Rockland, Maine

Serafina
Rob & Sarah Bell
Wed 24 Jul 2013 01:33

44:05.6N 69:05.8W

 

Tuesday 23rd July

 

Some sort of clerical error meant that we woke to find a cold, grey and very wet day. So we were very slow to get going as we were very undecided (well Sarah did not want to do anything but was overruled) as to where we actually wanted to go. In the end we opted for the 30 mile sail to Rockland on the basis that sitting at anchor in the rain was no more enjoyable than covering some miles.  The only flaw in this plan was that visibility in the fog that descended as we got underway was barely 50 metres at times and so features such as the iconic lighthouse at Marshall Point were completely invisible. Indeed the random lobster fishing boats that we came across in the swirling mist were equally hard to spot until the very last minute (being very low and built of wood makes them tricky to pick up on radar as well). We threaded our way through more islands and rocks as well as the very densely packed lobster pot buoys which were also hard to spot as they are frequently painted bland colours that blend into the sea in fog. They also presented a further problem today as it is a full moon and so the tides are particularly high meaning that a lot of these buoys are actually just on or below the surface as their lines are just too short!

 

We made our way carefully into the big anchorage off Rockland, grateful that we had been here a few times before and had left the markers on our chart plotter. We found ourselves gliding past various boats at anchor, before selecting a suitable spot ourselves.

 

We had barely set the anchor before a dinghy zoomed up alongside and we met Johan from Belgium who was on his way to take his dog for a walk ashore. We had a brief chat and invited him and his wife Sonja to come over for a drink later. This was a great success and when they left around 2030 hours, the fog had lifted substantially and James was able to get his first glimpse of the anchorage and the land immediately surrounding us!