Rye

Rye harbor sits in roughly the middle of Rye, New Hampshire’s eight-mile coastline, bookended between two State of New Hampshire beaches, and immediately adjacent to Rye Harbor State Park.

One of the most picturesque locations along New Hampshire’s 18-mile coastline, Rye Harbor is known, not just by mariners, but also as a lunch and dinner venue for local residents and visitors who come by land for fresh lobster rolls and chowders purveyed by the Rye Harborside snack bar and the Rye Harbor Lobster Pound.  Rye Harbor was first visited by Samuel de Champlain in 1603, and is the setting for The Last Run, Stephen Clarkson’s fine novel about rum-running between Canada and New England in the 1920s.

Rye Harbor is, of course, also the home port for the M/V Granite State, a 100-passenger, 65-foot, naturalist-led Whale Watching excursion boat, the 49-passenger M/V Uncle Oscar that makes twice daily, five-mile ferry runs to the Isles of Shoals, and the 36-foot sailing vessel, “Persistence”, operated by Captain Rick Philbrick, offering half-day, full-day, overnight and multi-day charters, as well as group and individual sailing lessons.  

Editors’ Note: Visitors who have the time, are encouraged not to miss an opportunity to visit Star Island (pictured on Page 3) on the Uncle Oscar (or the Persistence).  Depart on the Uncle Oscar in the morning and return in the afternoon, or make a quick, morning or afternoon turn-around with a one-hour stay on the island, or charter the Persistence for a half-day sail.   Both the Star Island ferry and the Whale Watch cruises do sell out, so make your reservations early.)

Rye Harbor also hosts a half-dozen “six-pack” fishing charter boats (listed below), licensed by the US Coast Guard to carry up to six passengers on blue-water fishing excursions.  And, last but not least, Rye Harbor is also the home of Wicked Tuna star Tyler McLaughlin’s 35-foot F/V Pin Wheel.