Muscongus Bay lies along the mid coast of Maine. This bay differs greatly from neighboring Penobscot in many ways, particularly in the villages along the shores. They are few, very small, and mostly working fishing villages without tourist trappings.
That's not to say there are not many interesting places in Muscongus, there are. Their differences are one aspect of the attraction they offer. To illustrate, a few locales in Muscongus will be explored.
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| A Cruising Guide to the Maine Coast, Taft and Rindlaub |
Port Clyde
The Marshall Point Lighthouse, just south of Port Clyde, marks the division of Muscongus Bay and Penobscot Bay. It has achieved some recent fame as the place Forest Gump ended his run across America.
Port Clyde is a lobster fishing town, the harbor filled with lobster boats and the shore and adjacent cove lined with lobster shanties. Port Clyde is different from most of Muscongus in that it does have a couple businesses geared to attracting tourists, both from land and water. One is the Port Clyde General Store, which offers rental moorings in the harbor for cruisers. It actually is a general store for the community and a good place to provision, but also offers much more for the visitor. Upstairs is an interesting gift and art store with a unique selection of items. On the back deck is Linda Bean's restaurant, The Dip Net. Linda Bean is a descendant of the famed Mainer, L. L. Bean. The other business for tourists is the ferry dock. A ferry takes day visitors to Monhegan Island, known for its natural island forests, hiking trails and large artist colony. Monhegan has no protected anchorages or rental moorings, so for cruisers wishing to visit Monhegan Island, stopping at Port Clyde and hopping on the ferry is the best option.
The three lobster dinner at Linda Bean's. Why just have one lobster for lunch?
Maple Juice Cove
Coming into Maple Juice Cove there is a house on the north shore that gives you a feeling you have seen it before. You have. The hill and house have been seen by people around the world. It is a famous spot.
When the Last Dance crew visited Washington, DC, on the first trip around the Great Loop, three paintings from the National Gallery of Art were chosen to share on the blog. One, at left, is Andrew Wyeth's Wind from the Sea.
Wyeth's most famous painting hangs in the New York Museum of Modern Art - Christina's World.
Muscongus Bay, Maine, is where Andrew Wyeth did much of his artwork. He knew Christina, who lived in this house, and he painted many scenes here.
From the water, and more so when you are standing on the hill looking up at Christina's house, the scene in the artwork and the actual house come together in your mind.
Maple Juice Cove is welcoming to cruisers in that the inner harbor is large, with room to anchor many boats. The outer harbor is filled with lobster boats.
The shoreline of Maple Juice Cove is unwelcoming since there are no publicly owned lands along the water. There are no facilities dedicated to serve as a dinghy dock for cruisers. Fortunately, there is a lobster buyer dock that has an understanding owner. He allowed the Last Dance Crew to tie the dinghy to the back side of his dock and walk through his property, past his house and farm, to access Christina's house.
In addition to his business of buying and selling lobsters, he did have a small working farm, maintaining the old traditions of the area.
It is now easy to visit Christina Olson's house, once you have found a way to get ashore or if you are using a land-based means of travel. The house was once owned by an executive from Apple Computer, who displayed his collection of Andrew Wyeth art there. While a most appropriate place for the art to hang artistically, it was not the best place for art to hang to preserve the art. An unconditioned space with sunlight streaming through the windows would age the paintings rapidly. So, he donated the house to the Farnsworth Museum, located nearby in Rockland, which has the largest collection of Wyeth artwork. The Farnsworth operates The Olson House as a satellite museum.
Docents conduct tours of the house, detailing the history of the house, history of the Olson family, and Andrew Wyeth's time there. Note a print of Chirstina's World on the wall.
When one gets to the second floor, and looks out the window, down the hill, toward Maple Juice Cove, the feeling that you have been there before comes again. This is the room, the window, and the view Andrew Wyeth experienced as he completed Wind from the Sea.
A print of the Wyeth painting hangs next to the window for illustration. The crew believes the museum should install a window shade and sheer curtain to better complete the comparison. So, now, the story has come full circle, from the original Wyeth artwork in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, to the actual window in a house on a little cove in Muscongus Bay, Maine.
A number of Wyeth's paintings were scenes of The Olson House, and the house remains today much as it was in Christina's time there.
A Wyeth print hangs next to the kitchen.
Friendship
The town of Friendship, at the top of Muscongus Bay, has a harbor filled with working lobster boats. Boats that are built for pleasure are a rarity here. It is a fisherman's town. Its name does not accurately describe its current attitude toward visitors. Friendship offers no dockage or moorings, no access to town. Disappointing, as the crew enjoys small towns, in their natural state, without the tourist businesses creating false attractions.
The Friendship harbor had many floating dock sections anchored throughout the waters. They are called "floats" by the lobstermen and are used to store lobster pots and provide workspace. The one closest to town is quite colorful.
Round Pond
Next to the appropriately named round-shaped harbor is a small village, also known as Round Pond. The original part of the community is comprised of buildings located on the highway that runs along the coast. This area remains much the way it was a century ago. There is little new construction. Old buildings often have design and details that are interesting. The Little Brown Church has the most simple architecture of churches viewed in Maine, telling of the times, priorities, philosophies, and finances of the community at the time. Of course, it has the requisite wind vane on the steeple.
The historic homes along the road ranged from deteriorated to restored. One that was in the process of restoration became a part of the crew's tour of the town. The architect that designed the house had been identified and the correct details researched for an accurate restoration.
The house had obviously been in a state that having a contractor restore it would have been financially unreasonable. This home found a benefactor, an older lady who fell in love with it and who had the motivation and skills to accomplish much of the work herself. She volunteered to paint over 40 windows in the restoration of the old school, so painting the windows of this home was old hat for her, in multiple contexts.
Eastern Egg Rock
Out in the wide mouth of Muscongus Bay lies a piece of land, too small to be called an island, known as Eastern Egg Rock. This spot has been sheltered as a wildlife refuge, for one specific bird, the Puffin. The island has only a green navigation marker and a few observation blinds. Other birds populate the island, but the focus is on re-establishing the Puffin population. Puffins essentially disappeared from the Maine islands due to interactions with humans, who at one time gathered the Puffin eggs for food. A project was established to re-establish Puffins to Maine at Eastern Egg Rock. For multiple years, Puffin chicks from Newfoundland were placed in nests on the island and nurtured in the hope that they would return to the rock as adults. For the first few years, no adults returned. Then, slowly adults began arriving and establishing nests on the rock. This population grew, accepted their new home and return every summer for the breeding season. Recently, their population is declining, again. And, again, it is due to interaction with humans, a much different interaction. Global warming is affecting these waters, pushing the cold water fish that Puffins eat to more northern latitudes. The Puffins are starving. If and how they adapt will probably portend for many populations including, ironically, humans.
Cruising by the rock at a distance to not disturb their nesting home, a few Puffins were observed in the water.
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| AP Photo |
A professional image taken with a much more powerful zoom lens gives a more accurate depiction of these amazing creatures.
Pemaquid Light
The Pemaquid Lighthouse has long provided guidance to those on boats. It marks the western edge of Muscongus Bay.
