MV Big Smile

July: The weather continues

Our spate of incredible weather rolls on. Big Smile is safely docked in Barrington RI and we have just completed our two week rental on Lake George. We are back in VT for five days and I am way behind with this posting. So this chapter is a six week catch-up and it’s all been good.

Our last two weeks in Maine and our travels to New Hampshire, Boston and the Elizabeth Islands up to Barrington provided the same glorious weather. It’s been really amazing how much sunshine and how little rain we have had. Great for us not so great for New England farmers.

We began July back in Southwest Harbor. July 4th weekend was spent at Dysarts Great Harbor Marina, our home for 2015. The weather, of course, was superb. The 4th started with a pot luck dinner/cocktail party at the head of the dock. That was followed by a spectacular two prong fireworks display. The main display put on by Southwest Harbor was based on a barge in the middle of the harbor. Another smaller and simultaneous display took place behind us on a private pier. The effect was incredible including most of the docked boats receiving fallout from the explosives of the private display.

July 4th

Southwest Harbor is known as the quiet side of Mt Desert Island. Bar Harbor is the “noisy” touristy side. We like the laid back, Downeast feel of this community. The small town cares about its community and The Common Good epitomizes that attitude. It is home to the best popovers on the planet. Cost is whatever you can donate. We spent an hour sitting and listening to the music while sipping coffee and eating multiple popovers.

The Common Good

It was time to start heading south (and west) and Cranberry Isles, Maine was our first stop after leaving Southwest Harbor. The five Cranberry Isles hosts a small year-round community. We anchored off of Little Cranberry and went ashore to explore.

Anchored off Little Cranberry

An entire beach of smooth, rounded rocks

An entire beach of smooth, wave-rounded rocks

A three hour cruise brought us back to one of our favorite anchorages, Hells Half Acre. We choose a different spot to drop the hook due to the prevailing wind. We endeavored to add to our lobster buoy collection and launched the kayaks to hunt for them. The kayaking was superb as expected and we were successful with our hunt. Here we are in action. Kayaking at Hells Half Acre

Continuing on we transited first thru Deer Isle Thorofare passing by Stonington, Maine, crossed East Penobscot Bay, thru Fox Islands Thorofare, crossed West Penobscot Bay and on to Port Clyde. We found a perfect spot to drop the hook just north of Hupper Island.

Port Clyde is the southernmost town on St George peninsula. In the 19th century it was busy with granite quarries, timber and fishing. The 20th century brought artists and writers. Three generations of the Wyeth family have lived here and Chief Justice John Roberts has a home on Hupper Island. It is also home to one of Maine’s many lighthouses, Marshall Point light. It is to this lighthouse that Tom Hanks ran in the 1994 film, Forest Gump.

Marshall Point Light

A quick, one night anchorage at Ridley Cove provided some good kayaking and better yet some local, soft shell lobster. We bought and ate two each.

Soft shell lobster wrapped in seafood

Another one night stop in Potts Harbor got us ashore for dinner. Dolphin Marina, in Harpswell is a small, family run establishment with a great reputation and an awesome restaurant. I had contacted the owner the prior year to inquire about his place and although we did not stay there we could tell they were friendly. After a fabulous meal we met the owner Chris, at the bar, and talked with him for quite some time. He also introduced us to one of the other owners, his mother.

Hoisting the anchor in Potts Harbor; Dolphin Marina off our starboard bow

We decided to spend a night in Freeport, home of LL Bean. We have a “frequent cruiser” card from Brewers Marina and picked up one of their moorings. This card entitles us to discounts at their 26 marinas.

Harraseeket River, South Freeport

We had to make one quick stop in Portland before departing Maine. Our davit indicator light had been installed with the wrong voltage so Maine Yacht Center needed to do a quick fix. It was great for us as we got a free nights dockage and use of their loaner car to go grocery shopping. Of course we made a trip to Harbor Fish, Standard Baking and Hannaford’s, collecting provisions to last a couple of weeks.

Walking around Back Cove with B&M Baked Bean factory in the background

At 5 AM on July 13th we left Maine Yacht Center and headed out to sea for the 55 mile trip to Portsmouth, NH.

5 AM departure

The weather, of course, was superb. The seas were flat and the auto pilot did it’s thing. Our destination was Wentworth by the Sea Marina, in New Castle, NH. What a place! The staff, docks, facilities, loaner car, and other amenities were incredible. The kayaking at low tide was lots of fun.

