Probably also its future, whatever that may be. Then last year, with what happeneda man opening fire on the public dock. One couple, in addition to having an amazing vegetable garden, has the only cows on the island (4), as well as chickens, ducks, and turkeys. Robins, crows, sparrows, cardinals and jays were everywhere as well as a few hummingbirds. What an amazingly beautiful flight, accented by Autumn's fiery leaves. The small open, car ferry makes the 23 mile, two and a half hour crossing only 20 to 30 times a year, running once a month in winter, but twice now in May. It had all changed so fast. As a child, she spent her summers on this island and now has returned here with her family. Well, it was grounded Friday and Saturday due to heavy fog and again on Sunday because of very strong winds. He drives slower after that.. Not the Sunbeam. All those generations. Then at the next meeting, they go and change the rules.. Hes my family. Matinicus Island, the largest land mass in the archipelago, spans approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) in length and 1-mile (1.6 km) in width for an area of about 720 acres (290 ha). But it was never far away. [Vance Bunkers wife, Sari] dont see that, I dont think. The mail will be late. That isnt the law. Three months earlier, the islands post office had burned down. The community has some workforce housing, primarily for people sterning on lobster boats. 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. First there's the setting: Matinicus Island is the furthest out of Maine's populated islands with an official population of about 50. . He had been an island man for most of his life. And doing for themselves what has to be done since no one else is there to do it for them. But if anyone wants to participate in a service, those are provided too. For 17 years after that night-and more than 30 years before it-he was a lobsterman on Matinicus Island: one of its most esteemed, remembered by some for his cussedness, by others for the size of his hauls, and by at least a few for the sick children he sometimes flew, in his private plane, to medical care on the mainland. Every man and woman on the island showed up with an ax to clear a fire line, a shovel to dig trenches, or a box of sandwiches; old men too feeble to swing axes strapped packs on their backs and sprayed down nearby trees. The short gravel runway ends at the water's edge, so as we rumbled full throttle toward the crashing waves I was hoping things would go as intended! In any event we didnt hesitate to load our gear into his truck and never felt any concern over handing over even an expensive camera for delivery. She told me about how, when an octogenarian member of the Ames clan had died not long before, a local writer, Eva Murray, had come to the school to talk to the children about his life, so theyd understand something of the history of this person theyd known. I asked about the shooting: Had she discussed it with the children? In fact, less than 100 people live there year-round on this island that covers an area of less than 10 square miles. We didnt do very much. Greed, thats whats behind all this, Vance Bunker would tell me months later. Two hundred years worth of clan-based survivalsix or seven generations of Youngs and Ameses and Philbrooks, and the few who have joined themfighting, marrying, burying, and working with one another, on a 700-acre island, has built up a very thick crust. Join for as little as $2.99 per month and support local journalism on a community hub that serves everyone. Breakfast was supplied by Bill and included his homemade English Muffins. But it seemed as though the main reason to have a ferry to Matinicus was to permit the sizable number of pick up trucks to transport their sizable payloads of gear, food, hardware, building supplies and whatever may have been loaded in that U-Haul that was on board. Overall, our two days out on Matinicus made for a very special visit and I especially am glad we saw it before the summer season really began. From Metinic we moved on to Tenants Harbor, just five miles to the northwest . There is nowhere to wear those cute shoes. High heels are a complete waste of money; youll never use them. Theres a name among islanders for people like that: fuel savers. It isnt a good way to be known. We would hope for the best. A couple of lobsters and a slew of crab claws for the new school teacher and her special visitor. Matinicus is officially a plantation, a Maine-specific, organized form of municipal self-government, similar to but with some differences from a town or city. The yards are large and flat; a few have small gardens. He would be over shortly. Part of the reason there are so few ferries is that there are so few people living out there. The name Matinicus means far-out island in Abenaki, and Penobscot People used the island while fishing and sealing. (The tiny store, launched in July 2008, lasted three seasons, but with too few patrons to cover costs, would finally close at the end of last summer. You could row out in the harbor and catch as many cod as you wanted; there were cattle here then, and horses, geese, and pigs. Grants and Scholarships Portal Apply Here, Download Matinicus Community Profile (PDF), Steamboat Wharf, a publicly accessible ferry landing, Power station generating electricity for the island. 