Month: August 2021

Our friend Meghan timed it perfectly for a long weekend, arriving just after Hurricane Fred (we managed to avoid the deluge of rain that pummeled Southern New England) and just before Tropical Storm Henri. We picked her up at the Lyman Morse dock in Camden and headed right back out of town to sail a bit. We had a good hour or two under Genoa before all the wind died, so we motored up to Warren Island. It was so hot and sticky we decided to wait until the next day to hike the island (big mistake as dense fog rolled in that morning and you could barely see the island). Instead we watched the bonfire ashore and listened to the drum circle going on for the guests of the schooner Mercantile who was anchored right behind us. Cocktails and pizza rounded out the evening in the cockpit.

Unfortunately the next morning we were socked in by fog, making a hike unlikely if you can’t see anything. The Schooner provided lots of entertainment though with a muscle-bound crew member I named Thor (looked like Chris Hemsworth from the movie) chopping wood (making human sacrifices?) on the forward deck. And then it was time to head back to Camden.

After showers ashore to clean off the bug spray and sun screen, we did some grocery shopping and had an excellent burger for a late lunch at the Waterfront. In the meantime we got invited aboard Plover for sundowners with other cruisers who were in town for the OCC Rally. It was a mish mash of people on the boat and on the inner float, but it all worked. We were so stuffed from our late lunch and these appetizers that by the time we got back to our boat it was Baileys-laced hot chocolate with Oreos and popcorn for dinner (who’s complaining?).

Meghan left the next morning, looking to dodge Henri as it moved up the coast from its landfall in Rhode Island. We weren’t in the best harbor to manage winds from the east and swell from the south, but the storm fizzled and we didn’t see much action. The rally, much smaller in numbers due to COVID restrictions was a fun meetup nonetheless.

Later that night it was a wet ride back to the Camden Yacht Club. We met Klaus and Katrin ashore where we peeled off all our foul weather gear (bib overalls and all) and tried to make ourselves presentable for a nice dinner to celebrate Klaus’ birthday. We had a late seating, which meant we watched the restaurant empty out from our table on the wrap around porch. The meal (a lobster tasting menu) sampled Maine’s finest bites, and we sat and laughed, and ate and drank. Icing on the cake was that the downpour that was Henri came while we were under cover and we went back to the boat blissfully dry. It was a very special night.

Pickering had been recommended to us in the event that we couldn’t get into the Barred Islands. It also looked like a generally good anchorage with protection from the south and west to manage some potential weather blowing through. Petronella came along and we had the anchorage to ourselves.

Helena was nursing a bum knee, but John was game for a hike ashore. It took us a while to find the unmarked trail, but it was worth it. Moss blanketed either side of a narrow path winding its way through the trees. Best of all, there were almost no mosquitoes. The huge chunks of granite that we climbed through were so fetching to behold.

We had cocktails (can’t call them sundowners when you can’t see the sun for all the fog) aboard Petronella, and then headed back for a quiet dinner on Kalyra.

Years ago I had been to the Wooden Boat School by land when I was building my kayak. This time we returned by boat. The Eggemogin Reach, which we used to joke looked like an explosion in a Skittles factory (so many lobster pots) was now remarkably clear as we made our way down to the anchorage and the school.

Petronella was on a guest mooring at the school, and we stopped to say hi to John and Helena as we had not seen them all season. Then it was on to the school. You can sign up for classes to make all sorts of small wooden kayaks, rowing skiffs and anything else you’d see paddled or rowed in Maine waters. Most people who come for classes camp onsite (there are not many (any?) hotels in the area and it’s a pretty intense week. We settled for stocking up on swag (they have a pretty famous logo) at the gift shop.

The next morning the Schooner Mary Day motored in (no wind to sail by) and dropped anchor next to us. It was amusing to listen to the captain explain to the guests why they ‘needed’ frightfully expensive hand tools and should purchase them at the school. I own many of those tools and they were well worth it when building my kayak, but I’m not sure how many day trippers might use the same things, except maybe as paperweights.

