The year-round residents are lobstermen who, like they did this year, do very well financially. Many of them have homes on the mainland and stay on Matinicus a few days at a time. At the Christmas party in 2018 there were just 19 people. The K–8 school will not open this academic year; ot was last open during the 2017–2018 year. The island has its own power plant for electricity. A licensed operator is required, and recently it was a challenge to find someone when a vacancy developed. The year-round people we met could not have been nicer. When I could not reach my wife because l had no cell phone service, I used the VHF to call the lobsterman from whom I rented Judy’s mooring, and he contacted someone working in the harbor who came over in a skiff and handed me a cell phone. I rewarded him with the last of my Irish whiskey. The next morning there was no wind, and thankfully no fog. We motored to Carver’s Harbor
w w w .L at s A t t s . c o m
pg 156-161 Three Maine Islands - MKCR.indd 5
on Vinalhaven Island, about two hours through a well-marked passage. The mooring we found was $25. We went ashore and went into the first open business. That was a piece of good luck. It was the real estate office of Wesley Reed, a year-round resident, sculptor, collector, and owner of two restored antique Fords, one of which is garaged in the office! He gave us a tour of the island, the highlight of which was the K–12 school. Vinalhaven, like several other islands, had commercial granite quarries, and Wesley was part of a group that paid for and built a granite wall in the school. There are 1,200 year-round residents, about 120 students, a new principal (who we met), and about 3,000 seasonal folk. The mainstay of the economy is lobstering, and we had a huge and delicious lunch with Wesley and Johnny, a friendly lobsterman who recently bought a 40-foot boat so he could go further offshore.
Latitudes & Attitudes 159 4/23/20 12:15 PM