July 10th
Finally the rain, Tropical storm Elsa, is over and we can depart Harpswell Harbor and we traveled to Round Pond on Muscongus round. We tried hailing the harbormaster for this small harbor but he was at a funeral so no-one "mans" the harbor. We found a "guest" mooring ball, we read about it and it was in memory of a 28 yr old that obviously lost his life way too young. We had a nice lobster lunch and buttery poached Lobster over linguine for dinner....First pasta in 3 months and it was awesome.....
July 11th - We traveled "Down East", as its called here in Maine. We picked up a mooring ball in Long Cove.....Beautiful narrow pine tree lined granite banks.....protected and peaceful.....We felty like we finally found what we've been looking for in Maine. We just come to realize that we spent too much time south of Cape Cod and should have moved faster but of course we wanted to see it all......maybe another time....I hope............We noticed a group of male teens on an Outbound School sailing vessel....maybe 30 foot. Well the next morning at 6AM.....they were in shorts jumping in the water, now mind you it was 60 degrees outside and cloudy....brrrrrr....Perhaps survival training of some sort.
July 12th......we traveled north to Rockport for a quick stop....watered up, local lobster lunch and bought, fresh tuna for sushi, fresh caught sockeye salmon and 2 lobsters.......we departed Rockport, traveled to Fox Thoroughfare by North Haven Island and anchored by Winter Harbor and Seal Bay.....yes, these adorable little seal pups come to surface.....the next morning I knew when they were around because I could hear them breath when they surface.....I patiently waited with my camera....AGAIN....just can't get quite close enough.
MEANWHILE.....upon our arrival to this area we ran the motors up and had a rather terrible sound coming from the port side of the boat.....we thought for sure we had a lobster pot float banging under the boat but e do have line cutter's on the props....so once anchored we used the GoPro to video under the boat....it was attached to the boat hook....we saw nothing....so...I suited up in my old dry suit from my windsurfing days.....it was a tight squeeze then and still is even after losing 20lbs...shaft, zincs, props...everything seemed fine...maybe we lost the pot.....next morning we departed , ran the motors up , a NO GO.....off to Rockland to have the boat hauled...the mechanic saw no real issues in the engine room...we did a test run to demonstrate the noise...he looked at me and said"that's not good"....it sounded worse and sounded like someone was hammering on the bottom of the boat....as soon as the boat was hauled, by 1030am which was great, the mechanic saw the the line cutter had broken, metal fatigue, and that's what was making that terrible sound at higher RPMs. Line cutter removed, they did not have a replacement, another sea trial and all was good.....So by 3pm we were finished with our dilemma but then chose to pick up a mooring ball for the night.
July 14th.......our original plan was to head to Mount Desert for a few more days of the true Down East. We decided to start our journey towards Baltimore....We have numerous stops in Maine that we passed by as we travelled north so we'll have time to make some stops in Maine heading home.
We departed Rockland relieved that our boat problem was a minor one.....easy fix and under a $1000...it was 575$ just to haul it and they did add a PSS Zinc for a slight leak.
We arrived at Tenant's Harbor on the West Penobscot Bay. We went to The Happy Clam who not only served Seafood but German dishes as well....we both went for the kraut and sausage trio....heavy meal.....Behind the Happy Clam was a barn style , new bar called the Outback Saloon. We noticed the sign 'live music" so we went back for a local jam session.....2 local guys playing acoustic guitars singing Tom Petty, The Cars and others....Skip and I totally enjoyed the entertainment. The bar top and other window bar top areas were built form a cherry tree...one tree did all the tops and they left the bark on the edge for a rustic flare...They were beautiful. The fog rolled in for our dinghy ride back to the boat....how erie......
July 15th , we decided to depart in the fog and go to this next port just 5 miles away.....we have radar so we were able to follow our course with the radar overlay on the chart plotter....we traveled slow and arrived at Port Clyde.....yes, Clyde.....we hung out in the fog all day....we did dinghy around a little and stopped by the local lobster co-op and purchased 4 lobsters...8.99 a pound....not bad....we were told if we stop a lobsterman out on the water we can get for about 6.50 a lb. The lobsterman are allowed to privately sell up to 10% of their catch....unlike the Maryland crabbing crews where they cannot sell to us.
