Aboard Lady

Back to Booth Bay

Sunday August 17th, 2008

After such a gloomy day on Saturday, we awoke to brilliant sunshine.  Forget Tenants and last night's promise of Cod End's lobster roll - there's sun and wind - we're going sailing to Booth Bay!

We dropped the mooring at 0815 and motored out of the harbor past the light house.  We had a great sail to windward, taking long tacks toward Monhegan Island.

We recognized a boat!  Incessant had been our mooring float buddy in Northeast Harbor, and Paul and Charlie talked on the radio.  They were headed much further than we were - home to the Chesapeake Bay.

It was a great sail down the coast.  Lots of Sunday traffic out, and a number of radio calls for Sea Tow.  We pulled in to dock A at Carousel Marina about 1430, and while Charlie gave Lady a fresh-water wash on the outside, the first in about a month, apart from rain, I did the interior.  After welcome shore showers, we had a drink with  fellow Okies Chuck and Ann Voss (Negotiator), who are here for six weeks.

Monday August 18th, 2008

Another sunny day!  I did laundry while Charlie cleaned the bilge.  We moved from the dock to a mooring.  Carousel marina lent us a courtesy car to go to Hannafords Grocery store, where we managed to purchase over $300 work of groceries (my, this food in Maine is expensive, or have prices increased since we left? or is it due to the fact they sell liquor in grocery stores in Maine?)  An evening walk across the town footbridge, adult beverages at Fisherman's wharf and a comfortable evening aboard on a mooring.

A Foggy Day

Saturday August 16th, 2008

Fog came in as we went to bed in Isle Au Haut harbor.  The fog lasted until the morning.  Then it started to rain.  Then the rain  got heavier.  We occupied ourselves by Charlie looking for a leak from the forward basin sink (unsuccessful); Charlie serviced two flashlights, one success, one not; we read; I uploaded and cropped and photo-shopped the pictures from Mount Desert Island.

At 1130 things lightened up, so we dropped the mooring and motored out to the bay.  The fog returned, but we continued to head for our goal of Seal Island, as Craig and Debbie Roser (Charmed) had told us of seeing puffins there.

The fog continued, sometimes thicker, sometimes thinner, but we did not see puffins, or Seal Island, even though our chart plotter showed us as 1/4 mile from it.

We considered going to Manticus and headed that way, but further reading of the guide book suggested that it only be approached in good light, so we next tried for Monhegan.  The fog lifted enough for us to dimly see Manticus Rock as we passed it.

Although there was no wind, there was a confused swell.  Charlie reported that Sooty had been seasick and that he had cleaned it up.  Charlie then reported that he was feeling seasick.  The medical officer gave him a Waldram, fed him saltine crackers and cheese, and let him take a nap.  Lady and I motored on in the fog.

We had been dodging lobster buoys all day, in anything under about 100' water, but finally I caught  one.  Our speed dropped for 6 to 4.5 knots.  I put the boat in neutral.  Charlie woke and pulled in the dinghy.  As we stopped the buoy floated free, not too far from where I'd snagged it, so the fisherman should be able to retrieve it.  Charlie went back to sleep, and slept for a couple of hours, feeling greatly improved when he woke.

After he woke, we re-read the cruising guide for Monhegan, and given the fact that:

1. use of anchor not recommended in harbor
2. very limited number of moorings and no guarantee of availability late in day
3. Sirius radar showed approaching thunderstorms

we changed course for Tenants Harbor.

About 1800 the fog lifted and we had visibility of about 2 miles.  We picked up a mooring in Tenants Harbor about 1900, and had a pretty sunset with a nice moon.

43 59.642N 069 39.586W

Acadia

Monday August 4th, 2008 to Friday August 15th, 2008    In and around Acadia National Park

It was a glorious morning when we left Castine on Monday August 4th. Not much wind, so we motor-sailed down Eggemoggin Reach, between Deer Isle and the Maine mainland dodging lobster buoys.

