Roque island ME USA

Leaving Machias Bay

Having arrived at sunset, we set off at sunrise.  The wake-up alarm call at 0600 was a bit of a shock to the system on Friday 14 September but we had the engine running at 0630 and got away shortly after that so that we made best use of the tide.

With a high pressure settled over the area there was no wind to speak of so we started motoring our way towards Roque Island.  Despite the settled conditions there was still a big swell, thanks to Hurricane Florence much further south, which provided some spectacular scenes on the rocky coastline we passed.

Unfortunately, we had to motor the whole way to Roque Island – the wind never picked up at all.  Roque Island is a sort of H-shaped island and we approached it from the east, planning on going into Roque island Harbour which essentially makes the lower bow of the H, facing out to the southeast.  On our way in we stuck our noses into Lakeman Harbour, which sits on the eastern shore of the main bay.  It was rather pretty and some friends of ours had anchored here and picked mussels from the shoreline.  But the wind was due to change to come in directly through the entrance, so we contented ourselves with a slow pirouette and headed out towards Great Beach at the top end of Roque Island Harbour.

The western end of Great Beach on the southeast side of Roque Island

Great Beach is a beautiful long, desolate strand and with clear skies above, light winds and only a little of the southerly swell getting into the bay, it was a lovely place to anchor.

New engine space ventilation fan

At the end of the previous day we had realised that the engine space ventilation fan had failed.  We had not wanted to replace it in the dark in Macchias Bay or take the time this morning to do so.  Now, however, we had daylight and time on our side so we dug out the spare from the depths of a locker under a bunk, emptied the machinery space, took out the old one and put in the new.  These fans are advertised as having a working life of 1000hrs and the previous one was, we think, the original item fitted.  If that is the case, it had worked for around 4200hrs before finally giving up the ghost and has earned itself a well-deserved rest from life. We can only hope that the new one does even half as well.

Leaving the Great Beach anchorage

Unfortunately, when we had replaced the fan, we realised that, as per the forecast the wind was moving round and the swell was starting to get in.  This was only going to get worse as the day progressed so we up anchored and motored gently round to the other side of the island….

Motoring through The Thoroughfare

….through a small inlet through the island, known as ‘The Thoroughfare’.  It is a lovely cut-through, all the more so as the day was generally so still and brightly lit.

Looking through The Thoroughfare towards the mainland shore

Storey Bay, the northern part of the ‘H’ of Roque island, is less picturesque than Great Beach but is generally far more settled, being on the north (landward) side of the island. There are some houses on this side and some moorings belonging to the landowners but even so it is still hardly over developed.  We had a lovely quiet afternoon in the anchorage and the sunset that evening was picture postcard perfect.

However, the same could not be said of the view the following morning.  Pretty thick fog, maybe 300m visibility.  Not ideal for our planned transit to Jonesport to buy lobster. But, if the lobster fishermen could do it (and we could hear them out there), then we could too……..after a suitable pause for a cup of tea and breakfast, in the hope that the fog would lift!

Roque island, ME, USA