Mistake on purpose!

Aug 28, 2024

3 min read

A new favorite – Mistake Island!

The Cross Island anchorage again did not disappoint. We arrived under sunny skies but about dark the fog came in. Late the next morning, the fog burned off and we could see the Navy’s low frequency array and salmon farm pens that are set up between Cross Island and Cutler. But the sunny skies soon turned to fog as we got into the North Atlantic. We set our destination to an anchorage with fantastic reviews on a Maine cruising forum. We are sure glad we did.

Salmon farm off the Navy's submarine communication array at Cutler

And the fog rolls in...

Nothing like the fragrance of fish food wafting in the dew off Cross Island NWR

Mistake Island is part of a group of islands comprising an outer edge of the coast. A route from Jonesport out to the Atlantic runs through the islands. Moose Peak Lighthouse marks the entrance to the passage.

Approaching the anchorage in fog so thick we could only follow our chartplotter route. (It’s like playing a video game, with real rock hazards.) Navigating in fog involves a lot of nervousness, checking the plotter and watching ahead for numerous lobster pot floats and the lobster boats that might be retrieving their lobster traps.

We got settled in without seeing the shore. When the fog thinned a bit we could see the shadow of Mistake Island. Cruisers posts mentioned the trail to the lighthouse was not to be missed. With a little better visibility and a couple hours of daylight left, we launched our dinghy and motored a few hundred yards to the “boat ramp” marked on the charts.

We disembarked at a wooden ramp leading to a little shed and tied up on the rocks next to the ramp. We found the narrow boardwalk and began our hike. The fog came and went. What a nice island to explore with wonderful scenery. We had passed the Moose Peak Lighthouse on the way up to Roque Island. Now we were on shore seeing it from land-side.

Main Channel Way between Mistake and Steele Harbor Islands

Passing by the lighthouse on our way up to Roque Island

During the calm night in the fog, we had no view of our surroundings until the next morning when clear skies revealed we were surrounded by exposed rocks and islands. No wonder the anchorage was so highly rated. We hope to be back to poke around more, hopefully with less fog. It’s a new place on our list of gunkholing favorites. As we prepared to pull anchor, we were sent on our way by a bald eagle flying overhead.

Waking up to being surrounded by rocks and islands!

With fog still haunting us, we had a fitful run back to Southwest Harbor dodging lobster buoys and boats, only one of which was a sailboat. The others were lobster boats pulling their traps or heading back to shore with their catch. Navigating by radar and the chartplotter is stressful and our fog horn, that automatically sounds every two minutes to alert other boats of our position, only adds more stress.

Pat and Granite Museum founder, Steven Haynes

Back at Dysarts Great Harbor Marina on Mount Desert we are using a rainy day to tour Acadia National Park with friends. Pat and Judy always have interesting eclectic places to share like the Carroll Subsistence Homestead Farm (1825-1917) and the Granite Museum.

https://www.mainegraniteindustry.org

It rocks!