We headed through the Pond Island Passage, and mid-afternoon, as we headed to Bass Harbor Bar (between Mount Desert Island and Great Gott Island) we noticed that our speed had slowed quite a bit.  I found Charlie's suggestion that we had a current against us quite believable, but decided to check further.  Bad news, we had picked up a lobster line, the kind that has a toggle below the float, and it seemed to be wrapped around Lady's wing keel.  We tried all kinds of things to loosen it, but when we slowed down, the float sunk beyond the reach of the boat hook, and stayed with us.

Then it started to rain.  Then the rain got heavier.  We made our way to Northeast Harbor ("NEH") on Mount Desert.  The "Northeast Harbor Mooring Agent" cheerfully advised us that all moorings were in use, nothing available for us.  While we were waiting for her to respond to our radio call, we caught another lobster pot! This time it was around the propeller strut.  We had a sinking feeling as the engine bogged down with the line.  Then, relief, as the line cutters we had installed months ago in Thunderbolt, Georgia, did their stuff and released us.  We also soon realized that we had released the first lobster trap too!

A chart check informed us that Great Cranberry Island was not too far, and with the wind in the direction is was, there might be some protection at the only town there, Spurling.  We found a great mooring ball labeled "Town Guest", which sounded exactly like us!  We could see the hills of Mount Desert in the distance.

Tuesday morning we dinghied ashore for a walk down Great Cranberry's only road, visited the only store, and mailed a post card from the post office, that was already closed at 9:30 am.  There are about 30 year-round residents on the island, but quite a lot of summer visitors, who arrive by the mail boat.  There was no harbor master, and the store's owner didn't seem to know anything about the Town Guest mooring, so thanks, Great Cranberry for a FREE mooring!

We arrived in NEH, and the mooring madam assigned us to mooring float 301 as there were still no moorings available. We shared the float with another boat, a power yacht with a nice couple aboard.

Joe Rocchio, from Onward, another Catalina 470, had seen us come in, and came by to welcome us.  He and Charlie had a great time talking boat together!

He suggested that we might like to take the dinghy across the harbor to the Thuya Garden dock, and hike up the hill to the gardens.

He was right!  Climbing up the steep zig-zag trail gave us spectacular views of the harbor.

The Thuya Gardens are a 140-acre preserve given to the residents and guests of Mount desert by Joseph Henry Curtis, a  landscape architect from Boston after his 1928 death.  Charles K. Savage continued the project for an additional 37 years as the landscape designer.

At the top, the English-style gardens were in full bloom, and we had a lovely peaceful time there.

Wednesday August 6th was cool and rainy.  Thanks to L.L. Bean Company, the Acadia National Park has a FREE bus service to take tourists all over the park.  We took the bus from NEH to Bar Harbor.

We walked around the town, and particularly admired the old bank's clock.  The bank is still in business, and the clock is still working!

After lunch (lobster rolls), we strolled around the shore path for a mile or so, seeing the back of some beautiful homes, and admiring this rock on the shore. Returning through neighborhoods back to  town, we boarded another FREE bus, this time getting off at The Wild Gardens of Acadia.  We also visited an interesting museum that described the stone-age dwellers of the area.  It was cool and raining (again) as we took the bus back to NEH. 

Thursday August 7th was still rainy, so we spent most of the morning  doing boat chores, and had a good walk around the village neighborhoods before shopping for a few groceries.  We had noticed an S2 sailboat without a mast the previous day, and got acquainted with Sandy and Jack, who told us of being struck by  lightning a couple of weeks earlier.  They came over for dinner, and we heard all the details.  The very fine Morris Boat Yard in NEH was doing all their repairs, and we were pleased to see a couple of days later that the mast was restored, and wish them well of their voyage.

Friday August 8th I was pleased that I had purchased a new fleece jacket in Bar Harbor.  It was another cool cloudy day, with sprinkles now and again.  We took the bus to Southwest Harbor, where we had a great lunch of chowder and haddock sandwich, and explored the town.  We found a marine supply store that was quite different to West Marine...Hamilton Marine services the fishing and lobster boats.  we were able to purchase a tiller extension for dinghy there.

We had run in to Bob and Judy from Sanderling (we met them first by radio, coming in to Great Kills, New York, then saw them again in Oyster Bay, Long Island).  They came over for dinner that night, and we heard all about their plans to go up the reversing falls in St. Johns River with a group that left NEH a few days later.

