Ready, Set, Gone

We had a whirl wind of a month in Salem seeing friends, taking care of medical issues, looking at condos and doing lots and lots of boat tasks and errands of all sorts. When we dock for a extended time, we almost always have a rental car, and because we're on familiar turf, our stay in Salem is a great time to get things done. Not exactly a relaxing stay this time, but we did accomplish a lot, and managed to get to the end of the A list of to-do's by the end of our dock reservation last Saturday morning.

The Fishing Fleet

October is prime tourist season in Salem, which turns its heritage of witch trials into a halloween fright celebration starting in late September and slowly cranking up to October 31. By last weekend, the Columbus day holiday weekend, with the streets crowded with busloads of tourists and the pedestrian mall filled with sausage and fried dough vendors, we were ready to get out of Dodge. So here we are on an anchor in Long Island Sound, on our way South.

Five weeks ago, we couldn't help but notice hundreds of schools of tiny fish just below the surface throughout our marina. When big boats with underwater lights docked near us, we watched the little fish attract large stripers up to 18 inches long. As the weeks went on, the little fish were obviously growing much bigger and we saw them schooling less frequently. Then early one morning last week, we got another lesson in the food chain. We saw more cormorants than we've ever seen at once, having a fine breakfast of little fish.

Got Netflix?

Our last days in Salem were busy preparing to travel for a couple of months. We loaded dock carts full of grocery bags onto the boat and I rearranged the panty until everything fit. I stowed a couple of cases of wine, each bottle swathed in bubble wrap, under Paul's berth. It's cool and dark under there-- our boat version of a wine cellar. There was one last trip to Trader Joe's for Pound Plus Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds, a must have for the Captain.

I made my last DVD run to to the Salem post office, with the three amazingly efficient and friendly female employees that could make anyone mourn the end of the US Postal Service. It's more amazing that general delivery not only still works, but dependably so, at least in Salem.

Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

Then there was the last trip to A & J King, a world
class bakery only a few blocks away from our dock.
We discovered them several years ago when they first appeared at the Marblehead Farmers Market with their artisan breads. Their product line has expanded to include beautiful pastries and scones I could cry over, but the one thing we never leave without is a freezer stock of toasted walnut sourdough bread.

One of my last errands was to pick up our repaired pump. Paul had told me that the shop was something out of another century, so I was happy to make the pickup, camera in hand. The shop owner, repair person (and perhaps the decorator?) was very happy to hold the pump for me for a photo. My only regret was that he was so efficient in checking me out that I really didn't have enough time to inspect the rest of the shop and its contents. That probably would not have been polite anyway!

The Pump Man

During all the getting ready, I found myself looking forward to spending some quiet time sitting in the pilot house, with only the job of getting the boat from point A to point B safely and as efficiently as possible. We spent Saturday night at the east end of the Cape Cod Canal and Sunday morning rode the current through the seven mile cut. Somehow the canal seems like a divider between Massachusetts "home" and our winter sojourns southward. It was a beautiful day, another in a string of beautiful days, calm seas and winds-- the perfect start for our journey.

Long Way Home

Gathering Storm

The more time that passes between posts, the harder it gets to sit down and write — why don’t I learn and take the easier way? Write it before our experiences begin to fade against the backdrop of a familiar dock, friends, our “home” port? I could blame this particular procrastination on exhaustion, and that wouldn’t be just an excuse. But we’re all rested now, I need to cross this off my list (not at all the way I usually feel about blogging) and then move on to fresher territory blog and time wise.

So, time travel back — Our best passage making friends arrived in Halifax as scheduled on the 26th of August, and after a pleasant Friday evening in downtown Halifax and a trip to the amazing Saturday morning Farmers Market on the waterfront, we got underway for Chester, where we visited before with our previous guest. The trip west and south down the coast took us past a spectacular landscape that we’ve seen a few times, but I haven’t really talked about it, as there has been so much else to convey — another problem with infrequent posts. 

Peggy's Cove

The rocky shoreline changes to a grassy slope strewn with boulders of all sizes, many of which are huge and perched improbably along the ridge line or at odd angles along the shore. The boulders are remnants of a receding glacier and make me wish I knew more about the geology which causes such spectacular and unusual results. In the same area, along the coast not far from Halifax, is Peggy’s Cove, where SwissAir 111 crashed  September 2, 1998. We were driven to the memorials and the picturesque village three years ago by Canadian friends, but this trip we were only able to capture the Atlantic side memorial through binoculars and the village in the photo here.