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.. 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. In the summer of 2009, a violent incident between lobstermen on the remote Matinicus Island in Maine would change the close-knit community forever. So he cut theirs. On Prom Night three summers ago, he was the one in white tie. Inside and outside temperatures were the same at around 50 degrees; it was late May. 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. Lisa, busy readying her Matinicus Island Store for its spring opening, just days away, came and went from the conversation. See Up the coast without a car for details. Its a boat no serious lobsterman has worked from in probably 60 years, but it leaves no carbon footprint, and thats important to Hussey. It never gets old. They came to get water as needed from Bills well. This was a crossing exposed to the open ocean. The Matinicus Rock light station is the hub of the living quarters and serves as a kitchen, dining room, office, and sleeping quarters. Most are aggravating, to be sure, but a few really are for the better. Nowhere shall we be judged for lack of sartorial splendor. Spring was arriving and the breakfast table was set with his tulips from just outside. Lobster buoys hang like Christmas balls from the branches of a spruce. You call the company which promised warranty service on your equipment but it turns out the technician is afraid to come to your house. Looking out every window one also could see different varieties of trees in each direction, including a huge apple tree overhanging the porch. "Living on a small island means you need to be creative," says Suzanne Rankin, the keeper of local history and lore, and it certainly has birthed a wonderfully whimsical and supportive group for the ladies of Matinicus. Call (207) 596-2202 for more information. He was full of great stories and had a way about him that reminds one of a kindler, gentler Burgess Meredith in the Rocky movies. Forget about ambling around with a little basket over your arm, scrutinizing the obscure tropical delicacies in the produce section and picking out the very plumpest tomato. The tiny house was the office of Penobscot Island Air, a small company that provides air service to some of the Maine islands just offshore including Vinalhaven, North Haven. Hah; welcome to the real world. Theres no war going on, and no one I met is groping for their guns. But other than that, theres at least some truth to most of it. In 2005, for three days, he signed on as a third man in a lobster boat, and, he says, a gene flipped on in my head. He left his job; she left hers. She is the islands historian, the clerk-secretary of its church, and a member of its school board. And we were told that the water taxi service is well run and a good option. I know that for every 1000 cases of some obvious and common sniffle or boo-boo, there could be one instance of a rare and insidious malady. The 2000 census had the population at 51 but in the dead of winter, the population can dwindle to around 20. With island life, the issue is usually the weather. The inn doesnt have a sea view but I think the ocean couldnt have been more than 20 or so yards away from the trees that lined the property. Twelve or 13 of them, I guess, came in and told stories, showed photos, shared their memories, she said. The world across the waterAmericahad not yet quite arrived. It is exactly what that island life is, unvarnished by anyones expectations. Apple cider, hard from aging a year in mason jars, was served and enjoyed. There was activity on the dock and cars lined up waiting to board as we pulled in and docked. Not like today, with computers, where the process works in reverse , And you know what? Welcome to our world. We have seen that before, and nothing to do with a pandemic. It was a majestic Autumn day with blue skies, crisp air, clear water, and lobstermen plying their trade. She then chased us down, which at our rate of walking was not hard, to tell us she was wrong, its actually one left and then one right. Matinicus has high-speed internet on the island, including wi-fi access at the library. Some traded up to 600-horsepower diesels that could make it to Rockland in an hour or less. Bill has an arrangement with a young guy who works as a stern man on a lobster boat. She was the new teacher in a one-room schoolhouse on Matinicus Island. In any event, we took off into a beautiful day over the top of Penobscot Bay. There was some shouting. We really had very little planned. And everyone was welcome. That gravel airstrip, the ferry and a daily water taxi service amount to the sole physical links to the mainland. For over 100 years they have visited islands along Maines coast (originally focused on the lighthouse keepers on small rocks and living with no outside support at all) bringing health care, companionship and simply attention to some of the States most isolated communities. They voted him off the islandout of island waters. The question is: Where will the next line be?. Nope, not one little bit. Gets a lot of rides in trucks, especially on icy winter days. That was the way it workedbefore the boats got fast enough so a man could live in one place and fish in another. 