This Is Maine

If someone asked you to describe your favorite thing about your home state what would you say?  Would everyone in your home state agree with you? Of course not!  Everyone internalizes the things that make them happy.  For some, it might be the beach, for others it’s the mountains, and still others might love the hustle and bustle of city life with stadiums, museums, and festivals.  

If you haven’t figured it out yet...I like the water, and the scenery and wildlife associated with the water.  Each location we visit has a special look and feel.  When describing a place I think it is normal to highlight those things that make our heart sing!  To me, this is Maine!

Seals are adorable!  I still feel this way about them because they have not attempted to board my boat.

There are so many interesting places to explore!  We decided to visit Seguin Island.  Just happened to see it on the chart, and read a few of the Active Captain reviews...sounded interesting.  This picture features the only bathroom on the island.

The posts described several mooring balls, but specified that larger boats must get one of the two outermost mooring balls to ensure adequate depth at low tide.  Here we were tied to the outermost mooring ball, and this is our view from the pilot house.  Does it look like we are too close to the rocks?  It feels like we might be too close to the rocks. 

Seguin Island Light - erected in 1857, with a 1st order Fresnel lens, has the highest focal point of all operational lighthouses in Maine.  However, this was not the original lighthouse on the island.  A wooden structure was erected in 1794 (before Maine was even a state).

This information comes from the Seguin Island website, but it is slightly outdated as the bulb has been replaced with an LED bulb...and...

Solar panels and a large battery bank have been installed to power the light.  The current caretaker told us this change in power source decreased the light’s visibility from 26 to 14 miles.

It doesn’t feel like we are so close to the rocks when the tide is up.

The island has several hiking trails. The views are spectacular!

The 700 foot long tram was built in 1895 to transport goods up the 150 ft incline.  The tram was closed to people in 1949 after a cable broke and the lighthouse keeper’s wife suffered serious injuries.  It is now the oldest tram still operating in Maine, but is in desperate need of repair.  Friends of Seguin Island are trying to raise $600,000 for needed repairs.

View from inside the lighthouse.

View from the catwalk...stunning!

We love climbing on the rugged shoreline.

Our new camera features a panoramic option. 

We took the north trail and hiked around to the cove.  However, the trail seemed to end and we had to do a little bushwhacking to make our way back.

Birds eye view (drone’s eye view).

It doesn’t look like one should be able to get lost, but this is where we were when we lost the trail. It’s a much larger area than it appears.

This shot gives a great perspective of the protected cove and mooring balls, but the inexperienced drone pilot/photographer cut off the light house...ugh!  I guess we will have to make another trip to this wonderful place!

The seals, islands, lighthouses, rugged terrain, and quaint towns (to be featured in the next post) make my heart sing!! To me, this is Maine.