Saturday August 9th the weather was a little more cheerful.  We visited the Chamber of Commerce, a home to all the visiting yachties, and spent $5 on Internet, and that's how I was able to publish the Penobscot Bay post.  We had new float mates, who joined us and other Catalina 470 sailors Jim and Sue from Pipe Dream for drinks.

We decided to explore some of the carriage trails of the park on Sunday August 10th (IV's 31st birthday).  A short bus ride dropped us off at one of the park entrances and we had a lovely walk for about 4 miles along the carriage roads, originally built by the Rockefeller in the early 1930's for riding. Walking for a couple of hours, we saw very few other people.  It amazed us that the park charged us only $5 each for a week-long permit and we felt that we truly had value for money.

The carriage roads are used by walkers and cyclists, and also a few carriages!

We had a lovely lunch at the Jordon Pond House.  (I had lobster stew with popovers.)  Then off on foot again down the Long Pond Valley.  We ended up on the highway close to Seal Harbor, and after quite a long wait, were able to flag down the bus back to NEH.

Monday August 11th, did not start out well.  The weather was overcast, and the generator overheated.  Charlie did all of his magics tricks on it , strainer check, water flow check, talked to Fisher-Panda tech. support, but still kept overheating each time he started it up.  Finally he called the number posted on the Morris Yachts' crane, and soon had a technician lined up to come out to Lady.  Josh arrived shortly after lunch, and did all that Charlie had done, except calling tech support, inspected the impeller (it was new-looking), blew down the pipe,restarted the generator, and an hour later it was still working well!

We went ashore for a walk, and strolled down the highway to the Asticou Gardens.  Although the azaleas are long since over, the Japanese-style gardens were very lovely.

On the way back to the boat, we stopped at the Harbor master's office to pick up our mail.  He had tomorrow's weather forecast posted.  80 % chance of rain.  We decided to stay another day.

So on a rainy Tuesday morning, we did boat chores, I baked brownies and made tabouli, and during a brief spell from the rain we went ashore to do a few errands.  There were no pictures taken that day, but we had a lovely phone call from IV and Olivia.

Wednesday August 13th there was SUN!!!

We dropped the mooring float and motored to Clifton's dock where we were able to purchase diesel, fill the water tanks, but no pump out.  Outside the harbor, we sailed Eastern Bay, until we noticed a rather large fog bank in front of us, so we turned around, and headed back past the Cranberry islands, and did a brief cruise through Southwest Harbor.  Then, out through the cut between Greening Island, and on towards Somes Sound.  This sound is a fjord, an ancient location of a glacier with deep water and high granite walls.

It was a leisurely sail up the sound while we ate lunch, and eventually we arrived in Somes Harbor, and the head of the sound.  There were lots of moorings, quite a few of the unoccupied, but we were able to find a good place to anchor.  We dinghied around Lady, checking the depth with the hand-held depth meter gift that our sons gave Charlie this past Father's day.  A local came by, and advised us that there was no harbor master in Somes Harbor, and that we could have picked up any vacant mooring.  This was great news.  Although we were now well anchored, we were expecting Craig and Debbie Roser.  Soon Charmed  arrived, and were were able to inform them that they could pick up a FREE mooring.  Great. 

The four of us went ashore, visited the best book store on Mount Desert, and strolled around the tiny village. 

The Rosers joined us for dinner aboard Lady, where Charlie did a splendid job on the grill.  A beautiful moon ended the day.

Too bad that Thursday August 14th wasn't quite as special a day.  We woke to fog, but it lifted enough for us to get the anchor up, and five minutes later descended again.  We picked up the outermost mooring in Somes Harbor (thanks Windcrest), and waited.  Half and hour later we were able to get through the cut and out to the sound.  We investigated this pretty waterfall at Valley Cove.

As we headed out through the Greening Island cut, fog descended again, so we picked up a convenient vacant mooring (thanks Hinkley) and waited until it lifted.

