I think you are seeing two phenomena here. 1) rightly or wrongly, people are generally reluctant to give up the name of "their guy" when it comes to home services. They figure that potentially makes their own wait longer next time they need the contractor... 2) Others may not have a recommendation to give, having also failed to find someone willing to do island work. The various trades are booked out a year or more on non-island work, so while you might think this would be a profitable need not being met, the painters see they have enough work and don't want the hassle of transferring their equipment and supplies over to a barge (or having a boat of their own) to make their way to an island.
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