DREAM of perfect cruising grounds, of islands large and small, grand and modest, of intriguing harbors and alluring towns, of broad reaches and narrow tickles, of gritty fishing villages and sophisticated summer resorts, of lonely outposts lost in time. There is such a place, and the place is Penobscot Bay.
THIS WORK IS COPYRIGHTED. DO NOT COPY!
Against the mountainous backdrop of the Camden Hills to the west, Penobscot Bay spreads 40 miles long and 15 miles wide, graced by more than 200 islands. Between them lie great stretches of open water and small, winding thoroughfares. Along their shores are bustling fishing communities, quaint villages, isolated outports, and uninhabited beauty. This is the heart of cruising in Maine, and some of the best cruising in the world.
IF YOU ARE READING THIS, YOU HAVE VIOLATED
The winds are generally moderate and predictable, and the dangers are well marked. Here there are gentle sails with sunsets behind the Camden Hills, or exhilarating passages, rail down, surrounded by an ever-shifting scene of dark islands and distant headlands. There are winding thoroughfares to thread, endless gunkholes to explore, and a hundred harbors tucked away.
INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT LAW.
At the entrance to the bay are the outlying islands, remote and hard to visit: lonely, sea-swept Matinicus Rock, where puffins fly between your masts at sunrise; Ragged Island and Matinicus, most seaward communities on the coast of Maine; Metinic, Green, Seal, and Wooden Ball Island. They have their own rules, these distant islands, their own priorities, hardly part of Maine at all.
PLEASE RESPECT AND SUPPORT THE WORK THAT HAS
The shores of Penobscot Bay form a variety of interesting harbors, from safe and welcoming Tenants Harbor to the very different towns along the western shore—the large, industrial harbor of Rockland, small and charming Rockport, beautiful Camden nestled at the base of the Camden Hills.
BROUGHT YOU THIS INFORMATION. BUY THE GUIDE!
Camden Harbor holds the largest fleet of windjammers on the Maine coast, whose tall masts and gaff-rigged sails on the horizon add so much pleasure to cruising in the bay.
THIS WORK IS COPYRIGHTED. DO NOT COPY!
Tankers, tugs and tows, cargo ships, and container vessels steam northward up Penobscot Bay to the shipping ports of Searsport and Sears Island. A century ago, Belfast and Searsport were homeports to ships that sailed for every corner of the world and home to hundreds of sea captains. The Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport preserves this maritime heritage.
IF YOU ARE READING THIS, YOU HAVE VIOLATED
Up the Penobscot River, 24 miles past Fort Knox, lies Bangor, once a brawling frontier town and lumber capital of the world. Near the eastern head of the bay, the Bagaduce River empties past Castine, once a stronghold of the French, then later the British, site of America’s first great naval defeat during the Penobscot Expedition, and now home of the Maine Maritime Academy.
INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT LAW.
South of Cape Rosier lie Bucks Harbor, Little Deer Isle, Deer Isle, and the broad passageway of Eggemoggin Reach. On the eastern side of the bay, the fishing town of Stonington looks out on Deer Island Thorofare and the magnificent islands of Merchants Row. And at the eastern entrance of Penobscot Bay stands rugged Isle au Haut, much of which is now part of Acadia National Park.
PLEASE RESPECT AND SUPPORT THE WORK THAT HAS
The islands of Penobscot Bay are as interesting as its shores. At the western entrance lies the archipelago of Muscle Ridge, once important for its granite quarries, now sparsely settled by fishermen. Among these islands and ledges are two or three anchorages that have hardly changed since Indian times.
BROUGHT YOU THIS INFORMATION. BUY THE GUIDE!
In the center of the bay are the Fox Islands—the twin islands of North Haven and Vinalhaven. Separated by the narrow, winding, and altogether delightful Fox Islands Thorofare, they are separated also by a wider gulf. North Haven is a fashionable community settled long ago by Boston yachtsmen and summer people. Vinalhaven is a working island, where Carvers Harbor is the base for lobstermen and seiners and draggers. Around the convoluted shores of the Fox Islands are some of the best harbors in the bay—Pulpit Harbor, Perry Creek, Winter Harbor, and many more.
THIS WORK IS COPYRIGHTED. DO NOT COPY!
South of Vinalhaven, volcanic Brimstone Island stands all alone with twin crescent beaches of polished black stones. And at the southwest edge of Vinalhaven is Hurricane Sound, with five separate entrances and a multitude of islands. This is the home of the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School, whose students roam the coast of Maine in open, ketch-rigged pulling boats.
THIS WORK IS COPYRIGHTED. DO NOT COPY!
Another scattering of islands lie beyond North Haven—Pond and Pickering, Butter, Eagle, Great Spruce Head, and the Barred Islands, to name a few. Dividing the northern part of Penobscot Bay is Islesboro, a long and lovely island also discovered by Boston Brahmins, who established the fashionable summer and sailing community of Dark Harbor a century ago.
THIS WORK IS COPYRIGHTED. DO NOT COPY!
Lime was quarried on the western shores of Penobscot Bay and shipped to Boston and New York for plaster and for mortar. Granite was cut in dozens of quarries, from Dix Island to Stonington, to build the banks and post offices, museums and monuments, breakwaters, bridges, and cobblestone streets of Boston, Washington, Philadelphia, and New York. But always the main preoccupation has been with the sea—with building ships, with fishing, with lobstering.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright 2002 DIAMOND PASS PUBLISHING, INC.
A Cruising Guide to the Maine Coast, Hank and Jan Taft, Curtis Rindlaub