LITTLE RIVER Cutler

44° 39.33’N 068° 12.35’W

4th ed. Cruising Guide page 358

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Charts: 13392, 13325

Chart Kit: 25 (inset)

Downeast region overview chart Harbor chart

Tidal Range: Mean 13.5 feet; Spring 15.4 feet

CUTLER is a working harbor with a small fleet of lobsterboats and a pleasant little town of 400 residents, but it is more than that. The island at its entrance provides a warm and prehistoric feeling of security, like the rock at the mouth of your cave.
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This is the last good harbor in Maine before Eastport—easy to enter and well-protected in almost all conditions. The southern tip of Canada’s Grand Manan Island is visible out the entrance, and Cutler is the best place from which to sail for Machias Seal Island or Grand Manan, six miles offshore.
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On a return trip from Canada, you can check in here with U.S. Customs by phoning their Lubec office (207-733-4331).
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Like many other Maine coastal towns, the history of Cutler includes a golden era of shipbuilding, from 1845 to 1855. Excursion vessels docked here in the 1880s, but since then, it has been pretty quiet.
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Unfortunately, Cutler is better known elsewhere in the world. Because the VLF radio towers on Cutler Peninsula are used to communicate with submerged U.S. subs, Cutler has been grouped with the Pentagon, the White House, and SAC headquarters in Omaha as likely first targets in a nuclear war.
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Approaches. Approaching from the west, the enormous Cutler Peninsula radio towers near Little River are visible a long way up the coast, popping in and out from behind the headlands. Then Western Head appears around the corner, looking at first like a little wooded island.
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First find red-and-white bell “LR” (44° 39.18’N 068° 10.89’W) outside the entrance.
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The harbor is not immediately obvious. Enter north of Little River Island, with its 56-foot light tower, observing nun “2,” which marks the ledge just beyond. As you approach the nun, the entrance opens up, comfortably wide.
Past the nun, be careful of the weir that extends a long way from the right shore. Salmon pens may be moored along both shores, but they are well out of the channel.
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Anchorages, Moorings. Lobsterboats are moored in two groups, opposite each of the two working docks. The first group is in the little indentation to the right, and the second is toward the head of the harbor. Fitzhenry’s Wharf has six rental moorings.
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There is room to anchor on the south side of the harbor between the two groups of moorings in a good mud bottom 14 to 16-feet deep at low. Protection is excellent, with only slight exposure to the southeast. Note the cable area farther to the east.
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Be sure to put out enough scope. Lobstermen report that yachts drag and go aground here every year. You may be offered a vacant mooring stake.
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Currently there is a bit of a mooring war going on here. To keep the peace, Cutler will probably soon appoint a harbormaster—“Or two. Or three,” one fisherman says.
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Getting Ashore. Both lobster docks have vertical ladders from their floats. Land your dinghy on the beach in the middle of town, where fishermen careen and paint their boats.
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For the Boat. In an emergency, gas and diesel may be obtained at the two lobster docks. Normally these commercial operations would rather not cater to cruising boats.
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A.M. Look Canning Co. (207-259-7712). Look’s dock and red shack is closest to the entrance, in the indentation to the right. There is 3 to 4 feet at low alongside the small float.
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Deano’s Wharf, Little River Lobster (207-259-7704). Deano’s dock is about 300 yards farther into the harbor, with 7 to 8 feet alongside the float.
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Fitzhenry Wharf (207-259-7797). Sterling Fitzhenry runs a wharf on the southern shore, diagonally across from Deano’s. He has four slips for dockage, three commercial moorings, and six rental moorings, as well as 15 parking spaces ashore.
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For the Crew. In recent years the Village Store, across the street from the docks, has closed, leaving the village with the empty air of a ghost town. Cutler General Store and Diner (259-7122), up the hill to the right, across from the post office, is filling in the gap. They have a breakfast and lunch counter, snacks, and a pool table.
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Walk up the hill to the left to find the Little River Lodge (259-4437), across the street from the town hall. They can provide yachtsmen with showers and a phone and serve dinner by reservation. It also makes a convenient base for crew changes. The library is at the top of the hill.
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Things to Do. This is a fascinating place to observe the workings of a Downeast fishing community. Watch the boats bringing in their catch and visit with local residents, who couldn’t be friendlier or more outgoing to visitors on boats. There is a peaceful back road east along the coast past Money Cove, about a 20-minute walk.
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Both of the beautiful headlands at the entrance to Little River are now open to the public. To explore the more than three miles of wild and unspoiled coastline from Western Head to neighboring Great Head, owned by Maine Coast Heritage Trust, land your dinghy somewhere convenient on the western shore and follow the road and path toward the sea.
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Eastern Knubble is protected by a conservation easement. Walk eastward along the road toward Money Cove (shown on chart 13392). Just after the last house on the right before Money Cove, look for a tiny path to the right with a “Money Cove” sign. One branch of this woodland path leads to the headland, another to the cove itself.
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Farther east, just south of Holmes Cove, the Bureau of Public Lands has acquired a 2,174 acre parcel along 4.5 miles of the “Bold Coast.” Hitch a ride east on Rt. 191 for several miles to reach the trailhead of the Cutler Coast Reserve. Once there, you will be rewarded by carefully crafted trails and breathtaking vistas.

For views of a feathered kind, book a trip with Captain Andrew Patterson. His Bold Coast Charters runs trips to Machias Seal Island to see puffins, razorbills, and artic terns.