Matinicus gravel airstrip with the Camden Hills in the background. Matinicus Island, 22 miles out to sea from Rockland, is Maine's most remote offshore community. Theres a war going on in coastal Maine, where renegade crustacean gangs are forcing people to grope for their guns, was how one national magazine painted the scene, ludicrously, late last year. Pools of water formed among the rocks by the receding tide, leaving behind small crabs and other marine life to be discovered by curious students. A few families raised potatoes; almost everyone had a garden. Danger and illness aside, one might argue that wintertime island life is something like 2020 with a scenic view. The sand was dark and very fine. Thirteen years ago, on his honeymoon, he came to Matinicus for the first time; his new wife, Lisa, had spent her childhood summers here. A few yards away, alongside the traps still piled by the garage, two of the three Hussey children took turns dousing one another with a garden hose. He would survive: his hands mostly paralyzed, his left arm no longer of much use, his lifetime earning power reduced by $2.4 million, according to the lawsuit he would file. The ship lurched upwards as the dump truck with its heavy load drove off the ferry, onto the ramp. All of this is free of charge. From Metinic we moved on to Tenants Harbor, just five miles to the northwest . That's the island way! So most notably we took some really deep afternoon naps. The walk to the airstrip was a bit farther than what we had managed already (more than double), being at the other end of the island. And speaking of the mail-plane -- it was my only way off the island. I once headed out to Matinicus in a 22-foot sailboat with old canvas and a sputtering Evinrude. Its always been that way here. 2023 Island Institute. Being an early retiree, with lots of time on my hands, I was happy to accept her invitation to visit and experience the island life. One of them brought in some old buoys, maybe from when he was a kid, Im not sure, and showed us how they were made. I rang the state ferry in Rockland and indeed it was already canceled. Dispatches from the Boulevard of Broken Dreams and other travel observations, Montana, Glacier national park, Amtrak, North Dakota, Empire builder, Great Plains. Now, with all thats happenedI dont know. These were not adorned with floating docks at the end of convenient ramps swinging up and down with the tides, made for small boats, deep water anchorages and a lot of maintenance. Red squirrel in Seurasaari. Then shed left, and returned again as a young wife and mother when her husband first took up hauling traps: Weve always had to fight to hold on to what we had, always. You dont see that other places. About a year ago, as we were discussing our next such Monhegan trip, Harold and I shared that we had never been out to Matinicus Island, actually a small archipelago, somewhat further out from Monhegan. It used to be, you had to work for every dollar you got. Enough to make a living, but never much better than that. They warned him, then cut his traps. During the winter, the ferry crosses once per month, and increases to roughly four times a month during the summer. Two hundred traps, maybe 250, were the most a man could manage. But the deeper causes had more to do with other things: pride, greed, progress, family, what it means to claim a place as home. Call Josh Ames at (207) 366-3128. He came home and got a job as a sternmanan assistanton another islanders lobster boat, then other boats after that. We could fly out whenever we wanted; we told them we could be ready to leave by noon. Anyhow, we voted him off.. In 2009, Philbrook said, hed sold more lobster than hed ever sold before, yet barely covered his costs. Welcome to our world. It doesnt come in here, she said, and that was the end of that. Once, nearly 20 years ago,he was the captain of a lobster boat,the Jan-Ellen, that pulled three doomed tugboat sailors out of a January sea on a night when the storm swells were eight feet high and the wind chill was 50 below. A ticket issuing machine and mechanical arm gave access to long term parking. He says he isn't angry, but it's hard to believe him, and his wife says no such thing. The wind gusted to 70 mph on Sunday near Matinicus Island, about 20. It's only a 15-minute flight so we never got very high, resulting in amazing views. Walking the length of the islandtwo miles, an easy hours walkthe main thing you feel is the stillness. You have to want to be here, really want it, Nat Hussey said to me early in my first visit. And so theyd made it formal: If youre born here, you can fish hereor if youre the child of someone who was. It was a walk along and then at the end of the Main Street, where the school, church, parsonage/post office and cemetery are. He had a bad reputation. In the summer of 2009, a violent incident between lobstermen on the remote Matinicus Island in Maine would change the close-knit community forever. Most materials are accepted, but old lobster traps are not interestingly. (He was no angel, remembers Suzanne Rankin, who walked the western shore herself. It just seems like right and wrong mean different things today.. Slow, very slow, we are. She has skillfully woven the plot into the background of living on