USA, Bar Harbour, Maine 44:29N 68:10W

Millybrown
Mark Hillmann
Sun 28 Sep 2008 15:11
Here we are in the good 'ol US of A.  Hiding in a hurricane hole across the bay from the town.  I got in at lunch time yesterday.  What time? Eastern USA, Canadian or UK lunch time?  I am not sure, but we are 5 hours off the UK now.
 
There was a cruise ship in Bar Harbour and the customs officer complained that he had spent the morning clearing them, driven 1.5 hours back to Bangor and then had to drive back for me.  It is their own fault for only acting on a phone call from the Captain (as they refer to me, future crews please remember). 
 
I had radioed the coast guard and spoken to the harbour master, so the customs knew who and where I was, but I had not rung them.  When we did try from the harbour master's office, it took four calls to three different offices.  The iridium is too expensive to waste time like that.  When the customs man arrived he took one look at the boat, decided his vehicle was bigger and did all the paperwork without coming on board.
 
The harbour master would have let me stay on the pontoon overnight for $90, but there was a storm coming in and all the fisherman had cleared out of the harbour, as it is not comfortable in a gale.  Although I said firmly that no storm would reach here:  I had seen the GRIB forecast, I did accept a suggestion of an anchorage a couple of miles away. 
 
Not much wind in the night, but plenty of rain: The rain in Maine stays mainly in the bay. There is wooded shore all round and I saw a loon this morning (a great northern diver in UK). 
 
I have sailed back to town now for fresh food.  Can you see the fog?  At the bottom of this street is the harbour, boats , a Norwegian cruise ship anchored out there and wooded islands.  But no, sailing back across in a good breeze visibility was perhaps 200m.