YORK HARBOR

43° 07.80’N 070° 38.63’W

4th ed. Cruising Guide page 42

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Charts: 13283, 13286

Chart Kit: 56 (inset E), 15

Southern coast overview chart

YORK Harbor is the most secure harbor between Portsmouth and Portland, a fact that did not escape explorer Christopher Levett in 1624. “This is a good place for a plantation,” he wrote, “a good place for ships.” And so it is today. Tucked behind Stage Neck, just up the York River, the harbor is a wonderful surprise, full of yachts and lobsterboats, fishermen and summer folk, tranquillity and... current. It is also a fashionable summer resort with antique stores and art galleries, beautiful homes and historic sites, beaches and walking paths.
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The harbor’s security, however, comes at a price. The entrance requires a sharp turn in formidable current, with ledges close by on both sides. Despite the new, lighted bell buoy at the harbor entrance, a stranger would be courting disaster to attempt entering in fog or at night. A safer option is to run for Portsmouth Harbor, a few miles south.
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Approaches. York Harbor can be entered at all tides, but the sharp turn at nun “8” can be tricky during the maximum flood. If possible, plan to enter at slack water or against the ebb. Find the lighted red-and-white bell “YH” off York Harbor (43° 07.75’N 070° 37.05’W) and then head halfway between the buoys, leaving can “3” to port and nun “4” to starboard. Stage Neck is a peninsula lined with condominiums running from northeast to southwest. Aim for Stage Neck Light (Fl 4s 10M), a red, triangular shape on a small, white box with a light on top.
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Observe nun “6” and can “7” with care and stay to port of the line between can “7” and nun “8.” On a flood, the current will try to sweep you first toward Stage Neck and onto the ledge at nun “10” and then onto the opposite ledge at Harris Island. If you don’t see nun “8,” beware. On rare occasions it is pulled under by the current. Approach this turn with good steerage, keeping nun “8” a couple of boat lengths to starboard. Once nun “8” is abeam, make the sharp turn to starboard keeping your eye (not your boat!) on green daybeacon “11” marking the Harris Island ledge to port.
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Once past Harris Island ledge, the harbor is divided by Bragdon Island into North Basin and South Basin. Both basins are prone to silting, but they were dredged to approximately 8 feet in 1996. You can round out of the current in the mouth of the South Basin to catch your breath and get oriented to the harbor or to contact the harbormaster.
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Leaving York Harbor is the reverse of entering, with the changing factors of tide and current. To avoid Harris Island Ledge, keep just to the left of midchannel and turn sharply to port around nun “8.” But be sure to keep track of where you are. A flooding tide will set you to port, and it is easy to be aiming at can “7” and end up on Stage Neck. There is a lot of bottom paint on these ledges, and even the great and famous have come to grief here. Ticonderoga is said to have cut the nun close many years ago when leaving and ended up high and dry on Stage Neck. The embarrassed captain offered the then-astronomical sum of $50 to be towed off in secrecy during the night.
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Anchorages, Moorings. Anchoring is no longer allowed in York Harbor. The town has ten transient moorings, which are assigned and rented by the harbormaster (Ch. 09,16). They have depths at low of about 9 feet and can accomodate boats to 50 feet. If you can’t reach the harbormaster, York Harbor Marine on Harris Island or Donnell’s Marine to the north may be able to help.
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For the Boat. Agamenticus Yacht Club (207-363-8510). Located on the north side of the harbor, the AYC clubhouse and dinghy floats are the second farthest docks to the right, nearest Stage Neck (the farthest docks to the right belong to the Harborside Inn). Club facilities are limited to a two-hour dinghy tie-up and water at the floats, but people there are cordial and helpful.
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Donnell’s Marine (207-363-4308, 363-5324). Donnell’s dock is to the left of the yacht club and has four transient slips. They can accomodate lengths to 135 feet, with 10 feet along the outside at low. Water and electricity are on the dock.
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York Harbor Marine Service (Ch. 09, 16; 207-363-3602). Once past the narrows, York Harbor Marine is on the left, on Harris Island. They can provide transient dock space for lengths to 100 feet, with 6 feet of depth at low. Gas, diesel, water, and electricity to 50 amps are available on the docks. A ship’s store and parts for Johnson and Honda outboards are ashore. They can handle most boat and engine repairs, hauling with a 60-ton marine railway or a hydraulic trailer. Pump-out service is planned in conjunction with the town.
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For the Crew. York Harbor Marine has showers and laundry machines ashore.
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The town of York Harbor is at the north side of the harbor. Land your dinghy at the yacht club or Donnell’s, or at either of the two town floats, one on the north side of Bragdon Island near the bridge and one on the south side of Bragdon. In the town, Munchies cooks breakfasts and lunches and sells wine and beer, or try the Coffee Room at Dr. Hawke’s Pharmacy in the next block. The Post Office is nearby. Donnell’s sells live lobsters at the head of their dock.
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The next nearest provisions are at the Cumberland Farms convenience store in York Village, one mile away via Route 1A. On the way you’ll pass the large Foster’s Clambake restaurant. A laundromat is next to the Cumberland Farms and several banks are nearby.
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A right turn and another half-mile walk lead to a shopping center with an IGA, a hardware store, a bakery, a pharmacy, an auto parts store, and another laundromat. Before you start walking, check to see if the red trolley-bus is running from York Harbor. The stop is right at the Lancaster Building.

