Valley Cove in Somes Sound

We originally planned to cruise to the Cranberry Islands on Friday, August 16.  We left Mistake Island Harbor at 8:15 for a six hour cruise.  It was a sunny day and we had a pleasant cruise as we passed Steele Harbor Light and Petit Manan Light.

We decided that instead of going to Cranberry Island we heard Somes Sound calling to us because we thought it would be a more protected anchorage. As we passed Cranberry Island we passed yet another lighthouse, this one called Bear Island Light. At first glance it looks like a Dutch Colonial house on the shore but if you look closely you can see the lighthouse itself. 

As we cruised along the coast of Northeast Harbor we began to pass by some beautiful waterfront homes. 

We called Northeast Harbor to see if they had a mooring but they said they couldn’t tell us until we were just outside of their harbor. So that reinforced our decision to explore Somes Sound which we had been to on Michael and Melina’s boat many years ago.  We headed up into long and narrow Somes Sound and discovered a wonderful inlet called Valley Cove that was beautiful, well protected and with good access to the shore. However, we knew there were more anchorages further up in Somes Sound so we cruised up the Sound to check them out. None of them turned out to be as attractive as Valley Cove so we did an about face and returned to Valley Cove. It took us a couple of tries to get the anchor to set but we finally did and we were thrilled with the decision.  Valley Cove is also something of a fjord as the coastline reaches up to a steep hill all of which is part of Acadia National Park. We anchored across from a rocky shore that is adjacent to a sandy crescent beach.  We shared the cove with this huge yacht.

Upon arrival, we dinghied up to the beach and went for a stunning and rather challenging hike up the Flying Mountain Trail until I got tired and we turned back. When we started to hike up in another direction we met a friendly older couple who stopped to chat with us, motivated as often happens by Archie’s friendliness.  They were from Stuart, FL and they were very excited because they had just purchased a home in Northeast Harbor on the water.  Lucky them, this whole area is just beautiful.

That night we had dinner onboard Zendo in this perfect anchorage. We were looking forward to seeing a Michael and Melina the next day.