SAND COVE Winter Harbor

44° 23.00’N 068° 05.40’W

4th ed. Cruising Guide page 329

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Charts: 13322, 13312, 13318

Chart Kit: 74(A), 73, 23

Mount Desert region overview chart Harbor chart

GRINDSTONE NECK is no more than five miles east of Bar Harbor by water. Inspired by its proximity, a group of New Yorkers and Philadelphians bought it in 1889, “for development into a cottage colony of the character, for instance, of Tuxedo, of Llewellyn Park, or of North East Harbor.”
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In time, the great cottages of Bar Harbor have been recycled as nursing homes, museums, and motels, but the summer colony on Grindstone Neck has maintained its character. Though socially exclusive, the people of Grindstone Neck have always believed that the beauties of the land should be open to everyone, so there is access to the shoreline, and “the rocks are free.”
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The handsome Winter Harbor Yacht Club is on the west side of Sand Cove. Proudly moored in front of the club is their fleet of all nine Winter Harbor 21s in existence, carefully researched, collected, and meticulously restored.
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Approaches. From red-and-green gong “MI” (Fl (2+1) G 6s, 44° 21.49’N 068° 05.11’W) off Mark Island, follow Grindstone Neck around into the cove, staying well clear of Grindstone Ledge to port.
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Anchorages, Moorings. For a mooring rental*, ask the launch attendant or at the Winter Harbor Yacht Club clubhouse, the large, gray-shingled building on the west side of the cove whose cupola is shown on the chart. The mooring floats are mostly white lobster buoys, marked “Guest.”

* August 2005, Trump Bradley reports this mooring costs $25
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You can anchor off to the north or outside the moored boats, as many yachts do. Holding ground is reported to be good in the vicinity of the club but questionable north of the mooring field. The anchorage is open and exposed to the south and likely to be quite rolly.
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Getting Ashore. Land at the yacht club floats or call the launch.
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For the Boat. Winter Harbor Yacht Club (Ch. 16 or 71; 207-963-2275). The yacht club floats have water and electricity, with 20 feet alongside. Stay clear of the southern floats, which are private.
COPYRIGHT 2002 DIAMOND PASS PUBLISHING
For the Crew. The yacht club is hospitable to visiting yachtsmen and offers launch service and showers. Lunch is served in the comfortable clubhouse, where a fire burns on cold days. Look for the grindstone set in the fieldstone chimney and an old print of the original land division on Grindstone Neck. There is a pay phone.
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Walk north on the shore road for just over a mile, past the golf course, to the town of Winter Harbor. Once past the fieldstone-and-shingle library, you will find a classic drugstore with a soda fountain and an equally classic 5&10¢ store, the last of its breed. A pay phone is outside, and the school, with its playground, is around the corner.
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A good IGA market (with ice) is down the hill and so is the post office, a hardware store, several restaurants, and Mama’s Boy Bakery. Often a yacht club member will spot you lugging groceries and offer a ride back to the clubhouse.
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Things to Do. It is a pleasant walk of about a mile from the yacht club to the end of Grindstone Point, with its great smooth whalebacks of pink granite striped by dikes of black basalt. The mountains of Mount Desert lie on the horizon, beyond the islands scattered in the bay.
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