Rolling toward Gilkey Harbor in the company of following swells kicked up by the stiff southwesterly breeze, we intercepted a fleet of sleek Dark Harbor 20s. The classic one-design racers were slicing toward the windward mark just off Minot Ledge that was covered in sunbathing seals (a familiar sight on this ledge).
Designed in 1934 by Sparkman and Stephens for the local yacht club, nearly all of the original Dark Harbor 20s are still racing today. Rounding the windward buoy, the racing boats from another era began popping their colorful spinnakers (to our delight), and blasting their way back into Gilkey Harbor. The DH20 group are a serious bunch of racers! Virtually everything we saw on that stretch of water and shoreline at that moment was as it must have looked seventy-five years ago. We followed the colorful fleet into Gilkey harbor, not too, too, far behind.
Once inside, Gilkey Harbor is an expansive island-rimmed body of water. I always get the feeling that Gilkey is a harbor that has withstood a good deal of the rearranging that time has inflicted on much of this coast. Sure, the last boom in housing has added a few new, slightly out of scale homes. Despite recent changes, if history is any judge, we enjoy Gilkey Harbor today, in a quieter era. One of our more dog eared “Cruising Guides” onboard is the Islands of the Mid-Maine Coast by Charles and Carol McLane, and I refer to it often. It is an interesting, and at times surprising, historical account of many of the islands in our sailing area.
History shows a greater change took place around Gilkey Harbor during a prior housing boom, during the 80s. That’s the 1880s, of course! Back then, the Islesboro Land and Improvement Co. bought up most of the available land on the north end of the island to develop this beautiful area for the rush of rusticators flocking to Islesboro in season. In those booming days, records show there were nearly twice as many year-round residents living on Islesboro as there are today.
In the reference to this boom on Islesboro, the McLanes wrote: “In the 1880s the heart of the summer community moved down island from Sabbathday Cove to Dark Harbor, where there was established over the next few decades a bastion of opulence, social preeminence, and high fashion uparalleled at the time anywhere in Maine (and that included Bar Harbor).”
The now long-gone Dark Harbor Hotel (the original burned down in 1915 and was immediately rebuilt), was also built during this boom. It sported eighty rooms for patrons, and it and the new cottages that sprang up in the Gilkey Harbor area for the summer people supported as many as three dozen stores and various markets.
Cradle Cove, a fitting name for an anchorage (the name is actually derived from drying boats out at low tide to do work, a practice known as cradling), is our favorite spot to spend the night in Gilkey Harbor. Located between Seven Hundred Acre Island and Spruce Island, there’s plenty of space to choose a private spot to anchor. Cradle Cove is a favorite with local passenger schooners and you’re apt to see one or more enter to anchor for the night with their guests onboard. While the opulence, preeminence, and high fashion of yesterday’s Gilkey Harbor are in short supply these days, occasionally a schooner crew will supply the anchorage with some home-grown music after the sun goes down.
Dark Harbor Boatyard has rental moorings and dockage as well as fuel and water and other necessities you may need in Cradle Cove. As well as exploring the empty beaches on the sandbars nearly connecting Seven Hundred Acre and Spruce Islands, you may dinghy into the boatyard and enjoy a walk back through time on the island. I have always found Seven Hundred Acre Island to be a very quiet place, even in season. The island is private, with only a few summer homes, but the roads are open for a hike. When I’m there, I have a hard time imagining that in the 1860s, forty-five children were students in the local school there. Today, especially in the fall, I often feel I’m the only one on the island.
Ames Cove, on the other side of Gilkey Harbor, gives foot access to Islesboro. Pendleton Yacht Yard in Ames Cove has rental moorings. There is dinghy access to shore as well. You can explore the Dark Harbor village, a once-thriving resort area.
You can continue sailing through Gilkey Harbor (it’s bigger than most lakes), past several interesting coves and good anchoring options, and exit through the slot between Grindel Point (where the ferry from Lincolnville docks), and state-owned Warren Island (which is its own story, so stay tuned).
If you’re feeling bold, you might also explore narrow Bracketts Channel for an easterly exit out of Gilkey Harbor. It’s a pretty thread of water between Islesboro and the near-continuous chain of beautiful Minot, Middle and Job Islands. Job is a favorite day stop for us, with a wonderful crescent-shaped beach for combing. With views of the Camden Hills to the west, a sunset there, especially with a schooner passing by, is a picture postcard you’ll never forget.
Gilkey Harbor is more than just a harbor. It’s a unique body of water where you’ll want to spend some time. There are miles of shoreline to explore. Kids can swim, row, sail, fish, all safely within sight of your boat. You’re apt to see a sailboat race or even two on a weekend. Lobster boats, schooners, and recreational boats come and go all day but by no means has it ever seemed crowded — at least not these days, during these quieter times.
Photos of Enjoying the Passing of Time and Tide in Gilkey Harbor