Heading back across the Bass Harbor Bar, we could see fog coming up behind us, so we started up the iron genny and headed through the Casco Thorofare to Buckle Harbor, between Swan's Island and Buckle Island (population 0). At last the sun appeared, so we were able to dinghy ashore and scramble around the rocks and seaweed.  Charlie found a couple of abandoned lobster buoys, lines chafed through high on the rocks.

The sun set into a fog bank.

On Friday August 15th, we left Buckle harbor early - 0815, but within half an hour were traveling by radar, guess why - more fog.

An hour later we were able to turn off the radar, and shortly after that we were in the Isle Au Haut (it's pronounced "I'll a hoe").  We didn't see any available rental moorings, but as more fog descended, we picked up a vacant mooring to wait for it to lift.  After lunch the fog had lifted, one of the boats on a rental mooring had departed, so we moved to that mooring, put $20 in the plastic coke bottle attached to the mooring line, where it joined a half dozen similar bills.

A dinghy ride ashore, stop at the General Store for a few provisions, then down the street to the Ranger station.  About half of IAH is part of the Acadia National Park, but they only allow about 50 people a day in.  I don't know if that many show up, it's quite difficult to get here!

The forest was wonderful.  The trail was not for beginners, but the trees, ferns, streams, log bridges were there just for us alone.

Or so we thought.  Just as we were beginning to wonder if we had missed a trail turn-off, other people approached.  The conversation quickly established that John, Bonnie and Cary were fellow cruisers from Dragon on one of the other moorings.  We made a date for drinks, and departed in opposite directions.  The trail joined an unpaved road, we stopped at Dinah's for ginger beer and chocolate, and Sooty welcomed us back.

We had a lovely visit with Dragon's crew when they came by.  Cary and Charlie discovered that they had a mutual acquaintance!

Penobscot Bay, Maine

July 27th, 2008 to August 4th, 2008    Cruising Penobscot Bay

Sunday July 27th, we left Long Cove, off Tenants Harbor, and headed out in to Penobscot Bay.  We passed a couple of boats, that we later discovered are Hurricane Island pulling boats, past of the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School's summer sailing program.  We haven't got to Hurricane Island, yet, but the guide book indicates that there have guest moorings there off the southwest corner of Vinalhaven.

This lovely schooner was the first of many we were to see in Penobscot Bay over the next few days. 

Our friends Corning and Tita Townsend (Blessed Spirit) has recommended Perry Creek as a good anchorage.  We ventured in to the Fox Island Thorofare, between Vinalhaven and North Haven Islands, and entered Perry Creek, past little Mouse Island. The creek was full of moorings, each with somebody's name on them.  Another boater suggested that everyone just picks up a mooring, but you stay on the boat.  We did just that while we had lunch, but decided that this might not be the thing to do overnight, in case the mooring's owner arrived.  We dropped the mooring, and ventured on a little further, dropping our anchor in Carver Cove, a large cove, plenty of room, about four other boats, and a curious seal.  A resident came by in her kayak, with her Scottie dog, and after we explored with the dinghy, we met a lovely couple on a motor cruiser who invited us aboard for drinks, and treated us to Maine Steamers, mussels and clams they had dug themselves.  John and Mary on September Song were here on vacation.

We decided to cruise down the Deer Island Thorofare on Monday, July 28th. This picture is of Marks Island (hello all Marks who may be reading this, here's an island named after you!) There are so many pretty islands, granite rocks with pine trees on top.  We sailed back though more lovely islands in Merchants Row, around Vinalhaven, and by about half past three, were ready to find an anchorage, and lo, there was Pulpit Harbor.  Quite a lot of boats there, some on moorings, some on the hook.  As we cruised through and were getting ready to drop the hook, somebody on one of the boats hailed "Charlie!"  It was Andy on Laughing Lady - we had met him at the Corinthian Yacht Club in Marblehead.  The club was here in Pulpit on their annual cruise, and Andy and Annie invited us to join them at the dinghy raft-up floating cocktail party, starting in an hour - bring your own drinks and hors d'oeuvres to share - which we did.  Lots of fun, thanks for including us!

Tuesday morning we went for a walk on North Haven.  There is no town at Pulpit Harbor, although there is a dock for dinghies and lobster-men.  Some pretty roads, all very rural, and a smashing view of Lady at anchor.

