Lobstah Heaven Dan Armitage Trailer Boats July 28, 2005

August in Maine means lobsters, at least ’round Rockland way. And after spending six summer days in the state that made “lobstah” famous — gunkholing by trailered boat and Chevy Tahoe along the southeast coast up to Rockland — I could honestly admit that I had had my fill of the scrumptious shellfish.



As Midwesterners who crave the crustaceans as only inland seafood lovers can, we ate lobster in just about every way imaginable. From roadside carts to seaside resorts, practically every emporium we encountered offered the local delicacy. One fellow was selling fresh “chicken” (small) lobster from the trunk of a car while just down the street the clawed seafood stars were being offered on fine china and white linens for 10 times the price. The result was lobster overload; we ate so much that we even made a game of trying to find a lobster prep we hadn’t already sampled.



We cruised a stretch of classic rock-and-sand coast that earned the original “Downeast” designation that defines all Mainers, with the ultimate target of visiting the annual Maine Lobster Festival held early each August in Rockland. The featured event was actually anticlimactic compared to the sights, sounds and smells we experienced while exploring an area where boating is a way of life.



Along the coastal trail, my wife Maria, 5-year-old son Ethan and I discovered everything from a family-friendly maritime museum straight out of another century to a seaside resort from another generation, as well as locally built boats every bit as tough as the rugged, rocky coast they are made to ply.



SEBASCO BY THE SEA

Situated at the tip of Popham Peninsula a dozen miles due south of Bath, 575-acre Sebasco Harbor Resort was a recommendation that kept cropping up as I asked local contacts about a boat-friendly, family-style resort from which to base a Downeast expedition. After arriving at what is known locally simply as “Sebasco,” we began to see why. Driving the long lane on the approach to the main lodge, we were flanked by greens that held as many kids as adult golfers playing a nine-hole course adjacent to a scenic waterfront.



As we pulled into the check-in area, we saw more children and their families, walking, riding bikes, lining up at the ice-cream cottage, playing volleyball and frolicking in the flower gardens. We were offered one of several clapboard cottages, each with a waterfront view, sporting names such as Evergreen, Sand Dollar, Cricket and Driftwood rather than mere numbers. These cozy doubles maintain the character that has made the resort a success since it opened its doors to vacationing families 75 years ago this summer.



Had we wished, we could have stayed in one of several guest rooms inside Sebasco’s restored lighthouse, which is topped by a glass-enclosed observation deck that offers a panoramic view of Casco Bay. At the base of the lighthouse is a dock where watercraft of all shapes and sizes can be rented, mooring for private craft can be secured, and working lobster boats can be observed hauling in the day’s catch.



GREAT HOME BASE

A 15-minute drive up State Route 209, or an hour-plus cruise from the dock around the Popham Peninsula and up the historic Kennebec River, is the Maine Maritime Museum. At the other end of the stretch of midcoast Maine we were set to explore, an hour’s drive up U.S. Route 1, is Rockland, where the five-day Maine Lobster Festival takes place. Along the way, traveling by land or sea, you can experience the quintessential Maine coast.



For example, about 10 miles from Bath is the village of Wiscasset, on the south shore of the Sheepscot River. Across from the public launch ramp on Water Street is the famous lobster-lover’s destination Red’s Eats. The tiny building offers several take-out windows, a few picnic tables and resin chairs to seat alfresco diners who come to sample Red’s famous lobster rolls.



Across the river and around the bend from Wiscasset is Edgecomb. It’s the home of the waterfront studio of nautical jeweler A.G.A. Correa & Son, where customers who arrive by boat receive special attention as well as a healthy discount. We had purchased our matching braided-gold wedding rings from the Correa catalog a decade ago, and have always wanted to visit the gallery in person. At low tide, it’s a long walk up the steep steps from the sea-level dock to the studio, but like most everything we saw in Maine, it lived up to the picture we had in our minds. The boat-friendly setting, and meeting the jeweler who braided our bands made it a memorable stop.



On the way back to the Wiscasset ramp, we stopped at a small marina with a cardboard sign offering “2 Claw” lobsters. We ended up spending an hour at Eddy Marina talking with the proprietor and his wife, who showed us the proper way to handle a live lobster and how to “peg” the claws shut with rubber bands to keep the crabby crustaceans from mauling each other while they are stored in the underwater lobster pound awaiting market.



LOBSTAH FEST

The following day, high winds and heavy seas forced us to drive to Rockland rather than visit by boat the famous festival that features all things lobstah. It’s a 60-mile boat ride if you go from Sebasco, but not one recommended for trailerable craft. Strong currents and unsettled conditions are the norm off the mouth of the Kennebec and on a stretch of open water near Monhegan Island, areas that even local boaters tend to avoid. You can also launch from points closer to Rockland, but it wasn’t practical on the day of our visit.



We arrived just in time for the Maine Lobster Festival parade down Main Street. The festival itself resembled a combination county fair and seafood celebration, staged right on Rockport’s busy waterfront. There were carnival rides, midway-type attractions, several tall ships at dock, displays in the Nautical Tent and hands-on activities for children in the Kids Tent. Local crafts and art were for sale in the Art Tent. Concerts and other live entertainment are offered each evening during the event, but the main attraction for most visitors is the Food Tent and the traditional Maine lobster dinner for which it is famous.



