About Island Cruises

Kim Strauss Holding a Lobster for Guests Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse RL Gott beside an offshore island
From left to right: Captain Kim Strauss relates local history to guests; Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse is a well-known Maine landmark; Island Cruises provides an up-close look at offshore islands and wildlife.

Island Cruises hosts a morning lunch cruise and an afternoon nature cruise daily from mid-June to mid-September. Certified Captain Kim Strauss operates our 40-foot boat, R.L. Gott, which comfortably seats 49 passengers with covered and open seating available.

Captain Strauss arrived in Maine at the age of 2 months in 1949, traveling out to Gotts Island on the mail boat. He has sailed on and around Blue Hill Bay ever since,and knows the offshore Islands intimately, living on Gotts Island in the summer, and Bass Harbor winters. In 2001, Strauss' 15th year running Island Cruises, he and a local fiberglass man built the current R.L. Gott. The boat is named after Russel Lorenzo Gott who, along with his father Berl, ran the mail boat to Gotts Island for 82 years.

Captain Strauss has an excellent trip planned for you. From the dock at Little Island Marine in Bass Harbor, Maine (located on Mount Desert Island near Acadia National Park), he'll take you past the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse to the islands beyond. Learn not only the fascinating history of the islands, but also the business and politics of Maine fishermen. Strauss ends each cruise by hauling aboard a lobster trap to investigate the catch of the day.

Please contact us for reservations.

erik and kim strauss
Erik and Kim Strauss started Island Cruises in 1991.
The first R.L. Gott, left, was named for Captain Russell Lorenzo Gott, right, who was born on Gott's Island in 1910 and passed away in 1991.

Learn about the Morning Lunch Cruise

Learn about the Afternoon Nature Cruise

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