New Castle borders Portsmouth, NH, a quaint and historic seacoast town. We took an Uber over to Portsmouth for a visit and dinner. We liked the area so much we stayed three nights. On one of the days we took a long walk and came upon Fort Stark. While some of the property is fenced off and inaccessible it is a fascinating look back on the evolution of forts over the centuries. It is one of seven forts built to protect Portsmouth Harbor.

Fort Stark

Wentworth Marina and hotel in background

Big Smile at the end of D dock

Cath on the phone in the mud flats

Although we hated to leave the extraordinary facilities at Wentworth By the Sea it was time to move on. We left New Hampshire and motored 50 miles to Salem, MA. Along the way we passed Gloucester and many fine homes along the coast. Salem is of course well known for its 1692 witch trials which you can’t escape while walking downtown. However, Salem does have a museum that rivals any that we have been to. Peabody Essex Museum PEM traces its roots to 1799. The museum undertook a major expansion in 2003 having earlier consolidated two institutions in 1992. The collections are immense. The museum houses Yin Yu Tang, the only complete Qing Dynasty house outside China. While we were there a Rodin exhibition was in place; “Rodin: Transforming Sculpture”. This is a must see museum for anyone visiting Salem and I thank my old Haworth NJ friend, Laurie for telling me about it. We got to see and thank her in Boston.

Rodin: The Thinker

Peabody Essex Museum

On to Boston. We had planned for three nights in Boston, arriving Monday July 18th and departing Thursday the 21st. We were staying at Constitution Marina which I had booked last winter. It quickly became apparent that three nights would not be enough and, pleading our case, we were able to add two additional nights to our stay. It is not easy extending stays in peak season as there are only a finite number of slips that can handle a boat our size. We lucked out. Our schedule was busy with different visitors each of the first three days.

Docked at Constitution Marina

On our first night we had the pleasure of going out to dinner with Laurie and her husband Alex. They joined us on board for drinks and then dinner at a restaurant in Charleston Navy Yard. This was my first dinner in the city of Boston and lots of fun. We met up with Laurie two days later at the visitors center where she works in the summer.

Me and Laurie

Tuesday our good friends Jim and Beth from Breckenridge, CO came by for lunch and to walk around the city with us. We originally met them in the Bahamas a couple of years ago when they were cruising on their beautiful Passport sailboat. We had not seen them since February of 2015 when we visited their place in Colorado. Beth knew Boston pretty well and we got the lay of the land walking with them throughout the city.

Cath and Beth

Me and Jim

Wednesday was a full day and night. My cousin Nance and husband Rob arrived in the afternoon. They were staying on board for the night so the fun began. Dinner at Legal Seafood then our first Red Sox game and first time at Fenway Park. It was a great game with my new home team beating San Francisco, 11-7. Boston is their city and they know it well. They quickly convinced me to become a Red Sox fan.

Fenway Park

Two Red Sox fans

Nance and Cath on the dock

Rob and Nance left after breakfast and since we now had extended our stay till Saturday we had plenty of time to explore the city on foot and also the Hop on/off tour buses.

On the tour bus

The Boston frog pond

Louisburg Square, Beacon Hill

Boston Public Garden; Boston Common

Old Ironsides

The oldest naval vessel still floating

Having a dinghy on board also allowed us to see Boston in a different way. Just 100 yards from Constitution Marina are the locks into the Charles River. We launched the dink, blew our horn and the locks opened up.

Charles River lock

Sailing on the Charles River

Harvard Boat House

Exiting the Charles River with a tour boat

Boston from Boston Harbor

History being what it is, mistakes are often made and perpetuated over the years. We all learned about the Battle of Bunker Hill. However most of the battle actually took place on Breeds Hill, adjacent to Bunker Hill. Although Bunker Hill was a defeat for the colonists it was a positive in that they realized they could defeat the British and as such became more unified and defiant. A quote attributed to Brigadier General, Nathanael Greene goes “I wish I could sell them another hill at the same price”.

Bunker Hill Monument on Breeds Hill

Saturday eventually came and our time in Boston was over. At 7AM we sadly un-cleated our lines and headed out of Boston Harbor.

