Rockport, Massachusetts and Isles of Shoals, New Hampshire

We are now at anchor beside Stage Island near Cape Porpoise in Maine, having traveled to Rockport, Massachusetts and Isles of Shoal, New Hampshire over that last couple days. Under sunny skies, we pulled up anchor on Friday, July 8, and departed Salem Harbor. Within a half an hour, we had killed the engine and for the three hours averaged 8 knots sailing smoothly with between a beam and a broad reach with 10-15 knots of wind. The sound of the water flowing past the hull at this speed, making a pulsing, energetic shlerr sound, brings us joy. It is nice not to have an itinerary until we expect to arrive in Falmouth, Maine, on July 19, and to be able to sail where the wind takes us. That day, the wind propelled us into Sandy Bay at Rockport, Massachusetts, on Cape Ann.

Front Beach, Rockport, MA, from Mantra

Open to the east but protected from wind and waves in other directions by peninsulas on either side, the inner bay is fronted by a lovely beach. That morning, I had taken all the empty containers out of the freezer--which we normally do not use but had turned on during Mike and Louise's visit to make ice for gin and tonics--because there was condensation on the sides as well as a bit of water at the bottom. All the counter tops were filled with containers, so it was just impossible for me to make lunch. We launched the dinghy, motored in to the small Old Harbor to tie up and had lunch at the first seafood restaurant we came upon.

Mantra from Front Beach

We found historic Rockport to be a charming little city with old houses, many lobster shacks (some converted into tiny houses but most still actively used) and many art galleries. It is totally unpretentious. In some of the galleries we found the artists engaged in painting and willing to talk with us about their work.

Stapleton Kearns at work

Another artist working in oils

Popular site for artists, Motif Number 1

Lobster pots and Rockport Harbor

Lobster shack to the left being used as a home and to the right being used for intended purpose

Lobster shacks

Simple wooden dinghies

Lobster pots and buoys

Peter by lobster pots in front of Motif Number 1

Buoys

Rockport is a combination of a port for working lobstermen and fishermen and an artists' colony. It also is home to the Shalin Lui Performance Center and supports music of all kinds but particularly chamber music. The month-long Rockport Chamber Music Festival was underway, and we decided to attend a concert that evening. We returned to Mantra to dress in warmer if not particularly dressier clothes and got to the venue about 20 minutes early, giving us time to go to the reception hall on the top floor to admire the view from there, which included our boat picturesquely anchored alone in the middle of the bay. 

In a beautiful performance hall with splendid acoustics, highlighted by the entire wall behind the stage being comprised of glass, we were entertained by violinist Danbi Um, cellist Christopher Constanza and pianist Stephen Pruntsman who played a short unexpected piece by Erich Wolfgang Korngold before starting the main performance of Richard Strauss' Violin Sonata in E-Flat major, Opus 18, and Johannes Brahms' Piano Trio No. 1 in B major, Opus 8. After these dynamic pieces, the three musicians returned to the stage for an encore piece by Sergei Rachmaninoff. 

Chamber music concert

Sunset from the venue

During the 20-minute intermission between the two main pieces, we went up to the top floor to drink glasses of wine (although 20 minutes is really not enough time for me to consume an entire serving) and enjoy the sunset. Since the performance center is a private venue, it is permitted to serve alcohol. Interestingly, the town of Rockport does not support the sale or serving of alcohol. This dates from July 8, 1856, when a group of about 200 women organized by Hannah Jumper, a 75-year-old local temperance leader, raged through town with tools such as hammers, hatchets and axes and broke into 13 businesses selling liquor legally or illegally, places that they had previously and secretly chalked with small white crosses, seizing casks, jugs and bottles containing alcohol and dumping the contents in the streets. The women's ire was caused by the fact that men were spending large amounts of their meager earnings on rum, which they claimed was as essential as bait! The town remained a dry town until 2005, when restaurants were allowed to serve alcohol but could only take requests for drinks after meals had been ordered. In 2019, one local market was granted a liquor license and can now sell beer and wine. 

What we needed after the concert was dinner, not alcohol, but, alas, Rockport is a small town and even on a Friday night, the restaurants were all closed by 9 p.m. We had to settle for ice cream sundaes. The owner of the shop, with whom we chatted, gave us extra scoops since the treats were our meal. The lovely day ended with bioluminescence around the dinghy when we returned to the stern of Mantra. It has been so long since we have witnessed this stunning phenomenon.

The next morning, we dinghied into town again to buy milk and Diet Coke. There was a small outdoor market in the town park and more tourists than the previous day were about, although it was not in any way crowded. We enjoyed strolling through the historic district again before returning to our boat, hoisting the dinghy and dinghy engine, and pulling up anchor in the early afternoon on Saturday.

It was another pleasant afternoon of sailing even though the wind was lighter than the previous day, only 8-10 knots. Nevertheless, we skimmed through the water at 4 knots for about 4 hours before arriving at the Isles of Shoals, a group of nine islands about 6 miles off the coast which straddle the border of New Hampshire and Maine. We picked up a mooring ball in Gosport Harbor. In Maine, by custom, transient boaters can pick up unoccupied mooring balls as long as they stay on board or in sight of their boats (with radios on) in case the owners arrive. A bit later, a couple from another sailboat came to admire our boat. Being local, they were able to tell us that the ball we were on was owned by the Star Island Corporation and the boat that brought people from Rye and Portsmouth would not be returning until mid-morning the following day. 

The Star Island Corporation has owned and operated the facilities for guests and (mostly religious conferences on Star Island since 1915, the largest of the New Hampshire isles. A large convention was gathered there during our stay in the harbor, and they were as noisy and raucous as any party lovers we have encountered while at anchor. The rock-and-roll music went well into the night.

These islands, as well as much of the New England coast, were explored and charted in 1614 on a return trip from England by John Smith, who helped to establish Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. In the afternoon, we kayaked around the bay, which is created by breakwaters connecting Star, Cedar and Smuttynose Islands. We saw adult and immature gulls and young common eiders on the rocks of Malaga Island, cormorants drying their wings, and seals popping up their glossy heads from the water. Around 6 p.m., we kayaked over to Star Island to explore, carefully avoiding the abundant poison ivy as we walked around the western part of the island where the large hotel complex and a 200-year-old chapel are. Luckily, we returned to Mantra before the antendees emerged from the main building after dinner and walked in procession around the lawn. Although we did not witness it, we have read that the tradition is for the people at the conferences to carry lanterns from the main hotel building up to the chapel at sunset, although I can't see how they would all fit in for a twilight service.

Adult and immature gull

Common eiders

Cormorants

Chapel on Star Island

We pulled up anchor just after 10 a.m. and, with even lighter wind than the previous day, were forced to motor to our next destination, Stage Island. The sun has set and it is time for me to make dinner, so I will write about this location tomorrow, because we plan to stay in this quiet place for a couple days.