Rocky beaches, historic homes, narrow
streets and magnificent harbors. A picturesque, and traditional
place for a crewed yacht charter.
 What
is it that called to the first settlers to stay and eke
out a living from the land, battling harsh winters and Native
Americans who didn’t want to give up their land or
their way of life? What is it that makes the people living
in this region so fiercely independent? Is it the weather
during the summer, with the bright sunny days that seem
to last forever, or when the fog rolls in and wraps itself
around you with its dark cottony silence, or even the days
of cold, slashing rain, when you can finally curl up with
a good book and not feel guilty about it? Is it the coastline
that varies from beaches to craggy cliffs, from cozy harbors
to off-shore islands, with lighthouses scattered to guide
you along the way? What ever it is, once experienced, it
will call to you to return again and again.
We will explore from Boston to the mid-coast
of Maine aboard a crewed yacht charter. Since the voyage
begins in Boston, you might want to take the opportunity
to visit nearby Marblehead and Salem. Marblehead, with its
rocky beach and magnificent harbor, historic homes and narrow
streets, is New England as you imagined it when you dreamed
of taking a New England yacht charter holiday.
Salem is also a quick hop away, and since
you are in the area, you will want to include it on your
“must see” list. Just realize that Boston has
grown around it, and it is not the colony of the 1690s that
you read about in your history books. The Salem Witch Museum
is great fun for young and old alike, and the actors do
a magnificent job in bringing the Witch Trials of 1692 to
life with lessons relevant to contemporary issues of human
rights and tolerance. Time permitting, the House of the
Seven Gables that was featured in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s
1851 novel of the same name is nearby and the tour there
is excellent also. If you didn’t read the book in
your freshman high school English class, never fear, there
is an audiovisual program to fill you in on the plot.
Back to your charter yacht, and it is
now time to head north and explore New England as it was
seen by the first European settlers - from the deck of a
vessel! Leaving Boston behind, you will go through Boston
Harbor Islands State Park. This is an archipelago consisting
of 30 islands, most of which are undeveloped. Georges Island
is the visitor and transportation hub of the park; if you
are not on your own yacht the only way to experience the
islands is via the ferry from Boston.
Cape Ann is home to artists, who come
for the unique quality of the light, and to generations
of fisherman who have used it as their home port as they
fished the Banks. Most recently the movie “Perfect
Storm” portrayed Gloucester and its fishing community.
Gloucester and Rockport are the most well-known towns in
the area, clinging to their rocky shores and filled with
restaurants and shops. Gloucester was not only the first
settlement on Cape Ann, it is also the oldest seaport in
the nation, having been established in 1623. The statue
of the Gloucester fisherman is a New England landmark, and
the inscription at the bottom reads: “They that go
down to the sea in ships”, a fitting tribute to the
more than 10,000 Gloucester fishermen that have been lost
in three centuries of fishing. Each June during the Saint
Peter’s Fiesta there is a Blessing of the Fleet Ceremony.
Rockport, another fishing village and
major artists’ colony, is also home to a weathered
red lobster shack that has held such a fascination for so
many artists that is has actually been name Motif No. 1!
Shhh - don’t tell anyone, but it is actually a replica
of the original shack which was destroyed in a storm several
years ago - maybe the Perfect Storm? Rockport is great fun
to poke about in, with a terrific selection of galleries,
craft shops and restaurants to choose from.
Next stop: New Hampshire with its total
of 18 miles of coastal shoreline. Wait! You didn’t
even know that New Hampshire had a shoreline? Don’t
worry, it probably only means that by the time you were
old enough to play with the State Map Puzzle, which graces
most every home, someone had already lost the tiny states
of Rhode Island, Vermont and New Hampshire, and those states
had long ago been sucked up in the vacuum cleaner, never
to be seen again.
So, for heaven’s sakes, get out
the atlas and see that New Hampshire does indeed boast a
shoreline! Robert Frost wrote: “Just specimens is
all New Hampshire has, One each of everything as in a show
case, Which naturally she doesn’t care to sell….”
The sentiment pretty much personifies and typifies New Hampshire.
Tiny though it is, it does have a splendid variety of scenery:
seacoast, the highest mountain peaks in all of New
England, fertile farmlands, dense woodlands, and even
a host of small islands, the Isle of Shoals. These offshore
jewels are actually split between New Hampshire (Star, Lunging,
and White) and Maine (Appledore, Duck, Cedar, Malaga, and
Smuttynose). Yes, you read that right, there is actually
an island named Smuttynose. Where else but in New England
would you find such a name?
Capt. John Smith was the first European
to map the Isle of Shoals in 1614. Only, at that time, he
named them “Smith Isles”, but the name didn’t
stick. Eventually the name of the Isle of Shoals was adopted,
speculation being that they were not named for shallow water
shoals, but for the abundance of fish, as “shoals”
and “schools” of fish mean the same thing. Of
the Isles, Capt. Smith wrote: “of all the foure parts
of the world that I have yet seene not inhabited, could
I but means to transport a colonie, I would rather live
here”. However, when Smith was granted only these
same tiny islands in payment for all his years of service,
he was less than thrilled and never returned. Today they
remain largely uninhabited, the main attractions being the
Shoals Marine Laboratory on Appledore and the Oceanic conference
facility on Star Island.
