Cruising Rock-Bound Coast of Maine

This 10-day cruise aboard Clipper Cruise Line’s 138-passenger Yorktown Clipper hits all the highlights of northern New England, from the dramatic scenery along the rocky, fog-shrouded Maine coast to close sightings of finback and humpback whales in sunny Massachusetts Bay, with plenty of fresh lobster available ashore and aboard.

The trim, yachtlike Yorktown Clipper sails out of Boston. We spent the first day on the island of Nantucket, a quaint former whaling port so gentrified now that one resident commented, “We’re up to our ears in boutiques and don’t even have a five-and-ten.”

The next day in Portland, most passengers chose a bus trip down to Kennebunkport for a glimpse of President Bush’s summer “cottage,” at $25 the ship’s most expensive excursion, while a few headed north to Freeport to visit the headquarters of another American hero, L. L. Bean, legendary purveyor of outdoor wear.

After two days in Bar Harbor and an excursion to Mt. Desert Island’s Acadia National Park, we navigated through the fog to Campobello Island for a Saturday visit to the 34-room Franklin D. Roosevelt summer cottage, still furnished with the family’s belongings, including sailboats F.D.R. made for his children.

Camden, Me., where the fog still lingered, was next. This prototypically quaint New England village, where poet Edna St. Vincent Millay grew up, also served as a location for the film “Peyton Place.”

Flotilla of Sailboats

The Yorktown Clipper arrived in Boothbay Harbor on a sunny weekday afternoon, anchoring in the midst of a flotilla of sailboats. Colorful local Cap’n Fish, who tendered passengers ashore on his sightseeing boat, pointed out a hill covered with gray and white cedar shingle condominiums where the movie “Carousel” was shot.

“That’s the only thing that ever happened here,” he added with a chuckle.

We hopped aboard an open-air trolley that transports visitors around town for 50 cents, rolling past the Tugboat Motel, where a red tugboat is incorporated into the building complex, and the Daffy Taffy Factory, where a lot of people were standing around watching machines pull saltwater taffy, then over to the aquarium.

At the aquarium we discovered the Lobstermen’s Co-op, where for as little as $6.95 you can select your own lobster from the outdoor tanks and have it steamed and served on the spot to eat at wooden picnic tables beside the harbor.

Still to come was the port of Gloucester, along with visits to colorful art colonies such as Rockport and Rocky Neck and an afternoon in the historic city of Salem.

The last day was spent whale watching in the bay off Boston, where a humpback whale mother and calf swam along with us during lunchtime, lazily flapping their white fins in a backstroke wave just outside the dining room windows.

Excellent Service, Cuisine

The Yorktown Clipper, like its sister ship the Nantucket Clipper (the line’s third ship, Newport Clipper, is under charter to the French government until next spring), offers excellent service and very good American cuisine, including chocolate chip cookies warm from the oven every afternoon.

Because it is registered in the United States, the vessel carries American officers and crew; the mostly Midwestern stewardesses and deck hands are handsome, friendly and cheerful.

Many of the middle-aged and older couples and singles aboard came from the South and Midwest, and were attentive to the slide lectures by experts in each port about animals, birds, wildflowers, whales and regional history.

Low-key after-dinner entertainment ranges from Down East sea chantey singers to jazz duos. Video movies (including “Moby Dick”) play nightly in the dining room after dinner, accompanied by bowls of fresh hot popcorn.

Clipper’s ships do not provide gambling, discos, swimming pools, gyms or spas, beauty shop, laundry or hospital. They sail near the coast, so emergency medical service is available quickly. Cruise director Dan Glassel can arrange beauty shop appointments in ports of call as well as laundry service pickup and delivery.

Because the ship has no elevators, it is unsuitable for travelers who require wheelchairs or walkers to get around.

We would not recommend the ship for families with young or restless children since it has only one large indoor lounge, comfortable and well decorated but dedicated to quiet adult activities such as reading, bridgeplaying and conversation. A large sun deck atop the ship has lounging chairs and an outdoor bar.

Attractively Furnished

All cabins are outside, attractively furnished in pale woods and pastels. The two lowest-priced ($229 a day per person, double occupancy, for this cruise) are forward on a lower deck with portholes instead of windows, while the four most expensive ($359 per person double) are on higher decks with wide windows and a bit more space inside.

All have the same compact white tile bathroom, with shower and temperamental marine toilets that went out of commission a couple of times during our cruise. There’s plenty of closet and drawer storage, including two lockable drawers for valuables, and good reading lights over the built-in twin beds.

Clipper will offer a similar series of 10-day Maine Coast cruises aboard the Nantucket Clipper next July and August. For information about the 1990 sailings (the remaining cruises this season are already sold out), call toll-free (800) 325-0010.

The Yorktown Clipper will sail south along the Atlantic Coast this fall and be positioned in the Caribbean during the winter, with alternate weeklong itineraries through the Windward and Leeward Islands.

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Fall foliage cruises this year to New England and Canada have been scheduled by Royal Viking Line (800-346-8000), Princess Cruises (800-421-0522), Bermuda Star Line (800-237-5361), Cunard Line (800-223-0764), Society Expeditions (800-426-7794) and American Canadian Caribbean Line (800-556-7450).