Farther east and then heading back

Remember Jay's favorite photo of the fog rolling over the islands taken from our hike high on top of Cadillac Mountain a few days ago? Saturday we sailed out of Northeast Harbor around the south of Mount Dessert Island and up into Frenchman Bay past those same islands. Porcupine Island looks very different on a clear day with no fog.

We had a quiet night anchored in Flanders Bay.  Sunday we left anchor with clear skies but a few hours later as we motored back down Frenchman Bay we could see a wall of fog ahead of us.  The red-sailed schooner out of Bar Harbor was giving visitors a ride on the edge of the fog bank that was moving toward us.  Jay got to see the fog rolling over Porcupine Island for a second time.

Our confidence has grown reading the radar screen and using the chart plotter to help us navigate when the fog moves in.  That is a good thing since we have had lots of overcast damp days which seem to correlate with foggy weather.  Deciding to continue our visit in the Acadia National Park on the more remote Schnoodic Pensisula we motored to a mooring in Winter Harbor. (We already stayed in one Winter Harbor on Vinalhaven but this is another Winter Harbor farther north on Schnoodic Peninsula.) Maine granite is still very evident as this huge decorative cleat made of granite stands by the main harbor at low tide.  Our foul weather gear has been essential for rain protection as well as warmth.

We enjoyed a tour of the coastline as LL Bean also supports the Schnoodic Peninsula park area by providing a bus for visitors.  In fact, while Mt. Desert Island does close in winter, Schnoodic Peninsula remains open throughout the winter since the Park has its headquarters here.  The local residents are happy since they get their roads snow plowed and kept clear by the Park.

After much thought we decided not to travel farther east.  There are beautiful anchorages and places to visit.  However, with increasing fog and higher tide differences (more than the 10-14 feet difference we now experience), we left Winter Harbor in thick fog and light rain.  We traveled southwest to anchor in Buckle Harbor on Swans Island.

Dinghing ashore at low tide to explore Buckle Island, we found that we could walk all the way around the uninhabited island along the rocky shores and using trails through the pine trees on land.

We decided that since the water is pretty chilly for swimming, visitors must use their creativity and time on land since we found this "door" on the trail.  There once was a cabin on the island and the door must have been left behind so someone put it to work. We also found a village of three miniature houses made of bark, sticks and stones- very clever of previous visitors.

Today again started foggy and chilly as Capt. Jay dons his winter hat.  We passed under a bridge across Eggemoggin Reach connecting Little Deer Isle to the mainland on our way to visit Castine in the upper Penobscot Bay.

Capt. Jay is very pleased with how well our new autopilot is able to hold a course so that often we are on helm duty without touching the steering wheel.  However, here you can see that he still remembers how to steer as winds were gusty and fluky blowing around the many little islands of Eggemoggin Reach.  He is still smiling as he handles the helm, too.

Castine is a quiet, historical seaport town and home to the Maine Maritime Academy.  Its 500' training ship, the State of Maine, is docked and open for visitors.  We did this afternoon.

Michael is a freshman at the Academy and volunteers as a tour guide during the summer.  He took us up on the bridge where we could look out and see how small Priority looks far below on her mooring in the harbor. Michael just returned from a trip on the ship to Quebec.  Jay could ask lots of questions as we toured the engine rooms, (6 cylinder 8000hp diesel).

Visitng Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island

The rain stopped and Wednesday we dinghied ashore with our walking shoes on. About 7:45 AM we found a trail from Northeast Harbor where we are moored that eventually led us to the top of Cadillac Mountain at 1500' elevation, the Park's highest peak about 2:30 PM.

Instead of building the usual conical shaped cairn out of stacked egg shape stones to mark the preferred trail, the Park uses the Bates cairns which trail builder Waldron Bates used over 100 years ago to mark Acadia's trails.  A flat stone is laid on top of two base stones with one stone placed on top to mark the direction the trail should be traveled.  They say the Bates cairn is easier to build and maintain than traditional conical cairns.  Many were built along the trails we followed.

Acadia hiking trails are very natural using granite stones and fallen trees to create bridges where needed.

