Cranberry Isle - islands off Bar Harbor, ME

Decommissioned lighthouse, but family has 60 year lease to live there so long as they take care of the lighthouse at their expense.














Osprey nest that is believed to be 80 years old
Small group of seals on a rock area away from humans




Little Cranberry Isle harbor







7/26 Thursday We took a cruise around the five Cranberry Isle islands. These are inhabited islands, although some are not year round. There are about 400 islands in the state with about 300 being inhabited at least a part of the year. In these islands, the kids who live on all but two islands must either be home schooled or commute to a school on either Big or Little Cranberry Isle. This means a boat ride each day in their own boat. There are many days when the fog is so thick that even some boats with radar stay in port. It was surprising how many really small boats had radar domes on the cockpit roof. Even on Big and Little Cranberry Isle, the schools are only one-room schools. Little Cranberry had 14 students last year.

We passed a lighthouse that has been decommissioned due to better navigational aides like GPS. With pressure from local citizens, the government offered a 60-year lease on the island with the lighthouse with the stipulation the lessee had to maintain the lighthouse at his or her expense. It is reported the family who lives by the lighthouse did some very costly repairs about two years ago. There is still a light that flashes red instead of white each night in this lighthouse.

We continue to be amazed by the clarity of the water and the depth you can see below the surface. In the harbor at Little Cranberry, we were seeing things on the bottom that was over 10 feet deep. The bottom sometimes looks dirty, but the water does not. This area has tide swings between 10’ and 12’ twice a day. This results in some very high docks and things like winches to get items from the water level up to the ground level. The angle of ramp we went up from our tour boat was about a 400 incline.

On Little Cranberry were we docked awhile (I think the captain had an interest in the restaurant there), they had cars that had been brought in by barge. They ran on paved roads from the old days, but the license plates had expired years before. It seems the DOT doesn’t visit the island to check on renewals. The folks that live there either have old cars or golf carts to get around the 500+ acre island. They keep another car on the mainland in parking lots created for this purpose so they can go grocery shopping, to the doctor, etc. Some have boats they run back and forth while others who are seasonal will normally ride the mail boat that stops at all the islands.

The Little Cranberry island has about 14 families living year round, but in the summer this number can swell to as much as 400; no one is really sure how many are there. There are power and phone lines from the mainland, but they must provide their own well and septic systems. The real attraction is the constant quiet with only the normal sound of splashing water and wind. Living on one of the islands, there is almost always a breeze, so things like air conditioners are almost not needed. Property on the islands sells for about $500k per acre.

We saw two osprey nests on the tour. One nest had not been productive this year as the eggs apparently did not hatch. The other did have two babies who would peek over the edge of the nest to check the passing boats from their day marker roost. Male osprey will find a female and bring her home to his nest. If she fails to produce young, the male goes looking for a new mate to bring home. One nest is reported to be 80 years old, so this male has produced many offspring over the years.

The local people and government have attempted to provide safe places for the osprey to build new nests. They have erected phone poles with large plywood tops, but so far the osprey has ignored these and built nests on the tops of chimneys. This renders the fireplace useless as the homeowner cannot do anything to the nest include smoke it with a fire from below. Building a fire may also result in a house fire when the wooden nest catches fire and then falls on the wood shingle roof.

This was not the case with one home fire, but this home burned to the slab; after all, getting fire trucks to a location and in time to save things appears limited at best. The owners decided to build on the location again, but the Maine government said no, you are now too close to the water. They could not move back as they did not own enough property, so their smart lawyers found that building exactly the same house again, right down to the windows, siding and roof materials, then registered the home as a historic home, they could get around the new restriction; of course this is what they did.

We saw seals on one small piece of rock that was exposed due to the tide being out. What we saw was only about 1/3 of the total number of seals in this family. It seems seals stay in their own families and normal breed only within their family. Apparently this reproduction is working okay for seals, but it has proven in humans to have disastrous results. The seals are all black or brown, so those that appear gray or multi-colored are still wet.