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. The name Matinicus means "far-out island" in Abenaki, and Penobscot People used the island while fishing and sealing. I say climbed in but this was really a drawn out process. Does that make any sense? Its as though the clans in their way were a sort of monarchy: a continuum of ascendant families whose generations of canny, devoted stewardship will somehow see the way through. When half of them were cut two weeks later, he was sure he knew by whom: a pair of stepbrothers, Chris Young and Weston Ames, both in their early forties, with 400 years of island ancestry between them. This isnt a place that could exist on the mainlandor, probably, even 10 miles closer to it. 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 few families raised potatoes; almost everyone had a garden. Matinicus gravel airstrip with the Camden Hills in the background. Being the school teacher in this very tightly knit island community apparently has its benefits! Back last spring everybody in America was waiting for butter and flour and toilet paper. Even after a hard sleep during mid afternoon, I slept better there at night than I had in many years. He mows Bills lawn and in return Bill lets him take hot showers. Anyhow, we voted him off.. He had built for them a small bridge over a creek to cut their well trips down by around 50 feet, but they didnt use it. For we not only visited Matinicus Rock and Matinicus Island during our week afloat together, we also visited the other four principal offshore islands on the Maine coast: Seguin, Damariscove, Monhegan, and Metinic. We would have received a ride for ourselves as well had either of us thought we could manage to jump into the back of a pick up truck already filled with a lot of stuff, plus other people. A bright sun peaked over an island across the sound and it promised to be a clear day, one where the blue in the sky will be surpassed only by the deeper blue reflecting from the water. In winter the Sunbeam will do some icebreaking for the harbors she visits. The whole thing had been somewhat casual. For most of the morning, hed been working on the engine, but the rain was a torrent now, so we were waiting it out in the truck. When an islander needs groceries, they fax (not email) an order to Shaws on the mainland and a small plane will deliver them to the airstrip at the north end of the island, for pickup (fax machine is at the post office which is in the basement of the parsonage). Enough to make a living, but never much better than that. Nature will eventually do the heavy lifting. Seventy-five were counted in the last census, and there are about 110 electric meters for homes and workshops. All this Philbrook explained to me one rainy spring morning, as we sat together in the cab of his pickup, parked that day at the Matinicus dock, the site of the shooting in July 2009. 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. Together we drove up Maines coastal highway, Route 1, initially encountering the morning shift heading to the Bath Iron Works, but little in the way of summer crowds since this was still before Memorial Day. But islanders know that no matter how important you are, how rich you are, how loud you are, how much you stomp around the flying service office yelling, Do you know who I am? there is nothing anybody can do about the delay. He graciously had us at his home for a couple of nights. And Im a guy who wants to be here.. Were living it, every one of us, every single day. If you had something heavy to pick up and transfer, then just wait for high tide. 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. This winter, only 20 people are living on Matinicus. 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. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. Danger and illness aside, one might argue that wintertime island life is something like 2020 with a scenic view. Hussey is a lawyer in his forties, a slight man with thin features and tousled, receding brown hair. It originally had two light towers: one was extinguished in 1923, the other was automated in 1983. Crabs that are found in lobster traps are relieved of their claws and returned to the briny depths to regrew them. 