First trip to Maine coast

[esingleman]

My wife and I just got back back from Booth Bay Harbor and Camden Maine. Living in the Albany NY area has confined us to mostly fresh water sailing of my little Pooduck Skiff, but this past weekend we ventured to Maine to bring the boat a little closer to Joel White's intended playground. We sailed her off of Ocean Point on a beautiful day with 10 knot winds and I had the best time of my life sailing amongst the lobster bouys and larger sailboats. We also went for a sail on an LF Herreshoff designed Mobjack Schooner in Camden on a brisk day (sails reefed). The views of Camden harbor from the mountain above were breathtaking. What an all round pleasent experience.

Looking forward to getting a little further up the coast next time. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Erick

[rbgarr]

Glad it worked out so well for you!! hHve you searched the Forum for answers to others' similar requests for Maine Coast info?

[Thorne]

Same reaction -- many of us already posted all our cool travel tips in this recent thread -

http://www.woodenboatvb.com/vbulletin/upload/showthread.php?t=68258&highlight=trip+maine

Enjoy!

[Michael s/v Sannyasin]

Blue Hill Maine
Mt Desert Island/Acadia National Park

My personal favorite spot is Monhegan Island, though, I haven't expored all the other Maine islands yet.

[Bruce Hooke]

For a boat that size, the obvious area further up the coast is the waters around Deer Isle including the islands between Stonington and Isle au Haut.

If you don't mind some interesting tidal currents the area near Castine would also be interesting, especially heading up the Bagaduce River. Sadly, public access to the shoreline in this area is sorely lacking.

As you go down east from Deer Isle things start to get more exposed. Acadia is beautiful, but the distance between islands there is larger and the coast more exposed, so it is not as good a small boat place.

Even further up the coast, the waters off Jonesport would be very interesting but more challenging. The tides are getting higher by the time you get up there and you are just generally in a more remote area.

If you become a member of the Maine Island Trail Association you'll get a guidebook with lots of information about the islands you can land on and camp on all along the coast.

The waters around Vinalhaven would also be a great place to poke around, but I am not sure that boat is up to a passage across East or West Penobscot Bay to get to Vinalhaven.

[Bruce Hooke]

Come to think of it, if you are ready for some serious tides and currents, Cobscook Bay would be one heck of an interesting place in which to poke around in a small boat. However, 20 foot tides in a bay with lots of narrow passages is not something to mess around with lightly.

[esingleman]

Thanks for the suggestions, I will also consult the other posts.