Dreameagle made a Facebook post early in the cruise with the subject, “Too Beautiful for Words”. That about sums up this cruise. In terms of weather, luck, and everything just working out, this one has so far been one for the books. Some of you may remember a friend and reader warning me that I should be careful about using up all the “big words” because I might need them later. That about sums up the situation I’m in now. So, rather than throw a lot of all the tired old adjectives around the page, I’ll just tell you what we’ve done to date and, as they say, “Let you do the math.”
August 22
We departed Bailey Island at 1500 and, against my better judgment, ran around an up to Quahog Bay. I expected this, one of the most popular and beautiful cruising destinations in the area, to be filled with boats on a late August Friday but we enjoyed a beautiful sunset with just two other craft.
August 23
A beautiful day (you can just mentally insert that at the beginning of almost every entry here since we have had the longest spell of great weather I can remember) but little wind. We were planning a tour of Boothbay Harbor but a Coast Guard radio notice about the Small Reach Regatta reminded me that the event was still going on. So, we ran across the mouth of Boothbay, around Pamaquid Point and up to where we encountered the fleet off Round Pond. We passed my Yawldory for a quick exchange of greetings before continuing on to run through friendship and finally anchor in Maple Juice Cove with a view of the Olson House.
August 24
Another long day, mostly under power but with a short sail off Whitehead into the Muscle Ridge Channel, brought us to Rockland where we provisioned by cab, visited the Farnsworth Museum, met the owners of a schooner of my design for dinner, and spent a night on a town mooring.
August 25
Ran under power from Rockland to the eastern end of Fox Island Thoroughfare where we were met by a beautiful breeze coming out into East Penobscot Bay. Sailed up into Merchant’s Row for the first of several “as good as it gets” sailing legs on this cruise. The wind failed in among the islands so became a motorboat again. The breeze returned in time to sail into Mackerel Cove where we anchored under sail.
August 26
This began as another powerboat day. We ran across the Bass Harbor Bar and up to Western Way and Somes Sound to see Valley Cove and then returned to pick up a mooring for lunch and a slightly overdue oil change so I could leave the old oil off at Hinckley’s where we planned to pick up ice and fuel.
After changing the oil and cleaning up, I was taking a last look in through the access to engine compartment when I noticed a nut sitting on a nubbin of fiberglass and about to disappear into the bilge. I recognized it immediately as one of the engine mount bolts. Everything came out of the cockpit locker and I climbed in headfirst. Sure enough, the nut had come loose, vibrated its way up two inches of mount stud, and fallen off. That accounted for the slight change in engine vibration I had noticed when the boat was rolling hard the previous day. If I hadn’t seen the nut and it had rolled into the bilge water, who knows how long I would have run with it that way. A short, busy, and sweaty hour later, everything was back together. We finished our fuel, ice, and water stop just as a very fresh breeze rose out of the southwest. It was too good to pass up so we set sail and sailed around Schoodic Point and half way from there to the Petit Manan Bar where we gave up running downwind in the sloppy chop and dying breeze and finished under power to Trafton Island.
August 27
A short morning run under power and then a long sail through Pleasant Bay and around the outside of Great Wass Island, into Mistake Harbor to see the numerous seals and then on up to Bunker Cove where we were soon joined by the Joel White designed “Sweet Olive”, as fine a boat as you could share such an incredible place with. I rowed over to the cliffs at low tide and picked mussels off the cliffs for a fine dinner.
August 28
A day spent under power but the high point of the cruise. We toured the outside of Roque Island and then the incredible islands that so few see because they either turn back at Roque or are rushing on to Eastport or Canada. We stopped and walked around Cross Island and then ran up to Moose Snare Cove, I think my favorite cove in Maine. Here we bought lobsters and clams from passing fishermen and had a feast while watching eagles scare the gulls off their feeding at the waterline.
August 29
We sailed off the anchor and anchored under sail off the great beach at Roque. Regretfully, we soon had the anchor up and headed through the Thoroughfare because the large swells made landing the dinghy on the beach look a bit more adventuresome than we felt up to. We anchored up in Patten Cove, across from Bunker, for lunch and ate the remaining two lobsters from the night before. I like them cold with mayonnaise just as much as hot with butter. The breeze had come up so we sailed off the anchor again and across to Eastern Bay where the wind died and we continued under power to the Mud Hole, which Dreameagle thought edged out Moose Snare for the title of most beautiful.