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. So its hard, whats happened. Adventurous early retiree with lots of time yet limited money. (In 2001 it had none at all, but stayed open officiallyabsorbing the costs requiredto avert the bureaucratic death knell that closure would have meant.). These were piers made to serve a high tidal range where the sea bottoms out twice a day and where they must be kept up with minimum fuss. The ship lurched upwards as the dump truck with its heavy load drove off the ferry, onto the ramp. As the most remote island in Penobscot Bay, 22 miles southeast of Rockland, Matinicus Island is a wonderful place to take a deep breath and relax. For groceries, islanders can place an order with a grocery store on the mainland and have them delivered on the daily mail-plane for $8 per banana box and left beside the landing strip with their name on it. My teacher friend had somewhat prepared me for life on this remote island -- no paved roads, stores, restaurants, or even bars. She told me about a social-studies exhibit the islanders had planned: Captains of Matinicus, put together by the captains of the islands lobster boats. Become an online member today: To manage your account, just hover and click on your name above. Of those, Matinicus is the most seaward, and the most indigenous. The Island of Matinicus is some 20 miles southeast of Rockland, ME. In the photo above the airstrip is to the left, the Main Street runs across (see the church) and the harbor is on top. 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. Matinicus is a remote, largely forgotten island community of defiantly independent souls. Our May window was timed on Tuesday to arrive one hour before highest tide and on Thursday one hour after highest tide. It seems that most people out there already know where they are going. We could fly out whenever we wanted; we told them we could be ready to leave by noon. They float at their moorings comfortably apart, not much more than a dozen of them, gentle neighbors under an early-evening sky. Maine. (He was no angel, remembers Suzanne Rankin, who walked the western shore herself. ([He] was my personal hero, blogged journalist Crash Barry, a former Matinicus lobster-boat sternman. Indeed, many old battered traps can be found on the beach, apparently washed up in storms. And Monhegan has a number of facilities for the visitor, such as several old inns, a small country store with some groceries, a museum and art gallery, and a few shops. He used to work for the Maine Department of Corrections. Meghan Grabill: mgrabill@islandinstitute.org, With gratitude to our community reviewers: Carley Feibusch, Mott Feibusch, and Tara Hire. 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. When Lisa finally didshed been talking about neighborliness and the response to the post-office fireit was so unexpected, and came in such a half-whispered seethe, it felt almost like an eruption: Its such a fragile system we have here. www.islandinstitute.org/waypoints, FOR DATA QUESTIONS, CONTACT: The Magazine. Our vague impression had been that Matinicus was an island suited to those who think perhaps that Monhegan may be a bit too crowded. Both of us had always wanted to go, so we resolved to find a time in the next year to head out there. The Matinicus Island Ladies Literary League and Subversive Activities Committee, also known as the Red Dahlia Society, was . It sits on a private 40 acre, ocean front lot of rugged Maine land. You walk. People do more than one thing.) Thirteen years ago, on his honeymoon, he came to Matinicus for the first time; his new wife, Lisa, had spent her childhood summers here. After living through 2020, everybody grasps how whether we can more or less stay on the rails may have something to do with whether we have a hobby (other than rum, I mean). But also of cut traps, knife fights, boat rammings, death threats, and ancient feuds. The only opportunity for food, other than what we brought with us, was to buy hard-as-rock hard shell lobsters from the fishermen at the dock and steam them ourselves in the inns kitchen. After landing, I shouldered my backpack for the walk to the inn, unusually loaded down by a glass jar of spaghetti sauce and pasta, along with some cheese, cold cuts and a few cans of other food in case the lobsters somehow did not materialize. Cottage Connection of Maine Vacation Rentals Since 1993. On my last day on the island, I went to see her there and bought a small, dreamy photo, taken years ago, of a rainbow over Matinicus Harbor. The Island Institute works to sustain Maines island and coastal communities, and exchanges ideas and experiences to further the sustainability of communities here and elsewhere. Though the inn was around 3/4 a mile away, trucks would stop as we walked and friendly drivers offered to carry our gear. Physicians are also being forced to adjust to a reality where not every hangnail must be seen in the office. So most notably