About 19 miles off the Maine coast sits another world. This is the island of Matinicus. Politically, it is governed by a land-use committee in Augusta, the state capital. As locals might say, that's as close as they would ever want politics to come. There's no "Deep Swamp" here. Just granite shores, a few sandy beaches and a scattering of houses.
This is at the mouth of the harbor. Looking to the right, towards the south, there's a little village of houses perched on the ledges, overlooking the little cove.
And further to the right, you can see the stacks of lobster pots. This would seem to be the main industry.
Across the mouth of the harbor, on the other side, there is a breakwater. This was built in 1912 and it has been breached only once since then. The storm, once it overtopped the breakwater, severely damaged the fleet of fishing boats.
We reached Matinicus from Portland, a trip of about 75 nautical miles (6000 feet to a nautical mile). We left the dock in Portland and slowly motored through some of the "fields" of islands, all granitic outcrops sticking their heads and shoulders into Casco Bay.
Lobster boats are everywhere.
Then we motored out of Casco Bay and into the Gulf of Maine, heading east. We were perhaps 10 miles off of Seguin Light and 15 miles off Boothbay Harbor when we spotted the first humpback whale jumping in front of us. That's the whale on the left in the drawing below. We saw many humpbacks in the St. Lawrence River last summer.
A little further on, we saw another humpback breaking the surface, then giving a spout, then diving and showing its characteristic tail.
Next up was Monhegan Island, home to many artists. Most notable of the artists were Andrew Wyeth and his family.
Now that we have been sitting in the Matinicus Harbor, we are treated to the arrival of a windjammer, the Stephen Tabor. She is over 140 years old, and she takes veterans on sailing trips from the mainland.
Tomorrow, we head further east to Burnt Coat Harbor, located on the west side of Swans Island, in Toothacher Bay.
Until then,
Cheers,
Brio
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