GOULDSBORO and Dyer Bays have little to offer the cruising sailor. Both are five or six miles long, but they hold no significant harbors, and their northern ends dwindle to narrow, unmarked estuaries.
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Gouldsboro Bay is probably the more attractive of the two. The handsome Sally Islands lie across the entrance, and the bay itself is wide and open for several miles, with a miniature range of beautiful hills at its head. There is an active weir on the west side of the bay near Newman Cove. West Bay is choked with unmarked ledges and shoal areas, as is Joy Bay, leading to Steuben.
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Of the several entrances to Gouldsboro Bay, the easiest is Western Passage. The current can be two or three knots, but it runs straight through the channel, and Sheep Island is bold on the eastern side. Be sure to identify the Sally Islands correctly to make sure you are in the right place. Outer Bar Island and Bar Island are both low, with just a few trees. Sheep Island is heavily wooded. Leave Sheep Island close to port. The channel is about 100 yards wide.
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In the early 1980s, Gouldsboro Bay was selected for a detailed study by the Smithsonian Institution as a representative water body of the Maine coast. The resulting Washington exhibit includes mudflat, rocky shore, and salt marsh, complete with rockweed, crabs, lobsters, and a three-foot tide.
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Dyer Bay, next door to Gouldsboro, flanks the west side of low-lying Petit Manan Point. It is marked by sandy bluffs at Yellow Birch Head and by Eagle Hill near the head of the bay.

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