I’ve always been a gunkholer: meandering in kayak or skiff, seeking out those shallow, out-of-the-way places other boaters might pass by, studying charts to find spots where—if the tide was right—I might just be able to sneak into and enjoy. Draw a five-mile circle around our camp on Hurricane Sound, Vinalhaven, and there are more of such places than I’ll ever have time to explore. Some are places for half tide coming; like the sloughs on the east and west ends of Penobscot Island, where every additional few inches of the rising tide allows your little craft to penetrate a little farther. Or the quarter acre of tidal rapids that leads to the narrow slot of the Granite Island bridge and into the 500-acre Basin Preserve. And then there are the low tide places, like this one where, for just an hour or two at the very bottom of a tide, an exquisite white sand beach is briefly revealed, perfect for grandparents and little ones.
Maine I Love — Joe Upton
Photograph & text by Joe Upton
Photograph by Joe Upton
Photograph by Joe Upton
Photograph by Joe Upton
Photograph by Joe Upton
Photograph by Joe Upton
Photograph by Joe Upton
Photograph by Joe Upton
Photograph by Joe Upton
Photograph by Joe Upton
Photograph by Joe Upton
Photograph by Joe Upton
Photograph by Joe Upton
Photograph by Joe Upton
Photograph by Joe Upton
Photograph by Joe Upton
Photograph by Joe Upton
Photograph by Joe Upton
Photograph by Joe Upton
Photograph by Joe Upton
Photograph by Joe Upton
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