The population of the area kids is declining yearly and so is the number of schools. Because the price of land and homes has increased so much, families raised on the islands or shoreline can’t buyout their sibling’s portion of the home or property that now is part of their parent’s estate. As result the siblings must sell the property and most of the buyers are older and may only buy the home for summer use. Some homes are so old they are not insulated, so the new buyers close these homes after the summer. With older buyers, there are no kids to educate.

The lobster people, mostly lobstermen, are allowed to put out 800 pots or traps each. They go to the same town hall to register their car, the boat, while at the same time they register to be lobstermen and register the color pattern of the buoys they will use to mark their traps. Plastic tags are issued and must be attached to the lobster pots to be legal. Generally the pattern on the buoy is simple because the buoy is a white round Styrofoam shape with a stick through the middle to attach the rope to. The lobsterman must hand paint each of these buoys, and let us not forget he must paint at least 800 of these, so the KISS principal is very important. They mark their boat with the pattern of their buoys so others can see they are pulling only their pots.

The lobsterman must visit each pot once every three days. If he has 800 pots, he will have many very long days as this averages 270 pots per day. Some will put two pots per buoy to make checking faster. These pots are attached together with about 25’ of rope so they will land about 25’ apart. They push one pot off the side of the boat, and then let this trap pull the second pot into the water and finally the buoy as they head for the next buoy. Frequently they set their buoys only a few boat lengths apart. Sometimes the buoys in a harbor leave very little room for a large boat to make passage into the harbor.

Visiting the pots every three days is critical as the haddock used as bate rots and will no longer attract the lobsters. Second, lobsters caught in traps get hungry and will begin to eat each other. Most of the haddock is fresh when purchased by the lobsterman when he brings in the days catch and prepares for the next day, so the lobsterman who fails to go out the following day now has spoiling haddock that will not support the pot the normal three day rotation period.

Most lobstermen have some other job. Carpentry seems to be very popular, but some become caretakers of homes for absentee owners or grounds keepers for other homes. One of the larger and nicer homes used year round is taken care of by a PE coach. This must be a neat trick during football season when these homes are still in use and after school coaching is a daily requirement.

One wealthy banking investment broker hands out tickets to all the permanent island residents and year round workers to visit his property on July 4th. He has even had Reba McEntire perform for the guests on the lawn before the fireworks display begins on the water with fireworks launched worth a reported $100k. This man owns four homes around the world and he does the same at each location. This home, however, was his first and his favorite. We also saw the summer home of Martha Stewart, but it was high on a hill instead of being near the water. From our vantage point, it was not all that impressive, but I am sure she is able to move about the local town without being mobbed.

Acadia NP (north) and Bangor, ME

Acadia NP north looking across Frenchman Bay to Cadillac Mountain












Another shot of the area














Note the black magma that has come up in the cracks of the pink granite.














Typical church in the countryside of Maine
Water tower in Bangor that dates back before the 1900's



7/25 Wednesday We drove to the portion of Acadia National Park that is attached to the mainland to the north of Frenchman Bay. This was a nice drive but less than we anticipated. We understood there was a lighthouse to see, but seeing was across the bay from one direction and another lighthouse was behind a ‘you are not welcome here” fence erected by the Navy. They said it was part of a satellite station and they did have some large domes covering what we presume to be dishes.



After a drive around here, we headed to Bangor to see the city. It was far smaller than we anticipated, so we ended up driving through downtown so quickly and into the adjacent neighborhoods we both were asking the other, Where is downtown?” We did find some churches and a water tower that dated back to the 1890’s that held 1.7M gallons of water and is still in use today. In fact we were watching the news when we got home and found that they were offering tours at the top today. This is one of four days a year when they open the observation area to the public. There was no signage saying anything about the tours, so we walked around the base, took pictures and left. If we had known, we would have stayed around so we could visit this tower.

Bar Harbor, Maine

Rather typical lobster boat getting ready to go back out

Bar Harbor. Note the docks out in the water that floats on the 12' tides in the area.