Ever since a small group of English fishermen
landed on Odiornes’ Point (now the town of Rye, just
south of Portsmouth) in 1623, independence and self-reliance
have been traits exhibited by the people living here. In
fact, on January 5, 1776, New Hampshire drew up its own
constitution and declared its independence from England
six months before the Declaration of Independence of July
4, 1776. New Hampshire’s only seaport, Portsmouth
was once the capital of the state and homeport to a dynasty
of merchant seamen.
 The
shipbuilding industry increased the importance of Portsmouth
Harbor, and with the establishment of Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
in 1800, additional fortification of the area, beyond the
early forts built for the protection of the colonists were
needed. This period saw an additional four forts being constructed,
with the final coastal fortification during WW II, when
batteries were added to Fort Foster and Fort Dearborn was
constructed. What this means to you is that there are plenty
of forts that are historic sites or parks and all are fun
places to spend time exploring.
Henry David Thoreau termed Maine the
last remaining wilderness east of the Mississippi in his
journal of 1846-1857. Indeed, today, 90% of Maine remains
virtually uninhabited. Even though the first known European
explorer, John Cabot, first set foot in Maine in 1497, it
did not become a state in its own right until 1820.
The sea chills quickly as you move northeast,
so if you are planning to swim in Maine, York Beach is the
place to do it! York Beach has a long stretch of white sand,
surrounded by dunes and marshes. If you don’t want
to swim, York Village has many historic buildings, a colonial-period
cemetery, and the oldest jail in America, the Old Gaol.
Nearby Ogunquit means “beautiful place by the sea”,
which indeed it is with its three-mile beach of inviting
white sand. From the center of town, the legendary Marginal
Way, a mile long path winds along the ledges high above
the Atlantic, providing superb views of the ocean and shoreline
tidal pools.
Past the Kennebunks lies Portland, Maine’s
largest city (population 65,000) and the states’ commercial
and cultural center. First settled in 1631, Portland was
burned to the ground three times: by raiding Indians in
1676, by invading British troops in 1775, and by accident
in 1866. From its beginnings, the city was an important
maritime center, with its natural deepwater harbor, and
because it was 100 miles closer to Europe than any other
port in the United States. Overfishing of the Atlantic fisheries
and lobster beds has cut into Portland’s trade, so
many of the docks have been converted to other uses, including
artist’s studios and retail shops.
One of the “must sees” in
Portland is the Maine Historical Society, with its many
exquisite old houses, including the 1785 boyhood home of
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The new Portland Public Market
with its colorful displays of local seafood, baked goods,
cheeses, produce and specialty foods sold by the people
who make, catch or grow them is a fun diversion.
Camden, with its sparkling harbor, is
a Maine classic; it is every traveler’s fantasy with
postcard perfect scenery in every direction. The harbor
bustles with activity, filled with fishing boats and cruising
boats alike. So beautiful and popular in fact, that you
might find it too busy and opt for the less hectic nearby
Rockport, perched helter-skelter on a patch of hills overlooking
the harbor with a lighthouse at its northern tip. The mile-long
breakwater protects the harbor, and though not as beautiful
as Camden, it might appeal to the person in search for a
quieter pace.
We have now come to the most northerly
stop of our journey, Mt. Desert Island, home to Acadia National
Park and Bar Harbor. Viewed in 1604 by a Frenchman, Samuel
Champlain, he wrote “The mountain summits are all
bare and rocky…I name it Isles des Monts Desert.”
Not real poetic, but unlike Capt. Smiths’ naming of
his isles, the name stuck…even the French pronunciation,
de zert, as in “I’ll skip the salad, just give
me the dessert”. Acadia National Park was established
in 1916 and occupies most of Mount Desert Island, as well
as part of Isle au Haut to the south and the Schoodic Peninsula
to the north. Much of the land was donated by George Door
and by John D. Rockefeller Jr, who also paid for construction
of many of the park’s roads.
Bar Harbor is where you go to relax after
hiking the trails of Acadia. Once rivaling Newport, RI,
for its wealth and extravagance, a great fire in 1947 that
burned out of control for nearly a month destroyed much
of the island, including most of the mansions. The few mansions
that survived have been transformed into inns. Plenty to
do in Bar Harbor, whether you want to stroll the shore path,
explore the Abbe Museum, which has one of the largest collections
of Native American craftwork in the Northeast, poke around
its many shops, or sample some of the culinary delights
in the restaurants. Or you just might want to get an ice
cream cone and sit on a park bench overlooking the surrounding
islands and contemplate that nagging question: What is it
about New England that
feels so much like home, calling you to return back again
and again?
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