"Dream of perfect cruising grounds, of islands large and small, grand and modest, of intriguing harbors and alluring towns, of broad reaches and narrow tickles, of gritty fishing villages and sophisticated summer resorts, of lonely outposts lost in time. There is such as place and the place is Penobscot Bay." (A Cruising Guide to Maine, Taft and Rinelaub)
While large in comparison to other bay waters in Maine, Penobscot Bay is only 15 miles wide and 40 miles north-to-south. A small area, in cruising terms, filled with destinations worthy of extended visits. It is impossible to explore in depth during a single summer, Maine's short cruising season. And, a Maine summer is much more brief than areas of the U.S. at lesser latitudes.
Many have argued that Penobscot Bay is one of the best cruising grounds in the world. The Last Dance crew joins that argument. There are over 200 islands and some of the most sheltered harbors in Maine. The layout of the bay and islands create protected waters that rarely are too rough to travel. The towns along the perimeter of the bay are so different from one another, each providing interesting aspects to educate and entertain the visitor.
Given the brevity requirements of a blog post, justice cannot be accomplished in showcasing the beauty, culture, history, architecture, and people of this bay. An attempt to highlight a few interesting features follows below, with an additional posts focusing on the Fox Islands.
During the summer 2013 cruise, the Last Dance crew met two couples who have made cruising the Maine coast their summer activity - one couple for 20 summers, the other for 32 summers. They spend the majority of their time cruising Penobscot Bay.
 |
| A Cruising Guide to the Maine Coast, Taft and Rindlaub |
Penobscot Bay is the most cherished cruising grounds of boaters in Maine. A few favorite places are highlighted in red on the map and expounded below.
Tenants Harbor
Tenants Harbor is at the southwest corner of Penobscot Bay. It is a fishing village, not a tourist town, with a harbor filled with lobster boats and a tiny village with few businesses and homes.
Being a fishing village, the majority of businesses were lobster buyers. One of the Lobster pounds does a brisk business in selling lobsters - $4.50/lb for soft shells, $5.50/lb for hardshells, and $1/lb to cook them. The co-owned restaurant had Maine wild blueberry pie on the menu, making for an easy and delicious dinner aboard Last Dance.
Tenants Harbor is one of five villages in the town of St. George. The town center includes a statue of St. George preparing to slay a dragon. Yard art in public places.
Yard art also appeared in a few yards. The blue crab was located in front of a lobsterman's home and lobster buyer dock. Seems a bit odd to have a crab at a lobster dock, but there is a much smaller crab fishing industry in Maine.
There was some visual history for old vocational educator Glen. The new high school has left some interesting, old, empty teaching facilities along the main road. At left is the Home Economics building. It is actually two complete homes arranged in a duplex fashion. Also along the road were separate wooden buildings for Manual Arts and one for Metal Arts. Career Preparation has changed over the years.
Rockport
A natural harbor has long attracted boats to Rockport. The Harbor is large, but has no room for anchoring as it is filled with moorings. Anchoring outside the mooring field would not be advisable due to water depths of over 80 feet and lack of protection created by being outside the sheltering land on the sides of the harbor.
The moorings are filled with boats, predominately sailboats, as is common in Maine. The sailboats are often beautiful, old designs, built in wood.
Downtown Rockport is just over a block long. Though small, there are three restaurants and an opera house. Food and culture, what more could you want?
The Rockport library held a Friends of the Library sale, which belied the town's small size. The books filled a hockey rink.
Not far from downtown, Graffam Brother's Seafood has established a prosperous fresh seafood market, retailing the local fishermen's catch.
Across the street, located in a gravel parking lot, Graffam Bros. has a food trailer with picnic tables in back. While many would not rate this restaurant high on decor and atmosphere, few would argue that the lobster rolls served here are not among the best in Maine.
Rockport is home to Andre the Seal. Andre was abandoned as a pup and raised by a local. He returned to the Rockport harbor every summer. His story inspired two children's books and a movie. He has been commerated in the town's marine park with a granite statue.
Current wildlife in the harbor included the resident osprey family. Mother osprey, on right, stares down the photographer traveling by dinghy, too close in her opinion. She had been spending the afternoon teaching her two chicks to soar. In addition to the coloring, the young can be identified by their orange eyes. Adult osprey have yellow eyes.
Interesting cars seem to appear often in Maine. A 1914 Pierce Arrow parked on a street in Rockport.
 |
| Indian Island Light marks the entrance to Rockport Harbor |
Camden
Camden is adjacent and to the north of Rockport. The two towns were once one, but a dispute over building a bridge permanently divided the governments. It is easy to see why Camden developed as a town and manufacturing/shipping center. There is a large outer harbor and a smaller inner harbor, both with deep water - easy to bring in sailing schooners. Then, there is water power for mills. The waterfall at left is in the middle of town, emptying into the harbor.
The old and quaint downtown remains, set at the foot of the Camden mountains. It has succumbed to some degree to the tourist industry, with many t-shirt/gift shops and questionable-quality, big-signed seafood restaurants. But, much of the history remains in the architecture of the old buildings.
Camden remains a small town. Not far from the center of town, farmland is still in active production. These Oreo cows are an interesting breed.
Belfast
Belfast has a protected harbor along a river that feeds Penobscot Bay - the Passagassawakeag. It is large enough to be classified as a city, with the downtown district, filled with historic red brick buildings, being a bit over 3 blocks long.
Red brick and the occasional use of granite were obviously the building materials of choice when Belfast was being developed.
It is a hospitable town for boaters with a municipal marina offering dockage and moorings. There is a major boatyard, capable of hauling megayachts, and a wide variety of restaurants.
The commercial architecture provides hours of exploration and study.
Chase's Daily is located in one of the old storefronts downtown, appearing to be originally an old department store. They employ a different business model, combining an art gallery, farmers market, and vegetarian restaurant.
"Please, Be Seated" is the title of the Belfast art-in-the-streets effort. Local artists have created seats, often whimsical, which decorate the streets downtown. The crew's favorite is "Rock on Spruce Spring Seat."
With a large harbor, filled with boats, a seat built from parts of boats is most appropriate.
These chairs, built from lobster trap parts, are entitled "Tourist Traps."
Castine
Castine is a small village with a big boat presence. The state-supported Maine Maritime Academy dominates in property, buildings, and boats along the waterfront. The school's fleet includes an eclectic collection of recreational boats and workboats ranging from a wooden schooner to the 500 foot State of Maine Training Ship.
Exploring towns on foot is a major activity for the Last Dance crew. It is an opportunity to learn about the community, meet people, and examine the town. Older communities are often filled with ornate and architecturally interesting buildings. The group of structures that stood out in Castine is its churches. The church architecture in Castine is quite varied.
Islesboro
The islands of Islesboro draw many boaters and the native wildlife. It would seem that the harbor seals would be found in the bay called Seal Harbor, but these seals were enjoying a rock exposed at low tide in Dark Harbor.
 |
| Sunset at Isleboro Anchorage |
