“Never say the word `needle.’ ” An atypical response for an Island Fellow, but Peter Levandoski insists that this is the most important thing that he has learned as a public-health outreach coordinator with the Island Community Medical Services (ICMS) on Vinalhaven. The first Island Fellow primarily dedicated to island health care, Levandoski is working
Monhegan rescue service calls it quits
For 20 years, Monhegan Island residents had their own licensed rescue service, bringing emergency care to the sick and injured and even saving lives. Now the service itself has died, a victim of rising costs, training requirements and a lack of volunteers. Last April the Monhegan Emergency Rescue Service “breathed its last,” as director Susan
Islesboro firefighter produces fire blankets
Several years ago one of Islesboro’s feistier elders started a fire on her stove top, and tried to extinguish it by slapping at it with a potholder, and inadvertently set a second blaze when she dropped the flaming pot holder. She called the fire company who came and took care of the whole mess, but
“The water doesn’t look like this in summer”
Most artists show up to paint Maine islands in the summer, but plein air artist Keith Schneider of Liberty, Maine, has been working on Islesboro this cold and snowy winter to capture the sea and shore in winter light. House sitting on the island has given him ample opportunities to paint snow covered spruces and
Hard Times on the Lobster Ranch
When the stock market took a 30 percent tumble after the tech bubble burst in 2000, experienced investors observed that many of those who lost their shirts had never lived through a downturn in the market. The same thing could be said about the lobster industry today. Beginning in 1987, strange and wonderful things started
Highlights of the 33rd annual Fishermen’s Forum
Thursday, Feb 28, 1-4 p.m.: a marketing and branding session titled “More Bang for your Buck — Owning Your Products from Dock to Plate?” hosted by the Mid-Coast Fishermen’s Association, Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance and the Island Institute. Find out how to use marketing and branding to get more for your lobster, groundfish or shellfish
Eastport-bound ship loses power, concerns LNG opponents
On Jan. 12 at approximately 6 a.m., the 425-foot cargo ship Alexandergracht was steaming through Head Harbour Passage, inbound for Eastport, when she lost power. Using his experience, and training — as well as the ship’s two anchors and bow thruster — Eastport harbor pilot Capt. Gerald Morrison secured the vessel and kept a mishap
A merchant mariner touts a new training program for Maine’s Midcoast
David Flanagan of Thomaston works as a captain of large oceangoing vessels that perform a variety of tasks for the Military Sealift Command. Currently he’s towing decommissioned ships into lay-up. His last trip found him in Hawaii, around Pearl Harbor, but in his job — chief mate or captain — he can expect to be
Duffy
“People have a big misconception that I always wanted to build boats,” said Richard Duffy. “They’re really wrong because I never intended to build boats for a living.” Duffy’s story, to hear him tell it, is that of a poor boy who built his first boat with his father to replace an old one that
Boatstruck
Vineyard Haven, Martha’s Vineyard, August 2002 This is how a day unfolded — my expedition to wooden boat Mecca. The inn I stayed at looked toward the harbor. There, in my view, sat the Gannon and Benjamin boatbuilding shed — luring me ever since I got off the ferry. Got my takeout tea and scone