If you looked at my last blog, you know that we were well prepared to weather Irene and sit out a couple of days or longer to wait for the wind and seas to calm down. We were able to begin moving down the coast again quite quickly and by Tuesday were at Carter’s Beach again. Another day and another hop and we were back in Shelburne, our jumping off spot for Rockland, Maine. We had a nice dinner out, did some last minute, passage making provisioning (think roast chicken,pasta entrees to microwave underway, saltines and Ginger Ale). The weather forecast was fine, the crew was well rested, and we set out mid-day for the 30 hour trip.

Ancient Rocks

As we powered out of Shelburne Harbour, listening to VHF conversations between other boaters, we found we would be traveling in company with a large sailboat heading for Camden. We agreed to stay in radio contact overnight and our VHFs during the night were a pleasant diversion during our four hour watches. It was a beautiful night with a first-quarter moon that set early, leaving a black, but starry night with very calm seas. We made good time, although our 54 foot friend passed us under sail early in the evening. We made Rockland by mid-afternoon, in 28 hours, and all agreed it was the easiest ever overnight passage.

Fellow Traveler at Sunset

By noon the next day we left the dock in Rockland for the last leg home to Salem, another overnight of 20 hours. As we headed offshore, the waves began to build enough that we dropped the “fish” to stabilize the rolling component of the mostly head seas. We were all comfortable enough, although moving around the boat required at least one hand, and all was fine until about 3:15 am, near the end of Paul’s and my watch. The port engine shut down, and as Paul headed down into the engine room, the starboard engine also shut down. An expletive followed as the captain realized his failure to switch fuel tanks-- we have four-- and although we had plenty of fuel on board, we had basically run out. Call it a senile moment. Attempts to bleed and reprime the engines were unsuccessful and rather than break the injectors, which were extremely hot and are always fragile, we called the Coast Guard from 19 miles northeast of Thatcher’s Island, near Gloucester, MA, who called TowBoatUS for us.

About five hours later, our tow arrived, and after 8 hours under tow, we threaded our way through Salem harbor. On Sunday afternoon of Labor Day weekend, we finally docked around 5 pm, a tow on our bow and another smaller tow on our hip, providing entertainment to a full dock of holiday partiers. I am reassured to know that the Coast Guard was so responsive to our situation and very thankful that none of the many, many photos that were taken of us that afternoon ended up in the Salem Evening News!

Hurricanes, Halifax and More Blue Bags

All is well here in Mahone Bay, on a beautiful sunny Monday, but very windy day, post Irene. We holed up last night in a well protected anchorage, and thankfully, for this part of Canada the hurricane was a non- event-- very reminiscent of our experience a year ago with hurricane Earl. The following post was actually ready to go last Thursday, but for many reasons, technical (no internet!) and otherwise (just busy!) it was delayed. So here it is.

Rainbow over Chester

It would be so much easier if I blogged more often. Now I have too many photos to share, too many places to describe and without my calendar/ log, I wouldn’t even be able to tell you where we’ve been. Once past Lunenburg, distances between destinations are short and we’ve come and gone from some favorite spots several times. 

We’re in Halifax now, which we’ve rediscovered after our visit here three years ago and find we’re really enjoying the town, the vibrant waterfront and just being here. The difference in our attitudes is certainly in large part due to being in the center of things; this year Carry On is docked in a new, attractive area of the waterfront rather than sitting in the northwest arm of Halifax Harbour at the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Club.The yacht club is two connecting buses away from the city, or a rental car is essential --and the slip prices are unreasonably high. The wake from passing ships, tugs, pilot boats and pleasure boats can be a little rough here, the dock power is less than what we require, but we’re making do and as they say, location is everything.

