News and views on the places we cover: Maine's island and remote coastal communities.

  • Students examine native artifacts
    March 1

    What was the currency used by our native peoples? Wampum, right?

    Not so fast.

  • Where on the coast?
    February 29

    Can you identify this coastal scene? Two hints: It's on an island, and a closer look at the boat at the upper right might help you indetify which island.

  • mystery harbor
    February 23

    Can you identify this week's "mystery harbor"? Here's a hint: It's most certainly on an island. 

  • Beals Island
    February 10

    If Maine is indeed "Vacationland," the state should be well-documented in postcards. And it is, as can be seen in Maine Memories: A Vintage Postcard Tour, by John Brunkowski and Michael Closen.

  • Heather Leslie of the Darling Marine Center
    February 3

    The University of Maine Darling Marine Center in Walpole will host a coastal and estuarine monitoring workshop on Sunday, April 10 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.

  • Scott Planting aboard the Sunbeam V
    January 21

    If they come aboard the Sunbeam, islanders will visit privately with the nurse in a well-equipped suite. In addition to all the screening the nurse can do, the facility allows a mainland physician to examine a patient using high-definition cameras over a high-speed Internet link.

  • Arthur Rotstein
    January 21

    In each issue of The Working Waterfront, we feature a vintage photo from along the coast that reminds us of how our corner of the world has changed, or not changed, as the case may be. In the November issue, we published a photo on the OpEd page (page 11) of a man standing at the corner of Main and Winter streets in Rockland, circa-1937.

  • View from the Grindle Point Lighthouse
    January 21

    High waters, whether from storm surge, rising sea levels or both, can cause costly damage to the coast. On islands, those high seas can have even more impact, damaging essential infrastructure and even leaving residences cut off from island resources and the mainland.

  • Lobster boat iced up in the Fox Islands Thoroughfare
    January 21

    That incident set the tone for the weekend. Saturday I woke up with chills and body aches, and though I tried to convince my daughter to hang out in bed with me she responded by falling out, giving herself a purple goose egg and a big scare.