a small island off the coast of Maine, supported mainly by the lobster industry. Of these, the ferry is the clear bargain winner, at $11 for an adult round trip. Their cottage was slowly deteriorating; eventually it will collapse into the island and disappear if not bought, restored and maintained. Second Fig is perched at the end of a grassy road in a field dotted with apple trees overlooking the sea on the remote island of Matinicus. Maybe not. In the summer there might be 200 people staying on the island; in February, as few as 35. But from what we witnessed, islanders work and live there in those ways that they wish. That isnt the law. When Charlie and I were coming up, it was a different time. Maybe they could make it out tomorrow. Maybe the post office, where we wait our turn outdoors, and gossip from a distance with some guy idling in his truck. When Charlie first came here all those years ago, they cut his traps, too. A long stone breakwater protected the moored lobster boats and colorful waterfront homes sat high atop stilts, as did the docks, to accommodate the considerable tides. Sunset on Matinicus (Photo courtesy Gary Peabody), An island haircut: Eva Murray gets her hair trimmed by her husband Paul Murray, the Phone Man. Europeans first established a permanent settlement on the island in 1750, despite objections from the Penobscot. And Im a guy who wants to be here.. And with the new hydraulic trap haulers, all you had to do was twist a handle and up they came. It is also, by an accident of topographyits distance from the mainland, which makes for less freshwater runoff, plus the mix of shoals and deepwater channels that surround itthe site of the richest lobster grounds on earth. Not the Sunbeam. They had since been taken to the mainland due to health issues and probably have passed away now. But a bad hurt has happened. Theres no going back. Spend your days strolling the island and collecting seashells on quiet beaches, and your evenings relaxing in a comfortable living room with a flatscreen TV. The island is serviced by the Maine State Ferry Service, which operates the vehicle ferry M/V Everett Libby between Rockland and Matinicus, a 23-mile trip taking 2 hours and 15 minutes. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. No cars, few people, great hikes (most of the island is a forest preserve) wonderful sunrises and sunsets and the quiet that only comes from being miles out to sea. If one were to follow the South by Southeast heading to Matinicus harbor, steering from Owls Head Light outside of the Rockland Harbor breakwater, and should one manage to miss the landing at Matinicus, the next landfall on that heading would be along South Americas northern coast. So we went back to get more instructions. In the meantime a nice lady came by and threw our bags into the back of her truck to deposit them for us at the runways edge. Your spouse, the kid next door, more or less any random citizen can cut your hair; you just park on a kitchen chair in the dooryard. And hes the one who brought the guns to the argument., Three summers ago, the summer before the shooting, the island got together and threw itself a high-school prom: men, women, and teens, many in 30-year-old tuxes or too-tight, floor-length dressesone guy even in white tierocking out to Boogie Fever in the church basement under crepe paper and string lights, popping flashes, selling raffle tickets, drinking spiked punch from a bowl in a neighbors yard. I cant make out their engines, but I feel certain they were smaller, tooand slower, built for a lazier, more generous time. I have been waking to this sight at this cottage off and on since about the age of two. Join our email list to stay updated on all things Maine; food & drink, events & festivals, home & garden and much more. Born and raised in pre-WWII/ pre-discovered Nantucket, then served in the post WWII navy, then lived for awhile on Peaks Island in Casco Bay and now here. This is not a place fixed up to fit into someone elses idea of what an island off the coast of Maine should be like. Matinicus has a one-room island Well, it was grounded Friday and Saturday due to heavy fog and again on Sunday because of very strong winds. The little one-room K-8 schoolhouse, viewed by just about everyone as the islands truest pulse, has rarely had more than 10 or 12 students; in recent years the average has been more like half that. Her devotion to the place seems almost ingrown. Old wounds have deepened. We really had very little planned. Harold had bested me in bringing less, simply a large beach towel draped over his shoulders (Douglas Adams would be pleased) and some peanut butter crackers. And its antithesis: An out-of-the-way summer idyll a world apart from bustling Bar Harbor, was a typical depiction several years ago. I am happy to note that telemedicine is becoming much more mainstream. His boat, the Samantha J., was tied up alongside. Its needed, no one else is doing it and it works. Located 22 miles off the coast of Maine, Matinicus Island is home to about 100 residents, according to the Associated Press (AP). Shes a painter, and in the summer also runs a small gallery she calls The Fishermans Wife, selling art, handcrafts, and notecards to the summer people. Or dry-cleaning. All of