August 30
This was a whole day under power with rising wind and weather reports that had me scanning the charts for a comfortable hide out. I elected to use this as an excuse to run up the Pleasant River to Addison. Most of the cruising guides advise against going up this river but it is a piece of cake for anyone with ICW experience or the navigational skill to be east of Schoodic at all. We anchored just off the town (such as it is) and went ashore. A lobsterman who had just unloaded his catch drove us a few miles up to the store for much needed fuel and ice and back again.
August 31
This was a lay day while the wind blew hard. We walked around Addison and hung out on the boat.
September 1
A day I’ve been waiting for, how would Dreameagle like running in thick fog? Well, I gave her the acid test. We started down the river just as the flood tide began. Except for a bit of a scale up which let us see a bit of Pleasant Bay and Jordan’s Delight Island (see picture of the natural bridge in previous post) we saw almost nothing until the clearing well up in Frenchman Bay. We ran the bar and headed inside the Sally Island seeking some scenery but all we saw was the white flashes of breakers and a hint of rock. The clearing as we neared Bar Harbor was some of the most interesting fog vistas I have seen and are shown in the previous post. We ended the day anchored off the College of the Atlantic. Dreameagle admitted it was a nervous day but she tolerated it well.
September 2
We planned this to be a lay day and the cabin heater had been making hot water all night so Dreameagle took a shower. She had just started when I heard the run away whine of the fresh water pressure set. We had run out of water. Fortunately, she had not soaped up yet so we ran around in the thick fog to fill up at the Bar Harbor town dock and then picked up a mooring. We walked up to the supermarket for some additional supplies and returned to the boat planning dinner ashore. Wind and thick fog convinced us to stay aboard. It was an uncomfortable night bouncing with wind against tide.
September 3
We woke tired to a beautiful day. It was perfect for the spectacular run around the national park cliffs. We ran up into Northeast Harbor for ice and then set sail just off the entrance for a long sail down to Frenchboro, Long Island where we picked up a mooring under sail. A walk around town and lobster dinner at Lunt’s with fellow cruisers who turned out to be from Cape Elizabeth (my old home town where I was harbormaster) capped off another great day. A second night of rolling in swells took some of the bloom off the Frenchboro rose though.
September 4
We ran under power up into Merchant’s Row where we picked up a mooring off McGlathery Island for lunch and then ran into Stonington to walk around and pick up a few supplies before heading on. We set sail running out of Deer Island Thoroughfare and began a “As good as it gets” sail up to Castine broad reaching at speeds up to 7.5 knots in a beautiful southwester. We anchored in Holbrook Cove for the most spectacular sunset of the cruise thus far and about as beautiful and any I can remember.
September 5
We went into Castine and tied up at the town dock and tied up for our allotted two hours which were mostly used up at the take out seafood shack where the cook hadn’t shown up and the poor waitress was trying to do both jobs. We decided to head for Belfast, a town I have never sailed into and which Dreameagle very much wanted to explore. It was a great sail across but, outside the entrance, we realized that the strong southwester was wrapping around the shore and it looked to be another uncomfortable night. So, we elected to have another great sail leg up past Sears Island and around behind Fort Point on Cape Jellison where we spent a very comfortable night.
September 6
We ran back to Castine under power after first running up the Bagaduce River, on of the few places in Maine I haven't seen yet, to the Narrows. This time, our two hours at the town dock gave us a great lunch and a nice walk around town before heading over to Smith Cove to wait for the promised thunderstorms. The storms missed us. We only heard a bit of thunder and had some rain but were treated to some very ominous cloud formations and turbulent sky.
September 7
I expected cold to great us this morning so I cooked up a big breakfast of Spam and eggs. It was cooler, but not biting, as we headed out to the bay. The sails went up as we powered into the wind and we were soon sailing close hauled across East Penobscot Bay. A tack off Turtle Head, fetched the northern tip of Islesboro and we soon were able to bear off for a reach down the bay. The wind lightened enough as we neared Camden so that we didn’t feel regretful about starting the engine for a tour of Camden and Rockport, former haunts for both of us. We continued under power to Rockland where we anchored early and I finished up this account of this stage of the cruise.
