(We actually backtracked about an hour, but we go to see Freeport, which wasn’t on our original road trip schedule. Then we got up early Saturday morning and drove to Boothbay Harbor. So we went to Augusta, Maine for Thursday evening, then down US-1 to see lighthouses, and Freeport for Friday evening. We no longer needed to head as far north as Machiasport. So I did! We then rerouted our road trip. In fact, there was plenty of room on the boat for the day after the storm – in other words, 36 hours away, and I could still book. It didn’t offer the chance to land, or go into blinds, or see the puffins super close…but it would allow me to see them.Īnd it wasn’t sold out for the season. Needless to say, I was extremely disappointed! So I hit the internet and discovered we could take a cruise out of Boothbay Harbor to a different nesting location, Eastern Egg Island. Change of Plans – Puffin Boat Tour with Cap’n Fish’s Cruises The only way to make the Thursday boat trip was to drive all night. Unfortunately, we were exhausted and almost to our hotel in Concord, NH where we had planned to spend the night. There, in front of my face, was a note from the captain saying there was a good chance our tour was going to be cancelled due to bad weather coming through AND DID I WANT TO GO ON THE THURSDAY TRIP INSTEAD. We spend that evening and the next day enjoying Vermont…AND I DIDN’T CHECK MY EMAIL until late Wednesday night. We landed in Vermont on Tuesday, before our puffin trip was scheduled to go on Friday. We booked flights and hotels and a rental car and decided to make a huge road trip out of it. Our son said he couldn’t take that much time off work, so it was just going to be the four of us. My husband wanted to see Vermont, and our daughters wanted to see New York City. We began to prepare an entire family vacation around this trip. You can imagine my delight when I heard back that we were offered spots on the boat for July 30!

All of the tours the previous year had been cancelled because of COVID, and the company was offering those people first chance at the 2021 spots. So I set another note on my calendar (with FIVE reminders!) to try in March for a spot.

That’s usually in January, but when I checked, it turned out they were delaying it until March because of the ongoing COVID pandemic. Needless to say, the entire season generally sells out the day it opens. Unlike Eastern Egg Rock, on Machias Seal Island, you can actually land, get out, and photograph the puffins up close, while you’re in a blind. There’s only one boat that can go there, but if you can get on it, the experience is supposed to be amazing. In January of 2021, I was determined to get to Machias Seal Island to see these birds. Trip Back Original Plan – Boat to Bird Blinds on Machias Seal Island

Puffin cruise maine