Mystery Harbor December 2021: Dolphin Marina

My first overnight was there

This was where I did the first overnight on our sailboat this past summer with my mom and dad. It turns out friends of ours met us for dinner at the restaurant. It was all capped off with great blueberry muffins brought to the boat in the morning. Can’t wait to go back!

Kristen Mailloux

Portland, Maine

Check out the blueberry muffins

This is a great destination by land or sea. Blueberry muffins are great (by sea), and the restaurant is a fantastic day trip from Portland. This is a favorite stop for the cruising sailor transiting Casco Bay.

John Maull, S/V Julia

Exeter, N.H.

The sign gave it away

I recognize the Dolphin on the dock sign, and it’s one of the locations for the 2021 Lobster Boat races!

Mike Rego

Amherst, N.H.

Looking SE at Potts Point

That photo is taken from the parking lot of Dolphin Marina & Restaurant in Potts Harbor, at the southern tip of Harpswell Neck, in Harpswell, Maine (Basin Point). The view is looking approximately SE towards the Potts Point Preserve. With some good eyesight (or a magnifying glass), you can see the blue Dolphin Marina sign hanging over the ramp. I motor-sail by here every late spring and early fall to launch/return my 25ft Cape Dory to the Finest Kind Boat Yard further up the harbor. On the cool Fall days when I return, I stop at the Dolphin to take a break and wait for the right time to enter the basin (low tide rocks) and partake in the restaurant’s chowder and blueberry muffins. Worth the trip. I assume this is correct, or someone has built an exact facsimile.

Scott Bamford

Harpswell, Maine

Great restaurant

The Mystery Harbor is Dolphin in Harpswell, Maine! It is a wonderful place and favorite dining or overnight stop for many Casco Bay boaters. The restaurant has a friendly, attentive staff and consistently great food. The seaward view – to the right of the mystery image – is stunning in all conditions. Overnighters lucky enough to secure a slip or mooring are greeted each morning by the marina launch, offering complimentary coffee and signature Dolphin blueberry muffins. (Please keep it a secret!)

Michael Boucher

Freeport, Maine

*Sorry, Michael! Unfortunately, it appears the secret is out. Hopefully, it helps to keep the blueberry muffins coming! – Points East Staff

Starting point for Bailey Island

You are sitting or standing on the shore next to Dolphin Marina. We go there at least 10 times per summer to have meals at the restaurant. We also go through the gut on our way to Bailey Island and beyond.

Jack Thomas

Cumberland Foreside, Maine

The muffins are a real treat

Having stopped there many times as a transient, this looks like the Dolphin Marina in Potts Harbor, South Harpswell, Maine. The blueberry muffins they bring to your boat each morning are their “signature” – with the hot coffee – and are the very best we have ever tasted. A real treat in the morning on your boat! It must be late in the season with the Canada Geese flying south. Most of the big boats on the outer dock have either left, are probably on the hard, or heading south also. A long-time reader and occasional contributor.

Roy Bouchard

Londonderry, N.H.

S/V Seaquel

Finish for the Harraseeket Regatta

For Casco Bay racers, this is an easy one… Basin Point in Harpswell, Maine – specifically, Dolphin Marina. This is the finish of the annual Harraseeket Regatta, which is a destination race from Freeport, Maine, to Dolphin.

John Milburn

Cape Elizabeth, Maine

Easy access for Eagle Island trips

The Mystery Harbor is Potts Harbor, in Harpswell, Maine. The photo is taken from the Dolphin Marina, located on Ash Point on the west side of the harbor. This location provides ready access for short-distance trips to Eagle Island, the summer home of Admiral Peary, Whaleboat Island for camping or day trips, and beaches on Upper Flag Island. It is directly across Merriconeag Sound from Mackerel Cove on Bailey Island, where I live. I often transport guests on my boat across the Sound to the harbor and the Dolphin Marina restaurant to enjoy time on the waters of the Maine coast. Delicious seafood entrees, and fabulous views of Casco Bay while dining behind the panorama glass wall.

