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. Living on an island, it can be very easy to fall into
Rope ‘snap back’ and ‘parting’ among marine safety hazards
Safety has been a theme in seafaring to varying degrees throughout the centuries. The traditional definition of good seamanship is “a safe and timely arrival.” Of course, since the creation of OSHA and the safety convention created when the Titanic sank, safety is more regulated than those early years. A hundred years ago, sailors could
Does a heat pump make sense for your island home?
Representatives from the Island Institute, Efficiency Maine, the Cranberry Isles Realty Trust and Home Energy Answers will be on hand for a free Feb. 4 information session and webinar on the application of heat pump technology in island homes. Heat pumps are extremely efficient systems that collect heat from the air outside and route it
Ticks are winning in invasion of Maine
Ticks. Even now, with snow, ice and frigid temperatures holding them in abeyance, the very mention of the little critters can make your skin crawl. But it gets worse, because those critters carry diseases like Lyme, anaplasmosis and babesiosis, illnesses that are debilitating as they are, at times, baffling to physicians. Chuck Lubelczyk, a field
Planning for the worst
It’s quiet on the bridge. The stars rotate over your head slowly, descending to the western horizon as you walk around the bridge, checking the radar as you pass it, looking at the speed logs to make sure everything is as it should be. You exchange a few jokes and sea stories with the deckhand
Forecasting lobster molt, settlement would help fishery
A number of local research teams are trying to predict how climate change will impact our local fisheries, so that fishermen and communities that rely on fisheries can be ready to adapt and avoid being caught off guard in the future. Take, for instance, the lobster fishery in Maine. We had an event in 2012
Going to see the snow in SoCal
Just about every other year my husband and I travel to Southern California to visit his family for Christmas. We leave the island, which is often covered in snow, or if we’re less lucky rain, ice or slush, and take the boat to the mainland and drive to Boston and fly out. This year we
The stories that Bertha’s spoon can tell
When Bertha was a mere teenager, she started working with Dr. North’s family in Montclair, N.J., mostly to help take care of the Norths’ five children. She stayed for the rest of her working life, taking on the work of cooking and serving. Married to Chester Turpin, she came to the North’s house daily excepting
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Unfortunate title To the editor: The excellent article “A sentinel of ocean health, humpback whale numbers grow (The Working Waterfront, Dec./Jan.)” was given an unfortunate title. That growth is more an indicator of the value of an endangered species listing, a natural growth after a cessation of industrial whaling, better observations, or some combination. The article
Island Naturalist: The fascinating facts of nature on the Maine coast
Island Naturalist by Kathie Fiveash Penobscot Books, Stonington, Maine, 2014. 226 pages, paperback, $27.95. Kathie Fiveash’s new book, Island Naturalist, collects together about 70 entries from her natural history column in the weekly Island Ad-Vantages newspaper out of Stonington. Fiveash, following a graduate program in environmental studies in New Hampshire a few years ago,