harraseeket yacht club sailing camp

Harraseeket Yacht Club

Play in the heart of downtown baltimore, marina info.

Harraseeket Yacht Club is located on the Harraseeket River near the head of Casco Bay in Maine. We are a 250 member (plus children) volunteer organization. Club facilities consist of an extensive float and dinghy tie system, wharf and clubhouse, all maintained by the membership. All members have ties to the local community and are required to contribute to club activities. Our primary purpose is to encourage and promote the sport of boating and the science of seamanship and navigation, particularly through programs of instruction for young people. To this end, we have an extensive summer program of sailing instruction and an active racing schedule. Both are open to non-members.á

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• Harraseeket Yacht Club, Maine, United States

United States

Sailing / Yacht Club

Harraseeket Yacht Club

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Contact Person

Bentley Collins

Founded Year

HYC is a 250 member volunteer organization located on the Harraseeket River off Casco Bay in South Freeport, Maine. Our sailing programs and active racing schedule are open to all members and non-members. The object of this club shall be to encourage and promote the sport of boating, and the science of seamanship and navigation, particularly for the instruction of the youth of this area, and do all things necessary or incidental to the accomplishment and fulfillment of said purposes.

207-865-4949

[email protected]

Contact Person Email

http://hyc.cc/

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South Freeport – Harraseeket River

Last edited by:

• Nat Warren-White
• May 21, 2024

Maine , South Coast and Casco Bay

Photo: Courtesy of Eric & Valy - Flying Point Oysters

South Freeport in the Harraseeket River, first settled in 1700, is one of the most sheltered and welcoming harbors on the coast of Maine. Offering easy access to shopping and all your boating needs, South Freeport is Freeport’s water access. Located in the innermost reaches of Casco Bay at the head of Broad Sound, and about 18 miles east of Portland, the harbor offers easy well-marked access in any weather, including thick fog. 

Approach & Cautions

Tidal currents run strong through the small “gut” entrance. The preferred and most clearly marked way in is just to the west of the small island–appropriately labeled Pound of Tea–lying just inside a red flashing buoy marked R “4”. Leave it to starboard and follow the narrow channel leaving three green cans to port guiding you through clear water directly into the harbor. Once past the last green can, head straight down the center of the mooring field, and you’ll find both marinas dead ahead.

There is a “locals only” entrance leaving Pound of Tea to port but don’t try it unless you’re following a returning lobster boat and don’t care if you might nick a wayward ledge.

Click the chart to open Navionics

Not to be used for Navigation .

Docking, Anchorages, or Moorings

As you approach the village, you’ll pass the Harraseeket Yacht Club to port. You cannot reach the yacht club on VHF, though both marinas, Strout’s Point Wharf Company and Brewer , sit on Channel 9. At both marinas, guest moorings are available for hire. Occasionally dock slips may also be available. Before COVID, Brewer ran a launch service that may be up and running again by the time you arrive.

Harraseeket Yacht Club encourages visitors from other yacht clubs to drop by and say hello. Look for their gray shingled clubhouse and dock system closest to the west side entrance, below the Casco Castle, which is all that remains of a grand hotel that was built in 1903 and burned to the ground in 1914. The tower was built from local stone and is all that survived the fire. It stands out as the most prominent village landmark visible from far offshore and is featured on the Harraseeket Yacht Club burgee. HYC has one guest mooring with a capacity for a vessel of not more than 30 feet. Anchoring is not permitted in the harbor.

Freeport’s Harbormaster is Charlie Tetreau – 207-865-4546.

Ch 9 for Strouts Point and Brewer Yacht club does not monitor VHF

Both marinas have marine diesel & ethanol-free gasoline

Both marinas and HYC

ELECTRICITY

Both marinas

Brewer with a password for guests

Both marinas are full-service yards and able to obtain ship's stores

Both marinas take transient trash

ConvenientMD Urgent Care, Brunswick, ME · (207) 424-2272 See Portland description for more options

MORE BOAT AMENITIES

Getting Ashore

Photo: Strouts Point Wharf Company

You can dinghy into both marinas or the yacht club and walk to South Freeport village.

