A Cruising Guide's View to Roque Island

About Roque Island:
“To lift a phrase from South Pacific, this is a “special island.” The writer puts this island down as incomparable! With a long history, a fine beach, many acres of woodland, high cliffs, and a choice of several good harbors, Roque is an empire in itself.
It was purchased in 1806 by two partners, one of them Joseph Peabody of Salem, a famous merchant of that period who had at least three of his vessels built near the tidal Mill Dam at the head of Shorey Cove. On his death he left the island to his children. In 1864 it became the sole property of his daughter Catharine and her husband John L Gardner. Except for the years 1870-1882, when it was owned by the Longfellows and the Shoreys, it has been in possession of their descendants ever since…
The outstanding feature of this Roque group of islands is the 1 ¼ mile crescent beach of white sand on Roque itself.

Foote provides the following information on Roque Island:
…But in the night you may not think all is paradise. As likely as not you will awake in the wee hours listening to the low groan and grunt of Libby Island’s diaphone, announcing the arrival of a fog that may well last two solid weeks. And if you’re anchored off the beach ( in Roque Harbor) the prettiest place to be, you’re certainly going to know things if it blows up, for the holding ground is abominable..

Taken from "A Cruising Guide to the New England Coast" by Robert Duncan & Fessenden S. Blanchard: Fourth Edition, New York-1958;Dodd,Mead & Company.