2026-05-25 Shelter Cove Trip

As I have noted before in these posts, I have numerous volunteer commitments that sometimes keep me in town. So, my modus operandi now is that I first check my personal calendar to see what days I have available to get out on a trip. If I see a few days that are open, then next I check what I call the "regular weather" with wunderground.com. That will show me if rain or very low temperatures are expected during the days I have available for a trip. Then lastly, and probably most importantly, I check the Predict Wind weather app for the predicted winds during that time frame. If everything lines up, then I start making a tentative plan for a trip.

This process is considerably different than what I did while I was still working. Back then I only had weekends, holidays, and vacations available to get out on boat trips. So, the process was that I would plan a trip based around those free times. Then, unless it was blowing a hurricane, we just went and dealt with whatever weather we encountered. That's the only way you can do it when you're working full time.

For this trip I managed to pull out of my slip in Bar Harbor just before 7 AM. The weather was overcast with light rain. It was a bit cool with a light NW breeze blowing through the harbor.

The trip out was largely uneventful. It is the time of the year when I pilot from the flybridge almost all the time, unless I am going into or out of a harbor or a fuel dock. It is quite pleasant up there in the spring and summer. All the clear vinyl makes it sort of like a greenhouse up there when there is some sun shining.

Here is a map snippet from my Garmin InReach tracking system.

The small blue 'X' on the right is the Shoal Cove USFS dock. A few of my friends were tied up in there and I considered stopping in there to visit with them. They had been there all weekend and were planning to head back to town that afternoon. In the end I decided to continue North up into Carroll Inlet a few more miles to the Shelter Cove USFS dock. The crabbing is much better in that area.

I arrived at the Shelter Cove dock at about 10:15 AM.

I had logged 25.5 nm from town to this point.

There were no other boats there when I arrived and no other boats came in while I was there, just the way I like it.

There now exists a road from town so that people can drive to this dock area over a road system. When I pulled in there was a fairly large campsite set up at the old log sort yard that is just up the logging road from the dock.

Here are the obligatory shots of the Faraway at the dock.

The above shot was taken from up on the road that goes to the log sort yard. There are just a couple of breaks in the trees that allow one to poke a camera through and get clear shots of the dock.

There was an added "twist" to getting into the dock this time. Sometime over the winter a big storm blew down a tree near the dock, and it is lying partially in the water. My preferred tie-up spot on this dock is on the left side as you face the dock from the water. The big tree is laying in the water and somewhat limits how one can swing the boat in on that side. With a little bit of extra work at the helm and with the help of the bow thruster I was able to get in on that side.

Here are a few scenic shots of the area. When the weather is nice this is one of the most beautiful spots that I visit.

I mentioned that you can drive here from town now. Deer hunting season opens August 1st and after that there are more people driving here, but there was still some evidence of drivers coming from town.

I never saw the owner of this vehicle. Note the ramp on the back that was undoubtedly used to unload a 4-wheeler. He was probably just scouting the area so that he could come back later during deer hunting season.

Likewise, I never saw the driver of this vehicle. It was parked very near to the USFS dock.

This is the remains of the encampment that I saw from the water when I was coming in. I walked up and chatted with the young couple that was there. They were just breaking camp after spending a few days there. They had a large blue tarp stretched over that framework that they built. They said it took about an hour and a half to drive out from town, and parts of the road were in pretty bad shape.

They did a good job of cleaning up their camp site.

There were a couple of skiffs up on the beach near the dock. These are relatively new as they weren't here the last time I came out.

I had a pleasant afternoon there. One time I went out to stretch my legs and noticed this school of little fish cruising around near the dock. After I first noticed them, I saw them hanging around the dock the whole time I was there. My grandson Hayden (age 11) would go crazy trying to catch these little guys.

Here are some more scenic shots of the area.

Not a bad place to spend a couple of days and a night!

In the evening the weather was so nice I decided to have a fire on the dock. Before you get alarmed know that I put a sheet of plywood and a piece of stainless steel under the fire pit so that it does not burn a hole in the dock.

I had a quiet night on board that night. It didn't rain and it didn't blow. However, I must say that now that there is a road from town I have to be concerned about "unwanted visitors" coming down the ramp during the night. I don't like to lock the doors at night on a boat because I might have to get out quickly, but in this situation I did lock the doors for the night.

In the morning I cleaned up my gear, checked the engines, and did a few more boat chores.

I did walk through the woods over to the humpy stream that is nearby. At this time of the year there are no fish there but later in the summer, around mid to late August, this stream will be plugged with Pink salmon.

I went out in the raft and pulled the 2 crab pots that I had set the day before. I got 2 legal males in each pot, so 4 in total. I don't freeze crab so I just keep a couple for myself and my daughter and give the rest away. I usually don't have any trouble finding people to take fresh caught crab.

I put about 20 gallons of sea water in my cooler to keep them alive until I get to town. And I also replace the water every few hours. I have read that you should cook crabs pretty quickly after you butcher them. If you don't, then bacteria starts to grow and they can make you sick. So, I am very careful to keep them alive until it is time to butcher them and cook them.

I kept myself busy all morning and into the early afternoon. I pulled away from the dock at about 1:45 PM and made my way back to town. It was a mostly uneventful run. As I approached the Mountain Point area, I saw a USCG cutter apparently doing training or exercises. I thought they might call me to board me for an inspection, but that did not happen.

I made it back into my slip without any issues at about 5:30 PM after logging a little over 51 nm for this trip.