We’re relaxing between guests and happy that Hurricane Irene has not prevented our friends from coming this afternoon as planned. We’ve done some revision of our original plan, as we’ll need to hole up for a couple days and likely will do the trip back to Salem in two hops rather than one long 40 hour trip. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

At my last post we were in the Gold River on a Saturday night, a pretty spot for an evening, but without internet or a place to go ashore, we were underway early Sunday for Chester. We had a lovely day walking around this pretty small community, a summer place for generations of Americans, many from Connecticut and Philadelphia. Alas by sunset, the internet was iffy and the sky was clouding up. We woke to a gray morning and Paul had coffee while I walked. We looked for a solution to our internet problems and were directed to the Lido Pool, where the wifi service for the harbor is housed. After much discussion of potential problems, but no with solution, we dinghied back to the boat as the rain began to fall in earnest. Finally, late in the day the sun came out and we were treated to a spectacular rainbow.

Main Street, Mahone Bay

Trio of Church Spires, Mahone Bay

Waking up to what looked like more rain (no internet, therefore no weather forecast!) we decided to head back to Mahone Bay where our wifi reception was at least passable. What we thought might be one night there turned into three, as the wind howled and waves rolled up the harbor while thunder boomed and lightning crackled. We consoled ourselves with  pasta and chocolate over what seems to be the prevalent weather pattern this summer. It can make a person begin to feel crazy.

En route to Hubbards Cove we passed a long, low ledge sitting just barely out of the water. I commented to Paul how easy it would be to miss it in fog before modern navigation aids and asked its name. Since its name is Seal Ledge and I needed something to amuse myself, I got out the binoculars to have a look. Sure enough, there were 50 or 60 seals sunning themselves on Seal Ledge-- very aptly named!  Too far away for a photo, sadly.

We had long planned to visit the Hubbards Cove Farmers Market on Saturday morning and had made plans with Canadian friends from three years ago to meet for Friday night dinner there. We were slightly disappointed in the market, although we’re not quite sure why. We remembered two wonderful blue grass bands at our last visit and this Saturday featured a lone singer with a wimpy mandolin. And where was the young woman who sold the organic catnip toys that Bubba loved so much?

Rogue's Roost

We were anxious to get to Halifax on Sunday to be ready for our guest from Tokyo, so we left Hubbards Saturday morning after the market and splitting the trip in half, visited another new anchorage. We’d heard about Rogue’s Roost before and been warned not to go there on weekends to avoid the boom box crowd. We decided to go for it anyway, despite it being Saturday night. I have to say that Rogue’s Roost is one of the most spectacular anchorages we’ve ever seen. The rock formations all around us were magnificent and the terrain up the grass covered slopes was strewn with huge boulders, remnants of the glaciers that receded thousands of years ago. It was a beautiful evening with an almost full orange moon, a starry sky unmasked by city lights, and as we left early the next morning, the sunrise was reflected in the perfectly still water. 

Tucked In, Rogue's Roost

Our jet lagged guest arrived on schedule in Halifax Tuesday and promptly went to sleep after lunch. We had a full day Wednesday and visited the Citadel, had lunch and sampled the wares at a pub known for its Nova Scotian beers. Amazingly we were still alert enough to visit one of the more incredible used book stores we’ve ever seen.

Paul and I’d been to the Citadel three years ago, but somehow this year we accidentally arrived for the firing of guns and the noon bagpipe ceremony, the largest displays of the day. I was captivated by the hat of the guard in the entryway and asked him about his very tall and showy hat. I wasn’t sure whether it was fur or feathers, but he explained that the lower black part was ostrich feathers and the upper white part was feathers from an African Vulture. I’d hate to think he was fooling with me, so I took that at face value. It was a hot day and he assured me the hat was actually quite cool, only a little itchy sometimes. I can only imagine.

Fine Feathered Hat

We wanted to show our guest the anchorage at Rogue’s Roost, so we stopped there Thursday night and Friday made the trip back to Lunenburg, so he could experience this United Nations World Heritage Site and its unique waterfront. On Sunday we were back in Chester, this time to much nicer weather. We took a very long walk, spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out, reading the Times online and had dinner at a lovely inn in town.

As we still had things we wanted to see and do in Halifax, we left Chester early Monday morning, but the pitching and rolling, even with our stabilizers deployed, was severe. After four hours, we had all had ENOUGH and ducked back into Rogue’s Roost for shelter from the waves, wind and rain. Luckily the next morning was much calmer-- we left early and had an uneventful journey back to Halifax. Our voyages have often been interesting and beautiful at times, but sometimes uneventful is just the right note!