Heading out of Boston Harbor; First mate ably handling the lines

We had 70 miles before us, thru the Cape Cod Canal and down Buzzards Bay. Like most of the month of July the seas were calm and flat as we cruised down the Massachusetts coast. That is until we exited the canal and entered Buzzards Bay. There the wind was blowing stink and the chop was short and steep. We only had 15 miles to travel on the bay till our anchorage near Woods Hole. We had to anchor outside the spot we wanted due to the numerous boats. This put us uncomfortably close to a rocky shore and when this storm approached I grew concerned but it passed over us and the anchor held.

Approaching storm

The following day was a quick motor to Cuttyhunk Island. Cuttyhunk is the outermost of the Elizabeth Islands and quite pretty. It has a very nice beach.

Cuttyhunk public dock

Cuttyhunk

The beach

On to Rhode Island. On our cruise to West Barrington RI, where Big Smile would spend a few weeks we made one stop. Instead of heading up the Newport side of the peninsula coming off of Rhode Island Sound we instead went up the Sakonnet River, stopping at Third Beach. It was a very nice, relaxing beach and a comfortable anchorage.

Tuesday the 26th had us pulling into Brewer Cove Haven Marina in West Barrington RI. Here Big Smile sits waiting for us to return in a few days. The reason for the respite was simple. We had rented a house on Lake George for two weeks and we needed a safe and secure marina that didn’t charge Boston prices.

On to the lake. Having sold my share of our lake house last fall we decided to rent on the east side for the first time. Last winter on VRBO we found and reserved a house big enough for our kids and their friends. Unfortunately Andrew and Tara both changed jobs within a couple of weeks of each other in late spring. In addition Tara moved to Baltimore. She could take no time and Andrew could grab only a few days. So we had a big, comfortable house mostly to ourselves.

Andrew and Taylor

On the dock of our rental house

But all was good as four of our dear friends were also up and we got to spend quality time together. Bob, Tibby, John and Marion motored up and across the lake to have dinner with us on the “sunny” side. It was a wonderful time.

John and Marion also stayed with us for a couple of days before taking their own rental. John’s boat, “Moonshadow” was put to good use as the weather continued to be near perfect. Two weeks of steady south wind and temps in the 80’s only ended on our last day of rental.

Hiking up Anthony’s Nose

We also attended a concert at Silver Bay on Lake George. “The Lonely Heartstring Band”, a bluegrass group that John and Marion had seen in Manchester VT, played a free 1.5 hour concert. They were great musicians.

The Lonely Heartstring Band

It was a fun two weeks at the lake. We are back in Vermont till Thursday. Lots of outdoor items to attend to. Our lobster buoy’s are in place and the planting is complete. So ends the month of July and half of August.

June 2016 cruising “Down East”

We left Maine Yacht Center on a beautiful, sunny morning and motored to our first fuel stop of the year. DiMillo’s Marina in the center of the Portland waterfront operates a 24/7 fuel dock where you can tie up before opening hours and pump your own diesel. We needed 500 gallons and as long as the credit card works it’s an easy operation. This is the only self service station we have come across.

Fueled and nearly 4000 lbs heavier we are on our way “down east” for six weeks. In two days we will pick up Barry and Rebecca at the town dinghy dock in Boothbay Harbor. Boothbay is an easy trip from Portland and the anchorage is large. Our rendezvous is easy. Our guests know the routine having spent a week with us in the Bahamas two years ago. The weather proves to be typically Maine-ish, breezy and cool in the mornings but the sun came out every afternoon. Unlike the Bahamas there would be no swimming but the hiking and kayaking was superb. So was the eating.

Boothbay Harbor

Barry and Rebecca

Our first anchorage was The Basin. A perfect hurricane hole with a Nature Conservancy trail easily accessible from the dinghy.

Denny Reed Trail; Basin Preserve

A few hours away in another beautiful anchorage was the Indiantown Preserve. Indiantown Island comprises 60 acres, 27 that have been preserved and 33 still private but accessible via an easement. It’s a beautiful hike with many birds.

Indiantown Preserve

Bird watching

I have to mention an app that Barry had on his phone. It is the Cornell Labs “Merlin Bird ID” app and it was fascinating. I downloaded it to my phone and recommend it to all who hike or just like to be able to identify and “talk” to birds.