7/24 Tuesday We drove to Bar Harbor and through a significant portion of Acadia National Park that includes Cadillac Mountain. It is reported this mountain is 1500 feet, however, it appears to be more. Bar Harbor is a small town with little shops, places to eat, an interesting harbor area and no parking meters. They have 2-hour limits on some areas, but we did not see any meter maids waiting to catch folks that overstayed their limit. We found a restaurant advertising Tex-Mex food, but it was really New Mexico Mexican food. This is where the owner had studied, so it was a bit different to our normal ideas, but it was good and the waitress as very attentive. It was interesting she had lived in the area all her life (likely about 23 years) and spoke without a Maine accent. We commented on this observation and she assured us when she was around her father, a lobsterman, she sounded as good or as bad as he does. She said her mother also had no Maine accent. It appears the accent depends upon where you are living and maybe what the person did earlier in life. As you get away from the water, the accent tones down dramatically.

We had been told there was an admission charge in Acadia National Park, but we never found a gate. Most of the roads are freshly paved and really nice to drive on. The views are very good of Eagle Lake on one side of Cadillac Mountain and Frenchman Bay and the Atlantic on the other. We think we are correct that this area of the Atlantic is recognized as the Bay of Maine. We were on the mountain at 2:30 and the Winter Harbor area on the north side of Frenchman Bay had large areas already covered with heavy fog.

The mountain is made up of pink granite stone. It is easy to walk on and doing so is allowed by the park service. There are large areas at the top of the mountain for visitors to walk around on, sit, picnic and sun on. It appeared some had come to sun in an attempt to get a quicker tan than they would at a lower elevation. There was one fellow running down the mountain road who looked almost as red as one of the lobsters they were selling in town. We know he will be hurting for several days due to his quick ‘tan’.

It is interesting the difference in the people who live here vs. other parts of the country. There are more bikes on Main Street than you would find on one location other than the bike area at a Super Wal-Mart. We have seen many bike racks that hold four bikes on the back of cars. There are also many runners everywhere you go. In general, the locals do not have any weight issues. We saw many people who had biked up Cadillac Mountain and a few who were running up. Seeing this, it is not really hard to understand how they are so in shape.

Some other observations have to do with their love of wind vanes for the roof. Most are mounted on structures that mount on the ridge of the house and are topped with copper. Of course the copper looks great now, but it will turn a rather dark brown in time. Every town, and sometimes just where a walk path crosses a road in the middle of no-where, you will see a sign in the middle of the road reminding you that the state law requires you stop your vehicle for anyone in the crosswalk. Another thing is the lack of signage on the roads. If you miss the sign that says the name of the road you are traveling on, you are just in tough luck. The majority of the cross streets are marked, but no guarantees on that. Many cross roads will be marked with a name, but they are also marked as private and they are the ‘road’, really the driveway to a home.

Nantucket, MA

One of the old homes owned by a whaler typical of many homes on the island. Roses grow across the house.










Lighthouse on the edge of the exclusive golf course. This light will be moved in a few months because the land has eroded to within 25' of the light from over 500' when built.
















Nantucket harbor

High speed ferry

Returning to the mainland


7/14 Saturday We took the Hi-Line’s ferry to Nantucket Island, a 1:50 ride each way. We took the slow boat for $34 vs. the high speed for $69 that takes only one hour to reach the island. The ferry was built in 1988 and was showing her age. I would think the company would have ongoing maintenance to keep the boat looking much newer.

As for the island, it is a different life and group. Of course everything must come in by plane or boat, so prices are higher and the selection is greatly reduced. For example, there is only one car dealer on the island; fortunately for many there, it is a Ford dealer. If you drive another brand and it breaks down, it may be necessary to have it towed to a dealership on the mainland and this tow bill can easily exceed $300. Just taking your car there will cost $135 each way. The cost is based on length and height.

There is one small hardware store, one bank, and one grocery, but two gas stations selling at the same price of $3.55 while the same product on the mainland is $3. There were more cars on the island than I expected, so of course they had a traffic jamb in town at lunch.

