Little Cranberry Island

The fog finally lifted, but the forecasted wind hadn’t shown up yet. We motored out of Port Clyde and gamely hoisted the mainsail. A couple of hours later the wind showed up so we were able to set sail, but the thick fog showed up too. There’s something really eery about speeding along at 8 knots (topped 10 at one point) peering out for signs of other boats. Our radar worked well for the most part, allowing us to see boats that were close by. And we were far enough off shore to know that we wouldn’t see much traffic in these conditions anyway. The winds got high enough to put in a couple of reefs, but every time we reefed we never slowed down, the boat was performing so well.

We made great time and got into Little Cranberry Island late afternoon. We managed to find a guest mooring courtesy of the town, and suddenly the fog lifted and the sun came out. Little Cranberry has the reputation as being ‘the’ spot to watch the sun set over Acadia and it did not disappoint.

Little Cranberry is a charming little oasis just a couple of miles from the congestion of Acadia. It’s home to a small lobster fleet with their own coop right at the docks. There’s a small museum about Islesford (the town) that has displays on the history of the island and that features a short film about the local lobster industry. After watching the video and later walking through town I think we saw nearly every one of the lobster captains from the film mowing their lawns, weed whacking, looking after their kids, and doing every other mundane activity that happens in every town.

There’s only one restaurant on the island and they have such a good reputation that you need to make reservations. We watched a sailboat come screaming in, drop an anchor almost in the ferry channel, turn on their navigation lights, and jump in a small boat to rush to shore (I’m guessing to make their dinner reservation). The only other place we see behavior like this is Block Island, I thought it was unheard of in Maine. We soon saw other boats stream in from Southwest and Northeast Harbors, a few getting turned away because there wasn’t room at the dock. We had opted for a late lunch that day to avoid the dinner craziness. The food and the service were great and we had a fun time chatting with some locals and a visitor alike.