We were due for some bad weather, and of course we hit it on the way up to Castine. Trip called me up from down below and I could see the ominous skies as well as the lightning. We furled the jib and got two reefs in the main before it hit.

Our new radar is wonderful at helping us anticipate weather, particularly squalls headed our way. It was pretty obvious from the above picture that we were caught squarely in the middle of something.

Unfortunately what should have been a quick squall grew in size, as you can see from the next picture, but luckily it then also diminished in intensity. We never saw more than 25 knots of wind and it was just a lot of rain. And a great rainbow afterward.

We got into Smith Cove across from Castine to find only two other boats in the huge anchorage. Little did we know, one was Mary and Christian from s/v I Wanda. Trip has been talking regularly to Mary on the morning radio chat, but it was nice to finally catch up in person over coffee and cookies on their boat.

We had thought we had said farewell to Saphir the week before, as they were planning on heading to Canada. To our surprise they sailed into Smith Cove and invited us for Sunday dinner. It turns out Klaus was denied entry as he is German and the Canadians are only allowing US citizens right now. Canada’s loss was our gain!

We went ashore first to explore Castine. I still think Belfast is my favorite town in Maine, but Castine is a close second. You can walk the entire town in one day, enjoying one of the last remaining series of elm trees still alive in the US, the charming architecture, and the remnants of British and French control during the revolutionary war. We even found a market that has hydroponic greens growing right in the store!

Klaus and Katrin have a traditional sauerbraten and (homemade) spaetzle dinner every Sunday evening and we were the guests for this one. Two years ago they invited us along with Mads & Lotta of s/v Looma IV and it was so special to be back again.

We were hopeful that we would see old sailing friends this summer, but the past several days have been an absolute blitz of old friendships from the water.

After our stop at Warren Island, we headed to Rockland, knowing that friends Klaus and Katrin would be in soon on Saphir. To our surprise they were already at anchor when we came in and motored over with a bottle to celebrate. It had been two years since we had seen them and it felt so good to reminisce. The only ones missing were Mads & Lotta who had rounded out our group last time in Maine. The next day we had oysters and more champagne at Archers, and then we all returned to Kalyra for dinner and lots more catch-up conversation.

Yet more friends were on their way. We went ashore Sunday to see a local group of musicians that gather every weekend at the local Sail, Power & Steam Museum to play and sing anything from sea shanties to the blues to classic rock. We had to hustle back from that performance when we learned that s/v Tivoli was in town. We spent months sailing with Judy and Torben in the Caribbean 4 years ago and were thrilled that they were in Maine (and with their new puppy Scuppers!).

While we were catching up on Tivoli, John of s/v Clarity sailed in. John is a friend of Torben and Judy’s who we also met in the Caribbean, and he was with his new girlfriend Melanie and of course, Captain Jack (canine companion). We all went into town to Cafe Miranda, and though we were too late for the live music, we managed to score some really good wood oven pizza and seafood appetizers.

We learned that the next day John and Melanie were picking up friends Mark and Ann to sail for a week. Mark and Ann had been with John when we all connected in Dominica – what were the odds???? Judy and Torben hosted us all onboard Tivoli for an amazing dinner of barbecued shrimp and smoked Gouda grits that night. (I have hosted up to nine around our table down below, but it’s amazing how much easier it is to do it on a 50 footer!!!)

We followed Tivoli over to Pulpit Harbor and had a nice walk on North Haven to stretch our legs. Tivoli headed back to Rockland just as Clarity was coming in. John and Melanie invited us over for after dinner drinks and we had one final catch up with them and Mark & Ann before they started to move south and west.

Then it was back to Rockland for Trip to finally have a checkup on his swelling feet. He’s had this problem every summer, but Judy finally convinced him to have it looked at. Both the walk in clinic and and the hospital were incredibly professional and expedient at checking everything out and ruling out issues like blood clots that might be worriesome. He got the good/bad news that this was simply a case of getting older and nothing more.

