Roque Island, ME

Rob drove us to Zendo on Monday morning, August 12,  after we had blueberry pie for breakfast! He and Linda had to head back to W. Paris and we needed to continue our journey to Canada. We took off by 9:45 for the relatively short cruise to Roque Island. It was a beautiful, sunny day with calm seas and pleasant temperatures. We passed Great Wass Island, Jonesport and Great Spruce Island. 

Roque Island is an incredibly beautiful place with a long white crescent beach. We anchored in a lovely cove adjacent to Point Isabella. There were only two or three other sailboats and they were anchored near the Great Beach (see the map below).  Roque Island is the centerpiece of an archipelago that includes several other islands. Roque Island was the summer home of a group of native Americans and shell heaps found on the island have been studied by archeologists. The island was purchased in 1806 by Joseph Peabody and it served as a resort and a retreat for his descendants for over two centuries.  The families of his descendants still own it and it is actually a working farm with homes on the island, woodworking shops, farmland with animals, and a private boatyard.  

When we arrived I made us lunch - clam and bacon frittata with the steamers from the night before. It was quite yummy. Afterwards we dinghied onto the beach and tied up in the sand with an anchor since the tides here are so high. We walked quite a ways and Archie was in heaven.

But twice the anchor dragged and we had to reset the dinghy.   The beach itself, though privately owned, is accessible to boaters though there are signs telling people not to proceed beyond the beach due to the sensitivity of the terrain.

Returning to Zendo we spent a lot of time talking about how to get through the tricky Lubec Passage the next day that would eventually bring us to Canadian waters. That evening we used Rob and Linda’s fresh vegetables to have a big salad with sardines(!) for dinner while exclaiming over our delight at this idyllic anchorage.