HEAD HARBOR and THE COWS YARD

entrance: 44° 29.83’N 067° 31.64’W

4th ed. Cruising Guide page 347

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Charts: 13326, 13325

Chart Kit: 77, 24

Downeast region overview chart Eastern Bay chart Harbor chart

THE COWS YARD is a secure anchorage, attractive and easy to enter under any conditions from the south through Head Harbor. It’s one of the best harbors between Mount Desert and Roque Island. If you are caught out in fog or bad weather, this is a good refuge. The anchorage is largely undeveloped, with only a few summer cottages
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This coast is steep-to all the way from Crumple Island, past Great Wass, Mistake Island, and Head Harbor. Even in thick fog you can approach within visual range without getting into trouble and run along the 150-foot bottom contour with your fathometer, paralleling the coast. Or you can tack in toward the cliffs, seeing and hearing the breaking surf in plenty of time to come about for the next outward leg.
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There are two excellent clues to help you find the entrance as you coast along toward Head Harbor and The Cows Yard. First is the lonely lighthouse at Moose Peak, whose foghorn has warned mariners since 1827. The second is a dramatic difference between the light-colored rocks on the west side of the entrance and the dark rocks of Head Harbor Island and Man Island on the east side of the entrance.
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Approaches. The western ledge at the entrance to Head Harbor normally breaks. The first ledge to starboard, off the little point with trees, is visible above halftide. Run up the middle of Head Harbor, aiming for a rock that forms the entrance to The Cows Yard, identifiable by a long, gray-shingled cottage to the right of it. Enter The Cows Yard halfway between the rock to starboard, which shows at all tides, and the island to port.
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Anchorages, Moorings. The Cows Yard is much shallower than shown on the chart but still big enough to provide anchorage for several boats. Where the chart shows 20 feet, the actual depth is only 9 or 10 feet at low. Do not go past the second island to port. Best protection is found toward the east side of the deep water, behind the big rock that forms the entrance. There is considerable kelp on the bottom, so make sure your anchor is set.
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Even with a strong southwest wind, hardly any ocean swell penetrates into The Cows Yard. This is generally a serene anchorage, often with the reassuring double note of the Moose Peak foghorn.
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The same cannot be said of the outer Head Harbor, which has a rocky bottom and is exposed to ocean swells.