Isles of Shoals

Position: 42° 58′ 40″N 70° 36′ 48″W

There’s not much we can add to Wikipedia’s entry on the Isles of Shoals, except that Aleta looks very fetching against the rugged rock of Gosport Harbor with its bright red house on Cedar Island. Dominating the harbor is Star Island Corporation’s Unitarian Universalist retreat. The retreat today has many of the hallmarks of an earlier hotel on the site. The original Oceanic Hotel was built in 1876, but that burned to the ground and was replaced by the current structure, parts of which are over 100 years old and going strong.

On arriving we were greeted almost immediately by Jonathan, himself a sailor, but at that moment out in the launch investigating an emergency signal (five or more short blasts of a horn) which he thought may have come from Aleta. It had not. Nonetheless, he invited us over to the island and gave us a tour of the building before setting us loose on the grounds. Each week through the summer 300 or so guests check in. Many are families who come back year after year, Below are some photos of our walk around the island.

Gosport Church sits atop the hill at the center of Star Island. Constructed of heavy flagstone, it’s current incarnation has been the religious focal point for islanders since 1800. Inside, on the narrow wall beneath the plain, white belfry hangs a plaque outlining the history of the little chapel. “Gosport Church, Originally Constructed of the timbers from the wreck of a Spanish Ship. A.D. 1685, Was rebuilt in 1720 and burned by the Islanders in 1790. This building of stone was erected A.D. 1800.” Burning by the islanders, it turns out, wasn’t an act of religious sedition or of pagan vandalism, but one of survival. In a particularly harsh winter the church provided much needed wood for fires.

Across from Star Island lies Smuttynose Island, famous today for being a brand of beer from New Hampshire, makers of the now retired Shoals Pale Ale. Smuttynose Island’s infamy stems from a bloody double murder in 1873. Click here for an account of the incident that covers it in all its gory details.

Gosport Harbor is a really beautiful spot, plus it’s very well protected and moorings are provided free. As long as members of the Portsmouth Yacht Club aren’t there to bump you off, so to speak.