Visitors to Deer Isle can choose among three people who offer lobsterboat tours of the area. All will take you where you want to go in Penobscot Bay and its islands. All can tell you about the flora and fauna, the history of the region, and the vessels on the water, particularly the passenger schooners. The differences lie in the size of the lobster boat, which limits the size of the group taking the tour; the personality of the person giving the tour; and the price.
Walter Reed–A retired biologist who did research for Shell and Dupont, Reed offers private tours for up to four people in his modified 21-foot Repco lobsterboat. He modified it by removing the pot-hauler and davit, having it rewired to meet or exceed Coast Guard requirements, and adding, he said, “a whole lot of instruments.”
“Safety is paramount,” he tells every person who steps onto his bright blue-trimmed white boat, handing each a laminated copy of the emergency procedures and asking passengers to read it before putting on a life jacket.
“Never had any incidences, don’t plan on having any, but I want them to know,” he explains. He does not refuse to take adults who won’t wear life jackets though he strongly recommends they do. Children, by law, must wear life jackets. Four collapsible, metal-framed armchairs fill the passenger area. Reed said that although legally he can take six passengers, he doesn’t, saying, “Makes freedom of movement too tight.”
A high-energy type, Reed became an island steward for the Maine Island Trail Association in the late 1990s, a registered Maine guide about six years ago, and began taking Leave No Trace camping groups to coastal islands a year later. This is his third year of taking people for day trips on his boat. He is licensed by the Coast Guard to take people out in Penobscot Bay, staying within the boundary line between Matinicus Rock and Mount Desert Rock. When people hire him and his boat, they get to go when they want and where they want within his licensed range. He may make suggestions, but they make the decisions. He takes only one group a day, so he never has to cut a tour short because of another commitment and he takes only the group that hires him, so they never have to deal with strangers in close quarters.
As he shows his passengers around the islands of Penobscot Bay, he discusses different subjects including that of evolving land-use patterns and gives his opinions on people building large waterfront houses and visiting them for only a few weeks a year. He educates people on lobstering and the sustainability of the fishery. If he passes eider ducks, for instance, he’ll explain how they were hunted almost to extinction for their feathers and how, thanks to laws protecting them, they have rebounded. When he talks about seals, he explains their life cycle, when they bear their young, how they annoy fishermen. And he’ll pull up to a lobster boat so customers can watch the process of hauling, measuring and banding. He has learned the names of area passenger schooners and has read up on their histories so he can answer customers’ questions. He’s also researched the history of the area Indians.
“People are interested in lighthouses,” he said. So is Reed. He’s a steward for the Island Heritage Trust and for Mark Island Light. He’s also an EMT with Deer Isle’s ambulance corps.
Bill Baker–Baker, 58, of Old Quarry Ocean Adventures, on the eastern shore of Deer Isle, has spent 27 years on the water, some of them fishing lobster off Monhegan in the winter, which is about as hard as it gets. His modified 38-foot H & H Marine lobster/passenger boat can take 23 people. A few years ago he had the boat rebuilt, adding a heated cabin. It also has all the Coast Guard navigational and safety bells and whistles. Baker is licensed to fish and carry passengers from Eastport to Seabrook, New Hampshire, 20 miles out from the nearest harbor.
Also an EMT, Baker works closely with the Maine Island Trail Association, Maine Coast Heritage Trust and Island Heritage Trust, and lets the two land trusts moor their boats at his facility free all summer long. He offers many kinds of services: camping, kayaking, sailing, 15 kinds of boat tours, kayaking and sailing classes, and Leave No Trace camping. He rents out bicycles, kayaks, and houses, and he’ll put on a lobster bake or even provide an interment service. You want it? He’ll do it. As he says, “I do anything, anywhere, anytime, 24/7.”
His services and spiels come with a sense of humor. He starts his talk by discussing the geology of the area, and said, “I talk about Deer Isle granite and all the different industries that have been here and failed.” (Which is true: the granite industry failed; the various canning factories failed; in time, the boatbuilding and shipping companies failed.) He talks about the fisheries since the beginning, meaning the first Europeans fishing for cod, and on to herring, lobster and krill. Baker hauls one or two of his own traps to demonstrate and said of his tour patter, “I’ve been fine-tuning this for nine years.” He said he gets his information from The Working Waterfront, boat passengers, the news, fishermen, and marine biologists, and has attended several State Planning Office meetings on the health of the Gulf of Maine. He explains the lighthouse and buoy system and said, “I call the Deer Isle Thorofare and the Fox Islands Thorofare `the first Route One in this country,’ all marked by buoys and lighthouses all the way to Florida without one stop sign or traffic light.”He ties in his discussion of today’s schooner fleet with the way they carried granite, other goods, and people up and down the Maine coast. And, he said, “I put in a plug for MERI [Susan Shaw’s Marine Environmental Research Institute in Blue Hill] and use her research when I talk about the health of the Gulf of Maine.”
On a recent late afternoon on Webb’s Cove, a peaceful body of water protected by surrounding islands and the Oceanville peninsula, Baker’s white lobsterboat came into view. He was returning passengers from a daylong Hike and Bike trip on Isle au Haut. The passengers, Margot Neumaier, 22 and Daniel Powlesland, 28, wereecstatic over the island’s beauty. “It was almost like tropical, but in a temperate zone,” said Powlesland, who said it reminded him of Hawaii except for the pine trees. Neumaier said it reminded her of Sweden, where she’d traveled to visit relatives. Powlesland said he learned more about lobster buoys and liked that “I got to go by Stonington by water.”Neumaier called Baker, “Very sweet and very professional at the same time.” She called the trip, “A very nice experience, and part of the experience was the boat ride over,” though she did suggest that others contemplating the bike ride bring bug repellent.
It’s clear that Reed and Baker have done their homework. Each can answer just about any question passengers may have on the area. If you’re looking for an exclusive trip on a small boat with a professorial touch, try Reed’s. He seems guided by two mottos: “I try to both teach and entertain;” and “If I can’t exceed the expectations of my customers I don’t want to take them out.” If you’re looking for variety, humor, a larger boat and lower prices, try one or more of Baker’s many choices. To reach Walt Reed call 207-348-6789 or go to www.guidedislandtours.com. To reach Bill Baker call 207-367-8977 or go to www.oldquarry.com. Andrew Stevens, who also offers lobster boat tours, did not respond to repeated phone calls.
Prices–Reed charges $35/person for the first hour and $15/person for each subsequent hour. Children under 12 are half price. Baker’s 15 kinds of boat tours include three-hour morning ecology tours and afternoon natural history tours at $37each for adults and $22 for children under age 12. The Puffin trips cost $45 for adults and $30for kids under 12 or $650 for the whole boat. The Lighthouse, Islands and Whale Watch trips cost $55 apiece for adults, $35 each for kids under 12, or $750 for the entire boat. Custom charters include taxi service, island picnics and freight hauling. Trips of up to six people cost$135/hour. More than six people cost $155/hour. He also tows boats for $155/hour and takes people duck hunting for $200 per person.