Working Waterfront

Swan’s Island looks to diversified ocean economy

DALE JOYCE/HARBORVIEW STUDIO Jason and Jamie Matthews. By Jennifer Helman Ask a financial expert for the key to a successful portfolio and the response will be “diversification.” Having a wide range of products in your portfolio helps hedge against downturns in specific markets. The same is true for the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

‘High seas’ threatened by lack of regulation, ocean researcher says

During introductions at the Aug. 28 installment of “Coffee and Conversation,” a summer series at Bar Harbor’s College of the Atlantic, a joke was made about the school’s opening session tradition of having students and staff jump into the cold Atlantic Ocean off Bar Island to swim to the campus… SEE MORE

Photovoltaic panels in a yard on Islesboro.

Working Waterfront

Islesboro recharges for energy independence

Technological innovations like electric cars, photovoltaic panels, air-source heat pumps, and micro-grids can stir up a lively discussion at a gathering like the fourth annual Islesboro Energy Conference, hosted on the island on Sept. 8 by the community’s energy team. But organizer Toby Martin was more interested in the practical.… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A two-wheeled adventure along the Gaspé Peninsula

DONNA WIEGLE Steep cliffs dominate the scenery. There’s a saying that goes, “Life is short; take the trip, buy the shoes, eat the cake.” In my case, life is short, so I decided to take the trip. I’ve been living with advanced stage ovarian cancer since April 2016.… SEE MORE

Sisters Betsy and Jill Philbrook fish from their boat off Swan's Island. Betsy first fished with her grandmother

Working Waterfront

Swan’s Island honors women who fished

PHOTO COURTESY SWAN'S ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY Betsy Philbrook, in 1988, rigs her first trap. Betsy Philbrook’s grandmother, Melita Staples, was up for anything except cooking and housecleaning. “She used to bait tubs when she was younger,” said Philbrook. “She was much happier driving a dumptruck or working on a dock than staying… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Summer friends change island’s rhythm

The swift, ephemeral nature of summer on an island is felt in many ways. The sudden frenzy of activity as caretakers open houses and mow fields, lobster boats leaving their moorings for 12 hours a day, six days a week, and lines forming outside Calderwood Hall just before they open… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The ‘priestess of nature’ who took on the ‘elixirs of death’

By Tom Walsh If you don’t know much—or even anything at all—about Rachel Carson, here’s your chance. The Library of America recruited the help of editor Sandra Steingraber in recently publishing a new retrospective on marine biologist Rachel Carson and her seminal role in jump-starting environmentalism in post-World War II… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Breakfast variety multiplies with visitors

Do you eat the same thing for breakfast every day, day after day? Some people eat no breakfast at all, or get by on a piece of toast and a cup of coffee. If you do eat breakfast, chances are very good that you, along with several million other Americans… SEE MORE

A drone view of the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Working Waterfront

North Haven comes together for its elderly

WILLIAM TREVASKIS Hannah Pingree, right, speaks during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Southern Harbor House. Kathi Lovell, board member of Southern Harbor Eldercare Services is at center, and the facility's administrator, Lindsey Beverage, is at far left. Thanks to over 400 donors, $3.4 million has been raised for the construction… SEE MORE

Channing Boswell at the dock off Thompson Wharf in Belfast

Working Waterfront

Rolling on the river aboard electric-powered whale boat

Whether it’s aboard a restored schooner or a retrofit lobster boat, there are plenty of opportunities for visitors and locals to enjoy the sublime experience of being on the saltwater in Maine. It may be for a few hours or a few days, but businesses abound offering such outings. Channing… SEE MORE