Jay looked lost among the moss in some parts of the trail where it grew abundantly.  All of the rain yesterday certainly helped things grow.

Arriving at Jordan Pond House, we met a family from Pennsylvania who snapped us with the two Bubble Rocks (small mountains) in the background.

Attempting to reach Cadillac Mountain's summit,  we kept climbing and finding another higher rock but we finally did reach the very top.  Lots of folks drive to the top and we all met up there.

We enjoyed views from the summit.  Jay was especially intrigued with fog swirling over the islands just east of Bar Harbor.  Norma was enjoying the wild blueberries growing along the trail.  We continued to hike down the north mountain face to Bar Harbor.  Dinner was delicious and well earned, we thought.

 

After dinner, we explored the Bar Harbor waterfront area.  Only two cruising sailboats were anchored in the harbor.  It appears most cruisers, like ourselves, were happy to be moored in Northeast Harbor on the other side of the Island.  Those dark clouds kept rolling in but moved on without getting us wet or stormy.

The town of Bar Harbor is connected to Little Bar Island at low tide by this sand bar.  People flock to walk the sandbar and get their feet wet.  Kayaks and canoes come out to play.  Local harbormaster says for four hours everyone may enjoy the bar and then prepare for high tide to quickly come in and cover it all.  

Over Jay's shoulder is Acadia's Sand Beach (meaning not covered with pebbles and rocks like most of the other Maine beaches).  Visitors were sunbathing and building sand castles.  However, the lifeguard on duty seemed to have it pretty easy since few people were in the 59 degree water.

 

This eastern shore of Mount Desert Island pretty much shows the beauty and characteristic rocky shoreline of Maine.   We've had a wonderful visit to Acadia National Park and Mount Desert Island.  No new map since we have not left our Northeast Harbor mooring since the map was last updated.

Enjoying the stops to Mount Desert Island, Maine

Leaving busy Camden Harbor we sailed east through the Fox Island Thorofare again.  However, this time we continued to travel all the way through to "one of the most rustic and unspoiled anchorages on Vinalhaven Island" according to our cruising guide.

We have to agree with them that Winter Harbor is a special place and especially protected as dark storm clouds passed close to our north.  This bright rainbow shown between passes of storms that went by.

Huge granite boulders and rocks were fun to climb and explore.  During the ten foot low tide folks came to collect mussels growing on the boulders.  At dusk we heard and could see through our binoculars four seals talking about which of them would remain on the rock as the tide rose.  It looked like a game they were playing to knock each other into the water until another seal bumped them off.

Some sheer rock walls on the banks were over 150 feet high.

We left Winter Harbor and sailed through Deer Isle Thorofare, another passage between the many islands.  Stonington, a town of houses built into the side of the hill sloping down to the water, is home to fishermen, lobster boats and granite quarry workers.

Passing through the town moorings we saw an interesting boat made of concrete and a tall ship called Victory Chimes.  There were many tents set up on the town shore for some celebration.  Perhaps we should have stopped but we sailed on.

After a quiet night anchored in Pickering Cove, we sailed on to Northeast Harbor on Mount Desert Island and picked up a mooring.  Mount Desert Island is home to many private residents and also to Acadia National Park.  We dinghied ashore to check in with the Harbormaster and found lots of company at the dinghy dock, over fifty dinghies tied up.  Always room for one more....

Cruisers we met back at Booth Bay Harbor shared that the best way for boaters to visit the Park was to avoid too busy Bar Harbor and moor at Northeast Harbor, so we did. When you pay for a mooring here, you gain access to the Yachtsman Center for showers, wi-fi connection, trash drop off, dinghy docking and a lounge area. L.L.Bean provides busses that follow routes all over the Park and Island with a stop here at Northeast.  It is a very convenient way to visit the Island.  We walked to explore the little town and found a lookout over the Harbor with Priority tethered to its mooring.You can see that picking up a mooring is the best way to go rather than to try and anchor in an area like this harbor.  The busy harbors tend to be crowded allowing no swing room for an anchored boat and the ten foot tides limit boats to fairly deep water. Priority is moored right in the middle of the photo.

Following a trail along the Asticou stream we found a bench and enjoyed the cool stream bank.

