Aug. 27 - Stonington, ME

Devil's Half Acre - Anchorage

"We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us." – Joseph Campbell

Today our anchorage was in an archipelago of islands called Merchant's Row. These 30-40 islands that lay between Deer Isle and Isle of Haut are unsurpassed for beauty anywhere in Maine. The islands are wooded and fringed in pink and white granite. The islands are close together and are a wonderful place to explore on a dinghy or kayak. At low tide there were sand beaches on all the islands surrounding our anchorage...a great place to enjoy a warm late August day.

Stonington is a working harbor, busy with lobstermen bringing in lobsters to sell to the coops. The town flourished in the late 19th century in the granite industry. Stonington granite built parts of Rockefeller Center, the Smithsonian Institution, Boston's Museum of Fine Arts and several NYC bridges. While exploring some of the islands we could see where huge granite blocks were cut from the shoreline. You can see hundreds of huge blocks of granite scattered like toy blocks on several of the islands. Only one quarry is still operational today.

Granite rubble left behind on one of the little islands in Merchant's Row

The quarry on Crotch Island 

We've stopped in Stonington before, but never spent any time exploring the town. So this afternoon we took the dinghy to town, walked through the small village, visited a few shops and bought lobsters from the coop. The harbor is very busy with lobster boats scooting around everywhere. We enjoyed a wonderful evening in our quiet anchorage grilling lobster, gazing at the amazing scenery and watching a beautiful sunset.

A few of the boats we saw before we got to our anchorage in Hell's Half Acre

Low tide...six hours later this was a small harbor

Stonington waterfront

Lobster Coop where we bought our lobsters off a boat

Fresh Maine lobster...right from the boat

 ...to the grill