John Anthony

Bailey Island, Maine

Looking forward to docking there

The Mystery Harbor is a shot of the Dolphin Marina, at Basin Point, in Harpswell, Maine, looking out onto Pott’s Harbor. Our daughter, Sabrina, enjoyed her time as a waitress, working for the Saxton family at the original Dolphin Restaurant. At the same time, she was a student and women’s basketball player at Bowdoin College. We always make sure to spend a summer day each year dining at the beautiful new Dolphin Restaurant, strolling out after dinner to chat with friendly boaters tied up for the evening. We “bank” their stories and experiences for the day when we can pull up to the Dolphin from our boat after a week at sea instead of from our SUV!

Val Cote and Rich Shea

Dexter, Maine

Great overnight location

We cruise out of Elliot, Maine, and happened upon Potts Harbor, finding the Dolphin Marina and Restaurant. The marina is a great place to stay overnight. We try to get there early afternoon to dock and go to the lobster shack for lunch – nothing fancy but really good food. We might get a bike, hike around the marina area, then go to the restaurant. The food is exceptional – especially their blueberry muffins. After dinner, back to the boat for a glass of wine.

Lester Felege

Danville, N.H.

We missed the muffins

It sure looks like the docks at Dolphin Marina in Potts Harbor. We’ve stopped there many times during our cruising around Casco Bay. The restaurant has become a real delight. If you pick up a mooring, they’ll include warm blueberry muffins brought out to your boat in the morning. Sadly, every time we have picked up a mooring, we needed to get underway early and were not around for the muffin delivery.

Homer Shannon

Windham, N.H.

Spent a stormy night there once

This month’s mystery harbor is Dolphin Marina in Potts Harbor, Maine. We love stopping there whenever we are cruising nearby. The staff is always friendly and helpful. The complimentary blueberry muffins are delicious! The restaurant and pub are fantastic! We weathered an unexpected storm with 50-plus knots of wind at the dock one night and chaffed through 4 dock lines! It was a sleepless but interesting night. The staff was there most of the night, securing the unattended vessels and checking on the transient guests. We have been stopping there for 20 years and will continue to do so.

Mike Pothier

Goffstown, N.H.

S/V Dragonfly

Try the chowder

This month’s photo sure looks a LOT like the Dolphin Marina in Harpswell. We have spent a lot of time eating at the restaurant (the best fish chowder and blueberry muffins in the world) and on their moorings. When you call them to pick up a mooring, their launch comes out, picks up the mooring pennant, straightens out the mooring, and hands it to the boat! Terrific service. It’s even better since they run a launch, so you don’t have to fight your way into the dinghy dock, and you get a priority in meal reservations. But wait… first thing in the morning, they come by with coffee and blueberry muffins. This marina is very close to home, and for so many years it has been our last stop for the night at the end of one of our cruises.

Dave and Anne Taft

Harpswell, Maine

S/V Talisman

It’s changed since ’77

This photo is of Dolphin Marina, at Potts Harbor, in Harpswell, Maine. When my wife and I got married in 1977, we bought a new sailboat, S/V French Connection, and put a mooring in at the Dolphin. It had moorings for about 25 boats and was a family-oriented marina. At that time, they had a small restaurant on the water’s edge that served the best fish chowder you could get, probably anywhere. In fact, while sitting on our mooring, we often watched patrons fly in and land their helicopters on the field next to the restaurant and grab a bowl of chowder. A lot has changed since 1977. There are many more moorings, the old restaurant has been repurposed, and the marina facilities have been upgraded to modern standards. They also built a beautiful new restaurant with outstanding views of many islands in Casco Bay. But, most importantly, the facilities and restaurant are still owned by the same family, and the food – especially the chowder – is still over the top. Make a point of visiting the Dolphin Marina and restaurant, and you won’t be disappointed.

Mike Cloutier

Palmetto, Fla.

