Rogue Island to Mistake Island

Monday, August 3, 2015

We started out of Shorey Cove, taking a last fond look at Rogue Island.  We rounded Squire Point and down the west side of Rogue Island, one of the neatest concentration of Maine sights!

We passed on the east side of Mark Island, and curved around the east side of Head Harbor Island.  See the little box on the rocks?  That is a 3 story house, to give you a perspective of the size of the cliffs.

At the tip of the island, we ran into fog.  We continued southward to Main Channel Way, and the fog lifted a little.  We passed between Steele Harbor Island and Knight Island, and the sun was out again.

This is Moose Peak Lighthouse, on the tip of Mistake Island, and visible as we entered.  

We rounded the tip of Knight Island, and anchored in between the high rock walls at N 44 28.660 W 67 32.607

We took the dinghy ashore to a ramp on Mistake Island, but, with the tide low, and the wooden ramp slick, it made scrambling up it difficult. I did go up far enough with the dogs that I determined to come back when the tide was higher.  There was 16' of tide.

On the way out of cove, we scurried up to a couple working a lobster boat, and bought some fresh Maine lobster from them.  The only thing they did to them between the trap, their boat, and ours was put the rubber bands on their claws!

We went back to the MERCY and fixed an early lunch!

After lunch, I took the dinghy and went back to the ramp, as it was close to high tide, and easier to access.  There is a wooden boardwalk stretching across the island, a little over a quarter of a mile, to the lighthouse.  The views were awesome!

There were blueberries, not quite ripe.  Someone needs to be here in another few weeks!

And raspberries, even greener.

This is what I think of when I picture tundra in my mind.  The vegetation is cushioned to walk on, though I mainly stayed on the boardwalk, and the rocks at the end.

And butterflies.

There was an area that appeared to me to be a flagged nesting area and part of someone's study, but, there were no birds or nests present.  I suppose by this late in the year, the hatchlings have taken flight.

When I returned to the dinghy, where it was sunny, I looked less than a tenth of a mile away, where the MERCY was anchored, and she was totally sopped in with fog.  Ellen said it had been like that since right after I'd left.  

Later the fog lifted just enough for me to sit on the roof, and watch the seals playing nearby, before we were totally enveloped again.  As in, can't see the rocks 100' away.  We did listen to the surf, as we enjoyed our snug little anchorage.  There was a little swell that worked in from the south at the highest side, but, the rest of the time, it was pretty calm.

Rogue Island

Sunday, 2 August, 2015

This morning we took the dogs to the beach in Shorey Cove.   It was so interesting to see the make up of the beach.  In addition to the sand, which is not the magnificent sand of Great Beach, there are lots of shells and lots of small rocks.  The rocks are primarily different pieces of colored granite, with grays, and whites, and pinks, and some a smorgasbord of each.  There are shells you don't see here in Florida, either!  There are lots of blue mussels, and where we landed, I thought someone had been eating barbque ribs, until I realized they were razor clams.  At low tide, there were seaweed covered rocks and tidepools in one section.  We saw one huge piece of kelp washed up on the beach, maybe ten feet long, and a foot and a half across.

We took the dogs back to the boat, and after we'd rinsed them off, went ashore to the Gardner Family Homestead, thanks to our invitation the afternoon before.  

We were greeted by Chris, his wife, and daughters, and were invited to tour the old house of Captain Gardner.  It is definitely a sea captains house!  His bedroom overlooks Shorey Cove.  I lost count of the numerous other bedrooms!  I laughed about hoping all this kids and grandkids would visit at the same time...  There is a heavy rope for a handrail on many of the stairs.  There is an old bread oven off the main fireplace in the dining room.  

Eve offered me a blueberry muffin that I'd smelled the day before entering the cove, and found it tasted as good as they smelled!

The island has been passed to Captain Gardner's heirs, and the Monk family, many of whom enjoy time at the property during the summer, in the multiple houses on the property.  

We walked up to the stables, as the girls showed me their favorite horses, and looked at a little of young piglets, buried up in the hay, contentedly munching away.  In the stables, Chris showed us the carriages, one of which they still use on occasion.  There are cows, and sheep around as well, too.

We walked over the cut lane to view the Chandler Bay side of the island while learning a little bit about the history of the island.