Just a few footnotes on the “blue bags”-- I got enough free samples at a Halifax waterfront event to carry me and my garbage all the way back to Massachusetts and more importantly, learned that their real benefit is that they are clear. I have been adhering to my own policy of recycle in one bag and combining the garbage and compost in another. As we were stuffing our garbage/ compost blue bag into a receptacle along the way, our guest, who is from the Netherlands, blithely informed me that if you mix the wrong things in Holland, your garbage is searched for your name and address and the offending items are mailed back to you along with a fine. Yikes. I will be dreading the next forwarded mail from Green Cove Springs!

Trawler Trash Trauma

Brooklyn Fishing Fleet

We had a lovely evening on anchor at Carter’s Beach, but woke up to a windy and rainy Saturday morning, exactly as forecast. With more dire weather warnings as the day developed, the Navigator strongly suggested that we seek shelter for the rest of the day and night in Brooklyn, a very small town near the small town of Liverpool, with its very own paper mill and tiny yacht club/ hot dog stand. The trip was not too rough, and just a bit wet hauling anchor and getting underway. 


We radioed ahead on VHF to see if there were moorings or dockage available for a boat our size and got not the expected answer back on VHF, but did see two men standing on the slightly rickety looking dock waving us in. What the heck, we thought and rigged the dock lines and started in as the rain began falling harder. The dock volunteers caught our lines and were exceedingly accommodating-- they directed us in to the little clubhouse, gave us maps of the area and instructions on how to sort our garbage. 

Blogger at Work

Seriously, Nova Scotia takes garbage seriously-- or I should say, recycling, which seems to be a two part thing, composting and garbage (the leftovers of the previous two (or three) things. It’s defined down to potato chip bags (garbage) fish bones, meat skin and fat and fruit peelings, etc (compostable) and milk containers, glass and plastic bottles (recyclables-- there is something called “blue bag” which I can’t seem to figure out). Those of you who know me well know that I’m very committed to recycling. My husband calls me the Recycling Queen-- but I am intimidated. I have always managed a separate bag for the wine bottles, empty cans and plastics under my sink in addition to the big normal garbage bin, but compost too? I can’t disagree with the wisdom of the plan, but complying on a boat, even a 56 ft trawler, feels a bit more than I can manage. And now I’m nervous every time I need to dispose of trash-- what if they catch me putting compost in the garbage?

Lunenburg Approach

We had a nice rainy day on board in Brooklyn with eggs, sausages and toast for lunch and about 4 pm the sun came out, just enough time before showers and dinner for a nice long walk. On to Lunenburg the next morning in dazzling sunshine and fairly comfortable seas. We’ve been to Lunenburg before, but had a good time rediscovering old things with our guests and finding a few interesting changes on the waterfront. Lunenburg’s town center runs along the shore and up a steep hill, with buildings neatly painted in dark reds, shades of blue, a few grays and an occasional green or yellow-- it’s quite a sight coming in from the water. I perched on the deck and took about a dozen pictures, but I really don’t think I captured the affect.

Dory Shop, Lunenburg

Our guests left mid week on a very rainy morning, baggage neatly wrapped in garbage bags of different sizes and hues; all of us in foul weather gear survived the wet trip in the dinghy, actually two trips for the guys and the luggage. Breakfast out, reward for enduring.

The weather really didn’t want to clear up, despite a ray of sunshine here or there. The wet drizzle, grayness and fog persisted until on Friday we decided we needed a change of scene badly. The short trip up to Mahone Bay was easy, we anchored and went exploring. Mahone Bay has a certain tourist charm, but little seemed changed since our last visit except, happily, the major upgrade of the local grocery store. I had looked forward to revisiting this port and couldn’t quite figure out why I felt a little funky that night. I mentioned it at dinner and Paul concurred, suggesting that maybe we needed new horizons. 

At Anchor, Lunenburg Harbour

That sounded good to me, so after a few errands in the morning, we took Carry On exploring. We poked around Oak Island, Indian Point, many other islands and coves and anchored near the mouth of Gold River. The change of scene felt good, along with the first really sunny day we’d had in about a week. Today we headed to Chester, a half hour run, we will take care of some business there tomorrow morning, then take the ferry over to Tancook Island just for fun.

