Thursday, August 11, 1994 - Peaks Island, Maine

This morning, we paddled over to Fort Gorges, which was built in 1858 on a tiny island in the middle of Portland Harbor. At high tide, the island disappears, so the fort seems to rise out of the water, but at low tide, there's a little fringe of sand and rock around it. We got there at low tide, so there was room for our Royaks. We'd been afraid the place would be all boarded up, but it wasn't. People are allowed in at their own risk.
We were greatly impressed by its construction. It was built to last forever. It was made of huge blocks of granite and reinforced brick. A caretaker lived there until 1916, and the Army stored ammunition there during World War II. Today, it's abandoned but still in remarkably good shape.
We climbed three flights of stone steps and explored the entire building. The third level is covered with dirt, trees, and bushes. We found a huge old cannon up there.
Twice, I had to return to my Royak to pull it up out of the rapidly advancing water. On one of my trips, Roy explored a dungeon on his own and got lost! He was really scared, but finally he found his way out.
The tide was coming in so fast that we had to hurry up and leave. We paddled over to House Island, which also has some fortifications on it, but they are less accessible. Most of the island is privately owned and is posted, but Roy went ashore at a place that didn't have any "No Trespassing" signs and explored the fortresses, which are mostly underground. I stayed in my Royak. Roy said these were even larger and more elaborate than Fort Gorges, though they look small from the outside.
Went back to Peaks Island and mailed the post cards Roy had written. Ate lunch at a tiny restaurant that had remarkably low prices and good food. We kept wondering how they stayed in business.
Took the 2:45 ferry to Portland. This time, we went on the $3 tour of the Jeremiah O'Brien. It was very interesting. We were even allowed down into the engine room.
Took a bus to Shop 'n' Save, bought a few groceries, and caught a bus back. Got to see parts of Portland we hadn't seen before.
Returned to Peaks Island on the 7:15 ferry and paddled back to the boat before dark.