For Camden, read Salcombe.

Serafina
Rob & Sarah Bell
Mon 20 Aug 2012 01:55

Fri, Sat & Sun – 17th, 18th and 19th Aug

 

Friday was an altogether better day and the sun shone and a lovely breeze blew all day and we of course were now anchored in Camden and so not sailing!

 

We went ashore and discovered that the yacht club was a bit light on useful facilities like showers or a laundry so in the end Sarah hiked to the nearest laundrymat.

 

We explored Camden after this and were able to agree that it really is the absolute twin of Salcombe, Devon in almost every single way and this being Maine there are also some wonderful yachts and old schooners and the like here and seemingly all in absolute pristine condition.

 

On Saturday morning John Franklin, the OCC commodore kindly offered to run us to the supermarket in a car that the yacht club had lent him. This allowed us to stock up properly for the next week or so and was very welcome as the prices at this out of town store were considerably lower than anything in the town itself.

 

He and his wife Jenny also invited us to join them on Al Shaheen for drinks in the early evening where we also met Dick & Suzie Guckel and David Bridges and of course had a great time. We were also joined in the anchorage by Il Sogno who were in for just one night so we had them round for coffee on Sunday morning before they headed off south again. We plan now to meet up with them in New York where hopefully they are to be our guides.

 

On Sunday morning the anchorage also began to fill with other yachts flying the OCC flag and at 1300 hours we headed off ashore to help set up the tables and chairs in the yacht club for the meeting and rally dinner. Before we set off though, Sid and Rebecca from Dovka came over in their dinghy to return our small outboard that we had lent them. Seems I may have forgotten to mention that there was no reverse gear when I lent it to them…..

 

The afternoon was spent meeting and talking to all the members (over 120) from across the USA (and 7 boats from the UK) who had come to the dinner. The event began at 1430 hours and more or less wrapped up at 200hrs after another enormous meal. We met some wonderful people (and put a lot of faces to voices we have heard over the radio, or people we have heard of by repute – in particular Patrick and Amanda on ‘Egret’ who lost their rudder 1000 miles into the Atlantic and managed to soldier for the remaining 1500 miles using a variety of jury rigs!) and exchanged cards and stories and seem to have got invitations to all sorts of places up and down the east coast of the USA, most of which will not now happen until next year when we plan to return up here.  Big efforts were also made to persuade us to head further north into Canada and I must admit that the suggestion that it was every bit as beautiful as Maine but without the lobster pots did tick quite a few boxes, but again that is for next year perhaps.