Casco Bay

Casco Bay runs from Cape Elizabeth to Cape Small — roughly 200 square miles of protected water behind a screen of islands, with Portland's working harbor at its southwest corner. For a cruising boat it is the easiest bay in Maine: deep approaches, short hops between anchorages, and more fuel and service inside ten miles than the rest of the coast combined.

Transient traffic concentrates in three places. Portland Harbor has the big-boat slips and year-round fuel; Falmouth Foreside keeps the deepest mooring field on the bay; and the Harraseeket River at South Freeport is the classic protected stop, tight on space by mid-July. Call ahead everywhere in August.

The season runs solidly May through October. Fog is the working constraint in early summer — it burns off the inner bay faster than the outer islands — and the two-meter tide matters mostly at the river marinas up the Royal and Harraseeket, where deeper-draft boats should time arrival for the top half of the tide.

Gas is easy to find; dockside diesel means Portland, South Freeport, or Falmouth. Pumpout coverage is good, and haul-out capacity on the bay runs from small-boat forklifts up to the large Travelifts on the Portland waterfront.