Roque Island, Maine
Roque Island, way Down East in Maine, first charmed me 42 years ago. It still does. For generations, Roque Island has been the Holy Grail for northern New England cruisers. Roque lies 45 miles east of Mount Desert Island’s Northeast Harbor, a good jumping-off spot. Heading east, the rockbound peninsulas and spruce-studded islands to port are jewels in a cold, gray sea. It is a place where the living still comes hard, and where seals, eagles, gulls and gannets outnumber people. There are no marinas, no hotels, no services, no restaurants. It’s perfect.
On that first cruise, we set out from Northeast Harbor — four young men on an old wooden boat whose nav gear consisted of a compass, a fathometer and a radio direction finder. The tides raced then, as they do today. The ledges were equally unforgiving, the fog just as thick. Sailing through the surrounding archipelago, we anchored off the mile-long white sand beach fronting Roque Harbor. As the rode paid out, the subtle lure of the place pulled me in. Years later, on numerous subsequent trips, my wife and kids felt its magic, too.
Few places in America are so free from the passage of time. One extend- ed family has owned the island since 1806. A private estate, part of which is now conservation land, Roque Island remains a historic saltwater farm known for its sheep, with resident farm managers overseeing them. It is alluring and serene, fair compensation for its restricted shore access.
It turns out that getting there and being there are more meaningful than doing things at Roque. You can walk that powder white beach, of course, watch songbirds and seabirds, listen to the island sheep and give thanks that you have a well-found cruising boat. That boat is the only ticket in. Honor the owners’ wishes, and you’ll share a slice of their paradise.
Jeff Bolster and his wife cruise extensively aboard their Valiant 40, Chanticleer. A professor of history at the University of New Hampshire, he won a Bancroft Prize for his book The Mortal Sea and has published several other titles on maritime history.