Jewell Island in Casco Bay Maine is.. well a Jewell.

The island is just a handful of miles away from downtown Portland making it about an hour’s sail. You can pick up the hook after provisioning for two weeks, sail to Jewell, drop the hook, realize that you forgot milk, sail back, pickup the milk, and still be back at Jewell in no time at all.

For being that close Jewell is a world apart. The island has a few campsites, is only accessible by boat and has a well protected cove.

Cocktail Cove is approximately one mile long and is protected from three sides. The cove however is narrow and typically it’s best to only anchor in the exact centerline of the cove. There is a 10 foot tidal range so anchoring between 10-15 feet at low tide will make 20-25 feet at high tide so laying out plenty of chain is needed and given the narrow nature of the cove you don’t want to swing into the shore on either side.

There are several places to beach the dinghy but the two best are mid cove to the south and all the way inside the cove. Mid cove you can identify the spot by looking for the campsite on top of the cliff, there is a stairway to the beach. And all the way inside the cove there is a marker next to a staircase.

The island has several notable features. The most famous is the remnants remains ruins of a WWII naval observation station and battery that was used to watch for German U-Boats and to protect the shipyards of Portland Harbor.

The first tower is six stories high and is quite fun to climb with an excellent view of the ocean and bay from above the tree line. The second is shorter and while the view is now mostly obstructed by tree growth it’s still worth the climb. Also nearby is the underground bunker but in order to explore this you’ll want to bring your most powerful flashlight.

Another favorite of mine is the trail to Buoy Beach where the path is decorated with buoys that had washed up on the beach. And then you are rewarded by a fun little beach.

There are a few other beaches that are worth hunting down on the island that aren’t as well marked on the maps but if you look on the Google Earth you can likely find them.

One beach that is large and easy to find is the well marked Punchbowl which is a personal favorite, partly because it’s close, partly because it’s large, and partially because if you remember to bring a bucket you can forage muscles off the rocks to enjoy for dinner. I must confess that muscles are one of my absolute favorite seafood treats so being able to forage them is always a personal favorite activity.

The island is also quite small. You can walk to everything in a single day and barely top a two mile walk. Or you can stay a week and take a day to visit each item one at a time. The island is also perfect for kids with everything being an easy hike.