From haunted B&Bs to eerie, rural, wooded backroads, Maine has no shortage of frightening stories. But, without a doubt, some of the scariest involve our maritime history. Our craggy coast has felled more than one ship and our lighthouses have watched over many stormy disasters. One of the most bone-chilling is the story of Boon Island.

Wayne Boardman / Flickr
Standing in the distance off the shores of York, Boon Island represents a fate that more than one ship was met with off the coast of Maine.

It certainly looks serene, but for 24 days it was a place of misery and fear for 10 sailors.
Raging Wire / Flickr
The light was built in 1855 and is the tallest in New England. But prior to that, the island was known to be one of the most dangerous off the New England coast. Even in seemingly calm seas, the coastline of the small island was, and can still be, quite rough.
Jeremy D'Entremont / Flickr
In 1710, Nottingham Galley (a British ship) was brought to its knees by Boon Island. There were 14 men on board and four never made it home.

Two died as a result of injuries related to the crash, while the other two made a failed attempt to travel the six miles to the mainland via a makeshift raft. The ten remaining sailors were stranded on the rocky island, but able to see the secure mainland perfectly.

Unfortunately, there was no safe way to reach it.

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oomni / Flickr
The ten men, stranded on Boon Island, managed to keep themselves alive for 24 days despite having no food or shelter.

But, how?
Jeremy D'Entremont / Flickr
Cannibalism.

The remaining men survived by eating the remains of the fallen sailors. After 24 days, the group was rescued and Boon Island went down in history as the location of one many desperate situations off the Maine coast.
Wayne Boardman / Flickr
Some say that following the Nottingham Galley disaster, local fisherman began leaving barrels of supplies just in case another wreck were to strand a crew of men again.

The island remains dangerous. Serious storms regularly batter the land and the violence of wind and sea has been known to move boulders.

Today, the island is uninhabited, with a solar powered light guiding ships to safety.

Huge thanks to Jeremy D’Entremont, who graciously allowed for the use of his copyrighted images to help support this article. Jeremy is also the man behind one of the best New England lighthouse resources on the web.

He is also the author of many books on the subject of lighthouses, including this one focusing on New England.

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