MUD HOLE Great Wass Island

entrance: 44° 29.05’N 067° 34.70’W

4th ed. Cruising Guide page 345

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Charts: 13326, 13325

Chart Kit: 77, 24

Downeast region overview chart Eastern Bay chart Harbor chart

MUD HOLE is a wonderfully private and well-protected anchorage on the east coast of Great Wass Island. It is difficult to enter, but once inside, you are in a completely natural little fjord lined with granite and spruce, with herons, seagulls, and bald eagles for company. Best of all, Mud Hole gives you easy access to The Nature Conservancy’s Great Wass Island Preserve and some wonderful trails through mossy forests and stands of rare, gnarled jack pines, across sunny—or foggy—granite ledges, and out along the cliffs of Eastern Bay.
COPYRIGHT 2002 DIAMOND PASS PUBLISHING
Don’t be surprised to find yourself sharing Mud Hole with several million clamlets growing in incubator cars. They are part of an experiment by the University of Maine at Machias underwritten by a group of nearby towns and shellfish dealers. The plan is to raise clams from spawn at the Beals Island hatchery (497-5769) and to distribute millions of juvenile clams to participating towns for seeding on local clam flats.
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Approaches. Approach through Mud Hole Channel, paralleling and favoring the line of islands and ledges south and west of Mistake Island. Black Ledges to port are usually breaking, but note the position of their northernmost rocks. Green Island is the first little island with trees to starboard. Mink Island is the second. Well before reaching Mink Island, bear westward and head in north of Mud Hole Point, giving it a wide berth.
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For years an old weir was rotting along the south shore. It was located just north of the word “Hole” in “Mud Hole Pt.” on the chart. To avoid any remains, approach near the northern entrance point where the chart shows 14 feet (see sketch chart).
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A ledge sits smack dab in the middle of Mud Hole's narrow entrance. It covers at about halftide, but its dark shape and rockweed are still discernible until a couple of hours before high—the ideal time to enter.
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Use the channel to the south of the ledge. After approaching the northern entrance point to avoid the weir, turn sharply to port and head directly over to the south shore. Creep along this shore until you have safely passed the midchannel ledge to starboard. The lobster buoys will usually give you an indication of the deep water which runs close by the southern shore to port. The kelp in the channel will fool your depthsounder and make your heart leap into your mouth.
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After passing the entrance ledge, continue to favor the south shore until you have passed a second ledge extending southward from the north shore. After the ledge, the anchorage widens.
COPYRIGHT 2002 DIAMOND PASS PUBLISHING
Anchorages, Moorings. The deep water runs a relatively short distance west of the second ledge. Feel your way in slowly and anchor in 12 to 20 feet at low. Sometimes, as part of the aquaculture operation, a floating shed is moored where the deep water begins to shoal. You may find it useful to put out a stern anchor to keep from swinging with the tide into shallower water. The bottom—you guessed it—is mud.
COPYRIGHT 2002 DIAMOND PASS PUBLISHING
Getting Ashore. Row to the south shore of the anchorage and tie up to a convenient tree.
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Things to Do. The Mud Hole Trail runs along the south shore of the harbor. Scramble up the hill 50 yards or so until you reach the well-defined trail. For a long, three or four-hour walk, head west to the parking lot and then back via the Little Cape Cove Trail, closing the loop by walking along the cliffs and beaches and northward back to Mud Hole Point.
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For a shorter walk, head east from the anchorage on Mud Hole Trail to the cliffs at Mud Hole Point. Then walk south along the shore to Little Cape Point.
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Just south of Mud Hole Point, after a good rain, a gurgling stream runs out of the woods and over the shelving granite to form Taft’s Bath—a delightful series of little pools, basins, and cascades of fresh water just right for sitting and splashing. Dry off in the sun on the warm rocks.
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