Another
perfect cruising day in Maine.
Being at
anchor, I awoke to blue sky, blue sea, sunshine and a lovely view of Camden, with its fine New England
church spire. Before breakfast I took the dinghy to a small island in the bay,
where David and I had collected
mussels a couple of days beforehand. Scrambling over the rocks I soon came
to a path which led me through the woods to a great view by the lighthouse, and
then enjoyed a considerable number of wild raspberries on the way back.
After going
for a swim, we decided to explore a bit more of the north of this area of Penobscot Bay
and weave our way through small islands and rocky outcrops on a 20 mile passage
to Castile.
It was perfect sailing - from a run, to broad reach to close-hauled - but still
maintained eight and a half knots and with the satisfaction of just being able
to clear the headland without tacking.
Mooring right
at the end of a large wooded bay, where the water was completely still, we revelled
in its isolation. How amazing to be able to sit on the aft deck with a
sundowner in your hand and watch a bird of prey hunting: finally achieving
success by piercing the water with tremendous speed and carrying away a
good-sized fish. It inspired John to do a bit of fishing whilst we
watched the deep amber glow from the final rays of sun hold the promise of
another lovely day.
In Maine one
is allowed to use any available private mooring, which generally makes
‘parking’ even easier than anchoring, but on several occasions we
have got tangled up with something and the quickest solution is to just jump in
and sort it out. The water temperature has dropped considerably as we
have come up the coast and it currently about 16 degrees C. It is
certainly refreshing!
‘Lobstermainea’
is how I think of this area. There are fields of lobster pots acres wide
where it is almost impossible to pick you way through without some of them
poppling along the side of the hull – and hopefully re-emerging behind
the boat. You can buy lobster fresh, boiled, broiled, steamed, baked and
stuffed. It is served on its own, in a roll, as a casserole, soup or
stew. As you approach the harbour there are often three or four places in
view where you can buy them. When the Pilgrim Fathers first arrived here,
they considered lobster to be only good enough to feed to their pigs, and the
prisoners complained at having to eat so much of it. How times have
changed!
We have had a
great week with younger son David
with us, with him practising his RIB skills, catching mackerel and generally
enjoying himself.
One evening,
after we had groped our way into a tiny anchorage through the thick Maine fog that sometimes
blankets this coast, we had the biggest thunderstorm ever. The lightning
continued for about four hours, with flashes no further apart than 2 seconds
for most of the time. It rained so hard that in the morning, the dinghy was
completely full of fresh water! This cruising life is certainly never
dull!
