A novel way to spend a day on the water is to hop on a working mail delivery boat out of Portland and explore the nearby islands. The Casco Bay Lines Mailboat Run leaves Portland three times a day and stops at Little Diamond and Great Diamond islands, along with Long, Cliff and Chebeague islands. The islands, largely forested and flat, with rocky coasts, are home to fishermen’s cottages and waterfront mansions alike.
For $24, visitors can enjoy the entire mail run, which lasts between 2.5 to 3.5 hours, depending on the route and cargo volume. Because passengers cannot stop to explore individual islands, they sometimes bring picnics to enjoy on board or else grab food and drink at the Cliff Island store while the boat stops briefly there.
“A lot of people just like to watch the crew work,” said Patrick Donovan, a former captain who is now assistant operations manager at Casco Bay Lines. The cargo hauled by the steel-hulled, diesel-powered vessels may be as mundane as residential mail or as exotic as a herd of goats imported to rid a property of invasive bittersweet vines. “You name it, we ship it,” Mr. Donovan said.
Narration is offered for trips of 10 or more passengers; the captain might point out the late-19th-century Fort McKinley on Great Diamond Island, now a residential complex, or the marine creatures in Casco Bay. The Mailboat Run leaves Portland every day year-round at 10 a.m., 12 p.m. and 3 or 3:15 p.m.
From Boothbay Harbor, Maine