An Islander’s North Haven

EVA HOPKINS Manager, North Haven Gift Shop

Iwork in a building with a lot of personal history. It was once the W.S. Hopkins General Store, owned by my great-great-grandparents. Now my uncle David owns the shop, and also the Hopkins Wharf Gallery, which sells island art including paintings by my dad [nationally renowned artist Eric Hopkins].

As a kid on North Haven, I wasn’t afraid to talk to anyone. On an island there are new people coming every day in the summer. You’re not stuck in little cliques of age groups or interests. I’m proud that I can relate to people from a lot of different angles.

North Haven is seen as the goody-goody island, and Vinalhaven as more rough. But we’re not the rich person’s island at all. We’re still pretty rustic and unpolished, in a good way. We’re real.

I’m most proud of our theater and music. We’ve had world-quality performers and artists here [at Waterman’s Community Center] to teach us, and we’ve put on shows that are pretty good, I’d say. We’re the smallest K–12 school in the state, but we took our musical, Islands, to off-Broadway [in 2001]. It was about what it’s like to live on North Haven. Our performance was on PBS, too, and a lot of people kind of know of us through that.

We have a great historical society, which does talks all through the summer. And to really get a feel for the island, go to Brown’s Boatyard . It’s been in the same family since 1888, and it’s so visually rich. It’s where the old-timers would gather around the big old stove—that was the place to be.

My favorite place for food is Calderwood Hall It’s where we go to visit with everybody. At night there’s a restaurant serving really top-quality artisan pizza; in the daytime the market sells sandwiches and fresh pastries and bread—the focaccia is to die for. Right below is North Haven Brewing Co. , whose beer is really, really good. A destination for the fancy or upscale is Nebo Lodge, which is very pretty. Something special to do is a round trip on the Equinox , which takes you from Rockland to Nebo Lodge, and you have dinner and a few hours to walk around before going back. It’s an exquisite date night.

To get lobster, you want to talk to a fisherman. April Brown is an island EMT, but she has a boat, and with her father she’ll do your lobster. You order it, and they deliver it live or cooked.

This is a great place for walking. For one of the best views, go to Ames Knob on the north shore. It’s all open, with a 360-degree view of the bay and the Camden Hills, and sunsets are amazing. This is the view I grew up with, just sitting there looking out at the water and the boats. My favorite walk, though, is

Sage Woods. The vista is really different: Usually you’re looking toward Camden, but here you look out to Isle au Haut and Eagle, maybe, and Stonington. It feels a lot more remote. Burnt Island is also worth going to. It’s an island you can walk to at low tide, and it feels familiar and foreign at the same time.

On a hot day, if you want to swim—and you have a car—go to Big Beach at Mullins Head Park, or Smelt Brook , which is a mud-flat cove, so it’s warm. Or you can be like us, and just jump off the town dock.

A few things to remember: Don’t walk in the middle of the road, and get your ferry schedules straight. Unlike Vinalhaven, we have only one boat to the mainland. Know there is no ferry after 3:45. If you forget that, you’ll be spending the night here! —As told to Mel Allen

An Islander’s Vinalhaven

PHIL CROSSMAN Co-owner, the Tidewater Motel

The most well-known part of Vinalhaven’s history is the granite quarrying. Two of the old quarries are now town parks and probably the best swimming spots on the island. The Vinalhaven Historical Society has an exhaustive quarrying display that’s quite spectacular.

This was a quarrying town, but it’s now a lobster-fishing or seasonal-resident town. We have one of the biggest lobster-fishing fleets and probably the largest population of people who make their living on the sea.

It’s funny the way people generalize—they often come to Vinalhaven with preconceived notions about islanders, or visitors, or fisher- men. Another misconception is that our summer residents don’t do much for the island. But they do, and we need them.

There’s a wide range of people that contribute to the character of Vinalhaven. Many come from surprising backgrounds. For example, I belong to a men’s book group, and among the people we’ve invited to speak are Sonia Sotomayor and Senator George Mitchell. [Chief Justice] John Roberts was here in the motel once—I took him and his family up to Booth’s Quarry for a swim.

Many people enjoy kayaking on island waterways. You can see baby seals following kayakers around right now [early July]; it’s just magical. Some people come to look at the lighthouses, or to learn about or swim in the quarries. There are some great hiking trails in the woods, although most of them eventually lead back to the coast. It’s like the coast is the treasure at the end of the trail.