July 16th....yeah!!!!!....no fog......we departed Port Clyde for Permaquid Harbor on Johns Bay....we had some wind, a bit rollie so we traveled through Fisherman's passage and in-between some smaller channels to stay protected from the swells.....Permaquid neck has a beautiful shore line....beautiful homes on granite cliffs.....into the Harbor, nice and protected...grabed a lunch and sat on a small beach until the tide was coming in....back to the boat...took Abby for a swim as I paddled around on the paddle board....She enjoys her long swim and is getting more relaxed with me paddling close by......
July 17th....another anchorage near Cundy Harbor called The Basin on New Meadow River.....when we first entered the Basin you feel like you're going up a deep creek and then it opens up into a Basin. A quick overnight and then off to Kennebunkport.
July 18th....Happy Anniversary to my darling husband Skip....aka, the Captain, our dear friend Paul always called him that.....it was a rainy sort of day but a good day to travel.....as we approached the inlet from the north it felt like we were heading right to the beach....you don't see the inlet until you are close....crazy narrow inlet, waters were calm entering, just narrow and it was low tide, yes, that 10 foot tide again...... We stayed at a marina on this stop, Chicks Marina ......only the 4th marina in 7 weeks . Nice staff and nice location, George Bush's cousin lives right across the street....we could see the secret service vehicles from our boat while George was visiting his cousin. We walked the town and searched for a dinner restaurant....As usual, no reservations, everything is booked....we were told to come at 5-530 to be on the wait list or grab a high top table, so we did and it worked out perfectly. We had an excellent Halibut dinner....it was perfect.
July 20th
We departed Kennebunkport to an area called Isle of Shoals....a group of private islands about 15 miles off shore right at the Maine/New Hampshire line......Your boat can swing on the hook(anchor) between the 2 states. We dinghy around and watched the seals.....They seem to play hide and seek with you. I was able to get a quick video...FINALLY....You know when they pop up because you ca hear them breath....One time the seal was so close to the back of the dinghy I could see up his nostrils....and then down he went, too quick for my camera....very cool to see them.
Isle of Shoals was a great area to paddle board. Abby swims along and she can swim for and a long time, a good girl, well most of the time. Our second day there I paddled out but I took some cash with me just in case I saw a lobsterman and I did so I paddled towards him but we turned away to his next lobster float. He turned around so I paddled towards him again....I was able to get close enough so I shouted over that I'd like to buy some lobster.....not sure if his crew heard me or not but he just shook his head No......I paddled away, bummed....5 minutes later the lobster boat was coming my way and pulled up next to me asking did I want lobster....well, yes please....4, a pound and a half each would be perfect....$30...I had had 2 twenties so I said give me $40 worth....He asked how was I going to carry the lobsters on a paddleboard....I didn't bring a bag but I have straps of the board.....since he didn't have a bag either he asked where's your boat....."oh, around the corner of this island", he offered to bring them to my boat and so he did....6 lovely fresh lobster!!!!!!
Well that was fun and a highlight of our adventure!!!
July 22nd
Departed Isle of Shoals and arrived in Gloucester.....its pronounced Gloustah...just like lobstah....at least that's the way I can remember it......small town...quick stop....and of course we found lunch...mussells,sushi and scallops instead this time.
July 23rd Gloucester to Scituate Harbor....a really great area to provision.....groceries, fuel and we watered up.....we took on 290 gallons of diesel......
Thank you to my coworkers for the Retirement gift card for diesel!!!!....they knew I would be needing that!!!
July 24th.....Off the the Cape Cod Canal to Buzzards Bay.....we were surprised when entering the canal how wavy it was....the current was in our favor, so that was good but the waves were not ideal to be towing a dinghy....lesson learned, we should have hauled it on deck but it all worked out and we went back to the Woods Hole/ Hadley Harbor area on the northern tip of the Elizabeth Islands.....it's south of Cape Cod.........we held up here for a rainy Sunday and just did some boat chores.
July 26th....We will be departing and heading back over to Martha's Vineyard....Vineyard Haven....a different port in Martha's Vineyard then where we were a month ago, Edgartown.....We're actually going to stop by to say hello to a fellow cruiser, Dennis, we met in the Bahamas......
