Frye Island ... A Community Managed by its Owners

Photos from a trek to Frye Island in February: Slide Show

The winter trip to the island during DerbyFest Weekend, Feb 22-24 was a success. Several Islanders cross country skied or went over by snowmobile on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The weather was picture perfect. I was actually surprised by the number of Islanders that spent the weekend. The snowmobiling conditions on the Island are great.

The island is buried under three to four feet of snow, extremely rare, even for southern Maine. The power is out on Highpoint Road and some of the side roads due to a tree falling on the wires. Other than that, there is very little winter storm damage to report.

Ken Thurston, from FIDPW, was appointed Constable for the winter and makes daily trips around the island providing all of us with some piece of mind. He is doing a great job and takes it very seriously. He is also quite busy shoveling roofs and decks for his Winter Watch customers.

The Lake has finally completely frozen although there are still many unsafe areas, especially off the northeast tip of the Island and near the island ferry landing. There were cars and trucks on the ice in Jordan Bay for the Fishing Derby with the ice thickness reported at 18 inches by the locals. In contrast to that, the ice is only 6 inches thick off the west side of the island. If you are considering a trip out to the Island, access is best gained by using Recreation Beach. There are no services of any kind available, so be safe and plan accordingly.

Dave Bond
Lot 297