A night on Rock Island

We sat together with Lucas and Peg, chatting about the waters of Maine, and the darkness grew. Lucas owns one of the many workboats in the harbor, and even brought gear out to the island with the big boat, then moored it and returned in his motor skiff. His boat lay near the high tide line on a big Danforth. Eventually, while camping and in the dark, bed calls out. Jennifer and I set up the tent among spruce trees with sleeping pads and inexpensive sleeping bags, dragged our limited gear into the tent and fell asleep.
I never sleep all that well the first night of camping, but the wind in the trees persuaded me to stay in the tent, even though I should have been alarmed about the little anchor and Juliet. At four o'clock I finally ventured out for the usual reason, as well as to see whether my boat was even there.

Rock Island and Rest for the Weary

Before Departing Deer Isle and Fisherman's Friend, I walked to the Harbor Mart for a few things. Top of the list: a Thermos of hot coffee; next, yogurt and bananas, plus a bag of pretzels and my all-time favorite convenience store purchase: Munchos. The late afternoon in Stonington left us with a few choices from the MITA book. Rock Island seemed the most obvious. I felt no rush, but a view of the harbor proves the sun was dropping fast.



To the east of Crotch Island lay little Rock Island. I'm pretty sure the name is a common island name in Maine, like Sheep, Long, Mark, and Harbor Islands. But it was there for us with a broad, sandy beach on her north side. The sun got away so fast that we were a bit disappointed to see numerous tents on the grassy shoreline, but nevermind. We had brought along a tent and sleeping bags and were not plannng on sleeping in the boat, as we has in trips to Castine, Vinalhaven and Bass Harbor. Lucas, a local lobsterman, greeted us as we hit the beach and asked if we needed help, but the beach was sandy and wide and we easily disembarked with our gear, glad to have decided on a final stop. I had really thought we were on a daysail, so I had made a silly error of not bringing Juliet's big Danforth, I only had the tiny lunch grappling hook. After the boat was cleaned ourt and we had all the gear, I looked at the beach and guessed it was wide enough for Juliet to anchor there for high tide (around 12:30 AM) and be afloat overnight. The grappling hook was buried in a hole in the middle of the beach and covered with an extra eight inches of sand above the natural grade. I washed off my hands and pretty well hoped for the best overnight. The lights of Stonington sparkled in the water.

Stonington Harbor for Dinner

It wasn't a tough decision to sail to the beautiful harbor in Stonington. There is a fine seafood restaurant, Fisherman's Friend that is adjacent to the dinghy dock. Of course as we came around the southeast side of Deer Isle, the wind was from Stonington, but no matter. We ambled around the Stonington Archipelago to find better wind and encountered another small sailboat that was heading toward the north. As we neared Stonington, we saw the powerful workboats that the lobstermen use. On into the harbor, we saw the handy town dock, so we dropped sails and tied up. Many smaller rowing and motor dinghies also use the dock, but there is always room for one more.
Jennifer and I gratefully walked ashore and made a beeline to the restaurant, where we got a table and then took advantage of the head. I don't really want to talk about the head on the boat, but it obeys the maxim "less is more." The meal was good, I had excellent haddock with a baked potato and beer, Jennifer had alfredo pasta, which we both liked.

Juliet, our sailboat

Juliet is a sixteen-foot Wayfarer sailing dinghy. She has two large waterproof compartments and seats two very comfortably. We purchased her on a trailer for $1000 from Jean Wheeler of Deer Isle. Mostly fiberglass, she has a large marconi sloop rig, and draws only 8 inches with her centerboard up. One drawback is the lack of back support, but you can beach her on sand or gravel and get out to stretch and walk around. She is a breeze to launch and only slightly more trouble to recover. Her sail/hull number is W2414 which puts her in the '73-'74 range. I have grown to appreciate her sturdy construction and light weight. She obeys the adage "less is more".

Jericho Bay and Decisiontime

So we set off from Torrey not knowing our destination, but it seemed to me we could get out into Jericho Bay and look around for a while. Jennifer volunteered that she could eat a meal. Crackers and cheese, GORP, beer and screwdrivers were about our entire larder, so it had to be some kind of restaurant. Stonington would definitely put us out of range to get back to the old ferry landing, so decisiontime had come at 1:30 in the afternoon on Eggemoggin Reach. Above is the view across Jericho bay and Blue Hill Bay toward Mt. Desert Island.

Torrey Island near Brooklin, Maine

Connected by a bar to an island in the distance, Torrey Island makes a good picnic spot. Juliet can easily sail across the shoal into the little protected bay where we dropped anchor. The fine gravel on the beach felt like some kind of hot rock spa treatment that might cost $600 in a resort. At this point, Jennifer and I still thought we were on a daysail. As we left Torrey, the question of turnaround time came up.

Circumnavigating Deer Isle

We were able to make it all the way around the island in two days, starting from the Old Ferry Landing on Eggemoggin Reach and ending at the Causeway, with a stop at Rock Island, east of Crotch Island, dinner in Stonington, plus rests at Torrey Island and another island at the entrance to Jericho Bay. Here, Jennifer waits at the old ferry landing.

Here Juliet lies at the end of the Stonington City Dock, while Jennifer and I dine at Fisherman's Friend Restaurant.

Sailing in Maine

To start things off, my wife, Jennifer and I have just returned from a trip to Maine. We have been to Maine quite a few times and finally decided to do some sailing; we let some folks know. A neighbor on Deer Isle offered us a chance to sail her little Wayfarer sailing dinghy. We bought it from her later in the summer and have been sailing it it twice a year for the last three years. This last trip was the best so far.