle and the Downeast coast with high school students. Close to two years ago when I… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

I don’t play island favorites

Editor's note: Reflections is a monthly column written by Island Fellows, recent college grads who do community service work on Maine islands through the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront, and AmeriCorps. This always happens. I'm telling someone what I do, how I work to lower the cost of… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Ferry service discontinues blood sample transport

ROCKLAND — Ferry captains and crew will no longer be able to carry blood samples to the mainland, a policy change that the director of Swan's Island's health clinic says will impact her ability to serve patients. The new policy was supposed to go into effect April 20, Donna Wiegle,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Remembering the Vinalhaven ferry, circa 1920

The following was written by my grandfather Ted Maddox, a fireman aboard these ferries: On a brisk late spring morning in 1920 the Governor Bodwell was docked at Tillson's Wharf in Rockland and preparing for departure to Vinalhaven. Several capable deckhands wheeled dollies loaded with freight down water-slicked ramps… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A year in the life of a new family

A year on North Haven follows a predictable rhythm. For nearly a decade my husband and I have lived by that rhythm. We know which weekends to avoid the ferry and that it's surprisingly easy to leave for Thanksgiving, since most people stay. We look forward to the church coffee… SEE MORE