Fish Tales and Schooners

Our day back to Rockland stretched comfortably into a week. The repaired part was reinstalled in the 12KW generator, but as these things go, or at least this generator goes, another part was required-- and finally reinstalled on Friday. As far as I’m concerned, there’s never a problem staying amused in Rockland-- there are good places for long walks, interesting shops and a couple of bookstores to browse in, good restaurants, not to mention the Farnsworth Museum and its huge collection of Wyeths.

Rockland Breakwater Light

In describing Rockland to one of our guests the week before, I had used the word “gritty” and began rethinking my comment. Rockland is thriving-- a couple of restaurants have turned over, but Main Street has new galleries and jewelry stores since we were there last year. There are lots of tourists, from the coastal cruise ships that dock there twice a week this time of year, ferry passengers and visitors from the smaller towns farther down Rt 1. There is still a working waterfront, with a deep sea fishing fleet, several boatyards and a smelly plant producing carrageenen, a seaweed extract used as a gelling agent in food. Downwind of the plant on a warm or humid day is not a good place to be. I know-- we had a mooring there for a season some years ago.

4th of July in Castine

At the end of our week in Rockland, in preparation for our trip to Nova Scotia, we took on over 1000 gallons of fuel. Needless to say, Paul shopped for the best price, which was lower if we went to the dock to be fueled by truck, rather than serviced by the company’s boat. Approaching the far side of the harbor where the dock was located, we were happy to have GPS data on its location, as it was a 45 ft rickety dock with no one in sight other than a bare-chested young man with multiple tattoos and body piercings with a fishing pole and bucket and a crying toddler running around behind him. 

I asked if he could move his energy drink which was sitting on a strategic cleat and unwittingly started a flow of conversation. Docking requires our full attention, particularly when it’s just the two of us, but the one-sided nature of the conversation didn’t seem to hinder him. When we were safely docked, he offered us mackerel, which he declared he didn’t eat, but often gave to his friends, cleaned and gutted. We declined. 

Schooners' Morning

Speaking of fish, we had quite a surprise recently when Paul found an 8 inch fish, still alive and unscathed, in one of the strainers. (Strainers remove large particulate matter from the water taken in to cool generators, refrigeration, water maker, etc.) The strainer in question has often been clogged with handfuls of sea grass, also intact, and a small crab or two, but never anything so sizable as this fish.So yesterday Paul removed the strainer, packed it up and with the use of a friend’s car sent the it back to Maryland where it was rebuilt in October-- more on this fish tale later!

It’s raining here this morning in Southwest Harbor on Mt Desert, a beautiful spot even in the rain. I’m determined to finally finish this post which I started days ago.

We had such a good time in Belfast on our first visit this year that we decided to go back for a second overnight trip. Again we saw friends, had another breakfast at Chase, a wonderful vegetarian restaurant where you don’t even miss the bacon-- and thoroughly enjoyed the vibrant small town atmosphere with its proactive, environmentally friendly attitudes. We regret that this was our last visit to Belfast this year as we’ll be coming back down from Nova Scotia in one long haul straight to Salem. 

Perry Creek Boathouse

It seems that the last few weeks have involved a lot of backtracking, and indeed we decided to go back to Castine for the Fourth of July holiday. Castine, one of the oldest settlements in the country, is a lovely small town, with a long military history well back before the Revolutionary war. Despite the historical markers around town and a quick look at Wikipedia, I am at a loss to describe its complex history further! More relevant to us was the reputation for a wonderful small town celebration for the Fourth. We took the little boat in to town from the mooring loaned to us by friends, arriving just in time for the afternoon band concert. It was a wonderful scene with people of all ages spread out on the grass on the town common and a particularly funny and charming toddler who amused us all with her dancing and conducting. The band itself occasionally made us wince, but it’s hard to be too critical of an all volunteer band in a mostly summer community playing lively Sousa marches!

We opted out of staying in town for the fireworks display, as the sky was beginning to look threatening and also knowing that our mooring would make a fine vantage point. As we were approaching our mooring, we saw several schooners arriving in our cove to anchor for the night and we could begin to see the masts of many windjammers already at anchor. What a sight-- we counted 15 schooners-- something which we have never seen before in all our time in Maine! 

Schooners in a Row

As happens in Maine, a dense fog dropped down and within an hour visibility was reduced so much that we could see only our own lifelines. At the appointed time, we heard a few isolated pops of firecrackers, but saw nothing. Then silence-- and I’m sure the fireworks were rescheduled for another, clearer evening. We were very happy to be snug aboard Carry On and not facing a long trip back to our boat with no visibility.

Leaving the next morning, we took a photo op detour and I took many, many pictures in an attempt to capture the schooner scene. Without a wide angle, it was clear to me that I couldn’t really convey what my eyes could see, so I’ll ask you to use your imagination when looking at one mass of boats laying at all angles in the still morning air. Several were already beginning to haul their anchors and get underway, and we heard discussions on the radio of a race planned for later that morning.

Stonington Harbor

Our plan was to visit two of our favorite anchorages before heading to Southwest Harbor, with Perry Creek, just off the Fox Island Thoroughfare (the passage between the islands of Northaven and Vinalhaven), our first stopover. We arrived in just a couple of hours of leaving Castine, and amazingly, found room to anchor before any other boats arrived. We have always loved to take the dinghy in a high speed run across the thoroughfare to the small village of Northaven, which never seems to change much.

Next stopover was a group of rocky islands off the Stonington shore of Deer Isle, long a favorite of mine for the beautiful, smooth rocks sloping up to the pine trees which cover the interiors. Guess what we saw as we made our way past the harbor? Yes, the schooners en masse again, this time laying in a neat line. 

We had a mostly quiet afternoon and a lovely evening, once the lobstermen had buzzed by our anchorage and headed home, creating some ferocious wakes. Breakfast in the morning at a small cafe in Stonington, a long walk afterwards for me and then we hauled anchor for Southwest Harbor. 

The sun is shining here now-- it’s afternoon, and as much as I’d hoped to publish this post, now there’s marginal internet. Tomorrow then-- and a much less verbose post next time, I promise.