The Reach

View towards Deer Isle and The Reach

EGGEMOGGIN REACH is a great body of water between Deer Isle and the mainland that connects East Penobscot Bay with Jericho Bay. It is about 10 miles long and averages a mile in width. With summer winds, it can be an exhilarating sail in either direction. As Robert Carter wrote in his 1858 Summer Cruise on the Coast of New England, “There cannot be a finer sheet of water in the world than this Reach, which is bounded on every side by superb views.”

While there are a number of ledges in the Reach, they are all well buoyed. The western end is marked by red-and-white bell “EG” (44° 19.22’N 068° 44.57’W). Halfway through, a graceful suspension bridge connects Little Deer Isle to the mainland, with a vertical clearance of 85 feet at the center. Red-and-white bell “EE” (44° 12.75’N 068° 32.30’W) marks the eastern end. Current in the Reach floods northwest and ebbs southeast, but it is not very strong.

The Punch Bowl looks out on Eggemoggin Reach

Winds sometimes funnel unexpectedly down the Reach, so be cautious on gusty days. In September 1984, the 65-foot schooner Isaac H. Evans was knocked down by squally winds just south of Grays Point near Bucks Harbor, at the western end of the Reach. She sank in 60 feet of water, showing only the tip of her mainmast and the peak of her gaff. Most of the passengers and crew swam ashore and the rest were saved by local rescue groups. 

When It Hit Those Dancing Waters
In An Instant All Eternity I Knew
(From Magic Every Moment)

In early August, about 120 of the fastest and most beautiful wooden boats gather for the annual Eggemoggin Reach Regatta, a spectacle to watch or win. 

Eggemoggin Reach Regatta

The banks of Eggemoggin Reach are wooded, mostly with deciduous trees. At the eastern end, the islands become crowned with conifers, and as you approach, there is a definite feeling of arrival in some new and mysterious place. Here the channel passes south of the Torrey Islands and the ledge at Torrey Castle. 

Several good harbors line the Reach. By far the best and easiest to enter is Bucks Harbor, at the western end (described in Region 4). Another good refuge is Center Harbor, near the Torrey Islands, although it is small and crowded. Benjamin River, east of the bridge, offers extremely good protection. WoodenBoat magazine and the WoodenBoat School, at the eastern end of the Reach, welcome visitors and provide guest moorings.

Deer Isle Bridge

The Reach

It's Maine, and it's Autumn, the birches have just begun turning 
It's life and it's dying The lobstermen's boats come returning 
With the catch of the day in their holds 
And the young boy is cold and complaining 
The fog meets the beaches and out on The Reach it is raining 

It's father and son, it's the way it's been done since the old days 
It's hauling by hand ten miles out from the land where their chow waits 
And the days are all lonely and long 
And the seas grow so stormy and strong but
The Reach will sing welcome as homeward they hurry along 

And the morning will blow away as the waves crash and fall 
And The Reach like a siren sings as she beckons and calls 
As the coastline recedes from view and the seas swell and roll 
I will take from The Reach all that she has to teach to the depths of my soul 

The wind brings a chill, there's a frost on the sill in the morning 
It creeps through the door On the edge of the shore ice is forming 
Soon the northers will bluster and blow 
And the woods will be whitened with snowfall 
And the Reach will lie frozen for the lost and un-chosen to row 

And the morning will blow away as the waves crash and fall 
And the Reach like a siren sings as she beckons and calls 
As the coastline recedes from view and the seas swell and roll 
I will take from the Reach all that she has to teach to the depths of my soul 

~~~ Dan Fogelberg ~~~