The trail led to beautiful Asticou Gardens and the Thuya Lodge & Gardens, similar to  mini-Longwood Gardens. Mount Desert Island was a summer place for many wealthy folks back in the early 1900's.  A 26-day-long fire destroyed many homes and land in 1947 .  When rebuilding began again, more affluent homes were built in the Northeast Harbor area when these Gardens were created for residents and their guests.  We certainly did enjoy them today.

We were glad we visited the Gardens on a sunny Monday because Tuesday has been rainy and foggy.  The bad weather day was  good to get laundry done downtown and to ride a few Park bus routes to explore the Island.  It helped us make plans for when the rain stops.

Into western Penobscot Bay, Maine

We took advantage of another good weather and wind day to sail up into Penobscot Bay, the largest of Maine's coastal indentations.  The Bay is 20 miles wide and almost 30 miles long made up of large and small islands. Entering the Fox Island Thorofare between North Haven and Vinalhaven took us by these imposing rocks marked with a U.S. flag blowing in 15 knot winds.

The Thorofare was busy with recreational boats like us, working lobster boats, ferries running from mainland ports, docks of waterfront homes along the way.  It was busy but we sailed through to Perry Cove.  We found it full of private moorings and a marked underground cable area so we moved on to anchor in Seal Cove.  The island of Vinalhaven is home to three large windmills that peacefully turned with the breezes that blew through the night.

The quaint inner harbor of Camden, Maine is at the foot of Mount Battie, one of the impressive shoreline hills on the west side of Penobscot Bay. 

The small inner harbor makes the best use of its water space by renting dockage at anchored wooden floats instead of the usual single mooring balls.  This allows two boats to tie up to a floating platform and be held in one position taking up much less water space than if the two boats were attached to single mooring balls. A shuttle boat launch would take us from our boat to shore as part of our float fee.

Camden keeps its small town feel since no large ferries or tour boats are in the harbor.

The public library sits on top of the hill at the head of the harbor with beautiful gardens and a large grassy amphitheater that many folks enjoy for picnics.

Our friends, Kathy and David from Nova Scotia, drove down to visit with us here in Camden on Friday.  We met them as they traveled on their sailboat on our Bahamas trip a few years ago.  A sail on Priority, exploring downtown Camden, swimming in the cool Maine water and dinner out kept us busy. 

Busy Harbors and Quiet Anchorages in Maine

Nighttime up on top of the Sequin Lighthouse was another first experience for us.  We took our bug repellant and flashlights and rowed ashore after dark to take advantage of the rare opportunity to climb the Sequin lighthouse at night and enjoy the views.

It was a clear cool night and we could see for miles.  Lights from Portland, 20 miles away, shown bright.  The first order Fresnel lens lit up the night near and far.  Mary, the summer keeper, said she had just washed the lens last week using the Coast Guard approved solution of vinegar, water and a bit of Woolite to avoid streaks and wore gloves, of course. We enjoyed our new adventure!

 

On we sailed to Boothbay Harbor which is a quiet fishing town of 5,000 people until summertime makes its population climb to 50,000. We picked up a town mooring and enjoyed the busy resort village for an afternoon.  Boothbay Harbor has a footbridge connecting the two sides of the deep harbor built a long time ago so townsfolk would not have to go all the way around the harbor edge.  The man who built the pedestrian bridge charged two cents per person to cross until he had recouped his building costs and then turned the bridge over to the town.  The wooden house in the middle of the bridge was the toll-house where fees were collected.  Now the little house has been renovated and is for sale for $750,000 complete with its own porch and dock.  Lots of people would pass by your front door daily.

 After all the excitement of a busy resort town we sailed away to the "for now" calm waters of Maine with colorful lobster pot floats all around. Priority is fortunate to have a hull shape where our keel and rudder are connected so the lobster pot lines slide across our hull rather than catch on our rudder or propeller.  

The lobster pots can be in water from 30-200 feet deep and lobsters seem to like the mouths of bays and rivers since that is where the floats are most plentiful. We sailed up St. George's River to anchor in Maple Juice Cove named because there are maple trees on some of its shores. We can see the Olson House high on a hill from our anchored boat.  You know the Olson house!  In Andrew Wyeth's painting, Christina's World, Christina Olsen is lying in the field looking up toward her house.

