It's not always the place that marks a memory, but the people we meet along the way.
We made plans to rendezvoused with friends from Bainbridge, Will and Anne. Ironically, they were visiting their family home in St. George on their new sailboat, Pleiades. Will spent many family summers in Maine, so he knew it well and suggested we meet in Winter Harbor. I can see why…. it was like gazing upon God’s perfect design.
The inlet was uninhabited but for a lobster boat dropping traps. As we slowly passed, the fishermen warned us it was too rocky to anchor. Unsure if they thought we’d disturb the day's fishing or they meant us well, we chose to believe the latter and decided to go to Perry Creek.
Perry Creek Inlet was just as beautiful only it was flecked with a home every now and then. There were also other boats anchored, so it felt less remote. We moored next to each other and made plans to share dinner on their sailboat later in the evening. In the meanwhile, we would go to the town of North Haven in search of salad dressing and dessert!
North Haven Island
Both in our dinghy’s we followed Will and Anne, bouncing off their wake at top speed. Not knowing how to swim, I cinched my life vest tight and held on for dear life! We arrived safely – whew! – to a quiet working harbor. The shoreline of North Haven was a colorful mix of invitation.
We walked the narrow street lined by a few homes and onesie-twosie shops and found nothing resembling food. Outside a little art studio/gift shop, we asked a woman who identified herself as Tommy, if there was a grocery store on the island. “Sure” she said, “it’s about three miles that way. ”I'm sure we looked surprised as in her next breath she said, “I can give you a lift there, but you will need to hitch a ride back." Again, our poker faces gave us away... "where we come from, you don't ride with strangers", they thought. "Well, suit yourselves. If you get tired, people are friendly and it's okay to take a ride" she assured us.
Will decided to stay behind to make a phone call so Tad, Anne and I set out on foot. Tad was confident he could get us a ride so he put on his big beautiful smile and stuck out his thumb. Cars were infrequent, but two went by; w h i s h h h went the first car, w h i s h h h went the second. We were laughing about the higher probability of being picked up if one of us girls kicked out a leg when a third car stopped next to us. It was Tommy! “I have a few things I need to pick up anyway; come on, I’ll get you there and drive you back” she said with a smile. Tommy was delightful and we learned she actually lived in the opposite direction. I think she probably felt sorry for us and decided to extend a kindness. Thank you, Tommy!
Tad and I explored the harbor a bit more before heading back. I loved it's rustic feel!
While it's not a destination place, there was a gift shop that was not filled with tacky trinkets and the people were friendly to our traipsing through their back door.
Anne and Will remained inland and we bee-bopped around the water checking out other islands and boat sheds on the shores that seemed to lead to nowhere.
In the far distance we spotted a shed that looked to be “on” the water. We boated over and to our delight we discovered a sweet little summer cottage, as we thought.... built in the middle of the inlet.
We circled around to check it out and as we passed by, a woman on the porch gave a faint wave and returned to the book she seemed to have been lost in. Now that's knowing how to drink in the gifts of a day!
We enjoyed a lovely sunset dinner on Will and Anne’s boat and made plans to meet for coffee the next morning in the town of Vinalhaven. They would bike, we would boat. Another adventure!
Boating Info:
Perry Creek Inlet 47.4698 N, 52.7052 W
There are white buoys without marking that you can . From time to time, the harbormaster boat will check the harbor and charge boaters $25 for the stay. We did not see him while we were there, so we will find a way to pass the gift on to someone else over the next few days.