(8) Penobscot Bay

One of the Top Ten Sailing Bays in the World!

The bay contains the major islands of Vinalhaven, North Haven, Islesboro, Deer Isle, and Isle au Haut. These five large islands and numerous smaller ones provide protection from the open sea and make the bay a very popular sailing, pleasure boating, and sea kayaking area. The numerous harbors, coves, estuaries, and hundreds of islands offer solitude, plentiful wildlife, and miles of coast to explore. A major portion of Maine's more than 3,400 mile coastline—and the most its islands—are located in Midcoast Maine, with Penobscot Bay as its center.

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(1) Stockton Harbor (2) Fort Point (3) The River (4) Narrows Bridge (5) Fort Knox (6) Bucksport (7) Verona
(8) The Bay (9) Fort George(10) Castine (11) Islesboro (12) Belfast(13) Searsport (14) Sears Island

Pen Bay is Maine's largest coastal waterway at approximately 30 miles long by 30 miles wide. The first Europeans to actually set foot in Maine, were the crew of a British ship captained by Bartholomew Gosnold which,in 1602, was blown of course and forced to land to repair and resupply somewhere south of the Penobscot. Gosnold reported to England of the rich timber lands of Maine, abundant furs, plentiful fishing, many fresh water rivers and safe harbors, as well as "good and very great lobsters.

The bay has two main channels: the East and West Passages. These passages connect the Penobscot River to the Gulf of Maine and are divided by several bedrock islands. In the northern part of Penobscot Bay, the island of Islesboro splits the bay in two sections. South and east of Islesboro the bay is divided by North Haven and Vinalhaven Islands. The East Passage is to the east of these two islands and west of Isle au Haut and Deer Isle. The East Passage is shallower than the West Passage.

The fabled city of Norumbega was said to have gold-clad streets and buildings, and it was the search for this mythical city that brought many of the early explorers to Pen bay. John Cabot sailed the coast of Maine in 1496, only four years after Columbus's voyages.

Voyages by Ferdinando in 1579 and Walker in 1580 both went home empty-handed. Verrazano explored the Penobscot region on behalf of the King of France in 1524, and the following year, a Portuguese explorer named Gomez sailed all the way up the Penobscot to the current location of Bangor (where rapids prevented further progress).

Samuel de Champlain explored the Penobscot closely in 1604 and 1605 looking for Norumbega, finally reporting to the King of France that his quest was futile.