Torben and Judy came over for a final round of drinks before we headed north and they started a weekend trip with friends and then went off to Mt Desert. I was sorely tempted to kidnap Scuppers, she is such a good boat dog…..

Without fail, ever time we visit Warren Island, it rains. In this case we decided to stop in Warren on our way from Belfast back to Rockland and it rained most of the way. The rain finally let up and we hung our gear out to dry, but opted to wait until the next morning to go ashore.

We have the boat cabin to duck into when the rain comes in earnest, but the summer campers on the island are never so lucky. As we walked the perimeter of the island we came across campsite after campsite full of wet gear hanging out to dry in the sun.

The other thing that never changes on Warren Island are the hordes of mosquitoes, so long shirts,long pants and bug repellent are a must. The center of the island is covered in wild raspberry bushes, and I’m convinced no one ever stops to pick them because the bugs are so bad.

We only had an afternoon the first time we visited Belfast and we knew that we would return one day. Friends Bill and Bunny on s/v Onset had texted that there would be a free outdoor concert there (free concerts every Tuesday) and we decided to join them. With winds from the south, we had a great leisurely ride up, joined at one point by s/v Dogstar coming out of Isleboro and also heading to Belfast.

The band was Tuba Skinny, a bunch of street musicians from New Orleans. The music was fabulous and people were up and dancing everywhere around us. Just to top things off, we had the most amazing sunset as well.

The next morning we went back ashore to wander. We made sure to stop at the little shop where a woman was selling fresh blueberry pies, and Trip indulged me in lobster Benedict at the local diner. After that it was a trip to the local co-op for all the local organic treats that Belfast has to offer. We finished with a stroll through Front Street Shipyard, home to some of the biggest boats I’ve ever seen. Commercial tugs, luxury motor yachts, small wooden sailboats, everything was there.

We wanted to be out of Seal Bay long before dead low tide, which gave us plenty of time to sail the next day. Low tide completely changes everything as the rock ledges come out, and parts of our dinghy trip the afternoon before become hiking trails.

We anticipated being hard on it, sailing close to the wind, heeled over, for the first part of the sail. Of course the wind shifted as we came around the north part of the island and we were still hard on it. And then the wind shifted yet again for our run south. Luckily the winds were moderate , so it made for a fun sail.

Pulpit Harbor is always fun to visit, especially with the promise of a good sunset. We had been loaned a mooring and invited ashore later that day for cocktails by Ernie & Ann – new friends from the OCC. We had lunch on the mooring and were entertained by the schooners coming in for the evening. We noted more than 20 people swimming, but decided the water was just too cold to be tempted.

Cocktail hour at Ann’s house allowed us to look down into the harbor at all the boats. We also met a fun new group of people including author Bob Rubadeau and his wife Mary from s/v Dog Star. Bob kindly gifted us a copy of his book ‘Bound for Roque Island’ which I’ve been devouring ever since.

We got into Rockland and did some laundry and grocery shopping. Natalie (Trip’s niece) arrived Thursday and the plan was to sail out next morning. We knew we were going to get some winds that night, but they were coming from the south or southwest and the anchorage is well protected. Unfortunately the gusts were up to 30 knots and the creak of of the bridle lines kept me awake for some time. Then around 3 am the winds unexpectedly shifted to the northeast. We were still riding fine, but some boats were rolling so hard they moved to the northern anchorage and one boat (identical to ours) dragged anchor and wound its way through the mooring field, luckily not doing much damage to itself or other boats.

Despite the forecast for favorable winds (didn’t happen), we motor sailed over to Seal Bay. Our first attempt at anchoring had us drifting a little too close for comfort to a motor boat (combination of wind and current moving boats differently), so we moved. We wound up anchoring waaaaaay down in the inner inner cove past all the other boats, just at the edge of the private moorings. We knew it would be about 8 feet at low tide (we draw 6 feet), but we should be fine.

We dropped the dinghy and decided to circumnavigate Penobscot Island. We came across several osprey fishing and a rock full of harp seals that didn’t quite know what to make of us.