Cruising in Maine

Are there any Mainers out there? I am thinking of moving Moondance from Peconic, LI NY to Rockland Maine. Any thoughts?

The area around Rockland has lots of delightful cruising destinations, but you will be cutting two months off of your cruising season.

David

Have you done much cruising there?

1Sailor said:

Have you done much cruising there?

Click to expand...

I have. Its a fantastic area for cruising. Do you have any specific questions?

Ken

We went there 4+ years cruising on a bare boat charter.


For those 2 or 3 months in the season, absolutely fabulous.


Rockland is a nice harbor. Keep in mind it is a "working" harbor. Lots of lobster boats and it is where the Coast Guard is based. It is also where the largest boat show in Maine is held every year.


A few miles further east is Camden. Mainly recreational boats there.


Back to the west is Boothbay. Definite place to visit, but after a couple of days I am ready to be somewhere else. Lots of tourists, very busy place.


The exploring is endless. Most of the small towns have docks and mooring balls. Quaint down towns to walk around.


We love the area during those couple of months.

Short season

We bought a “camp”(cabin) on East Pond, Oakland, and are thinking of bringing Moondance there, to the Rockland area, to do short day or two or three day trips during the short season there. I figure May/June to Oct./Nov. or am I stretching it? I have the option to do that or keep her in Peconic Bay, NY also for our short time there. I think Maine offers more short day or a few day trip locations to either go to a restaurant or anchor & hang out in a picturesque secluded cove.
It’s About a 3-400mile Cruise, a lot on open ocean, especially in a short (25’ waterline) fat, bouncy little boat. So getting prices on shipping her there.
A new adventure!!

Moondance is documented and we paid the sales tax in NY and have her registered there. Do you know the requirements for Maine?

1Sailor said:

I think Maine offers more short day or a few day trip locations to either go to a restaurant or anchor & hang out in a picturesque secluded cove.
It’s About a 3-400mile Cruise, a lot on open ocean, especially in a short (25’ waterline) fat, bouncy little boat. So getting prices on shipping her there.
A new adventure!!

Click to expand...

1) You could cruise Maine for a lifetime and never see it all. Rockland (or anywhere in Penobscot Bay) would be a fantastic base for day trips around the Bay, or longer trips Down East. To me, there's just no comparison to LIS.

2) No need to ship the boat. I've done that trip many times. Let me know if you need a hand for the delivery run.

1Sailor said:

Moondance is documented and we paid the sales tax in NY and have her registered there. Do you know the requirements for Maine?

Click to expand...

Maine will want you to register there if the boat is in the state for over 60 consecutive days. There is a fairly modest excise tax. If documented, you don't pay the registration fee but you do pay the excise tax. There is a new state law which requires marinas to maintain a list of all boats without a sticker, and the local authorities are being brow-beaten to keep an eye on those lists.

If you Google this, be aware that there's a "milfoil" sticker (and fee) for inland waters that's talked about a lot (lots of inland fishermen in Maine!) but does NOT apply to salt water.

Boat registrations run for the calendar year no matter what month you start in.

As has been said a few times already, Maine is absolute sailing heaven “for a couple of months”. Maybe May 15-September 15 is more realistic. October and November? Forget it. You can be facing temps in the low 30’s, wind and even snow. That’s not cruising. That’s surviving. I have family that has lived in Maine for 25+ years, and I’ve been on their boat out of Buck’s Harbor many, many times. My only point is the summer is ungodly short, literally July 4-August 10. Water temps never, ever hit 60. Not my cup of tea.

Don't miss Maine... Do Maine's Penobscot Bay! You will be glad you did!!

Very early 70's I owned tavern and restaurant in Camden. Boated, Lobstered... much young party life. Winters can be a bitch. Pleasure Boating season short. Water cold as heck for swimming.

+1 for Maine, but from a guy with limited experience. Last 5 yrs I’ve spent the best 2 weeks of the year (late July - early August) with access to a 36-footer good for day trips, based out of Blue Hill Bay. Absolutely spectacular. I’d love to have a boat with proper accommodations up there for those multi-day trips.
The nice parts of LI Sound are nice, but Maine is Maine.
Even the boat watching up there is more beautiful than anywhere else, on this coast anyway.