We know it very well

The Mystery Harbor is Potts Harbor, in Harpswell, Maine, taken from the parking lot of Dolphin Marina, with their docks in the foreground. Allison and I know this harbor well! The Dolphin is one of the best docks-and-dines around. If they can’t fit you at their docks, then you can grab a mooring or tie up at their float; the boat-handling skills of their launch drivers are impressive! Make sure to get a blueberry muffin at the restaurant. And maybe a Painkiller!

Jay Meyer

Falmouth, Maine

Erica’s Takeout is near

This is Dolphin Marina in Potts Harbor, Maine. To the right is the Dolphin Restaurant. To the left – out of the picture – is Erica’s Takeout. This pic is facing east from the parking lot.

Bryan Briggs

via email

It’s very popular

Beautiful Potts Harbor from Dolphin Marina! The roof over the fuel pumps and unmistakable timber-supported sign give it away! The harbor and marina are a destination for boaters far and wide.

John Leavitt

Cumberland, Maine

Coming since 2013

Your Mystery Harbor is Potts Harbor in South Harpswell, Maine. The picture shows the Dolphin Marina in the foreground with Potts Point, Bailey Island, and Haskell Island in the background. We started enjoying Potts Harbor in 2013, launching our Precision 18 trailer-sailor at the Dolphin ramp for a couple of days of sailing, then found our retirement dream home in 2015 on the other side of the harbor, and now have our Catalina 350, High Time, moored at the Dolphin just off the right of your photo. Your Mystery Harbor is our dream retirement home and playground, and launchpad for cruising the Maine Coast.

Jack and Joanne Perry

Harpswell, Maine

Beautiful boats there

Your Mystery Harbor in the Dec. 2021 issue of Points East is Potts Harbor, at the Dolphin Marina by the Dolphin Restaurant. Always a great place to walk the docks and admire the gorgeous boats that come through. And the beer always tastes better when you are by the water.

Susie Brundenhall

Brunswick, Maine

My local marina

For only the second time your December mystery harbor jumped out at me.

It is Dolphin Marina in Harpswell. This is my local marina, run by Billy and Chris Saxton. Each spring and autumn they haul my Island Packet, step my mast and drive up the Harpswell roads to secure her for the winter. It is a great family-run affair that was greatly improved a few years ago when the original marina and restaurant were replaced. I just mentioned the restaurant that Mimi Saxton runs. They make the best chowder on the Maine coast, all served with a warm blueberry muffin, they’ll even deliver to your boat. How is that for service. If you are travelling Casco Bay, I strongly recommend the Dolphin for an overnight stop. Ywill not be disappointed.

Ian Marshall

Harpswell, Maine

Well worth the trip by land or sea

This is the wonderful Dolphin Marina, in Potts Harbor, located at the southern end of the Harpswell peninsula in Maine. What began as a small boat launch and coffee shop has become a state-of-the-art full-service marina along with a destination restaurant that is well worth the trip by boat or car. Members of the Saxon family have owned the business and lovely property for over 40 years. Their dedication to this special place and to their visitors is totally evident. If you are lucky enough to grab a mooring here, you will be treated to hot homemade blueberry muffins and coffee delivered to your boat in the morning. Take your dinghy or paddle your kayak down Basin Cove or to the many surrounding islands. Lunch or dinner at the Dolphin Restaurant is always special, with excellent meal choices, dining in or out, and plenty of space to fly a kite with the kids or go beach combing. One of our favorite spots when cruising the Maine coast!

Ellen Van Vranken

On Misty Morn

Wonderful staff

It was our final overnight sailing my Cape Dory 28, Casuzza down to Portland from Stockton Springs. We stopped in Camden and Christmas Cove on the way. We were so impressed with the staff at Dolphin and the nice facilities. The food was incredible. We ate like kings and slept like babies. So happy we found our way there.

Kevin O’Connell

Portland, Maine

S/V Casuzza