STONINGTON

44° 09.15’N 068° 39.75’W

4th ed. Cruising Guide page 272

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Charts: 13315, 13305, 13313

Chart Kit: 69, 22

Mount Desert region overview chart Stonington harbor chart

STONINGTON, at the southern tip of Deer Isle, is Maine’s frontier town. It’s a working harbor and it wants to stay that way. A town ordinance gives commercial fishing boats first choice for moorings, passenger vessels are next in line, and pleasure boats last. But slip in and don’t get in the way, and everything is colorful and interesting. The derricks and granite quarries of Crotch Island operate across the way, and the islands of Merchants Row stretch south toward the blue heights of Isle au Haut.
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Although fishing has been part of Stonington’s heritage for several hundred years, the granite industry in the late 19th century made the town flourish. Between 1870 and 1925, enormous quantities of granite were produced from quarries here and on Crotch Island, and the town, originally known as Green’s Landing, rightfully earned its new name. Stonington granite built parts of Rockefeller Center, the Smithsonian Institution, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, and several New York City bridges, including the George Washington and the Triboro. But just when permanent prosperity seemed to have come to Stonington, the granite industry declined and the quarries closed, returning the town to the fishermen. In the early 1980s, however, new technology spurred the reopening of Crotch Island to quarrying, and granite has once again become competitive as a building material.
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If you arrive in Stonington on the third or fourth Saturday in July expecting a quiet coastal hamlet, beware. From ten until four, high-speed lobsterboats will be drag racing down the Deer Island Thorofare. The annual Stonington Lobster Boat Race has gotten so big and so fast that the Coast Guard has proposed a permanent special local regulation “to protect the boating public from the hazards associated with high speed powerboat racing in confined waters.”
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These may not be the only hazards, though. The frontier-town attitude is often cultivated on the water, too. Without a doubt and not by accident, Stonington’s lobsterboats are the loudest on the coast, and the men at their helms seem to take perverse pleasure in buzzing nearby yachts at predawn hours or cutting across their bows. As one cruiser put it, it can be a “very disgruntling experience.” Whether these are acts of defiance or envy or intolerance or independence or simply a chuckle in a long, hard workday, the message is clear: “A pleasure boat is a visitor here. Remember that.” But remember also, that were you to ever get into trouble on the water around here, you would strain to hear the bellowing approach of one of these boats, and it would be sweet music to your ears.
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Approaches. The approach to Stonington is straightforward from east or west. See the Deer Island Thorofare.
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Anchorages, Moorings. Consider two possible places to lie for the night. Moorings and dockage are available from Billings Marine, on Moose Island, but here you will be some distance west of the center of town.
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Usually no moorings are available off the town itself, but there is good anchorage right off the moored boats and the town, on the north side of the Thorofare, west of nun “16” at Staple Point, in 15 to 20 feet of water. This is where the windjammers often lie, and it provides the best access to the public landing and the rest of town. Be aware, though, that there is not much protection from the south, and strong southwest winds will funnel past Crotch Island. Make sure your anchor is well set and that your anchor light works.
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Getting Ashore. Stonington’s waterfront can be as confusing as it is busy. Be careful of the constant crisscross of lobsterboats, cruisers’ dinghies, lobsterboats, windjammer yawlboats, lobsterboats, kayaks, and more lobsterboats. The broad harbor is divided by a large stone fish pier and two little islets piled high with lobster gear. The floats at the fish pier are commercial only. The public floats are on the eastern shore of the eastern half of the harbor, along the granite seawall by the large, light-blue firehouse building. If a strong afternoon southwesterly is building, be prepared for a long row against it to get back to your boat.
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For the Boat. Island Fishing Gear and Auto Parts (207-367-5959) at the head of the fish pier carries the basics—fuel filters, rubber boots, and plenty of whatchamacallits.
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Billings Diesel and Marine Service (Ch. 09, 16; 207-367-2328, or 348-6980 nights). Billings is a very large yard with four marine railways capable of handling up to 425 tons, a 35-ton boatlift, and a 20-ton mobile crane. They can make hull and engine repairs of all kinds to wood, fiberglass, steel, and aluminum vessels. They have an extensive machine shop, an electronics shop, and a large chandlery. Curiously, they won’t touch outboards (do they know something we don’t?). A word of caution: a good part of the business at Billings comes from repairs to boats that have found Merchants Row the hard way—with their keels or props.
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The fuel float is located north of the large finger pier. At low tide, give the end of the pier a good berth as you enter. Gas, diesel, pump-outs, and ice are available, with 5 or 6 feet alongside at low. Stonington water has been reported to be not good, but we have found it tolerable. Taste it before you tank.
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Green Head Lobster. This commercial wharf, in the southeast corner of the harbor, has gas and diesel but little time for yachts. Depth at low is 4.5 feet.
Blackmore Electronics (207-367-2703). Blackmore sits overlooking the water at the east end of town. They can repair your navigation equipment or rewind your starter or alternator.
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New England Marine and Industrial, Inc. (800-429-0779; www.newenglandmarine.com), located just out of town, stocks an extensive inventory of commercial fishing gear, including lines and ground tackle.
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For the Crew. Next to the fuel dock at Billings are phones, showers, and a weather-beaten coin-operated laundry machine and dryer that are regularly overtaxed by soggy yachtsmen. Don’t let the smoking belts of the dryer alarm you. Billings sells ice and often has live lobsters for sale on the dock or from a floating buying station tied up nearby. From the yard, it is a mile in to town.
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At the public landing, you are right in town and next door to a takeout and Stonington Market (367-2386).* In addition to good meats and groceries, the market carries block ice, The New York Times, and liquor. Long-term parking for new crew joining your boat can be arranged here or at Billings.