"I am thinking of moving Moondance from Peconic, LI NY to Rockland Maine. Any thoughts?"

Have the boat hauled on arrival at one of the commercial yards and a prop basket installed.

You can now travel day or night , in the fog with out the problems from lobster trap lines.

David Hughes said:

I have family that has lived in Maine for 25+ years, and I’ve been on their boat out of Buck’s Harbor many, many times.

Click to expand...

Who might that be?

I will post a few thoughts based on cruising in Maine for the last 22 years. I live on and boat out of Mount Desert Island.

There are many many destinations that are an easy day cruise from Rockland. However, one thing you will not find is lots of marinas or even docks to come along side. Most town harbors are full of moorings, some of which may be available to rent ($20-$40 per night). Once you head east from Rockland the only marinas you will find are in Stonington (Billings), Southwest Harbor (Dysarts) and Northeast Harbor (town owned). Expect to pay around $3-$3.50 a foot for a night at a marina plus a charge for electricity. Other than those places you will either be picking up a mooring or anchoring. You will need a dinghy.

As far as the season goes, you can start in May, but expect it to be cold on the water since water temps will still be in the upper 30s or low 40s. Also until about May 20th there won't be a lot of facilities open. Tourist oriented businesses on the Maine coast are very seasonal. Things generally get going just before Memorial day and start shutting down the week after labor day. The peak season is July and August, so expect crowds then in the towns. September is usually a great month for cruising since many of the tourists are gone and it becomes easy to find an empty cove to anchor in. October will have some nice days, but there will also be weather. Count on at least one real gale in October. By the end of October there will be few water based businesses open and very few boats in the water other than lobster boats. Almost no one boats in November because the weather can be a bit nasty (think 4-5 day long nor'easters with 40-60 knot winds).

Fog will also be an issue if you are not familiar with running in fog. However, you can always find places with little fog (in the lee of land), but figure on running in fog if you go out for more than a day. It looks like you have radar, so that is good.

Night boating will pretty much not be an option because of the lobster gear. Almost no one goes out at night unless they have a cage around their prop and even then you can get hung up if you have an unprotected rudder. Even lobster boats get hung up.

If you haven't cruised in Maine before you will be intimidated by the lobster gear. It is everywhere, particularly from July through September. In May and June the lobster gear is mostly in deeper water, but as the season progresses it moves into shallower water. If you don't have a cage around your prop you will snag some lobster gear during your first season until you learn how it works. Get someone to explain toggles to you and buy a LONG sturdy boat hook. However, once you figure out how the gear is rigged you will be fine. I do not have a cage around my prop and seldom snag anything.

As far as places to go, the best boating area in Maine is from Penobscot Bay to the Schoodic Peninsula just east of Mount Desert Island. East of Schoodic is nice, but there are not a lot of facilities and not all that many anchorages. On top of that the farther east you go the bigger the tides get and there are more places where current will be an issue. However, down east is spectacular and worth a trip, but be prepared to run in fog. The cruising guides describe down east as being "out there", but it really isn't.

1Sailor said:

Moondance is documented and we paid the sales tax in NY and have her registered there. Do you know the requirements for Maine?

Click to expand...

In most of Maine there is little or no enforcement of registration/documentation. There are also many documented boats so unless the harbor master in Rockland is enforcing the letter of the law you won't have a problem. When you are cruising you will just be another tourist boat and won't have an issue if your New York paper work is current and you don't change the hail port on your boat to a Maine location.

Documented boats are not state registered in Maine but they do have to pay excise tax, which won't be over $100 or so.

dwhatty said:

Who might that be?

Click to expand...

My sister and brother-in-law had an O’Day named Arabella on a ball in Bucks Harbor for about 10 years. We drove her down the Penobscot from Bangor in the spring one year. I enjoyed that. Pond Island and Butter Island were always fun stops when daysailing around the bay.

Wow, what GREAT reply’s and information! Thank you all. I think you have made up my mind for me.

It sounds like you are ready for the Maine event! All the interesting responses to your queries have me sold.

TDunn said:

In most of Maine there is little or no enforcement of registration/documentation.

Click to expand...