Their several days with us ended too quickly and we continued down east. Our first stop was at the head of the John’s River, 8 miles north of the famous Pemaquid Point Lighthouse. We liked this anchorage so much we stayed three nights. The villages of Pemaquid and New Harbor lie near the mouth of John’s Bay. The history of Pemaquid mirrors that of many late 1600’s and early1700’s towns. Wars, indians, and disease took their toll and towns that flourished one year were gone the next. Pemaquid was a classic example. In 1729 a group of approximately 200 Scotch-Irish settlers arrived. Ironically this is the same year that my McDowell family arrived. Some remains of the old foundations are preserved and part of the fort was replicated. A link to additional information on the fort is here. There is a public dinghy dock which provides access to the museum, the town, and also a great casual restaurant which shares the dock. We made two dinghy trips to visit and enjoyed area and the food.

Pemaquid oysters

Top of fort overlooking Johns Bay

Pemaquid Beach

Anchored on Johns River

July 2nd and we are tied up at Dysarts Marina. June ended superbly. From Johns River we travelled downeast anchoring in Maple Juice Cove for a night. While not overly scenic and reminding us of the Chesapeake it did provide us easy access to a well known site, the “Olson House”. It was here in 1948, that Andrew Wyeth painted his famous, Christina’s World. The Olson House would occupy Wyeth from 1939 to 1968. It is now owned by the Farnsworth Art Museum. I visited the house in 2005 as part of my week long photography course at the Maine Media College.

Olson House 2005

Olson House 2016

On to Rockland for a night. This funky town on the western shore of West Penobscot Bay is a great stop for boaters with an active community and some very good restaurants.

Rockland skyline

Camden is another town on the western shore and one we had never visited on Big Smile. The anchorage is small and tight so we took a mooring outside the inner harbor. Camden is a beautiful, upscale Maine town. Gorgeous homes and inns, fantastic restaurants and a harbor packed with classic schooners both replicas and originals.

Kayaking Camden Harbor

Camden Harbor Schooners

So far we have had fantastic weather. And to our surprise it kept on coming. After Camden it was back to what many describe as the most beautiful anchorage in all of Maine. We would agree. Seal Bay, on the eastern side of Penobscot Island, is a winding, tight and very protected body of water. The tricky entrance is strewn with lobster pots and approaching at low tide, as we did, requires slow and careful navigation. Inside the small bay are several places to anchor. We had dropped the hook here in 2014 on our initial voyage to Maine and headed for the same spot.

Seal Bay at low tide

Seal Bay

Seal Bay rainbow

On to Isle au Haut. Located approximately 15 miles from Acadia, Isle au Haut is a 13 square mile piece of land in Penobscot Bay. 60% of the land is actually part of Acadia National Park. With a population of 73 (2010 census), Isle au Haut, like most Maine islands, is accessible only by boat. We anchored off Kimball Island to the west and dinghy’d in to the town dock. Acadia National Park maintains 18 miles of trails but unfortunately for us the anchorage on the south side of the island doesn’t accommodate boats of our size. The bulk of the trails begin there. We still managed a several mile hike from our dinghy landing.

Hiking the beautiful wooded trails

Life moves slow on Isle au Haut

Continuing on our slow trek to Bar Harbor we next stopped at Swan’s Island. There are several anchorages to chose from and we spent our first night in Burnt Coat Harbor.

Before arriving at Burnt Coat we made a lunch stop at Marshall Island. The Ed Woodsum Preserve encompasses all of the 985 acre island. It is one of the largest undeveloped islands on the eastern seaboard. The trust has developed 10 miles of hiking trials but the real allure is the spectacular sand beach on the southeast corner. Sand Cove is exposed to the ocean swells so a day stop is all that is recommended. What a beach it is. Soft, fine sand and crystal clear water.

Anchored at Sand Cove

Adding to our collection

Swan’s Island, named after James Swan of Fife, Scotland is a lobstering community with a year round population of 332 (2010 census). There is only one general store which we never found. Our second night we moved around to the northwest side and anchored in Mackerel Cove. The ferry dock is located here and the large cove has a number of summer homes.

Buying lobster in Burnt Coat Harbor

Burnt Coat Harbor light on Hockamock Point

We ended June in Bar Harbor on Mount Desert Island. In 2015 we based ourselves out of Southwest Harbor but never motored over to Bar Harbor. We did make several car trips to the town last year. Bar Harbor is a big summer destination. Way too touristy for me. We were meeting up with our friends Kobus and Susie from NJ who were doing a Maine car trip. I did not want to anchor in the main harbor so instead we went around the “bar” and picked up a mooring from the College of the Atlantic.

