Working Waterfront

Matches, the half-life of cake, and other kitchen observations

Where are the kitchen matches of yesteryear? I’m not looking for something that existed 50 or 100 years ago—just maybe ten or so, the wonderful red-tipped, strike-anywhere Diamond matches that have been replaced with the atrocity named Green Light. I loathe these new matches. They come 300 to a box,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Fresh recruits take on first-responder charge

On an island with a more-or-less fixed population of fewer that 400 people, burn-out is an all-too-common phenomenon. After so many years on a board or in a volunteer position, enthusiasm wanes and performance slips. The flip side is the narrowing perspective that can come from one person occupying a… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Hawaiians find work and new life in Stonington

When Ryan Woolsey and Kealii Mano moved from the year-round tropical warmth of Hawaii to Stonington, where they’d experience their first cold winter and snow, they had no regrets. They did have to shop for heavier clothes. “I had to figure out what this thing called ‘long johns’ was,” Woolsey… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Confronting a simple truth, a word at a time

I’ve been struggling with a simple truth visited on me recently, something that came much sooner than anticipated. It’s been suggested that writing about it might help me cope. I’ll try it one word at a time. The first word is “I’m,” short for “I am,” and “I am” is,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Vinalhaven college student served in French refugee camp

Resettling refugees is one of the biggest hot-button issues of our time. Here and in other countries, many fear an influx of refugees, citing heightened risk of terrorism and overpopulation. Vinalhaven's Izza Drury, 22, sees the issue differently. After taking a Brown University class on capitalism, colonialism, and the systems… SEE MORE

Chris Rich with his rebuilt boat engine.

Working Waterfront

The engine and the iPhone

When Beverly Johnson and David Hill founded Chebeague.net, Chebeague Island’s internet provider, their primary goal was to provide islanders with a faster alternative to dial up. Little did they know it would become an important tool for lobstermen. Lobstermen use the internet to call home, receive lobster orders, check the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A moored boat is only as safe as its line, chain, and shackle

A piece of hardware smaller than a fist is all that stands between that beautiful sailboat, perhaps costing a couple of hundred thousand dollars, and devastating damage from a collision with the rocky shore. Well, there is something else—someone else, actually—standing between that expensive boat and potential disaster. It’s Fields… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Paul Anderson succeeds Robin Alden at fishery nonprofit

The Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries (MCCF) has named Paul Anderson as its new executive director. Anderson will begin working at the Stonington nonprofit in September and will fully assume executive director duties Jan. 1. Anderson will succeed founder Robin Alden as executive director, who is stepping down after 14… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Historic Pilgrim’s Inn, a Deer Isle landmark, finds new owners

Walking into the Pilgrim’s Inn, the slight undulation of the 14-inch-wide floorboards immediately gives away the fact that this is a historic building. Then there are other wonderful features. Large fireplaces and chimneys are made of handmade bricks and have beehive ovens set in the back and pot-hanging trammels over… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The art of serving your community

The first time I visited Ashley Bryan’s home on Little Cranberry Island, also known as Islesford, I knew I’d met an extraordinarily special person. I still feel that way every time Ashley and I meet. When asked to describe it at the time, I said it was like walking into… SEE MORE