The hillside is covered in wild blueberries, which grow low to the ground, less than knee height.  The blueberries are in full season, and we plucked blueberries for a little bit before returning to the dock, where we'd tied up the dinghy.  There is an old railway running beside the dock, with a huge anchor holding the rails in place.  I saw evidence of the hydraulic system that they now use to power to old machinery.  Cliff would have loved it!

We spent the day relaxing, and took the dinghy to the east side of the island during late afternoon.  It was so windy out of the southwest, that we wouldn't circumnavigate the island, but still got wet on our return trip.

It was so nice to have such a snug anchorage for the night!

Rogue Island: Lakeman Harbor, Great Beach, Shorey Cove

Saturday, 1 August, 2015

Today we took the dinghy out the cut between Lakeman Island and Bar Island, and circumnavigated Lakeman Island.  There are sheep on these islands!  Rogue Island even has blankets and items sold from the wool of these sheep.

We picked up the anchor, which took a little while, not because of the mud on the anchor, but, the seaweed wrapped around the chain.  I gave up on rinsing it off, content to let it wash off when we did our planned anchorage off Great Beach.

We anchored in sand off the gorgeous sandy beach in the southwest corner of the cove, to be out of the gentle swell coming in from the southwest.

The dogs and I took the skiff to the beach, and had a nice, long romp.  Though the island is privately owned, folks are allowed to land on the beach, with signs posted to not go inland.  The beach is the nicest sand I've seen in a long time!

We returned to the boat wet, sandy, and happy!

There were several lobster boats that started rafting up together nearby, and we decided to ease away before the party had too much to drink

We transited through the Thorofare, between Rogue Island and Great Spruce Island, and explored up in Bunker Cove while the tide was high.

Then we cruised northward, and around Squire Point, and into Shorey Cove, where we anchored for the night.

This small cluster of islands show some of the best that Maine has to offer, with diversity on every hand.  Great Beach and Shorey Cove both have beaches, but the sand on Great Beach is spectacular.  Shorey Cove has a "I don't want to walk barefoot on" beach, with shells and gravel.

We saw a couple of harbor seals in each of the coves, as well as alongside the island.  And some cool birds...

There are magnificent granite outcroppings at various places around the island.  Much of the islands are covered in spruce.  There is a working farm and the original Gardner Houses, dating back to the 1800's.  As we entered Shorey Cove, I caught a wiff of blueberry muffins on the wind, coming across the cove.

In the early evening a sailboat came across the cove from the homestead docks, and wanted to make sure we knew about a weather warning that was in effect for thunderstorms, high winds, and hail.  During our conversation, I borrowed a couple of ten year old girls from their sailboat, to tour our "yacht."  (I told their mom later that I was delighted the girls thought of our trawler as a yacht!)

They invited us to the island in the morning, and we won't miss that opportunity!  And yes, that is the family that was baking blueberry muffins earlier in the day!

Northeast, ME to Rogue Island, ME

Friday, 31 July 2015

This morning we took the launch in and did laundry and let the dogs romp.  Since there were only two washers and dryers, and we had four loads, the dogs got to romp for a good while!

The skies cleared remarkably, as we soaked in the gorgeous views.

We slipped our mooring around 1045 and went out the harbor about halfway to Clifton Docks, where we took on fuel.  The folks there are super nice, grab your lines as you come in, and treat you like they like you!  Isn't that nice?!

So, trash emptied, laundry done, water and fuel full, and air clear, we cruised up the coast to Rogue Island.  We went out the Eastern Way, and followed the coast closely to see the water side of the coast that we'd ridden on the bus.  

We angled to view a little of Big Moose Island before going around Schoodic Point, between Little Moose and Schoodic Island.  

We cut through the Outer Bar between Green Island and the mainland, north of Big Nash Island and through Moosabec Reach, and under the 39' fixed bridge.  

I read that Jonesport is said to be one of the foggiest areas in Maine, so maybe that is the reason lobster pots are scattered every 15'?  No one could see where the other guys are?  The channel through the Reach, to the west of Jonesport was the most concentrated pots we've seen this trip.

We entered the Rogue Island area between Great Spruce an Double Shot Islands, and anchored in Lakeman Harbor to the Northeast.  I could hear a sheep on Lakeman Island before dark, though the island appears to be rock-lined, with spruce trees covering it.