Walking through the village, which was once home to four well-run shipyards, you will pass numerous lovely New England homes where ship captains and their families lived in local splendor. The town has always supported a healthy lobster, clam, crab, and groundfish industry and was once the site of a successful ice farm. You can still see the pilings that mark the outside wall of the tidal ice pond to the left of the Yacht Club, where many boats have fled to escape the ravages of bad storms like 1953’s Hurricane Carol.

Downtown Freeport, home to LL Bean and numerous other shoppers’ delights, is a pleasant 3-mile hike. Freeport Maine Taxi Service offers taxi, limo, tours, and shuttle service–207-303-9113. Uber is also a possibility. Brewer offers a courtesy shuttle to Freeport and the Portland Jetport.

Photo: Courtesy Bow Street Market

Provisioning

The newly rebuilt South Freeport Village Market sports a small grocery store as well as a local hangout cafe; it’s run by the same folks who own Eventide Oyster Bar in Portland.

There are three good markets for shopping in Freeport:

• Bow Street Market is a great small locally-owned shop with friendly, helpful service where you can find almost anything you need, including the best wine and liquor selection outside of Portland.
• Shaw’s is your typical large chain store, located south of downtown Freeport on Rt. 1.
• Royal River Natural Foods is a wonderful small health food market with good veggies and many specialty items you can’t find elsewhere. Located farther south of Freeport on Rt. 1.

Photo: Harraseeket Lunch & Lobster

Harraseeket Lunch and Lobster Co. offers good fresh seafood right on the wharf between the two marinas. The South Freeport Village Market , located just a short walk up Main Street from the marinas, has reopened under new ownership and offers breakfast, lunch, and sundry goods.

There are quite a few good restaurants and local brewpubs in Freeport — all worth a visit. Take your choice from Buck’s Naked BBQ ribs and the Maine Beer Company on one end of town to the Harraseeket Inn’s lovely Broad Arrow Pub at the other. In between, you’ll find almost any kind of fare you fancy. And this writer’s favorite local brewery — Mast Landing Brewing –has a taproom in Freeport.

You can buy fresh oysters from Flying Point Oysters direct from Eric & Valy’s house…an easy walk from the marinas up Main Street them straight through onto Pine Street. Their place is just past the graveyard on the left…sign says “Fresh Oysters”…$1/Best deal in town!

Photo: Courtesy of Wolf's Neck Center

Across the river, on Wolfe’s Neck, you can visit a working farm at the Wolfe’s Neck Center for Agriculture & the Environment . The farm was given to the University of Maine by the Smith family in 1985. It was later turned over to the Wolfe’s Neck Farm Foundation, a nonprofit educational resource and home to the Future Women in Agriculture program where 14- to 16-year-old girls come to study sustainable farming. Nearby is Wolfe’s Neck State Park , with many walking trails leading to the sea.

Photo: Courtesy of LL Bean

Other Things To Do

You can visit the Freeport Historical Society “uptown” and read all about the town’s colorful history. This includes sawmills, brickyards, a granite quarry, and several well-known shoe factories, including Eastland Shoes plus the world-famous LL Bean — still open 24 hours/365 days a year. Another landmark is the 40-acre Desert of Maine recently under new ownership, where you can take a tour of the remarkable naturally-formed desert created 11,000 years ago when a glacier slid through town.

Of course, no visit to Freeport would be complete without a saunter through LL Bean’s flagship store, where you can see trout swimming in a pond under a waterfall and giant moose decorating the walls. Bean regularly offers outdoor summer concerts with some A-list musical guests.

The new Meetinghouse Arts center, housed in the old Congregational Church at 40 Main Street, is home to a lovely local art gallery and performance venue. This summer they’ll mount exhibits called Seacoast Maine and Color and Light .

OUR REVIEWS

What CCA Members are saying:

No visit to the Coast of Maine would be complete without a stop in South Freeport.

Nathaniel Warren-White

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• PO Box 82,  South Freeport,  ME 04078
• 207-865-4949
• http://hyc.cc

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• What’s the Right Class for my Sailor?

How do I sign up for lessons?

Please use our online registration system to complete all sailor information as early as possible.

If you are a HYC Member , please ensure you have identified this on your registration form to accurately apply your membership program discount.

In accordance with state law, sailors will not be allowed to attend the sailing program until their completed health profile, liability waiver and emergency contacts have been received in their registration profile. We require 100% health profile completion by June 1st, including information about allergies, medications, behavior or injury limitations, etc. Parents/guardians are responsible for reviewing and updating this information on an annual basis.