Pictures are felt by some to be worth 10,000 words. If you missed my previous post, see it for links to the albums that cover most of the above.
August 22
We departed Bailey Island at 1500 and, against my better judgment, ran around an up to Quahog Bay. I expected this, one of the most popular and beautiful cruising destinations in the area, to be filled with boats on a late August Friday but we enjoyed a beautiful sunset with just two other craft.
August 23
A beautiful day (you can just mentally insert that at the beginning of almost every entry here since we have had the longest spell of great weather I can remember) but little wind. We were planning a tour of Boothbay Harbor but a Coast Guard radio notice about the Small Reach Regatta reminded me that the event was still going on. So, we ran across the mouth of Boothbay, around Pamaquid Point and up to where we encountered the fleet off Round Pond. We passed my Yawldory for a quick exchange of greetings before continuing on to run through friendship and finally anchor in Maple Juice Cove with a view of the Olson House.
August 24
Another long day, mostly under power but with a short sail off Whitehead into the Muscle Ridge Channel, brought us to Rockland where we provisioned by cab, visited the Farnsworth Museum, met the owners of a schooner of my design for dinner, and spent a night on a town mooring.
August 25
Ran under power from Rockland to the eastern end of Fox Island Thoroughfare where we were met by a beautiful breeze coming out into East Penobscot Bay. Sailed up into Merchant’s Row for the first of several “as good as it gets” sailing legs on this cruise. The wind failed in among the islands so became a motorboat again. The breeze returned in time to sail into Mackerel Cove where we anchored under sail.
August 26
This began as another powerboat day. We ran across the Bass Harbor Bar and up to Western Way and Somes Sound to see Valley Cove and then returned to pick up a mooring for lunch and a slightly overdue oil change so I could leave the old oil off at Hinckley’s where we planned to pick up ice and fuel.
After changing the oil and cleaning up, I was taking a last look in through the access to engine compartment when I noticed a nut sitting on a nubbin of fiberglass and about to disappear into the bilge. I recognized it immediately as one of the engine mount bolts. Everything came out of the cockpit locker and I climbed in headfirst. Sure enough, the nut had come loose, vibrated its way up two inches of mount stud, and fallen off. That accounted for the slight change in engine vibration I had noticed when the boat was rolling hard the previous day. If I hadn’t seen the nut and it had rolled into the bilge water, who knows how long I would have run with it that way. A short, busy, and sweaty hour later, everything was back together. We finished our fuel, ice, and water stop just as a very fresh breeze rose out of the southwest. It was too good to pass up so we set sail and sailed around Schoodic Point and half way from there to the Petit Manan Bar where we gave up running downwind in the sloppy chop and dying breeze and finished under power to Trafton Island.
August 27
A short morning run under power and then a long sail through Pleasant Bay and around the outside of Great Wass Island, into Mistake Harbor to see the numerous seals and then on up to Bunker Cove where we were soon joined by the Joel White designed “Sweet Olive”, as fine a boat as you could share such an incredible place with. I rowed over to the cliffs at low tide and picked mussels off the cliffs for a fine dinner.
August 28
A day spent under power but the high point of the cruise. We toured the outside of Roque Island and then the incredible islands that so few see because they either turn back at Roque or are rushing on to Eastport or Canada. We stopped and walked around Cross Island and then ran up to Moose Snare Cove, I think my favorite cove in Maine. Here we bought lobsters and clams from passing fishermen and had a feast while watching eagles scare the gulls off their feeding at the waterline.
August 29
We sailed off the anchor and anchored under sail off the great beach at Roque. Regretfully, we soon had the anchor up and headed through the Thoroughfare because the large swells made landing the dinghy on the beach look a bit more adventuresome than we felt up to. We anchored up in Patten Cove, across from Bunker, for lunch and ate the remaining two lobsters from the night before. I like them cold with mayonnaise just as much as hot with butter. The breeze had come up so we sailed off the anchor again and across to Eastern Bay where the wind died and we continued under power to the Mud Hole, which Dreameagle thought edged out Moose Snare for the title of most beautiful.
