43:58.2N 69:11.3W

Thursday, Friday & Saturday – 29^th, 30^th & 31^st August

David came out to alert us to the plan to head off to the laundry at 0900 hours and he kindly returned to take Sarah ashore along with a large bag of washing. Then later in the morning, he and Phil returned to pick me up along with our problematic outboard prop. It seems that this type of prop does not have a shear pin but some kind of rubber bush arrangement which is fine until it starts to fail and then it cannot be repaired, but needs to be replaced. Phil kindly set about a ‘cruisers’ fix’ which involved drilling  and screwing a stainless screw through the prop into the hub effectively making it a shear pin of sorts. We obviously need to replace the prop, but at least it should not let us down for a short while until this is possible.

We had lunch with everyone in the house again and then in the afternoon we rowed back out to Serafina and I went to visit Ron & Mary Ellen who own the buoy we are moored on, to help them with problems that they have with their websites. (They run a cottage letting business.) Meanwhile Sarah was cooking and preparing stuff for the evening when we entertained everyone to drinks on board Serafina, before we all went back to the house for supper and an epic game of Mexican Train. This was won rather easily by Lucia after a loud and rather competitive evening!

Friday was the day that we had decided to leave Linekin Bay to head back east (and north) towards Camden to get the electronics fixed, but David came out in the whaler and managed to persuade us to stay over another day which was very kind of them all and although we clearly missed a great day’s sailing in terms of the wind strength and direction for our trip back east, we were pleased to be able to join in another day’s activities – at least in part.

Monica very kindly drove us to the supermarket so we were able to stock up for the weekend and Monday which is Labor day here (their August Bank Holiday) and then Sarah ran up a couple of apple pies for the dinner in the evening which saw us joined by PJ, an old friend of David’s and Leighton and his wife Jolene (hope the spelling isn’t too far out) and their two children for another wonderful lobster supper and very convivial evening (that is English for ‘a great night’).  Leighton is a dabhand at intricate ropework and came with handmade gifts for everyone – but obviously didn’t anticipate two interloping Brits;  despite this, following an interrogation by Sarah about Turk’s Heads as part of a determined attempt to pick his brains, he very kindly gave her a mini brass fid that he had made along with its own rope-work case!  She was delighted and will use it to replace the Turks Head knot on Serafina’s steering wheel. In the end we had to head back to Serafina and so we said all of our very fond farewells and for the umpteenth time, David and Phil ran us back out in the launch.

On Saturday morning we let the light rain finish before we slipped the lines from the mooring buoy and headed slowly out of Linekin Bay. We waved to everyone gathered on the porch at the house as we left but within 10 minutes we were joined by Leighton and the three youngsters in the whaler and shortly afterwards by David, Phil and PJ in the launch. More goodbyes were exchanged before they zoomed off at speed and we continued on our way east feeling very sad to be leaving them all.

The fog swirled around us and thickened, but the breeze did pick up and for a while we were able to ghost along using the main sail and Flossie. We were managing 3.5 knots and very contented when I suddenly remembered that Iain and Fiona from Ruffian had given me a present the last time we met of some mackerel feathers and a weight, so I soon had a line deployed off the stern as 3.5 knots is a perfect mackerel speed I am told. Well in no time at all I was hauling in a fine specimen and mackerel pate was being added to the dinner menu. Then the wind simply vanished and we drifted to an almost complete standstill which is not a good thing with a 1 knot tidal stream, dozens of lobster pots (of course) and what was now dense fog. So it was sails down, engine on and end of mackerel fishing. Yes I know we could potter along slowly with the engine on, but somehow that does not do it for us!

So with the radar plotter in full use and fog horn to hand, we made our way to Tenant’s Harbor where Sarah carefully navigated us into Long Cove which is formed and protected by High Island and North Island. It is a very large, almost totally enclosed and pretty shallow cove just outside Tenant’s Harbor where found ourselves to be about the only boat anchored other than the ubiquitous lobster boats. There were loads of unused mooring buoys at the entrance and a look down towards the main Harbor when the fog lift briefly later showed that it too was mostly full of unused buoys. The sailing season finishes this weekend in Maine and clearly the rush of boats heading south or hauling out is in full swing and we may soon find ourselves quite alone up here to enjoy the spectacular colours of their ‘Fall’.

There is a float near to where we are anchored and it is not surprisingly covered in Great Cormorants who abound here. What did surprise us was their calling which we were convinced at first must be some seals that we could not see, ‘barking’. But a read of the bird book revealed that this is indeed the noise they can make when roosting – but we are not aware of having heard it before.