LOCATION: Roque Island, Maine

VESSEL: “Lab Adore” – Hinckley 36 Picnic Boat

NARRATIVE: Roque Island was a fantastic trip to get a true taste of Maine’s beautiful and rugged coastline and enjoy a spectacular beach – an unbelievably protected soft sand beach that is about 3/4 mile long. The trip makes for a pretty long day – 3 Hours one way in calm water navigating numerous reefs and across the open ocean at 15 knots from Southwest Harbor. A great trip on a nice day, but perhaps NOT a trip to do in “less-than-ideal” weather. We loved our time on “Lab Adore” and the support the Ellis team provided us, which included taking my repeated calls on how to clear out seaweed from Lab Adore’s jet drive. Once I learned and became comfortable with back-flushing the jet drive, it ran great!

PHOTO: Roque Island – roughly 40 nautical miles from Southwest Harbor (up the coast – or “Downeast” if you wish). 

INSIGHTS: For the trip to Roque Island, I recommend hiring a captain even if one is moderately experienced. One might want to give greater emphasis when training a renter on the need to regularly clean it out of seaweed from Hinckley’s jet drive.