Using the “SPOT” isn’t rocket science, but if any of you noticed, our large blob of an arrival at Lunenburg seemed to have been by air. In our excitement at reaching Lunenburg and sunshine, we forgot to turn it off. And as we discovered on the trip over the Gulf of Maine, there is a finite number of tracking points. Maybe we need to buy stock in a lithium battery company!

Plan B

There were a few of you observant friends who noticed that the “SPOT” didn’t turn up in exactly the location advertised in my last post. Indeed, I published the last blog I had written, knowing that our departure was not going to occur as planned and that we had big problems to deal with before leaving. Somehow I just couldn’t bring myself to throw away, or even alter, the feelings of well-being and happiness that I felt I’d captured-- so I decided just to post anyway.

We had noticed a week earlier that we were having troubles keeping our battery banks charged up to snuff, despite running generators considerably longer than usual. The situation deteriorated further a week ago Friday until it became clear that we needed to plug in to shore power, to preserve what battery life was left and also to perform a procedure suggested by the battery company tech to see if we could rehab our batteries to a workable level. We made way to Northeast Harbor in the heat of late afernoon on Friday, the hottest day we’ve had all summer. Despite Paul’s attention to battery temps every hour well into the night, there seemed to be little change in charge levels. On to Plan B.

Scene in Passing to the Gulf of Maine

Early Saturday morning, we moved down to Belfast, where Paul had already talked with the boat yard about ordering new batteries if necessary and having them installed. We got in late Saturday afternoon, feeling pretty stressed out and fairly discouraged about once again delaying our carefully planned trip across the Gulf of Maine to Shelburne.

The one bright spot was meeting our new friends once again for another wonderful Sunday morning breakfast at Chase Daily in downtown Belfast -- great food and great talk.

The boat yard mechanic visited Carry On early Monday morning and did not have a definitive diagnosis, only that replacing batteries would be in our future-- exactly when was an open question. We could continue our travels, carefully watching our power usage, finding docks to plug in more frequently and using generators as necessary to keep our battery levels from sinking-- or we could stay in Belfast for the week, then wait for another weather window which looked at the earliest to be August 1. We decided to opt for the first and deal with the battery issue when back in Salem after Labor Day.

Light at Port Mouton Head

We left Belfast Tuesday morning at 10:30 and arrived in Shelburne, NS around 6 pm local time (5 pm Eastern Daylight Savings). It was a long trip and exhausting. We were fighting ocean swells the entire way and traveling in fog much of the time. I didn’t feel well and couldn’t really stand my share of watch, so Paul had to take up the slack. Late in the afternoon the fog cleared and we saw whales blowing and diving all around us in the distance-- quite a majestic sight. We made it safely into Shelburne Harbour, tied up to the dock and had a quick dinner while waiting for customs officials to come aboard to clear us. Their visit went fairly smoothly and quickly; we had a dish of ice cream to celebrate our arrival and fell into bed.

We did a quick regrouping the next day, cleaned up the boat and ourselves and our Phippsburg friends joined us late in the afternoon. We had expected to meet them a week earlier, but luckily for us they were driving and sightseeing, and they and their schedule were flexible. I had been so afraid we would be so delayed we would miss them entirely. We had a lovely dinner out that night, another good night sleep and we were well on our way back to almost normal.

Rocks off Carter's Beach

The weather today is rainy and windy and we seem to be in a spell of foggy days. We ran yesterday in fog again until late afternoon when we rounded Port Mouton Head to anchor off Carter’s Beach. Carter’s is one of our very favorite anchorages, a beautiful white sandy beach with rocks around the shore and salt marshes that fill and clear with the tides. We picked up sand dollars, explored the small life in the standing water and had a long walk on the fine, warm sand.

The weather today is rainy and windy and we seem to be in a spell of foggy days. We ran yesterday in fog again until late afternoon when we rounded Port Mouton Head to anchor off Carter’s Beach. Carter’s is one of our very favorite anchorages, a beautiful white sandy beach with rocks around the shore and salt marshes that fill and clear with the tides. We picked up sand dollars, explored the small life in the standing water and had a long walk on the fine, warm sand.

Fog Creeping In

It’s hours later now, almost bedtime, the weather is greatly improved and we’ve had another lovely meal on board after a long walk around town. Plan B seems to be workly out nicely.