What should my child bring to class?

Sailors must bring a Coast Guard approved life jacket (Type III PFD) clearly marked with their name and have a whistle firmly attached. They should also wear closed, soft sole shoes (no flip flops!) If your child is enrolled in a full-day class, come prepared with a healthy lunch! The yacht club has two refrigerators for lunches to be stored if needed. Please bring lots of fluids to class! Water, juice, low-sugar and non-caffeinated beverages are best. HYC also has a water cooler in the clubhouse, so remember to bring a re-usable water bottle! Don’t forget sunblock, sunglasses, hats, as well as appropriate clothing including a change of clothes and rainy-day gear, and a towel. (Remember, it is usually much cooler on the water than at your house!)

Will my child have to demonstrate their ability to swim? YES! We will conduct swim tests for all students (except the adult program) on the first day of lessons, so please bring a swimsuit and towel to the first day of class.

Students must be able to: – tread water for two minutes in a PFD – swim 50 feet fully clothed in a PFD Please note* Swimming is only allowed in a designated area under the direct supervision of an Instructor.

It is raining! Will my child have class?

Classes are held in all kinds of weather: even if it’s raining. The one exception is if there is a threat of severe storm or hurricane. In this event, class participants will be called at home, and informed of the decision to cancel class.

How do I know what class to enroll my child in? If your child is new to sailing and 8 years old or older, they would typically start with our Recruits class. If your child is an intermediate sailor – and has a handle on beginner sailing topics such as points of sail, parts of the boat, and basic boat handling skills, they are probably a fit for our Mates class.

If your child is an advanced intermediate sailor looking for new challenges they typically would either move to ATG or Opti Race team! Refer to our class descriptions page to help you decide what class would be a good fit. If you would like additional input regarding what class would be the best fit for your child, feel free to contact our sailing director for their input!  

I am too big to sail an Opti?

The Optimist is the boat used for sailors – from beginners to racers, who weigh less than 125 lbs and can comfortably maneuver in the boat. The Optimist is the largest one-design class in the world with more than a half-million boats being sailed and raced competitively around the world by kids ages 5-15!

My child is turning 8 during the Summer, can they do Recruits?

Our beginner-intermediate program begins at age 8, due to the age range within that group and the size of student needed to independently sail an Opti.  Exceptions will be considered for 7 year olds who have had multiple sessions of prior Guppy or other sailing experience and with Director approval.

How do I get in touch if my child won’t make it to class, or if I need to get a message him/her during the day? Call HYC at 207-865-4949 or email  

I am having some problems with online registration, CampDocs. Can someone help me with this?

Yes, please email our registration guru, Sarah Kelley:  

What if I need to cancel or change our registration?

Adjustments / Cancellations

Cancellations : No refunds are given for cancellations within 14 days of your program start. If you cancel prior to 14 days, a refund is available, less a $50 cancellation fee per session . There will be no refunds, transfers, or credits given for cancellations made for sailors who leave camp for behavioral reasons once a session has begun.

Additions : We recognize that summer schedules change and sailors sometimes wish to add additional weeks once they have experienced the program. We do our best to accommodate these changes on a first-come/first-serve basis. We do have a wait list for many weeks of the program so we can’t always accommodate additional weeks.

Transfer: Families may be able to transfer their sailor(s) to another available session at no cost prior to June 1st, depending on availability.

Payment Policy

Deposit : A minimum either 50% or $100 deposit is due at registration. You can also set up a payment plan through our RegPack system.

Payment Deadline: Sailing program tuition is due in full by June 1st. For families registering after June 1st, full payment is due at the time of registration.

Please note: Until full payment and/or deposit is received and all required documents submitted, your child’s registration is not complete and your child is not enrolled in the program. We reserve the right to cancel program registrations not paid in full after June 1st. We will send payment reminders to the email address with which you registered your child until full payment is received. Please check your email inbox (and spam folder) for these reminders and links to pay your balance online.

How are you planning to operate a Youth Sailing Program safely?

The Sailing Director, Registrar and Sailing Program Oversight Committee has reviewed all State, local and CDC guidelines and US Sailing recommendations to develop a plan for operating our program with adaptability, flexibility and consideration for the risks of COVID-19 exposure.