Way back in 1891, the historian Samuel Adams Drake described Penobscot Bay as having "green islands, noble mountains, and inviting harbors on every hand - the sea shorn of its terrors, the land divested of its harsh and hideous features." Indeed, for cruisers heading Down East the bay is somewhat of a promised land, a delightful reward for enduring an overnight passage across the Gulf of Maine or else a welcome sanctuary from the sometimes chaotic seas that can be experienced in Muscongus Bay. Bisected by the islands of Vinalhaven, North Haven, and Islesboro, the bay stretches some twenty-eight miles from the mouth of the Penobscot River to Tenants Harbor and Isle au Haut and is more than twenty miles wide at its opening. It is home to hundreds of islands, many of them public or, if private, nonetheless welcoming to visiting mariners. No matter the wind direction or state of the seas, the bay offers scores of snug coves like Gilkey Harbor, Pickering Island, and Winter Harbor, all with the dramatic backdrop of the Camden Hills. More than a few world travelers have dropped anchor permanently in Camden and other Penobscot Bay towns, content to trade a life of bluewater voyaging for weekend cruising among these rocky islands.