We've always enjoyed stopping at J. O. Brown & Son's for fuel and water, even if it meant rafting up to their small pier. Service was spotty, but you could get broken parts welded, find new parts, buy ice and sometimes leave garbage behind. Another sailor once said, yes we stopped there, changed our minds and won't be back. But the amenities have lessened over the years. The first time we stopped they had a general store with good steaks and even fresh film (that dates it!). Then the store was gone (though the great showers remained) and the Coal Wharf restaurant had fine dining. Now I read that the restaurant is closed and the coal wharf itself continues to fall back into the ocean.

A Brown of this generation would like to "restore Brown's Coal Wharf as a marina serving the steady summer boat traffic that passes through the protected waters separating North Haven and Vinalhaven." That might mean an end to the $10 moorings! The full story is in the link below, from The Island Institute's Working Waterfront.