Make Your Mark: The Logbooks of the Maine Island Trail

At Dockwa, we believe the best stories don’t just happen on the water... they’re shaped by the places we explore and the responsibility for the environment we carry with us as boaters. That’s why we’re proud to kick off our summer story series in partnership with the Maine Island Trail Association (MITA), a nonprofit rooted in the belief that recreation and stewardship go hand in hand. Throughout the season, the MITA team will share stories from the nooks and crannies of the Maine coast, inviting us to venture toward new horizons through their own tales of adventure, impact, and deep connection to the water.

In the second installment of the series, MITA dives into a time-honored cruising tradition: making your mark (responsibily). Scattered along the Trail, MITA’s trail logbooks capture memories, musings, and moments from boaters up and down the coast. Whether you're a lifelong Mainer, planning your first island cruise to the bold coast, or looking for inspiration to start your own logbook ritual, this story is for you.

Make Your Mark: The Logbooks of the Maine Island Trail
By Nick Parson, The Maine Island Trail Association 

When exploring the coast of Maine, the mantra of “leave no trace” is usually a good one to have front of mind. Every person who lands on an island should have the same privilege of those who came before them; that feeling of stepping foot on a piece of little slice of land that has been mostly spared from the hands of humanity and the effects that come from that.

At the same time, there is an innate desire for many people to somehow commemorate experiences by leaving a physical mark for others to witness. This is sometimes done destructively, in ways such as carving initials into a tree or light graffiti that indicates “so-and-so was here”. These harmful actions not only run counter to the practice of not leaving a trace, but diminish the experiences of those who follow and happen upon such vandalism.

Enter the logbook. Far from a novel concept, logbooks have been around in various forms and in various places for generations. Sometimes placed in obvious spots and sometimes hidden and only discoverable through word of mouth, logbooks offer explorers the opportunity to record observations and experiences, communicate with those who come upon the logbook later, and generally leave a mark to indicate “I was here!”

On the Maine coast, cruisers have seemingly endless opportunities to explore remote, secluded, and wild environments out on the islands. Thanks to the Maine Island Trail Association (MITA), there are nearly 150 opportunities to say “I was here!” in logbooks located up and down the Maine Island Trail.

For MITA, the use of logbooks is part romance, part management tool. Each spring, our staff and volunteers post the logbooks, enclosed in small containers, on various islands along the Maine Island Trail where the land owners permit and appreciate their presence. Each fall, we go and collect the logbooks and bring them back to the mainland. We absolutely love reading the tales of adventure within them, and are consistently impressed by the creativity of those who travel along the Trail. Stories, poems, artwork, jokes, it’s all in there. Sometimes, cruising boats will even have a custom-made rubber stamp used for making their mark in logbooks. As the summer months go by, the logbooks fill with evidence of time well spent and core memories made. And of course, lots of simple declarations of “I was here!” 

Beyond the qualitative joy that we derive from the logbooks, they also provide useful data that help inform MITA’s management of the Maine Island Trail. While not every visitor will take the time to make an entry, we are able to get a good sense of how much traffic any particular island is receiving during the summer season. We get data on the types of boat people are using to get out to the islands, what sized groups they’re coming out there with, whether they’re camping out or just visiting for the day, and whether they’re from far away or just around the corner. At the end of the season, land owners on the Maine Island Trail receive reports on the summer use of their properties on the Trail, and without a doubt the logbook entries are the highlight of those reports.

So, as you cruise the Maine coast this summer, we encourage you seek out MITA’s logbooks! They aren’t on every island on the Trail, but they’re on most. Tell us about your visit, about your boat, about your family, or about what you cooked for breakfast. Anything! There’s always a chance that your inspiring words could make it into the next year’s edition of the Maine Island Trail Guide, or maybe they’ll even grace the pages of our website at mita.org. Logbook signing is a wonderful tradition, and a way for you to leave your mark in a way that will help your surroundings, not hurt them. We are so excited to read about your cruise, and we’re pleased to give you the opportunity to say “I was here!”

About the Maine Island Trail Association

The Maine Island Trail Association (MITA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of Maine’s wild coastal islands. Founded in 1988, MITA believes that those who explore these remote places can (and should) help preserve them. Through responsible recreation, education, and stewardship, MITA paddlers, sailors, and power boaters help keep the islands healthy for future generations.

Learn more about the Maine Island Trail at mita.org, or join MITA at mita.org/join

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