Old Quarry

[eburgess]

Has anyone heard anything about the sale of Old Quarry?  I read on their website that they were not opening for the 2020 season because of the virus.  Then I read on a Meetup site that Bill has sold the campground and it will be closing.  Anyone have any info?

[Philip Anderson]

I talked to him. He is mailing out refunds for the current season. Old Quarry is no more. Another great coastal site locked up in private ownership. God speed to Capt Bill, and thank you for providing a wonderful service to kayakers for many years! 

Phil A

[EEL]

The owner of OQ sent out a letter today.  Bottom line, which confirms Phil's post, is that OQ is closed and gone.

Bill said he tried to save it for access at least by approaching organizations active in preserving coastal areas and access, but nobody had the resources to buy the land.

Sad.

 

Ed Lawson

[Dave M.]

How sad is that! OQ was the perfect camp for Kayakers. Who is the new owner that sent the letters?

[Cath]

https://www.landvest.com/property/446748742/130-settlement-road-stonington-me-04681/

Edited May 5, 2020 by Cath

[eburgess]

That’s what I feared.  It was the perfect venue for exploring the wonderful MITA islands off the coast.  Not as easy to access them now.  Best wishes to Captain Bill - time for some R&R!

[PeterB]

This from Bill Baker , Old Quarry Ocean Adventures



Date: 5-5-20

From: Captain Bill
To: All my wonderful campers, kayakers, sailors, etc.

Dear Friends,
I have retired to Greenville Maine. The campground and facility are now closed. The virus was part of the reason for the decision for this season. Mostly it is due to the fact I got completely burnt out last season. I had a headache EVERY single day until we closed in October. Apparently we can’t deal with stress as well as we age. I tried to find a management team but that did not work.
Last fall I reached out to different agencies including the State of Maine, Maine Coast Heritage Trust, Island Heritage Trust, Maine Island Trail, Chewonki Foundation and several other agencies. We had a sit down meeting at Old Quarry to discuss the possibilities. Everyone at the table knew and vocalized about the importance of Old Quarry to allow access and parking to the many islands that they all owned or had easements on. That is about 32 islands out of 60 in the Stonington archipelago. After the meeting the attendees went back to their offices to ruminate about it and to speak with their board of directors or supervisors. Simply, the result was again acknowledgement of the importance of the property and business to the public. None of them could however muster the effort and resources to make the purchase. That decision was devastating to me because I know firsthand how important this property and decision was. Through my 22 years of building the business I have seen and heard people’s appreciation of being able to enjoy the beauty of the property and the archipelago. 
I believe that something great and wonderful is about to be lost. This access will now be gone forever.
I am so sorry that I could not pass this place on in perpetuity to the general public.
If you know someone who knows someone who could perhaps do something to save Old Quarry please pass this message on. 

Thanks for reading this,
Bill Baker
Owner, Old Quarry Ocean Adventure

[Dan Foster]

The landvest link above, and the wording of Bill's letter, suggest the property is For Sale (for $1.95 million). There's nothing that suggests it has been Sold. I guess there's a possibility that Bill wanted to cash out immediately, and sold to a 3rd party that immediately re-listed the property for sale on landvest, but that doesn't change the fact that anyone could step in and save the property or the public access part of it by coming up with $1.95 million or a offer that the seller would accept.

I have the opposite reaction from most of those expressed here after reading Bill's letter. I think he's trying to tell us that if we want to preserve access to the Stonington archipelago, now is the time to be mobilizing the various land trusts to get an offer on the table. As a club, we could be sending letters to each of the organizations named in Bill's letter, expressing how important Old Quarry is, both in its own right and in providing access to the islands, pledging say $5000 from the NSPN treasury toward any effort to save the access, and promising to publicize any fundraising efforts to our full membership and the greater paddling community.

[Wayne S.]

Man, that sucks.  I had a plan later this year to paddle out and camp at Duck Harbor on Isle au Haut.  I figured I could use OQ has my jumping off point; good place to safely leave the car even if I had to spring for a possibly empty campsite.  Any suggestions for an alternative plan now?

[gyork]

On 5/6/2020 at 1:51 PM, Wayne S. said:

 Any suggestions for an alternative plan now?

From Maine Coastal Public Access Guide:

                   

Town Ramp  

I'd contact Stonington Harbormaster, Chamber of Commerce, Police, in that order, to find someone who will store your vehicle while away.

Please share any information here for overnight parking- thanks.

Edited May 8, 2020 by gyork

[Wayne S.]

Gary, Thanks so much for the info.