SMALL and beautiful Rockport is on the west side of Penobscot Bay, between Rockland and Camden. Fifty years ago, Rockport was home to lobstermen and fishermen who built their weirs in the harbor, but today the harbor is mainly for pleasure boats.
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With all of the boats moored here, it is a wonder that the 70-foot windjammer Timberwind can make her way among them without an engine. It’s a lovely sight to see her glide past Indian Island under sail, drop all canvas, and come boldly in, pushed by her little yawlboat, turning in the last possible open space at the head of the harbor to nestle alongside her float.
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Although Rockport is popular as a harbor, it often is not a comfortable one. Exposed to the south, the harbor gathers up the ocean swells. The “Rockport roll” is well known to those who live aboard.
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In the 19th century, Rockport was at the heart of the midcoast lime industry, and you can still see remnants of several old kilns on the waterfront. The kilns inspire images of the night sky aglow with fires, the harbor crowded with kilnwooders unloading cords of four-foot spruce logs and limers loading casks for Boston and New York. Great piles of white lime tailings are still visible in Walker Park and on the banks of the Goose River. One story has it that a locomotive is buried in one of these piles, and small boys dig and dream.
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Approaches. Rockport harbor chart. Rockport is an easy harbor to enter, the only danger being Porterfield Ledge, topped with a granite marker. In poor visibility, find red-and-white bell “RO” (44° 09.47’N 069° 03.18’W) off Indian Island, and then the light on Lowell Rock.
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Do not cut the abandoned lighthouse on Indian Island close—a ledge makes out well south of the lighthouse to the present light structure on Lowell Rock, which you leave to starboard.
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Continue in among the moored boats to the head of the harbor, noting red beacon “4” on Seal Ledge to starboard and green beacon “5” on the rocks to port, well inside the harbor and often hidden by the moored boats.
Anchorages, Moorings. Rockport Marine, at the northeast end of the harbor, maintains moorings for rent and also offers space alongside, with 10 feet of depth at low.
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At the northwest end of the harbor, Rockport Marine Park has several floats with 6 feet at low. An overnight tie-up can be arranged, but space is limited and this location is uncomfortable with any sea.
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Across the Goose River from the park is the small red building of the Rockport Boat Club, with floats for temporary tie-up, recently dredged to 6 feet of water at low. The club also maintains a guest mooring.
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Rockport Harbor is now full of moorings, with little or no space to anchor except well outside, where the depths run 50 feet or more.
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Getting Ashore. Take your dinghy in to the floats at the public landing at the head of the harbor, or to Rockport Marine on the east side, or to the Marine Park on the west side.
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For the Boat. E.S. Bohndell & Co. (207-236-3549). Half a mile from Rockport Harbor, on Route 1, the Bohndell sailmaking and rigging firm has been in business for more than a century.
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Rockport Boat Club. Water and electricity are available at the floats, but no other facilities. Visiting yachtsmen are welcome to use the clubhouse, which has a pay phone.
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Rockport Marine, Inc. (207-236-9651). Taylor Allen’s expanded Rockport Marine specializes in building, restoration, and repair of wooden boats. They can, however, provide hull and engine repairs for boats of all kinds, and they have a 35-ton boatlift. In addition to dockage and moorings, the yard offers gas, diesel, water, pump-outs, and electricity at the floats, with 9 feet or more alongside. Ice and marine hardware are available.
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Rockport Marine Park (harbormaster, 207-236-0676). Occasionally there is dock space at the town floats, on the south side of the harbor, with 6 feet of depth at low.
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For the Crew. There are pay phones at the public landing. Rockport Marine has a shower for yachtsmen, and upstairs is the popular Sail Loft Restaurant, offering lunch, dinner, and Sunday brunch overlooking the harbor. Call 236-2330 for reservations.

Lisa and Bob Halpin wirte:
Hi....my husband and I just finished our first cruise from Casco Bay to
Bucks Harbor........your book was wonderful....user friendly and very
helpful........just wanted to mention that when we went ashore in
Rockport to eat dinner, we discovered that the wonderful restaurant The
Sail Loft had closed.......so we went to Plan B (which we are very good
at) and had gnocchi with cheese, salad, and red wine on board........but
anyway, I thought you might like that iinfo if you update your
guide........thanks again......

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Just up the hill is The Corner Shop, a wonderfully un-fancy eatery with pine bench booths, where carpenters and fishermen rub elbows with students from the Maine Photographic Workshop. Breakfast and lunch are available at reasonable prices, cardiologist’s visit not included.
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It’s worth the .75-mile walk to The Market Basket (236-4371), a gourmet deli with a good variety of wine, cheese, French bread, and fresh produce. Cross the bridge to Pascal Avenue and walk south along the western side of the harbor, then right on West Street to the intersection of Route 1 and Route 90. Stop at the Sweet Sensations Pastry Shop on your way. OK, stop on the way back, too.
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Camden, with a wide selection of restaurants and shops, is only a few miles away. For a cab, call Don’s Taxi (236-4762). For local use, you can rent a car at Smith’s Garage (236-2320).
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Things to Do. Walk east out of town, then turn northward on Russell Avenue, past the golf course and the Lily Pond. You may see a herd of Belted Galloways, a distinctive breed of cattle, black with broad white belts. If you continue past a cemetery with an ocean view, you will eventually arrive in Camden.
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For good views of the harbor, walk up Russell Avenue to Mechanic Street and then along the eastern side of the harbor toward Beauchamp Point. Take a left on Chapel Road to the lovely open-air Children’s Chapel and gardens.
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Rockport’s Marine Park is on the south side of the harbor, and it contains the last of the lime kilns and a tiny Vulcan steam locomotive that used to haul limestone from the quarries on a 3-mile narrow-gauge railway.
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It also has a statue commemorating Andre the Seal, whose story is a wonderful children’s book to have onboard. A plaque reads:

Abandoned at birth, he was found, befriended, raised and trained by Harry Goodridge of Rockport, Maine. Andre is honorary Harbormaster of Rockport Harbor and is a celebrity of more than local renown. His antics have delighted people far and wide. Andre is a harbor seal (Phoca vitulina), the only species that occurs regularly in New England waters.

During the summer of 1986, Andre, aged 25, disappeared. His body washed up in Rockland Harbor in July, and he was buried at the end of the lawn on the Goodridge place. He is gone, mourned by young people and adults alike, but his life-size statue remains in Rockport Marine Park for children to sit on and hug.
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Just north of the bridge is another pleasant park along the west side of the Goose River. A third park, the Marine Park, sits on the west shore of the harbor, with swings, a jungle gym, and harbor swimming.
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Up Main Street, to the right, is the Rockport Opera House, where Bay Chamber Concerts are held Thursday nights (and some Friday nights) with well-known piano soloists, string quartets, and other performers. Just beyond the Opera House, the Maine Coast Artists Gallery displays the works of Maine artists in a onetime livery stable and firehouse. The public library is across the street.
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Right up the hill, opposite the Corner Shop, is the Maine Photographic Workshop, a Mecca for people from all over the country who come for its acclaimed courses in photography. During the summer, special lectures and shows are open to the public. The workshop also operates a well-stocked camera store. You probably will encounter shutterbugs from the school here or elsewhere along the coast, so if you do nothing else, smile.