ISLAND TIME
Let’s face it—without islands to sail to, cruising wouldn’t be nearly as much fun. No matter where you sail, arriving at a destination by boat has a magic of its own. Here, four sailors talk about their go-to islands
Without islands to dream about, what would sailors do? Here are four top island destinations for North American cruisers
All the qualities that make Maine a great cruising destination can be found on Mount Desert Island. Whether your cruising style requires a shorepower hookup and fine dining ashore, quaint working harbors with moorings, lobster rolls and colorful waterfront characters, or an anchorage in pristine natural surroundings with hiking and eagle spotting opportunities, MDI has it all.
Approaching by sea you will be awed by MDI’s mountainous terrain. West Coast readers may scoff, but at 1,529ft, Cadillac Mountain is the highest mountain on the East Coast of the United States. It was this vegetationless glacier-scrubbed rocky dome that inspired Samuel de Champlain to call tthis place “Isles des Monts Desert” in 1604. Though it’s technically an island, you can abandon any idea of circumnavigating it aboard a boat with a mast, as a low fixed bridge crosses the shallow Mount Desert Narrows connecting MDI to the mainland. The land has a rich history worthy of a little reading. Shell mounds tell of 6,000 years of
Native American occupation, followed by French Jesuits in 1613, English troops in 1759 and American millionaires in the late 1800s. Summer residents including the Rockefellers, Morgans, Fords, Vanderbilts, Carnegies and Astors felt a need to protect and preserve their seasonal playground, and in an act of public generosity worthy of nostalgia, a group led by George B. Dorr gifted a large portion of the island to a public trust that eventually became Acadia National Park.
On the east side of the island alongside Frenchman’s Bay, one finds the iconic town of Bar Harbor, departure port of the Nova Scotia ferry and a mecca for many of the two million tourists visiting the park each year. The harbormaster can hook you up with a dock or mooring. On shore, a poor lobster doesn’t stand a chance as a dozen restaurants offer the buggers boiled, steamed, grilled, baked or stuffed. After you’ve bought the obligatory T-shirt and tourmaline jewelry (Maine’s official gem stone) you can kick back with a pint at the Lompoc Café and play a round of bocce, all the while listening to live music. Try a Cadillac Mountain Stout or any of the fine offerings of the Atlantic Brewing Company, which was founded on this site in 1990.
If Bar Harbor is a tourist town with a bit of a yachting scene, then the twin ports of Northeast Harbor and Southwest Harbor on opposite