REGIONS OF THE MAINE COAST
ONLY 250 miles as the crow flies, Maine’s convoluted coastline measures more than 3,500 miles. A new computerized study using satellite images has logged the length at a whopping 5,500 miles (see note below) with 6,200 islands. By any count, there is enough coast here for a lifetime of cruising.
Arguably the best cruising grounds are Penobscot Bay, Blue Hill and Frenchman Bay, Mount Desert, and the offshore islands. These islands and offer an enormous variety of fishing villages, resort towns, and remote coves framed against the spectacular backdrop of Mount Desert and the Camden Hills.
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But that doesn’t mean you must go way Down East to see the real Maine. There is wonderful sailing in the western part of the state as well, from Kittery to the Kennebec River. Casco Bay has most of the natural features of Penobscot Bay, although being closer to population centers, it also has more boats. The midcoast and Muscongus Bay have a reputation for being difficult—a lot of rocks and a lot of rivers—but they also have fewer boats and a wealth of new places to explore.
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East of Mount Desert, Maine becomes more austere and challenging. To anchor off beautiful Roque Island beach is the goal of many sailors, and others aim beyond, way Down East to the Passamaquoddy Bay region, with its sparsely settled shores and awesome tides. And those who just can’t get enough set their course for Saint John and the warm, freshwater pleasures of the Saint John River. Perhaps these are things to do, not on your first cruise to Maine, but after you have savored the more accessible cruising grounds of the western and central coast.
This spring we received the somewhat frightening news the Maine Department of Tourism has used our number of 5,500 miles for the length of the Maine coast in all of their materials. Somebody must have asked them about where the figure came from, and the fellow who relied on A Cruising Guide to the Maine Coast was in hot water for not really knowing the source. I remembered it coming from one of the publications of the Island Institute. Though I haven't taken the time to track it down in my six-years worth of files, David Platt of the Island Institute confirmed that they had indeed published the results of GIS surveys, and that he believed the latest figure was now closer to 7,000 miles! The source of these studies is someone at the College of the Atlantic. David couldn't offhand remember his name, but he can be contacted by calling and asking for the "GIS guy." The point, of course, is that it while the numbers keep growing, the actual length remains the same.
It's also nice to know that when the Department of Tourism needs to know something about the Maine coast, they turn to the Guide.
In a final e-mail, Sharon Thomas of the Maine Department of Tourism writes:
After our last e-mail, I contacted the College of the Atlantic, to verify the information from the "GIS guy". The "GIS guy", first name is Gordon, is on leave for an undetermined length of time. Anyway, asked who would be taking his place and was told one of the lab techs would get back to me.
Yesterday, Tora Johnson called to inform me that the length of Maine's Coastline would very, depending on what measurement was used and that really there weren't any wrong answers. I asked her if there was some way to get a measurement that would support the approximately 5,500 miles that Dann has listed in all of the Maine Office of Tourism's publications, she said that I should contact the Maine GIS Department. I contacted David Kirouac at the Maine GIS Department, explained what I was looking for and why, David said he would get back to me this morning. I just received a phone call from him saying that the length of Maine's Coastline is 3,500 miles without the islands and 5,500 with the islands included.
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