I’ve walked the entire coastline. The views from the shore are extraordinary.

A relic of Vinalhaven’s past as a granite producer, Lawson’s Quarry is one of the island’s classic swimming holes. OPPOSITE , FROM LEFT : One of the island’s two female lobster boat captains, Yvonne “Beba” Rosen; a shot of Vinalhaven Harbor, home to the second-largest lobstering fleet in Maine (after Stonington’s).

Lane’s Island , connected to Vinalhaven by a causeway, is a nature conservancy. It’s beautiful, a great place for kids. I lived on Lane’s Island when I was young, and I walked to school on a plank [bridge]. Workmen told me there was a troll down below … I’m still recovering from that!

The Haven and Salt, which were two favorite restaurants here, closed recently, but I’m optimistic we’ll have great options this summer. The Nightingale is returning for its second year, Dot & Millie’s is opening, and—perhaps most anticipated—we’re getting a Scandinavian speakeasy called Skål that will look out onto Carver’s Pond.

I don’t know quite how to describe it, but a few times each year, the island has a particular smell … a combination of salt water and fog and breeze that’s so profound. I just stand there until it passes, which it usually does in a few minutes. I haven’t experienced that anywhere else.

The best mementos to bring home from the island? Your memories. —As told to Joe Bills

An Islander’s Isle au Haut

KENDRA CHUBBUCK Co-owner, Shore Shop Gifts

The one place that defines Isle au Haut for me is Head Harbor. It’s where I grew up, where I live, and where my ashes will go. It’s where my soul is and where I find contentment; it’s home. I look out my window and I see loons and ospreys and eagles and ducks and terns. People wouldn’t want to leave if they came here.

But getting here, it’s a struggle. You’ve got to pack everything, you’ve got to drive hours, and then take a mail boat because there’s no ferry. We call Isle au Haut “Lug au Haut.” My husband, John, and I took two years to build our house, bringing everything over on that mail boat. The logistics—it was incredible.

On the eastern side of Isle au Haut, Boom Beach is known for its jumble of rocks that have been pummeled by the ocean into rounded, almost sculptural shapes.

OPPOSITE : Off the coast of Vinalhaven, Captain Bobby Warren hauls in lobsters for his guests’ dinner aboard the F/V Seabreeze

A trio of young Isle au Haut summer visitors—Isabel Moran, Harper Frink, and Lolie Millspaugh—take a break from jumping into the ocean. OPPOSITE , FROM LEFT : An island pup, ready to prove that all four legs are sea legs; the mail that comes in on the morning boat winds up here, a fully functioning post office open six days a week.

When people come into my gift shop looking for places to visit, I send them to the Union Congregational Church . It’s 162 years old, and its chandelier is awesome. It takes us 45 minutes to light it. It’s kerosene. It’s huge. It’s got three wicks in each lantern and maybe 20 lanterns.

Then I send them to the town hall , especially if it’s library day. The library is open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in the summer, and the librarian makes blueberry muffins. The lighthouse, on Robinson Point —it’s awesome there. And Boom Beach , where all the rocks are round, though I don’t know how any are left because people take them for doorstops or to paint!

There’s a food truck, the Maine Lobster Lady, that has wonderful things to eat— chicken, vegetarian, sandwiches, and these great peanut butter balls—and it’s right beside the Island Store , which has garden fruits and vegetables, ice cream, and fresh seafood.

I always send people to Thunder Gulch . It’s a different hike with a different view that’s not on any national park map. It’s about a mile in, and you climb to a plateau where you can see Head Harbor. Duck Harbor Mountain is another option. It’s short but steep, and you don’t even have to go to the peak to get a super view. About half a mile from the top you can see the western Penobscot Hills, Vinalhaven, North Haven, and Saddleback Ledge.

Some may be bothered by the fact that they can’t get off the island. It’s very isolating to them: When’s the next boat? They feel like they’re trapped. I have landlines out here; my cellphone doesn’t work. That freaks people out.

Kids really love it here, though. We have Long Pond , a playground, games of volleyball or basketball at the town hall. They can ride bikes, play croquet and cards, go squid fishing at night.

You just need to relax and let go and not be so dependent on how you live on the mainland. You have to unhook. —As told to Ian Aldrich