Cruise Dates: July 13-19 (or longer), 2025
The Maine Coast is the best cruising ground in America and certainly among the most beautiful in the world. Myriad inlets, protected harbors, and straits connect rocky shores of islands and mainland, while the ‘Down East’ charm of central Maine is present in every interaction at a marina, a diner, a bar.
There’s history, the freshest seafood you can find, moderate breezes, and relatively settled weather waiting for us next July.
The yachts available are based mainly in or near Rockland, between Bangor and Portland, ME. This area is the heart of the classic Schooner community, wooden boat building, lobster shacks, and some of the most varied, complex, beautiful coast around.
Names like Bar Harbor, Desert Island, Southwest Harbor, Penobscot Bay and Camden resonate with sailors and tourists alike as the soul of the Maine coastal experience.
While Maine has a short sailing season, being in the northeast corner of the country (Latitude 44 degrees), our sailing location is on the southeast coast and is warm with very long days in mid-July. There is occasional fog that can last a few hours, but Maine’s famous fog is more common earlier in the year. Average high is 79 degrees and low 59. July can experience measurable rain; about ¼ of the days experience more than .04 inches of rain.
Our starting points will vary depending on the harbor of our individual yachts, but all should be in and closely around Rockland, ME, the capital of Lobster Boats, about an hour and a half drive from Portland, ME. Not only is Rockland an iconic spot for lobster, but it is also host to a beautiful contemporary art museum called the Farnsworth along with some gorgeous lighthouses within a short ride on by ride share or bus. Also, there’s the Maine Lighthouse Museum! Look it up, it looks fabulous, even if you aren’t an engineer.
And, now to the charter!
Here are some highlights we expect to visit during our charter:
Fox Island Thoroughfare – a very long, naturally stunning strait between islands with amazing, protected harbors all along its length.
Dark Harbor and Islesboro – a less well-known enclave of the wealthy that is beautiful with great harbors.
Camden – the birthplace of the schooner industry.
Southwest Harbor on Desert Island – the core of the yachting community in the Northeast.
Eggemoggin Reach – one of the most iconic passages in America, encompassing The Wooden Boat School in Brooklin and myriad beautiful anchorages
We have a few yachts available between 32 and 40 feet. Reasonable crew sizes range from one couple to 5 total crew. We already have four skippers committed so we are definitely going to sell out!
Our next planning party is scheduled for December 7, 2024. Please come, learn the details and meet other flotilla sailors! This is an important event as we expect to sell out by early January.
You can reach us at rmjsailing@gmail.com to RSVP, request a private meeting, or to sign on to the trip.