August 30
This was a whole day under power with rising wind and weather reports that had me scanning the charts for a comfortable hide out. I elected to use this as an excuse to run up the Pleasant River to Addison. Most of the cruising guides advise against going up this river but it is a piece of cake for anyone with ICW experience or the navigational skill to be east of Schoodic at all. We anchored just off the town (such as it is) and went ashore. A lobsterman who had just unloaded his catch drove us a few miles up to the store for much needed fuel and ice and back again.
August 31
This was a lay day while the wind blew hard. We walked around Addison and hung out on the boat.
September 1
A day I’ve been waiting for, how would Dreameagle like running in thick fog? Well, I gave her the acid test. We started down the river just as the flood tide began. Except for a bit of a scale up which let us see a bit of Pleasant Bay and Jordan’s Delight Island (see picture of the natural bridge in previous post) we saw almost nothing until the clearing well up in Frenchman Bay. We ran the bar and headed inside the Sally Island seeking some scenery but all we saw was the white flashes of breakers and a hint of rock. The clearing as we neared Bar Harbor was some of the most interesting fog vistas I have seen and are shown in the previous post. We ended the day anchored off the College of the Atlantic. Dreameagle admitted it was a nervous day but she tolerated it well.
September 2
We planned this to be a lay day and the cabin heater had been making hot water all night so Dreameagle took a shower. She had just started when I heard the run away whine of the fresh water pressure set. We had run out of water. Fortunately, she had not soaped up yet so we ran around in the thick fog to fill up at the Bar Harbor town dock and then picked up a mooring. We walked up to the supermarket for some additional supplies and returned to the boat planning dinner ashore. Wind and thick fog convinced us to stay aboard. It was an uncomfortable night bouncing with wind against tide.
September 3
We woke tired to a beautiful day. It was perfect for the spectacular run around the national park cliffs. We ran up into Northeast Harbor for ice and then set sail just off the entrance for a long sail down to Frenchboro, Long Island where we picked up a mooring under sail. A walk around town and lobster dinner at Lunt’s with fellow cruisers who turned out to be from Cape Elizabeth (my old home town where I was harbormaster) capped off another great day. A second night of rolling in swells took some of the bloom off the Frenchboro rose though.
September 4
We ran under power up into Merchant’s Row where we picked up a mooring off McGlathery Island for lunch and then ran into Stonington to walk around and pick up a few supplies before heading on. We set sail running out of Deer Island Thoroughfare and began a “As good as it gets” sail up to Castine broad reaching at speeds up to 7.5 knots in a beautiful southwester. We anchored in Holbrook Cove for the most spectacular sunset of the cruise thus far and about as beautiful and any I can remember.
September 5
We went into Castine and tied up at the town dock and tied up for our allotted two hours which were mostly used up at the take out seafood shack where the cook hadn’t shown up and the poor waitress was trying to do both jobs. We decided to head for Belfast, a town I have never sailed into and which Dreameagle very much wanted to explore. It was a great sail across but, outside the entrance, we realized that the strong southwester was wrapping around the shore and it looked to be another uncomfortable night. So, we elected to have another great sail leg up past Sears Island and around behind Fort Point on Cape Jellison where we spent a very comfortable night.
September 6
We ran back to Castine under power after first running up the Bagaduce River, on of the few places in Maine I haven't seen yet, to the Narrows. This time, our two hours at the town dock gave us a great lunch and a nice walk around town before heading over to Smith Cove to wait for the promised thunderstorms. The storms missed us. We only heard a bit of thunder and had some rain but were treated to some very ominous cloud formations and turbulent sky.
September 7
I expected cold to great us this morning so I cooked up a big breakfast of Spam and eggs. It was cooler, but not biting, as we headed out to the bay. The sails went up as we powered into the wind and we were soon sailing close hauled across East Penobscot Bay. A tack off Turtle Head, fetched the northern tip of Islesboro and we soon were able to bear off for a reach down the bay. The wind lightened enough as we neared Camden so that we didn’t feel regretful about starting the engine for a tour of Camden and Rockport, former haunts for both of us. We continued under power to Rockland where we anchored early and I finished up this account of this stage of the cruise.
Pictures are felt by some to be worth 10,000 words. If you missed my previous post, see it for links to the albums that cover most of the above.
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