Boothbay Harbor Puffin Cruise

"Flat water the whole way out past Ram Island Light, and by the time we reached Eastern Egg Rock there were maybe forty puffins bobbing in rafts off the port side. The Audubon naturalist on board picked out razorbills and common terns before any of us spotted them. Wind picked up on the ride home, so a windbreaker mattered more than sunscreen."

"The Boothbay Harbor puffin cruise got us within about thirty yards of the ledge, close enough to see orange feet tucked up as the birds took off. Fog burned off near ten and the light on the water went low and clean. Bring your own binoculars even though the crew passes a few around."

"Water outside the harbor was rougher than I expected and a few people on the stern bench went very quiet. We still had puffins, black guillemots and a pile of harbor seals hauled out on a ledge near Fisherman Island. Take something for motion sickness before boarding rather than after."

"A late departure meant the Gulf of Maine turned copper on the way back past the lighthouses. Puffins were wedged into rock crevices at first, then started flying circuits around the hull. Our captain cut the engines so we could hear the terns over the water."

"I booked Boothbay Harbor puffin cruise tickets for two adults and three kids and nobody got restless, which surprised me. The naturalist handed around a puffin skull and a set of wing feathers while we ran out past the buoys. The bow got wet, so we moved to the starboard side halfway through."

"I counted eleven seals on the rocks before we even reached the nesting island. Between lobster boats hauling traps and puffins skimming low over the swell there was never a dull stretch of water. Sat on the upper deck for the wind and the wider view."

"Eastern Egg Rock was busy with puffins, terns and a couple of razorbills sitting apart from the crowd like they wanted nothing to do with it. Of all the Boothbay Harbor boat tours we tried this summer, this is the one my sister keeps bringing up. Sea was calm enough that I could hold a 300mm steady from the rail."

"Thick fog for the first twenty minutes and I was sure we would see nothing at all. It thinned near the island and puffins appeared in the water almost alongside us. The crew narrated the entire run out, which held everyone's attention even while visibility was poor."

"I read about Boothbay Harbor puffin cruise tours for two years before finally getting out to Muscongus Bay, and the birds cooperated. Watched one surface with a beak full of small silver fish maybe twenty feet off the rail. Coming back in, the schooners were out under sail and it made a quiet ending to the afternoon."

"Wind held us farther off the ledge than I hoped and most of the puffins stayed small dots on the grey water. The crew was upfront that wildlife keeps its own schedule and they ran an extra loop trying for a better angle. Fair trip, just not the day for close looks."