That's true for transient boats. But the state passed a new law, effective last year, that required marinas to do all the dirty work for them, and turn over lists to state and local officials. The state is also putting pressure on those officials to go get the paper work and crack down on unpaid boaters. This is actually on par with what most states are doing nowadays. As a boater, compliance is so cheap that it's hardly worth arguing.

1Sailor said:

Wow, what GREAT reply’s and information! Thank you all. I think you have made up my mind for me.

Click to expand...

Do tell! Am I not going to be the only Prairie owner in Maine next summer??

Are you really the only one? Well Cygnus’s little cousin hopefully will be there this summer too. Maybe we’ll see you. What Harbor are you out of?

CaptTom said:

That's true for transient boats. But the state passed a new law, effective last year, that required marinas to do all the dirty work for them, and turn over lists to state and local officials. The state is also putting pressure on those officials to go get the paper work and crack down on unpaid boaters. This is actually on par with what most states are doing nowadays. As a boater, compliance is so cheap that it's hardly worth arguing.

Click to expand...

That will be much more of an issue down south. In the part of Maine where I boat there are few marinas and I have never seen the Maine Patrol stop a pleasure boat. In my town a lot of the boats are documented and I am a large part of the small minority that bothers to pay the excise tax. The harbor master could enforce things, but he knows better than to hassle lobster boats.

Get Taft's "A Cruising Guide to the Maine Coast" Excellent.
https://www.mainecoastguide.com/
I've enjoyed many hours with this book since 1995.

The print version of Tafts is kind of dated, so don't trust it explicitly.

I have heard great things about Burnt Coat Harbor on Swans and that area in Maine. In specific about how friendly people, acknowledging strangers.

Correct TDunn. It's very entertaining.

Bedwood said:

I have heard great things about Burnt Coat Harbor on Swans and that area in Maine. In specific about how friendly people, acknowledging strangers.

Click to expand...

Burnt Coat is a nice harbor. You can usually tie your dinghy up at the lobster coop to go ashore (except from about 1 to 4 PM). It is a nice walk up to the light house. Take any mooring with a green float and a plastic bottle tied to the pickup. Two years ago you put your $20 for the mooring in the plastic bottle. There is also room to anchor, but make sure your anchor is well set. I have seen people drag there.

On the northern side of the island Buckle Harbor is a nice stop if you get in early (it fills up). Anchor in 7-12 at low. Holding is good. You can go ashore on Buckle Island and there are trails the length of the island. Go ashore at the north end of the island.

Mackeral Cove is also nice in anything but a northerly. You can anchor on ether side of Roderick head and take your dinghy to the town float next to the ferry dock. The holding is good.

The only down side of Swans Island is that there are essentially no services. The closest boat services are in Stonington at Billings, Southwest Harbor (Hinckley, Downeast Diesel and Dysarts Marina. Hinckley and Dysarts have diesel and gas is available at Beals when the lobster boats are not unloading. There is a West Marine at Dysarts and Hamilton Marine is near Beals lobster dock.) and Northeast Harbor (Clifton Dock has diesel and alcohol free gas, town marina and Morris Yachts). You can also get fuel at Richs in Bass Harbor, but there are no other services. There are restaurants in Stonington, Southwest Harbor and Northeast Harbor. If you need to provision it is worth the run to Bar Harbor (prepare for crowds and noise from cruise ships) because they have a Hanaford supermarket.

TDunn said:

That will be much more of an issue down south. In the part of Maine where I boat there are few marinas and I have never seen the Maine Patrol stop a pleasure boat. In my town a lot of the boats are documented and I am a large part of the small minority that bothers to pay the excise tax. The harbor master could enforce things, but he knows better than to hassle lobster boats.

Click to expand...

Good points. The OP was specifically asking about marinas in the Rockland area. I've heard through the grapevine that they're getting the same pressure we are farther south, but have no first-hand knowledge.

Hassling the lobstermen is never a good idea, especially Down East!

Even with all the "destination" and "weekend" moorings cropping up all over, we've still been able to find plenty of anchorages, and even reasonable dockage, outside the big tourist destinations. Marina prices are certainly on the rise, especially in places like Boothbay Harbor and just about anywhere on Mt. Desert.