The colorful meal, which costs $11.50, is served assembly-line fashion and features bright yellow corn on the cob and scarlet whole lobster, with a side of melted butter and a fresh dinner roll. After eating in a huge tent with scores of other diners, we explored until we felt like we had seen, touched, photographed or eaten everything we wanted to experience at the festival.



On the way back, we stopped at a nautical knick-knack shop on U.S. 1 called Marine Salvage, where I found a stack of 1990s-vintage Trailer Boats magazines for sale. We spent another delightful hour looking at used boat parts and hardware, old lobster traps, fishing tackle and related nautical items.



CLASSIC MARITIME

We spent the next afternoon exploring the Maine Maritime Museum. Located off the Kennebec River, it’s a must-see for any boater interested in a time when our favorite craft were built of wood rather than ’glass and metal. In Bath, the deepwater port and grounds of this former shipbuilding site date back almost three centuries. It’s the perfect place for a museum dedicated to the ships that were built and used everywhere from the coastal waters of Maine to the seven seas.



The museum is sprawled along the waterfront just downstream of the towering Bath iron works. On this site stood the Percy and Small Shipyard, where from 1894 to 1921 Sam Percy and Frank Small constructed 41 wooden schooners, including the largest wooden sailing vessel ever launched in the United States, the six-masted schooner Wyoming. In addition to historic shipyard buildings filled with exhibits, waterfront attractions include the pinky schooner Maine and 142-foot Sherman Tucker, a Grand Banks fishing schooner, both open for exploration.



Day-use dockage is available for guests arriving by boat, and picnic tables are scattered along the riverfront. There we sampled our first cold lobstah salad, while Ethan played on a pirate ship made for kids. We enjoyed interactive exhibits of various boatbuilding tasks, as well as a demonstration on how completed craft were launched from the boat works.



The following morning, we packed a picnic and spent the better part of a warm, lazy Sunday playing in the sand and gentle surf at Popham Beach, just across the peninsula from the resort. We waded to a rocky island at low tide, Ethan built castles with other kids, and we thoroughly enjoyed a traditional day at the beach.

When the sun dropped low over the dunes behind us, we headed back to Sebasco in time to catch our last sunset over Casco Bay, which we watched each evening from the west-facing porch of Cricket cottage. As is so often the case, the last day-ending light show was the best of our mid-Maine adventure.



Travel Contacts

Chart References: Waterproof Charts (800/423-9026; water

proofcharts.com) No. 101 Casco Bay to Monhegan Island for the Bath Area, and chart No. 102 for the Rockland region.



Maine Office of Tourism: 888/95MAINE; visitmaine.com



Maine Lobster Festival: 800/LOBCLAW; mainelobsterfestival.com. The dates for the 2005 fest are August 3 to 7. Admission is $7 daily until 3 p.m.; $10 after 3. August 3 is Community Day and admission is free.



Sebasco Harbor Resort: 800/225-3819; sebasco.com. Rates range from $129 per night for a single in the resort’s main lodge to

$1990 per night for a 10-bedroom cottage that can accommodate 20 family members. Boat moorings are available.



AGA Correa & Son: 800/341-0788; agacorrea.com

Maine Maritime Museum: 207/443-1316; mainemaritimemuseum.org

Pulsifer Hampton Boats: Richard Pulsifer; 207/725-5457; pulsifer

hampton.com



Red’s Eats: 207/882-6128; hollyeats.com





Do Not Disturb

Merely disturbing, let alone pulling up, a lobster pot in this corner of the world rates right up there with horse thievery in the Wild West, and the penalties are every bit as severe. Fines start at $150 and penalties can get worse if a lobsterman suspects you are “messing about” with the traps. If you find your lower unit caught in a pot line, do your best to get untangled without cutting the tether. If you must sever it, keep ahold of both ends of the line, tie them securely together and be on your way.



Downeast Boating Tips

One look at the rugged Downeast coast and most boaters will see the need for extra caution when plying these granite-studded waters. Toss in a tide that can fluctuate as much as 11 feet, and you’ll definitely want to become familiar with the waters before running around at wide-open throttle.



There is a boat launch ramp on the grounds at Sebasco Harbor Resort (where we stayed) that harbormaster Phil Luedee refers to as a “tidal ramp,” meaning that it is practical to use only at high tide. There are at least four improved public launch ramps between Bath and Sebasco, however. One is on the New Meadows River, which flanks the west side of Popham Peninsula. Known as Painted Pot Ramp, it is just down the road from the resort and is the ramp that many guests use to put-in and take out trailerable boats. On the Kennebec River, which flanks the east side of the peninsula, is the Fiddlers Reach Boat Landing at Morse Cove.



The channels leading off of the Kennebec River, Casco Bay and surrounding waters are well marked in popular boating areas. But give the lobster buoys a wide berth. Although the lines are weighted, it is possible to snag them with a direct hit, especially at low tide when there is lots of slack in the lines.



If you want to leave your boat in the water during your stay at Sebasco, guests may rent mooring buoys at half price, or $15, per night. All the moorings are located off the service dock, where fuel and ice are available. A launch operates from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. to ferry boaters to and from their moored craft, and a courtesy dinghy is available to guests before and after hours to get to and from their craft.



The entire Downeast coast is patrolled by the Maine Department of Marine Resources and the U.S. Coast Guard, both of which monitor VHF Channel 16. No fishing license is required in Maine’s coastal waters.