Frenchboro is a tiny community on the small island known as Long Island. It is off the coast of Maine just southwest of Mount Desert Island.
The NOAA navigation chart provides a closer depiction. Long Island is certainly not long, measuring just 2 miles across at its widest point.
Frenchboro is a great example of why cruising Maine islands is so enjoyable. Properties on many Maine islands have been acquired by land trusts and parks to be preserved in their natural state and are open to the public. Roughly improved trails have been developed to make the land accessible for hiking. There are more public lands (in green) than private lands on Frenchboro. And, as is often the case, private landowners have allowed trails to cross their properties.
Part of the trail leading to Eastern Beach is like walking through a Christmas tree farm. It is larger than a typical trail as it is the road that led to an old gravel mine.
East Beach, as called by the locals, is an example of island beaches in Maine. No sand, only smooth, round rocks that have been polished over millions of years by the pounding surf.
North of East Beach, the shoreline becomes vertical, sharp granite rocks more typical of the Maine coast.
The trail to Small Beach and Big Beach snakes through a variety of Maine woods plant life and terrain.
Small Beach is in a tight cove of pink granite, with an appropriately small beach of rounded rocks.
Big Beach, just to the south of the next point.
Flotsam collected on Big Beach.
Frenchboro would be well worth a visit even without the parklands and hiking trails. The harbor is well protected and the tiny village interesting. It is a working lobster town with many lobster boats and a lobster buyer. In the background, Mount Desert Island rises high above the waters.
The natural harbor is small and the inner harbor becomes even smaller at low tide.
Frenchboro has been a lobstering community for many years and some parts of the waterfront show their age.
The shallow harbor and ten-foot tides provide the lobstermen an easy dry dock system. Just dock your boat at high tide, wait until low tide, and the boat is sitting with the bottom exposed.
You can even drive your truck on the harbor bottom to work on the boat.
Although tiny (population 61), Frenchboro has a church, school, library, post office, and a museum. They have struggled over the years to keep these amenities, even going as far as adopting foster children to keep the school enrollment high enough to maintain the required minimum 10 students.
Many of the New England coastal town churches have weather vanes on the steeples. So, too, the Frenchboro Church. However, instead of communicating the direction of the wind, it is a reminder of the big nor'easter last fall.
The real treat of a visit to Frenchboro is to meet Tammy, proprietor of the Offshore Store. She built a very small building, with some picnic tables outside, and turned it into one of the best restaurants on the Maine Coast. Everything is fresh and home cooked. The wild blueberry muffins were beyond mouth watering. Breakfast on the boat in Frenchboro should always be Tammy's muffins.
The lobster rolls and lobster salad are made with steamed-that-morning lobster. A most enjoyable lunch.
And for dinner, of course, steamed lobsters. These guys were over two pounds. Tammy's husband and son both operate lobster boats, keeping her supplied with fresh lobster. Three meals a day at the Offshore Store. It just can't get any better.