The location of homes on the island is very restricted. About 40% of the island is limited to open land that anyone can enjoy; most of this land is covered with trees. All beach land is public property, so even the beach at the extremely exclusive resort on the island can’t keep anyone off that beach area. On the other public lands, they have topped the trees to keep them from growing too tall and being blown over by the strong east wind that is almost constantly blowing and gets much stronger in the winter. The soil is mostly sand with a little clay as a binder, so the engraving on grave stones face west so these winds will not blow sand against the face of the markers and remove the engraving.

The island has no mayor; instead, a very powerful counsel of 5 aldermen runs the government. There is an equally powerful architectural committee. This committee passed rules that all future construction on the island could only use siding that was white cedar, lapboard or brick. One large commercial building not built to these rules was forced to cover the building with cedar over the original material. One home on the island is stucco, but it was grandfathered when the rules were passed.

Many homes have what we have come to call ‘Widow’s Walks’. This is a misnomer, as a widow has no reason to walk around a high platform on the roof looking for her sailor husband to come home. These were originally just platforms around the chimney where buckets of sand were stored to put out a chimney fire. Access was gained through a hatch in the roof from the attic called a scurry; the name derived because you would scurry through it to put out a fire. It was reported women wanted the railings installed so they would not fall while up there. It then served the dual function of storing buckets of sand for fire suppression and a place the wife could look for incoming sailing vessels.

A really good story that failed to make the news relates to the very exclusive golf club on the island. It has only 200 members and one must die or not pay his $500,000 yearly dues before there is an opening for a new member. When that occurs, they raffle the membership and the club gets the money. The membership may not be part of a Will or sold to another individual. And now the story –

Clinton wanted to play the exclusive course on a Nantucket visit, so the Secret Service showed up at the club and announced Clinton wanted to play there. They said even though he was the president he would need to be an invited guest of a member. The Secret Service then asked for a list of the members and they could approach the members until they found one who would invite him. They were advised the list was private and they would not release the names. The Secret Service then went to town and began asking the natives if they were members or could tell them the name of some of the members – the town refused to provide any information. Clinton ended up playing a much less prestigious club in Martha’s Vineyard – the ultimate snub. It seems the members of the club are all Republicans. No, this did not make the evening news.

About 300 yachts call Nantucket home in the summer. It appeared the number was only a fraction of that July 12, but the summer is still young. Needless to say, what was there was costly.

The island is called the Gray Lady. Although the basis of the name is unknown for sure, several possible explanations exist. One relates to the drab gray color of the dresses of the Quaker women who lived on the island in its beginning. Another had to do with the gray paint on the battle ships during WW-II. Another has to do with the weathered white cedar siding and red cedar roofs on the structures on the island. Another has to do with the weather and the gray haze that exists around the island most of the year. Pick one of these and you are as right as anyone today.


The local airport was taken over by US government for the air force in WW-II as the weather here is so much like that in the English channel. It was given back to the town after the war, but now it was in much better condition then when it was taken over. It is a very busy airport as air flights from the mainland are only about 15 minutes by plane vs. one hour by high-speed ferry. Watching the planes, there was almost always a plane on a long straight in final approach.

On one final note, one of the nine original settlers on the island was a family named Macy. He was a whaler like the others on the island, but on one trip he decided whaling was not going to be his lot in life, so he came home and began a dry goods store that became extremely lucrative. He then built a large store in New York City to sell the fashions that he was getting from Europe. We know this now as the Macy’s Department Store chain.

Nantucket is currently designed to separate the tourist from his or her money, but it is very interesting place to visit and tour. We would recommend a bus tour so you can see major parts of the island while getting information on the locations. Our guide, who was a high school teacher, lived in Bourne by the Sagamore Bridge. Four days a week she takes the ferry to work, then drives at least two tours before catching another ferry back to the mainland. She loves her job and it is apparent in the tour information she provided. Her information was not the normal canned speech, nor did it sound like she had done this for 20 years and was tired of the whole thing. Instead she was excited and caused others to get equally excited about what they were seeing. She even acted as the resident photographer so everyone could have their picture taken with one of the three lighthouses in the background.