Approaching Bar Harbor; yes that’s a cruise ship

Schooner in the mist

Cadillac Mountain

Cadillac Mountain is located in Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island. With an elevation of 1528′ it is the highest peak within 25 miles of the shoreline of the North American continent from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and Mexican peaks 180 miles south of the Texas border. The park itself is a 47,000 acre recreation area with many miles of trails and carriage roads for hiking. The views from many of its peaks are stunning. We spent a full day in the park with our friends and also ate some delicious lobster at C-Ray Lobster.

Roadside lobster roll

Coincidentally our Bar Harbor visit was the same week as the Acadia School of Traditional Music & Arts being held at the College of the Atlantic. The College of the Atlantic is a very small, +- 350 students, college with one self-designed major. Human Ecology. Located on a beautiful 38 acre campus the college admitted its first class in 1972. This was the 4th year hosting the week long Acadia School or Trad school as it is commonly called. During the week the school puts on many concerts and we were able to buy tickets for two of them. The first we saw was held at Gates Auditorium on the campus. We were treated to “Trad Blend”. Riley Baugus, a Clawhammer banjo player from North Carolina and David Greely a four-time Grammy Award nominee fiddle player performed individually. The last performers were Maeve Gilchrist and Nic Gareiss. Maeve is a Scottish born harpist who studied at Berkeley School of Music. Nic is a world class percussive dancer. They perform together several times a year and it was sensational. The three hour show was amazing and included performances by two young fiddle players.

The following day we attended an afternoon concert at St John’s Church in Southwest Harbor. We were treated to Matt and Shannon Heaton (guitar and flute), brother and sister duo Dan and Liz Faiella (guitar and fiddle) and Sean Heely a young Scottish fiddle master. A wonderful show featuring many traditional, Scottish and Irish, jigs and reels.

Gates Auditorium

St. John’s Church, Southwest Harbor

So the month of June has ended. We are in for a glorious 4th of July weekend. Time to get outside.

First post for 2016

We are finally back on board Big Smile. Drove over from VT late last week and spent a couple of days unpacking and cleaning up from a winter of storage. We are sitting at the dock in Portland, Maine waiting for numerous items to be completed by the marina staff. It’s been a long time since we dropped her off at Maine Yacht Center and we are both anxious to get underway. However, it will take about a week for the marina techs to finish all of the maintenance and upgrade items.

It was a good winter albeit lacking in snow. We kept busy and had numerous friends and relatives up for holidays and simply to enjoy Vermont.

I will try to recap the last few months as they were extremely enjoyable. Photos will do it best.

Thanksgiving was spent at my cousin Nancy’s beautiful home in CT.

Christmas was a wonderful repeat of last year except without the snow. Cath’s two brothers arrived with their families. Last year we hiked in the cold and snow. This year; well as the pics below show it was neither snowy nor cold. In fact it was in the 70’s on Christmas day.

New Years was again spent at The Landgrove Inn. The owner Tom, and his awesome staff, including our fav Karl made the event special.

Jim and Robin made it north.

As did Rob and Nancy

And Andrew and Taylor

Cath and Deb

A day at the office

Cath with her Green Mountain Ladies (photo by H. Schreibl)

Chili cook-off day in Middlebury

In February we escaped to Miami for the big boat show

In March we escaped again over to Portland for a weekend of good food and music. Very coincidently our hotel was hosting a visit by Donald Trump on the morning we checked out.

In early April, to end the winter that really wasn’t, we made a two week road trip to Charleston, SC. Our travels south took us first

To New York

Then DC to visit Andrew and see his new apartment.

To Morgantown WV to visit my Aunt and Uncle. Below is the New River Gorge bridge.

To Asheville, NC

To a beautiful wedding in Charleston.

And a few additional VT photos.

West River Trail

Rails to Trails

Billsville House Concert

Bennington VT

Base of Ball Mountain Dam

Our next door neighbor, Dana, celebrating a birthday with Cath

And now we are in Maine at the Maine Yacht Center

Big Smile under the rainbow

Last Post for 2015

The last four days of August found us island hopping west of Southwest Harbor. A couple of anchorages had been recommended by cruisers we had met in the summer. Hells Half Acre was one of the them. We loved the name and the anchorage. The kayaking around the various islands surrounding the anchorage was superb as was the weather. As often happens in Maine we were joined by two beautiful sailboats.

Anchored at Hells Half Acre

Anchorage shared with two classic sailboats

A body of water well associated with Maine is called Eggemoggin Reach. In 1985 the Eggemoggin Reach Regatta began and it has grown to over 100 boats. It is a wooden sailboat Regatta held in early August and I have been told it is an amazing event. Maybe we’ll get to see it in 2016. We did get to cruise under the bridge and down the reach. Few boats were out on the water but it was a nice cruise.