we took some really deep afternoon naps. Essentially, Main Street just turns into a gravel airstrip at the north end of the island. We are grateful to those who already participate. The next ship wasn't scheduled for several weeks so I would return to the mainland on the "mail-plane" in four days -- weather permitting! (Pilot: thats not a step and moments later thats the brake line youre stepping on) Not helped by the fact that once inside and with an expression of real accomplishment written across my face, the pilot politely informed me I was in his seat. And probably a few other professions I dont know about. We circled the island and headed across the water toward Owl's Head. Its hard times for everyone, he said. There was plenty of money, a close family, a lifetime of friendships, a job you were good at, the respect of almost everyone you knew. After drinking the scalding top half of a cup of tea, and partly filling my backpack with a few days worth of clothes, I drove the mile down towards the point to pick up another cousin, Harold. You almost have to be devoted to choose to live in such a place: some 15 miles off the coast (23 miles by ferry from Rockland); no year-round stores, or bars or eateries, or doctors or policemen or paved roads, and only one industry; where the fog drops around you like a curtain for days at a time, the same three families have been fighting the same fights for 200 years, and the ferry comes once a month in winter. All of this is free of charge. Admittedly, Matinicus Isle isn't a major tourist attraction in Maine. Its their legacy; theyve been working it for generations, says Marty Malloy, the lobster buyer, who lives on the island with his wife and twin boys. In a tiny office, you pay your $60 upon landing. Matinicus Island can be reached by sea or air. (Some people talk about family trees; what we have here is a wreath.) Their son, Nick, now 30 years old and a captain himself, has been lobstering since he was 8. It's only a 15-minute flight so we never got very high, resulting in amazing views. The day I walked it, the only movement I saw was a woman feeding an animal at her back door. Islanders have also reduced their electricity and heating use though community-wide initiatives for weatherization and lighting upgrades. Cottage in Matinicus. The wind gusted to 70 mph on Sunday near Matinicus Island, about 20. This was roughly contemporary. Europeans first established a permanent settlement on the island in 1750, despite objections from the Penobscot. 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. Its about building long-term memorylike the way farming used to be, when the kids still learned from their elders. While youre at it you can also paint the dogs nails. But, entirely funded by donations, this group does something that the State does not. Not really needing to take anyone else at the moment the pilot told us to climb in. Well, he just put more in, and they cut them again. I was struck by the variety of wildlife and plants. Its more, I think, than the perfect calm of the water, or the hazy, purplish light that must have followed the rain that day. They began buying their groceries thereand the island store, open a century, went under. Just about any Matinicus story you read (and there have been dozens, especially since the shooting) is going to have you believe that its either a rogue outpost of inbred, gun-happy cowboysPirate Island is a common referenceor a quaint little throwback to some simpler time. A ticket issuing machine and mechanical arm gave access to long term parking. Shes a little like a rainbow herself: stout and graying but full of wonderful old stories that paint pictures and cast spells. Even on the softest, sunniest midsummer afternoon, with a stiff little breeze and the lupines in full color on either side of the roadthe way it was the day I first walked ittheres something desolate about the place. I cant make out their engines, but I feel certain they were smaller, tooand slower, built for a lazier, more generous time. Aside from a couple of resident trucks, no vehicles are allowed on Monhegan. Metinic Island is approximately 2 miles long and is less than half a mile wide at its widest point. According to Bill, there is no evangelical pressure, which he appreciates. There was a time when that wouldnt have mattered much; 50 or 60 years ago, with an island population just shy of 200, there were other ways to make a living here. She told me about how shed first come to the island, as a 9-year-old girla thousand years agowhen her mother married a Young. Thats how things are when you have to fight to survive. A man drives too fast, we tell him to slow down. Its also at this stage of things that the silence sets in. Threatening notes were left in bottles; trap buoys were tied with half-hitches to warn away encroachers; and sometimes, trap lines were cut. Theres no runoff, the waters colder, the trenches are deep around the island.