 

We dinghied ashore to learn more.  Although the original painting is in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the house has been maintained as a historic site.  Christina lived here near Andrew Wyeth's summer home in Cushing, Maine.

 Andrew Wyeth 's family became close family friends with the Olsens. More than 50 paintings were completed by Andrew Wyeth of Christina, her family and the house. Christina became ill at 3 years of age leaving her with debilitating paralysis that increased as she aged. In the painting Christina's World, she is dragging herself back up the hill to the house from visiting the cemetery where her parents are buried.  Paintings seem to come alive when you learn all the details and story behind them.

The house is a typical wood clapped New England house of  the 1940s.  On the back of the house we noted the wooden rain gutter troughs and even wooden rain spouts.  Wood was their plentiful building material. Being unable to move about easily, Christina spent much of her day sitting by a window to my left doing chores but able to watch neighbors traveling by.

Beautiful Maine Islands - Jewell, Snow and Sequin

Leaving Portland behind with fog finally disappearing we anchored in the cove by Jewell Island, a Maine state park busy on weekends but quiet for us on a Thursday.  We dinghied ashore to explore the island trails.

Jewell Island was a WWII base for spotting submarines and enemy ships approaching Portland shores. Many of the building foundations are still present along the trails.

We climbed up the taller observation tower and looked out the top to see the shorter tower in the distance above the treetops.  Soldiers would view a target from both towers and note its position in the water and then take bearings to figure its exact location to report to the artillery batteries on the island.

We did see several seals as we left Portland but they are too quick for us to catch with the camera.  As we walked along the beach on Jewell ISland, we came upon this seal.  We understand they are done raising their pups and begin to molt during the summer.  We were hoping that is why this seal was on the shore .  We gave him wide berth and left him in peace on the beach.

Jewell Island trails took us to coves and beaches all over the island.  One trail led to this pebbly cove.

Friday we sailed on to anchor by Snow Island on Quahog Bay.  The nine foot tide level change causes residents to be creative.  Their piers and ramps to get to their waterfront landings and boats can be lengthy but rise and drop with the tide as they land on a floating raft.  In the winter they can lift the long ramp up to keep it out of any freezing water - pretty functional pier!

Some waterfront owners just tie their boats to a floating raft anchored out in the water in front of their home and avoid the whole pier problem.  They use a small dinghy or kayak to get out to their boat.

Lobster boats are most common here.  This island work station for a lobster boat holds its floats, traps and barrels to put the lobsters in that they catch.

 

People living on Snow Island have a fun sense of humor as they built their own miniature Snow Island lighthouse with a mermaid on the rock point.

 

Taking advantage of a calm day and a good weather forecast on Saturday we picked up a mooring to visit Sequin Island off the mouth of the Kennebec River.  It is home to the second oldest lighthouse in the US  (Portland Head Lighthouse is the oldest). You can see where we took our dinghy ashore and landed by the Coast Guard boathouse where they used to pull their boat up the ramp into the boathouse.  You can also see the long railway where they load and pull up cargo and supplies to the lighthouse high up on top of the island.  They still use the rail today.

We climbed up the trail to meet the summer volunteer lighthouse keepers, Greg and Mary.  They applied several years ago and were selected to be the keepers for this summer season.  They live in the keeper's house and greet visitors, cut the grass and maintain trails on the islands.  Every Wed. they go back to the mainland to do their laundry, shopping, errands.  They maintain a blog of their daily activities at  www.sequinisland.org if you are interested.

We enjoyed walking trails to all points and beaches around Sequin Island.

From this cliff you can see Priority on a mooring in the protected cove from any east ocean winds and waves although it is calm today.  On a more blustery day we may not have had the chance to visit Sequin Island. Greg & Mary invited us to visit the lighthouse tonight (Sat) after dark since we plan to stay on the mooring overnight. That will be a treat since we usually fall asleep soon after dark! But we do wake up with the sun about 5:45AM also- we are on the sun's schedule.