* The Stonington Market, or Bartlett's, have been closed for two years. Captain Bill Baker writes (1.11.05) that it will be reopening this year and have Fisherman's Friend Restaurant relocated there as well.IF YOU ARE READING THIS, YOU HAVE VIOLATED
At the head of the drive from the town float is a pay phone, and there is a small library across the street. The post office, a pharmacy, galleries, and a bookstore are on Main Street. Penobscot Bay Provisions bakes fresh breads daily and sells fresh local produce and gourmet coffee, wine, and beer, and they will pack picnics to go (during our visit in 2004, this operation appeared to be out of business). Dockside Books, at the western end of Main, carries a large array of marine titles.
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There are several restaurants in town. The Fisherman's Friend, which has been located up the road past the Opera House, plans to move next to the market by the town dock beginning with the 2005 summer season. If you need to gam with someone at dawn, try the Harbor Cafe.
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Things to Do. The Deer Isle Granite Museum (367-6331), located in the Webb building on Main, depicts the history of Maine’s granite quarries and the men who worked them.

The Stonington Opera House was built in 1886 as the Russ Music House, a multi-purpose stage for music, plays, and vaudville acts, then movies and even rollerskating. A store was located below the theater. In 1910, the very night Stonington's first fire hydrant came on line, the Music House burnt to the ground. The Stoningon Opera House Company was formed to rebuild a similar structure. Today, it is on the National Register of Historic Places and still hosts summer theatre. Check Opera House Arts for its schedule of events and more history.
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Boats leave several times daily for Isle au Haut (367-5193) from the docks next to the Bayview Restaurant. They take you to Duck Harbor, inside Acadia National Park, where there is spectacular day-hiking and lean-tos and shelters for camping (by reservation only, usually long in advance). Get in touch with Acadia National Park, Box 177, Bar Harbor, Maine 04609 (207-288-3338) for information or reservations. Daily sightseeing excursions also run out of Stonington among the islands and along the coast of Isle au Haut.

To stretch your legs, walk east out of town on Indian Point Road to visit the Lily Pond, about three quarters of a mile each way. Go early, before the lilies close for the day.

News
Stonington struggles with summer growth.

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