At this time last year, Henry Isaacs had no idea he would spend the winter living on Little Cranberry Island. Thanks to his wife, Donna, who accepted a teaching position at the Islesford Elementary School last August, Henry is doing something he always wanted to do. Henry’s studio, originally built for summer use, is just
Loose fishing boat grounds out Downeast, despite Coast Guard effort
What do you do when you’re crossing a bridge in a 35-knot easterly with driving snow gusting to 40 and two-foot seas, and you see a big unmanned Novi boat drifting toward the bridge? The lobster fisherman driving across the Beal’s-Jonesport bridge on February 24th did what he said the next person to cross the
Cranberry Isles Town Meeting votes no on property revaluation
It took eight hours for townspeople of the Cranberry Isles to work their way through 38 agenda items on the warrant at their annual Town Meeting on Monday, March 9. All chairs were filled and some voters stood during the packed morning session held at the Fire House on Great Cranberry Island. The meeting started
Dick Jones and the Jones Fruit Co.
Tucked away amidst the pages of marinas, anchorages, bascule bridges and other points listed in my “Cockpit Cruising Handbook” to the Intracoastal Waterway is this notation for Mile 945 on Florida’s east coast: “Jones Fruit Dock … purchase some fruit and you can stay overnight for a nominal charge. 15-amp. electricity may be available.” Intriguing,
Cranberry Islands underwater cable fixed; officials study long-term solution
Losing power periodically is a regular fact of life on islands, but recently Cranberry Island residents faced a more serious power situation when a critical underwater cable became unstable. In late February, Cranberry residents suddenly found themselves without electricity during a winter storm. Cranberry Isles Selectman Richard Beal went out to investigate and quickly discovered
The mouse that roared
Søren Hermansen, the spokesperson for Samsø Island-Denmark’s alternative energy island-was back in Maine last month. Hermansen first came to Maine as a guest of the Island Institute last November where he gave presentations to packed audiences in Portland and Belfast and to island communities. During his recent visit, Hermansen addressed the Governor’s Offshore Energy Task
Rowing their own boat
Four years ago, in the spring of 2005, SAD 51 proposed elimination of the fourth and fifth grades at Chebeague Island’s K-5 school- a proposal that would set in a motion a small but powerful revolution in Casco Bay. At the front lines stood Mabel Doughty, then 82. “It’s time to row our own boat!”
Food advocate from Maine helps persuade Obamas to plant White House garden
Because I was impatient for winter to end and the growing season to begin, I recently sought vicarious pleasure by reading others’ accounts of gardening. First was Barbara Kingsolver’s book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, describing how her family made a commitment to grow as much food as possible, or obtain it locally near their home in
Ralph Stanley, legendary Maine boatbuilder, hands off business to his son
Master boatbuilder Ralph Stanley turned 80 and is feeling a little less chipper than he used to. That’s why son Richard, his lifelong business partner, is taking over the business, helped by Richard’s wife Lorraine. Ralph Stanley, dean of wooden boatbuilders in Maine, once dreamed of working at the United Nations in New York City.
Preserving traditional industries
With Speaker of the House Hannah Pingree’s introduction of a bond bill to preserve working waterfront and farmland, the state can continue the process of rethinking how we preserve public land that began with working waterfront preservation started in 2005. Pingree’s bill (LD 894) includes $5.5 million for the Working Waterfront Access Pilot Program, $5.5