| Well, I'd say it's hard to beat the sight of pulling into the inner harbor
at Hadley's just before the sun sets behind the stone mansion on the hill
with the horses coming right to the water's edge. It's one of the more
pleasurable harbors on the Mass. coast (especially when Buzzards Bay is
doing it's thing just over the hill, while you're enjoying the calm inside
the harbor).
But I'd have to say that my favorite is Pulpit Harbor on the Northwest end
of Northhaven island in Penobscott Bay is my favorite. From a distance,
the harbor enterance is almost indiscernible from the coastline because
the enterance is only about 150' wide. As you approach, however, the
harbor's namesake, Pulpit looms over the harbor enterance, an eerie black
pointed rock. Inside, the main harbor expands before you and opens to the
left. There are many good anchorages there. To the right is a long cove,
protected from the bay by a narrow grassy bluff. Inside this cove, you'll
see a small fleet of sailboats, ranging from several classic 12' dinghies
to a 45' sloop, with a dock lined with beautiful wooden tenders. This is
the Cabot estate, and you are looking at their fleet. The property to the
left of the cove is owned by Henry Cabot and his family, and has several
"cottages" and a large boat house (where many of the craft you see were
built). We anchored just beyond the dock (a word of warning before I
continue - Apparently, just after WWII, several navy barges adn lots of
other junk were towed into the harbor and sunken in the 30' water. There
has since been an attempt to clean up the mess, but the fellow who was
telling is this is a retired diver who made a living freeing hooks from
the wreckage there, said there was still a good bit of debris below).
We tied up the "rubber duck" to the dock and asked a fellow whom we spied
standing on his porch if we could come ashore on his property. He invited
us to tread across his lawn and upon telling us that it was 1 1/2 miles
into town, asked if we'd like to borrow his car! We declined and began
walking down the road, soon to pass a sign pointing in the opposite
direction which said "The Cabot Estate", with a small map of the peninsula,
indicating which of the sons and brothers lived in which house. At the
bottom of the sign, it read "No Stewarts".
The town was beautiful, and the harbor is magnificent if you row out near the
enterance and see the Camden Hills in the distance behind Pulpit Rock,
perfectly framed by the rocky outer shore which wraps around the harbor.
You'll impress your friends back at port with the pictures you've taken,
but be sure you get shots of the Cabot fleet with the boathouse in the
background, and you'll have something to frame for the office.
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| Our favorite harbor is any place safe from the raging tempest outside!
Seriously, our favorite harbors are quiet little coves where we are the
only boat. Virtually all of our cruising has been downeast of Camden,
Maine. We have enjoyed visiting Camden, Buck Harbor, Pulpit Harbor,
Carver Cove, the Cow Yard, and Roque Island in Maine. In Nova Scotia
Lunenberg and Chester were enjoyable.
If you are planning on cruising in Maine, do it in September if you can.
The winds are better, the fog less, and even the popular anchorages
nearly deserted.
Alan
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| A further (if not very timely) note for those who may cruise to Pulpit Harbor:
The best evening to spend in Pulpit is usually Friday; the dude schooners
out of Camden and Rockland often put in their in order to give themselves
an easy sail on the last day of their week-long cruises (which end on
Saturday). If you come in reasonably early (say by 17:00), you can watch
the spectacle of up to 6-8 schooners come through the narrow harbor entrance
and anchor. They are very competitive about their ship handling, so usually
come in and anchor under sail rather than motoring or being pushed by their
yawlboats. Same in the morning, when they make sail.
Their is now an inn open in Pulpit Harbor accessible from the town landing,
the Pulpit Harbor Inn. Food is excellent, and they are very accommodating
to sailors.
Ross Faneuf
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| AVALON HARBOR, TWO HARBORS, AND PARADISE COVE. ALL GREAT
UNDER THE RIGHT CONDITIONS AND POPULATION DENSITY. THE FIRST TWO ARE
AT CATALINA ISLAND, CALIFORNIA THE LAST IS AT MALIBU. MANY OTHER
DEVELOPED AND UNDEVELOPED ANCHORAGES AND HARBORS BETWEEN SAN DIEGO AND
SANTA BARBARA.F
EXIT
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