One of our recent stops was the Isles of Shoals off the coast of New Hampshire. A tiny harbor and one that I look forward to returning to.

The islands are about six miles of the coast of Portsmouth and there are very limited services.

We spent a great deal of time on Start Island which hosts a variety of retreats at their hotel, has excellent walking trails, and even sports a dockside grill serving $10 hamburgers including chips and a drink that were well worth the price.

The buildings on the island were all off limits due to covid but rumor has it that in better times some of the buildings were open and dinner could be found in the hotel.

Nearby Smuttynose island had a caretaker who showed us around to some of the highlights of that island and gave us some history of the island. We were also directed to a hiking trail that lead through the seagull nesting grounds. Luckily for us the chicks were old enough that the parents wouldn’t attack us on sight so the trail was open. There were some amazing views and we made it quite far before I ran out of steam and needed to turn back.

There were two other islands that I wanted to visit but didn’t have time for. First was the tiny Malaga Island which is also right on Gosport Harbor and the only island that will allow dogs to land. The other was Appledore Island which has a University of New Hampshire Research Facility that, again during non-covid times, you can visit and learn about their research.

Gosport Harbor itself seems protected enough and while there isn’t room to anchor there are a number of moorings that were always available. We picked up a mooring owned by a local yacht club and the practice seems to be that you are free to take a mooring for as long as you’d like so long as #1 the owner of the mooring doesn’t show up and need you to leave so they can take their mooring and #2 there is at least one other mooring open for someone else who may show up.

We only stayed for three nights but I could have stayed a month. It was a great balance of quiet with just enough noise from shore to keep you entertained. The flow of boats was steady and it seemed like an okay place to meet passing cruisers.

Well worth the visit.