Whale watching extra pictures

Mother dives for food while shark watches.














Whale prepares for a tail slap to make fish bunch up.


















These birds live their whole life on the water.
Take off take a bit of effort and a whole lot of 'running on water'.



Here are some extra pictures of the whale watching.

What now remains of Plymouth rock. Hardly enough for a little kid to play on. Estimated to be 1/3 the size of the original rock in 1620.

Cape Cod Whale Watching

Summer home - no utility service - so what?

Mother and baby Humpback whales

Whale surfacing with mouth of food. Shark in the foreground.











Whale is dumping extra water out as it closes the jaws on the fish it has caught.



This dinner is almost complete.
Whale arching over to dive again for food while shark just rests on the surface.




7/12 Thursday We took a whale watching tour that carried us out about 22 miles into the Bay of Maine to the Stellwagen Bank feeding ground. We were on our way to see Pilgrim Rock and some sights in Plymouth when we found this tour. The weather was really nice, so on the spur of the moment we signed on for the trip. It was a really great decision because the seas were calm with swells running about three feet at times. The temperature was also great to be on the water even if the water was about 55 degrees.

Apparently this was a very special sighting day and time as Kathy, our naturalist guide said she had been doing this 13 years and this tour was likely the one with the most sightings. We also had a basking shark swim up to the boat with the mouth open wide. This shark has small teeth like a baby and has no appetite for anything except plactin in the water. This shark is the second largest behind the great white. This one was estimated at 22 feet in length. Normally the shark and whale don’t feed in the same area at the same time, but there appeared no problem with the shark swimming very close to the whales while they fed as seen in one of the pictures. The shark even swam almost up to the boat making some great photos for some aboard – but not me!

Kathy, the naturalist, has been doing this tour while holding a position as a senior high school science teacher responsible for classes like marine biology. She took six years off from the high school job to have kids, but we are not sure if she took the same time away from the whale tours. She really had excitement for the job and sharing the message of saving the whales and other sea life through activities such as recycling.

We found the whales and likely saw as many as 20 representing 3 species found known to be in this area. We saw the Humpback whale that you see on TV programs like Discovery or National Geographic. They feed on small fish that are about the size of an adult finger in width and 7” long. The whales slap the water with the tail causing the fish to bunch together, then the whale dives down through the bunched up fish scooping them up with a lot of water. The whale then surfaces with the mouth open allowing a lot of the water to drain out of the mouth while trapping the fish. It then closes the mouth forcing water out of stretching membranes under the lower jaw. These membranes allow water to flow out but not the fish. Then the whale swallows the fish and begins looking for the next gulp. The whale needs to gain as much as 8.000 pounds so it can survive through the winter.

While out there we saw Finback whales that only glide up to the surface for air and arch back over and down gracefully without any great display. There were also smaller Minke whales there feeding. Only the Humpback is the showy whale while feeding.

In the Plymouth area where we departed, there are some homes on a peninsula that must supply their own power and water to the homes. Of course, these are only summer homes. They must also access their property by 4-wheel drive vehicles with a special permit. This special permit to gain access to specific areas is rather common in this area. One family had a nice home with solar water heater and wind generator, the latter which was likely able to provide power to more than one home. Someone had pulled an RV into the area as a home. Likely this was not a bad choice as it had lower exposure to the wind off the bay.

As for the Plymouth Rock, we stopped there to take a look but this icon is only an estimated 1/3 the size of the original rock. This rock has had a sorted life having attempts to move it causing it to break into two rocks, then one part being used as a foundation for a wharf while the other part was moved to a town square. Now the top portion of the rock is in a monument designed by the same person who was instrumental in the design of Union Station in Washington DC and Penn Station in Baltimore. At best, it was very anti-climatic to the rock we had envisioned for years since learning about this rock in hour history classes many years ago.

Check the next post for added pictures only.