Our position is: 44:23.376N 68:47.482W

It was sunny the next morning when we waved goodbye to Tom and Cary and set a course northwards between the islands for the 15Nm to Castine. As we approached the harbour we could see students from the Maine Maritime Academy practising towing a barge using a tug and a short hawser as they went in circles in the bay. Unfortunately the early sun had given way to cloud and showers as we searched among the moorings for those for guests managed by the Castine Yacht Club. Eventually a helpful native who seemed to be alongside the yacht club dock directed us to one, which he said would be suitable in the variable tides, currents and winds, not to mention the aftermath of the 1812 war!! Just after we secured ourselves it started raining in earnest and this continued through the night and into the following morning. We battened down and put the heating on in an attempt to dry out.

Eventually it eased off enough for us to go ashore and explore the town, which is dominated by the Maritme Academy, the training school for the merchant marine. It had started in 1941 and its first graduates were immediately put to work on the Atlantic convoys – a bit of a baptism of fire! We walked along to their dock where our eye was first caught by a large travel lift being used to launch a small dinghy. We then paused to admire the schooner Bowdoin, which had been used for Arctic exploration in the 1930s and the First Mate invited us aboard for a look round. I guess anything was better than tackling the ‘to do’ list of jobs I saw tacked up in the cabin. There was evidence of the rainwater having leaked in overnight and it was hard to imagine the boat trapped in the ice with igloos built on the deck.

He had shown us a book about the boat, which he said we could buy in the Academy bookshop, so we set off up the hill. All the students in uniform passing us were punctilious about greeting us with good afternoon m’am, good afternoon sir, even the ones that seemed to be undergoing some form of punishment running up and down the hill with a weighty looking rucksack on their backs. Our mission accomplished we headed back down town in search of a museum we had been told about by some passersby. Castine is on the US National Register of Historic Places and there are many information boards describing the buildings that used to stand on certain sites and the events that took place there (involving French, Dutch, British and American troops). We had passed quite a few of these before we arrived at the Wilson Museum (so we knew it was for us!) Our readers will be pleased to know that photography was not allowed inside so there will be no endless pictures of the extremely eclectic collection. The founder’s main interest was geology and archaeology and had not only stuff he had excavated but also items that had been donated from a French museum in the 1920s. This had proved to be just as well as the donor museum’s own exhibits had largely been destroyed in the war. Other material had been donated by local people so there was a display of African artefacts donated by a lady missionary and a section devoted to steam ships, which had been collected by another local luminary. There were several cabinets devoted to prehistoric geology and some more recent rooms showing off 19^th century farm and home equipment, including a large collection of carpenter tools. Some of this stuff had been purchased at local house and farm sales.

When we had exhausted the excitements of the museum we headed off to find some lunch. It was a bit late by then so our options were limited but in the end we settled for some delicious soup in the local bookshop. We had hoped they might be a source of wifi but this proved not to be the case, instead we were directed to the local library. We arrived there with about three quarters of an hour before closing time and all their public computers were being used but we were given permission to use the cataloguing computer and just about managed to deal with a mass of outstanding e-mails and obtain a weather forecast and update on the progress of hurricane Leslie out in the Atlantic but heading north, before they were ushering us out of the door. Then it was back to the boat, shepherd’s pie and a dvd.

No escaping lobstering                                                                                                                                                              Typical of the many islands we sailed amongst

Trainee tugmen at work                                                                                                                                                              This guy offered helpful advice

Camden Yacht Club                                                                                                                                                                       The local boatyard – apparently their launch (not pictured) is 75 years old

A sledge hammer to crack a walnut                                                                                                                                    The Bowdoin (the ship in the background is also used for training by the Academy)

On board the Bowdoin

Cosy sleeping quarters                                                                                                           The nav area and a copy of the book we subsequently bought

Typical marker around town                                                                                                   How could we pass this museum by?