After the walk, we decided to do more exploring by dinghy, and went under the bridge, up the river, past homes and farms.  It was very peaceful.

By this time, Charlie was wanting some laundry done, so we needed to find a town or marina that might have a washing machine.  Bucks Harbor was chosen as the destination.  On the way, we passed Great Spruce Head Island.  This is a private island, still owned by the same family that owned it in 1966 when Summer Island: Penobscot Country by Eliot Porter was published.

We picked up mooring 21 from Buck's Harbor Marine, and after a walk in to the village for a few provisions, I started the wash.  There was but a single machine, so it took most of the afternoon to get it done.  I made a new friend, who invited us for drinks aboard Wind Power. Herb and Ruth Weiss have a Hallberg-Rassy yacht that they purchased in Sweden some time ago.  Ruth admitted that they were not wanting to cruise quite as much as the used to, so after 26 years of cruising, included a trans-Atlantic crossing, they now own a condominium in Boca Raton, Florida. Ruth talks to her 107 year-old mother almost every day! Herb told us about the bakery navigation system they developed when they cruised the Mediterranean.  In the 1980's they didn't have all the charts they needed, so when they dropped anchor and got ashore, they would look for a bakery.  The bag that the bread came in typically had the name  of the town on it, so then they knew where they were!

We made some new friends at dinner that night ashore too!

Some of the names of places here are just yummy.  Wednesday July 30th we decided to sail down the  Eggemoggin Reach.  Supposedly it's that name because the wind blows across the body of water, and you can reach down, and reach back.  We didn't have a whole lot of wind, so we had to motor back down the Deer Island Thorofare, before navigating the tricky entrance and dropping our anchor in Seal Bay on Vinalhaven Island.

Thursday July 31st, we awoke to FOG.

It took a while to clear, but by 1030 we were able to get the anchor up and head out.

No sooner had we left Seal Bay, we were again in FOG.  No fun, so we headed back in to the entrance and explored fog-free Winter Harbor.

(I hope these pictures aren't all starting to look the same!)

Eventually we were able to get out on the bay, headed for Camden, as we needed more groceries than they had in the little store in Buck's Harbor.  On the way it started to RAIN.

Camden assigned us mooring 55, and we found the grocery store.  The town was humming.  Lots of tourists, traffic and we escaped back to the boat quite quickly.  The anchorage was rather rolly too.

Friday August 1st - the first appointment on our calendar for a long time.  Our destination was Gilkey Harbor, on Isleboro Island.  On our way up the harbor to the cove where we were to meet, we passed another gorgeous schooner - this is the Lewis R. French. 

When we were in Marathon, early last March, Richard and Kathy Degrasse (Endeavor)had invited us to join the Seven Seas Cruising Association's Gam to be held in Maine.  We joined SSCA in April, I think, and here were were about to meet some of the other members, although we had met a few along the way.  The Friday event was a floating cocktail party in dinghies! Yes, we knew how to do this now, thanks to the Corinthian Yacht Club.  About 65 or more boats and their dogs were there at the party, and the next day at the meeting.

The meeting had a speaker from the Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, where young people train for careers in the merchant marine, another speaker about yacht insurance, a couple who had just completed a ten-year circumnavigation - it took them that long because they stopped in New Zealand for six years and built a house in Te Anau - and a splendid lunch, each vessel contributing a dish.  Wonderful.

However, the anchorage was quite crowded with that many boats, and we were anchored in 25 feet of water, with a tide that rose and fell at least six feet, so after making new friends we decided to pick up the hook, and wander half a mile over to Warren Island State Park, where there were FREE moorings for park visitors. 

Ashore we circumnavigated the island, meeting a couple of bunnies, and didn't break our ankles on some of the rooty places on the path.

Lots of the campers on the island had arrived by kayak, but as well as the moorings, there was also a dock for small boats.

We met the friendly lady ranger, who had hung planters from all the out-houses on the island, put in her own flower garden, and decorated the walk to the dock with washed-up lobster buoys.

Monday August 3rd we headed for Castine, another mainland town. 