Oh, almost forgot. Again, for you SPOT watchers-- the SPOT seemed to drop the entire first half of our trip out of Belfast  to Shelburne. The track appears to start in the middle of the Gulf of Maine. We think we exceeded the number of available track points after the first 18 hours of our trip and the software deleted all the previous points. We haven't quite figured out a way around that other than turning the SPOT on and off periodically. Maybe we'll try that next time-- but then, maybe not.

Downeast

We’ve been hanging out Downeast style on a town mooring in Southwest Harbor for a little over two weeks now -- and will be hanging out here a few more days waiting for a slot in the marine forecast that will allow us to make a safe and comfortable passage up to Shelburne, Nova Scotia. It’s about a 28 hour trip and the current (pun intended) plan is to leave about 1 pm Sunday. We should have reasonable seas then in the Gulf of Maine, through Lurcher Ledge off NS and be in position to take advantage of the strong currents around Cape Sable, or at least not to be hit too hard by adverse currents.

Sunny Morning, Mount Desert

We’ve finally had time to catch up on our lists-- somehow we had planned to do so many things during our month in Salem, but were waylaid by two weeks of rain followed by bad colds. In fact, cleaning the flybridge cushions, covers and then waterproofing them has been on my list since we were in Florida and I’m delighted to say that everything is shipshape above. It seemed only fitting to tackle the table next and scrub and scrub and scrub to remove the dirt accumulated over the last three years. Then a couple of coats of teak oil, more rubbing and voila-- beautiful like new table! I can hardly stop admiring it-- and the muscles in my right arm which seem to have grown.

The 12 KW generator is running like a top and Paul’s rewiring job seems to be robust. The oil has been changed on both generators and cleaning the air filters is on my list for tomorrow. Lots of other scrubby projects complete on my part and lots of other below the decks projects completed by the skipper. I’m looking forward to a little vacation time in Canada with guests and to having fingernails again.

Rocky Shore, Acadia National Park

We’ve also had a good time. We’ve had a string of lovely days, warm but no where near the heat the rest of the country is experiencing. Most mornings we look at each other and say ”Just another beautiful day in Maine”,  a phrase coined by a friend from our sailboat days-- as if that explains it all. 


My usual morning walks take me past spectacular perennial gardens in town, shopping or post office errands if required or rocky shored beaches if I head away from town. Last week I took an easy hike with old friends to the Jordan Pond House for lunch, where Paul met us in their car. Jordan Pond is famous for its popovers and is a must for any visitor to Acadia National Park. We’ve had dinners out, done some entertaining, been entertained and enjoyed being here for Flamingo Days last weekend. 

Popovers Ahead

Bright pink plastic birds popped up all over town with many activities scheduled, all to benefit the community house and children’s center here. We arrived early at the library sponsored paperback book sale (we bought 7 books for $7) last Saturday morning and in the afternoon went to the Coast Guard Open House. We toured all the boats, including one brought in for the day from Portland, from nav (navigation) stations to engine rooms, Paul’s favorite. 

But the highlight was the steel band concert Monday night. We’ve long been fans of the Flash in the Pans Steel Band, a community band based out of Blue Hill and we were delighted to see them again. 

The 30 or so musicians are all amateurs (one told me they all learned to play in Adult Ed) but are pretty amazingly musical and extremely high energy. Before too long, the young people were up and dancing, next the toddlers with mom or dad and by intermission, even the old people were out. Lots of fun!

Showing off my Table

I promised a shorter post this time, but just a little aside on boat names. If we were in South Florida, this could easily become a rant. I am so incredulous that people would name a boat Wet Dreams, Pole Dancer, Liquid Assets, Capital Gains, etc, etc. Not to mention Momma’s Mink or another name I can’t bring myself to write here. I actually think this one is a great name-- or at least I smile every time we go by this handsome lobster boat. Its name-- use your best Maine accent here-- is “Flo-Rida”. Cute, huh.

Well, enough for now. The latest marine forecast is looking good and looks like Sunday will be a good day. You can watch our progress from Southwest Harbor to Shelburne, NS on the “SPOT” link (upper right hand side of every post) hopefully starting early afternoon this Sunday. Next post from Canada!

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.