We recently took our annual trip to Monhegan Island, a treasured tradition for over 40 years.

A blue-sky Maine day enhanced the experience. The calm waters made for a smooth ride to the island with Hardy Boat Tours out of New Harbor. We chatted with three Bowdoin College students during the ride. They were planning to spend the day working on their summer research project on the island, which involves determining the ages of various trees. We also met an older couple from Maryland and shared memories of our years there: Cheering on the “Os” (the Orioles) and going “downy oshun” (meaning, in Baltimorese, going to Ocean City), with its fabulous Thrasher French fries, doused in vinegar.

We took a good hike across the island to White Head, which provides spectacular views of the ocean. During the walk, we encountered a guy who remembered us from his days working at Gelato Fiasco. We met a woman who, having noticed my Bowdoin T-shirt, said that she played volleyball for Bowdoin years ago. We cheered on a young family who were going to walk through Cathedral Woods with its magical fairy houses. We noticed that our footing had become less sure than the days when we used to scurry along.

While walking through the village after the hike, we met three entrepreneurial young girls who had opened an art stand. They had painted small note cards and were selling them for $1 each. They pointed out that half the proceeds were to go to an island organization. That was an easy sell and a wonderful purchase.

We were able to direct two young women to the Island Brewery, because we had gone there a few years ago with one of our Bowdoin host students and his girlfriend.

While sitting on the dock waiting for the boat scheduled to return us to New Harbor, we chatted with a young woman who was a student at the University of Southern Maine. She’d grown up in a small Maine town, the first of her family to go to college. She wasn’t sure of her major or what she wanted to do with her life. We tried to be supportive. She was clearly bright and motivated, but a little lost.

“It’s so hard for young people today,” she said. “There are so few good jobs and you can’t afford to rent a place. I don’t want to move back in with my parents.” She seemed to appreciate our encouragement.

While chatting with the young woman, I noticed over her shoulder the huge yacht we had passed as we entered the harbor earlier that day. I remembered saying at that time, “I’ve never seen a big boat like that at Monhegan.” What a contrast, I thought to myself, this lost young woman worrying about her future and that mammoth yacht, which fairly shrieks “Look at me!”

The captain of the Hardy boat saw fit to make some comments about the huge yacht.

“It cost $150 million to build, but you can rent it for $1.5 million a week. A billionaire steel executive from Canada owns it. The boat is called Man of Steel.” Hmmm … I think I’ll pass up the opportunity.

We sat near the Bowdoin students again and one of them immediately did research on the boat. He reported that the man who owns the boat contributed $1.5 million to Trump’s presidential campaign and was later fined over $900,000 for trying to influence a presidential election. (Insert your own expletive here.)

In fairness, people are free to spend their money any way they want. But it’s a very sad state of affairs when billionaires flaunt their wealth so openly and choose to support a man whose god is greed. Ah well, we’ll return to Monhegan next year, but I sure hope that Man of Steel and its ilk don’t spoil the waters around this beautiful island.

David Treadwell, a Brunswick writer, welcomes commentary and suggestions for future “Just a Little Old” columns at dtreadw575@aol.com.