There were a couple of schooners tryng to sail in our direction, but there wasn't much wind, so we were under power.

As we rounded the top of Islaboro Island, rain started to fall.  The rain got heavier, and then thunder started.  At one point we only counted two between the lightning and the thunder.

Lady's wind-point instrument also was not working correctly.  Charlie was not happy.

We had to hang around quite a while waiting for things to clear up enough to get in to the town.  We notified Eaton Boat Yard that we had picked up their mooring number three, and had a good walk ashore. the next morning before leaving and heading back down Eggemoggin reach headed to Mount Desert Island and the Acadia National Park...but more on that in the next post.

Portland, Boothbay Harbor and beyond

Maine July 2008

We had a lovely few days enjoying Portland.  We stayed at Dimillo's Marina, and ate at some wonderful restaurants.  Lobster is always on the menu.

(Charlie writes...) I thought that I would add my few cents worth of comments to these pictures.

After searching throughout Maine, Jenny has finally found a lobster that’s too big to eat (I hope).

I always suspected that my friend Dewey Bartlett couldn’t support his lifestyle in the oil business, and now I have proof. Probably selling that beer to kids too!

(Jenny...) In other cities, we've enjoyed a trolley tour.  Portland was no exception.  Our driver was a retired Coca Cola manager, who knew lots of interesting tid-bits about the city, the way the old homes were constructed, lobster-fishing business, and local celebrities.

The watch-tower is an eight-sided building with twenty-two windows and was used to inform the downtown ship investors when their vessels were coming in so that they could line up the people needed to unload.

The tour took us out to Cape Elizabeth and the Portland Head Lighthouse, one of the most photographed lighthouses ever, according to our driver.

We passed the same lighthouse by sea as we left Portland on a much grayer day.

(Charlie...) It’s rained a lot since we’ve been in Maine. We took a mooring for 3 days in Boothbay Harbor (most towns have so many mooring set that there is no place left to anchor). This is a picture of a beautiful J46 moored next to me owned by Jim and Nancy Thomson of Portland, Maine. Jim is a CPA. (Dave Sewell, I strongly suspect that Jim overcharges).

When it’s not raining, it’s foggy. Here is a beautiful 1971 Morgan 42 moored next to me in the fog.

We had to pass right by Negotiator on our way to the dingy dock. I caught the captain on deck and found it was owned by Chuck Voss. He said that Chuck has a house nearby. I’m very glad to see that Chuck has recovered from the trauma of having the First National Bank of Oklahoma City fail out from under him in the 80’s.

The tidal range is about 9 feet (or more) in Maine. To my surprise, the current is not as strong as you would suspect with that tidal range. However, you want to make sure that you don’t anchor in 9 feet of water at high tide. Here’s a picture we took from a foot bridge at low tide.

We left Boothbay the morning of the 26th. It was a beautiful clear day in the harbor. As we left the harbor, the fog rolled in and visibility was a little as 100 feet for the next 25 miles. I navigated with radar and the chart plotter while Jenny steered and dodged lobster traps. We’d like to show you a picture, but it would just be white.

(Jenny...) It was spooky motoring in the fog - there was no wind; it wasn't cold - we could see sun above us, just fog all around.  We tagged up with some other boats that were going our way, so that made it easier when we could communicate with people by radio that seemed to be a little more familiar with the area.  We entered Penobscot Bay, said farewell the the little fleet, and found Long Cove,, just off Tenants Harbor.

(Charlie...) After anchoring in Long Cove, we took a dingy ride.  We came upon a ship that we had read about in the guide book. Here are pictures of Dyon, a 52 foot gaff-rigged sloop designed and built by Luders in 1924 for Phillip L. Smith of New York and Tenants Harbor. The lady on board is his granddaughter. We had a nice talk with her and found out that their family has been Dyon’s only owner.  Up here in the north country, a yacht is stored in a boathouse or yard all winter and may only be in the water 2 months a year. And, while stored, it’s given a bottom job and varnish. Still, pretty amazing to have one yacht in the family for over 80 years. 

(Jenny...) There are so many lobster traps in Long Cove.  Charlie thinks that they look like a field of Easter Eggs.  I think he's right!