Welcome to the Boaters Page

Boaters Preamble

We are a throng of souls finding untold pleasure in messing around,

in, with, and often underneath Boats of all ilk’s, sizes, shapes, and flavors on one of the finest bodies of boating water anywhere.

Moosehead Lake is a singularly enchanting and inviting body of water containing untold coves, spits, beaches, bars, and vistas. Vast open reaches and intimate quiet re-entrants make it a literal paradise for people fond of messing around in boats. There is more than enough space and mystery for a lifetime of explorations and spots for rendezvous to satisfy the psyche and wanderlust of most anyone. Poured all over this is a history reaching back well beyond when Henry Thoreau first visited, returning to tell Ralph Emerson of its grandness, and enticing James Russell Lowell to come and see what all the commotion was all about. It has for thousands of years, thus, long attracted a plethora of souls seeking a private wilderness playground of deep green forests and jagged mountains crowding expanses of blue water.

Magnificent glaciers, 10,000 feet thick, moving down from the North 30,000 years ago carefully scraped, sculpted, and crafted a basin in tough 300 million old rock leaving a delicate impression of the variations in toughness of Earth’s underlying crust. Over 200 feet deep in places, with wide open thoroughfares stretching over ten miles, and unlimited nooks and crannies along the shores, there is something for every style of Boater. Moosehead has never disappointed anyone.

Our activities focus on simply doing things with boats either singly, in small groups, or larger groups. These include weekly Raft Ups on Moosehead Beaches, monthly Docking and Dining at Lake-side eateries, monthly educational seminars or get-togethers at boat shops and marinas, helping one another with boats, motors, and trailers, attending boat shows around the State, and perhaps having something of a Boat Show of our own. We also have the opportunity of a pontoon boat guided tour by Mark Gilbert II of the magical Socatean Stream re-entrant. We also invite others to lead boat tours around the Lake and even setting up fishing events and sleep overs. Longer term projects involve producing a detailed boating guide for the Lake and forming our own Chapter of the ACBS (Antique and Classic Boating Society).

Special Thanks go to Mr. Stuart Abelson, owner of Moose Island, who has graciously given us permission to use his docking and table facilities on the north end of the Island for our Raft Ups; Scott Hersey from town is our local contact for any help in planning these events.

The dates and times for these events are yet to be arranged and as things firm up look back here for listings.

This past year two members of our group showed their boats at the annual ACBS show at Petosky, Michigan: Jerry Nutt with his Chris Craft, “Bullwinkle,” and Bob and Kathie Bartlett with their Hacker Craft, “Rusticator,” each received a Gold Medal. There were entries from Texas to California and up and down the east coast, but people were highly impressed to see Moosehead Lake on the sterns of our boats. It is, of course, a major effort to safely trailer these magnificent boats all the way from Greenville to Michigan, and we offer our profound Thanks to these folks for all their fine efforts.

So, as the summer takes shape, and the weather patterns establish themselves let’s hope for drier and sunnier days than last year. And we each hope to fulfill our dreams of exploring the Lake with friends and families.

The Boaters Group: Bob Bartlett, Mark Gilbert II, John Lentz, Sam Cook, Mark Taylor, John Limmer, Mike Holmes, Tarun Johns, Pete Whitin, Jerry Nutt, Kevin O'Donnell, Bruce Marsh.