Things to Do. The Dockside Guest Quarters (363-2828) on Harris Island is wonderfully situated at the turn of the entrance channel, overlooking the ocean and river. Meals are served in a separate building with a screened porch. Walk out to the gazebo on the point and watch new arrivals negotiate (or fail to negotiate) the sharp turn.
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The manicured lawns of the Stage Neck Inn lead to a pleasant lounge overlooking the adjacent town beach. The word “stage” comes not from stagecoaches but from early fishing days when cod was dried and salted on stages or racks. The inn serves lunch and dinner by reservation (363-3850, 800-340-1130).
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The town beach is a crescent of white sand where you can swim in gentle surf. At the north end of the beach, you'll find the beginning of the Cliff Walk, which winds around the northern side of the harbor entrance between the sea and beautiful old summer cottages, making it one of the loveliest coastal walks in Maine. Beware, though, that the base of the walk gets covered at high tides or during storm conditions.
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In recent years a storm of a different kind has brewed over the Cliff Walk. Adjacent property owners threatened to close the trail, claiming ownership and associated liability and privacy concerns. The town fought to keep it open, and, as far as we know, prevailed, but please respect the privacy of the landowners.
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Another good walk that offers a taste of York history starts at the Agamenticus Yacht Club or Donnell’s Marine. Go left on a path along the riverbank called the Fisherman’s Walk. Cross the road and walk over the mouth of Barrells Mill Pond on the pedestrian Wiggly Bridge, said to be the smallest suspension bridge in the world, and probably the most aptly named. The path leads through a wooded nature preserve until it reaches paved Lindsay Road. Take a right and stroll half a mile into York Village.
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York Village is full of historic sites (www.oldyork.org). York originally was the Indian settlement of Agamenticus, wiped out by plague and resettled by colonists in 1630. Here Sir Ferdinando Gorges, friend of King Charles I, created the first city in North America in 1640. Anticipating becoming governor of New England, he called it “Georgeana.” But with the triumph of Oliver Cromwell, Gorges lost his power, and the city of Gorgeana was demoted to the Village of York.
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At the corner of Lindsay Road and York Street is Jefferds Tavern, and nearby is the Old Gaol. Built in 1719 with timbers from its 1653 predecessor, the Gaol is the oldest remaining English public building in the United States. Here you can visit cells and dungeons and the restored quarters where jailer William Emerson and his family lived cheek-by-jowl with the prisoners. His bedroom window even opened onto one of the cells.
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Near the Old Gaol are several other buildings open to the public, including the Old Schoolhouse and the Old Burying Ground, with some fascinating headstones dating back to the early 1700s. A plaque in the cemetery says, “Near this spot are interred the remains of the victims of one of the worst massacres of colonial days. On Candlemas Day, 1692, on the dawn of a January morning, Abenaki Indians attacked the settlement of York, burning the houses and capturing 300 of it inhabitants. About 40 were killed. The rest marched to Canada, many dying on the way.” There the captured inhabitants of York were sold as servants to the French.
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If you have a dinghy with an outboard, the upper reaches of the York River beg for exploration. Remember the strong current. You can land the dinghy at the John Hancock Warehouse and Wharf, now a museum, to shorten the walk into York Village.
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Leaving York Harbor, if the weather suits, drop the lunch hook off the town beach outside Stage Neck in 10 to 12 feet of water at low, and have a swim. Head in for the middle of the beach, keeping halfway between nuns “6” and “4,” and anchor a little way past Fort Point.