them, everyone, the whole islandmy family. Turning into their drive meant putting my back to a view of the many islands crowding the western half of Casco Bay. Being the school teacher in this very tightly knit island community apparently has its benefits! So its hard, whats happened. It was just down the rutted road past his place, the one that didnt look like it was being used much anymore. Adventurous early retiree with lots of time yet limited money. The Good Table has everything you need to prepare your next delicious meal. Then she stopped. MATINICUS ISLAND, Maine (AP) There's an "Island of Misfit Toys" in the popular holiday classic. Id heard by now the story of his familys early years: how his grandfather had been a rumrunner on the island during Prohibition, hiding the bottles in deepwater puddles; of his father, a lobsterman, and how hed met Vances mother, whod come there to work as a nurse; how hed started pulling traps as a teenager and never stopped; how it used to be that when you had an argument with a neighbor, you got over it real quick, cause you needed each other more than you needed to stay mad.. It was mid-April of last year, a little more than a month since a jury had taken a day and a half to acquit him of all charges stemming from what had happened on the island dock that day. There's no garbage collection on the island and no dump, so what does one do with lobster shells and claw remains? He had been an island man for most of his life. FORE MORE DATA ON MAINES ISLAND AND COASTAL COMMUNITIES VISIT: There were also some items that gave a sense of the man. It's also not the lawless, wild pioneer village some have made it out to be. It is worthwhile to keep in mind that this couple lived there until fairly recently, in this century. The two men wrestled. One loses track of time but I expect it might have taken us longer to get in than the flight would end up taking. High tides provide periodic windows when a boat can leave Rockland at a reasonable hour in the morning, arrive at Matinicus, unload and load, and then return to Rockland by mid afternoon with ample time for something to go wrong. And we did. Most are aggravating, to be sure, but a few really are for the better. As of fall 2020, the school has no enrolled students but stands ready to hire a teacher and welcome children as needed. Me longer than Harold, much longer. Even the few who defend him, including parents who recall what he did for their children, are too fearful of their neighbors to say so publicly. Memories, connections, personal histories. Shortly, I arrived at the white school house and was enthusiastically greeted by the teacher and entire student body (grades 1 through 8) -- two brothers and their cousin! This winter, only 20 people are living on Matinicus. Anybody who still believes that the CEO is by definition more important than the delivery boy is thinking like its, well, 2019. You learn what real need is. Being an early retiree, with lots of time on my hands, I was happy to accept her invitation to visit and experience the island life. Aside from a couple of resident trucks, no vehicles are allowed on Monhegan. So he put more in. They invited us over on Sunday to watch the Patriots game, using an old-time antenna to receive the signal. Were living it, every one of us, every single day. Or you get your answers off the record. Its also the biggest reason why, whenever theres an event at the schooljust about any event at any time of day that involves the five or six kids there30 people are apt to show up. Today he makes his living on the island, doing carpentry jobs and occasional legal work, collecting taxes, helping out at the schoolhouse, and hauling lobsters from a motorless, oak-and-cedar peapod-style rowboat he calls the Sweet Pea. The gravel road, the islands spine, runs its dusty, almost unbending course through the old-growth spruce interior: from the tiny dirt airstrip in its clearing at the northern tip (shorter by 50 feet at high tide, they say), past the empty church and schoolhouse, the sad little pile-of-stones monument to the islands first white settler, Ebenezer Hall (Killed by Indians, June 6, 1757), and the two dozen or so hardy, mostly modest homes that cluster at uncertain intervals at the intersections of dirt side roads. They invited us over on Sunday to watch the Patriots game, using an old-time antenna to receive the signal. For those at the moment safe from the big problems wildfire and hurricane, racism and hunger, depression and fear, and forgive me for making light in a time of crisiswe might compare notes. Matinicus and Monhegan are the only year-round islands powered by diesel generators. She was the new teacher in a one-room schoolhouse on Matinicus Island. Miller is Vance Bunkers son-in-law; he married Bunkers daughter Janan several years ago, bought a house on Matinicus not long after, and had been lobstering island waters ever since. Organized, continuous and full time missionary work has gone way out of style. In winter the Sunbeam will do some icebreaking for the harbors she visits. The speck of earthnearly 22 miles from the mainlandis reachable by charter boat or plane or a short row from the nearby fishing community of Matinicus Island.
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