Buckle Island had also been recommended and it would be our last anchorage before leaving Big Smile at Dysarts for nearly six weeks. The island is uninhabited and has a path around the perimeter. Along the way we came upon numerous “fairy houses” as they are called by some. Someone has spent considerable time building tiny stick homes tucked into notches of trees, under rock outcroppings and other locations. A door to the path was also built although the door is now on the ground.

Fairy house

No key needed

Back to Dysart’s Marina and off to visit Tara in Peru. While this blog mostly follows Big Smiles travels I couldn’t leave out photos from our 14 days in Peru. It was a fascinating trip and Tara was a perfect guide for the ten days she was able to spend with us. Her Spanish is excellent and so is her ability to bargain. The highlite of the trip was Machu Picchu but the entire trip was well worth it.

Machu Picchu with Huayna Pichu in background

Tara and Cath climbed Machu Picchu Mountain

Our Machu Picchu guide

Machu Picchu

Riding at 11,000 ft in the Andes

Tara’s apartment (upper right)

Her kitchen “yikes”

And her office

Maras salt flats; Salineras de Maras

No comment

Wasn’t all sightseeing

We returned from Peru and it’s now mid October and the colors in Maine are tremendous. We hiked the Acadia Park carriage trails two straight days and really enjoyed the Maine foliage and weather. But weather was on our mind as we had a three day cruise to Portland ahead of us and we knew fall weather on the Maine coast could get rough quickly. So on October 17th we untied from Dysart’s one last time and headed west. Dysart’s Marina had already started removing their outer docks and most pleasure boats had left. Only two trawlers remained when we returned from Peru, Big Smile and a much bigger Nordhavn. Most of the remaining boats were working lobster boats including the boat pictured “Jennifer Lynn”.

Jennifer Lynn across from Big Smile

Dysart’s in the fall

Beautiful sunrise

Acadia carriage trail

Acadia Park

The trip to Portland was cold but uneventful. Temperatures dipped to 34 degrees our two nights at anchor but the heat worked and it was fine. The wind blew hard the last full day but we hugged the coast and avoided any nasty fetch. I just received an email from the marina in Portland and Big Smile is inside for the winter. Good place to be as a gale is blowing off the Maine coast as I write. 2015 was a busy and adventurous year. Looking forward to 2016.

Back in Maine

Well it took us twelve days to cruise from St Peters to Southwest Harbor, Maine. Leaving Bras d’Or Lake the same way we arrived we transitted the St Peters lock/canal on a beautiful day and followed a sloop on thru. Since the weather was cooperating we decided to make it a long day. So eleven hours later we inched into a very small anchorage behind Tuffin Island. Desolate and beautiful Tuffin Island is one of those anchorages you want to do in settled weather. It’s tight and narrow with a rocky coastline. The evening was perfect.

Leaving the lake thru St Peters lock

Smooth seas

Gotta love autopilot

Tuffin Island

We awoke to nasty weather. It had been forecast but the change in wind made this anchorage untenable. We knew a protected anchorage lay four hours west so we weighed anchor at 7:30 and left. While it was the right decision to leave this particular anchorage the seas we encountered were the worst in our nearly four years cruising. The wind was a consistent 20 knots but the waves were steep and nasty. I did not want to tax the autopilot and hand-steered the entire way. Four hours standing at the wheel is tiring and we were glad to drop the hook at Tangier Cove and regroup. We ended up staying two nights as the weather did not abate. But on the second morning things looked promising and we pulled out. It was to be another long day but when we pulled into Cub Basin eight hours later we knew we had chosen the perfect spot.

Cub Basin

A trip to Nova Scotia isn’t complete without a visit to Peggy’s Cove. We had been there a month earlier by car but after leaving Cub Basin we cruised up the coast to get a look from the sea. It is definitely a tourist attraction as the crowds onshore attest.

Peggy’s Cove Light

After passing the lighthouse and crossing the bottom of Mahone Bay we turned to starboard and motored into Lunenburg Harbor. The town of Lunenburg became a favorite of ours on the voyage up the coast and another stop on the way back home was essential. The Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic is well worth a visit although the attached aquarium was laughable.

Going out for a Lunenburg dinner

Lunenburg at night

Our last stop before our long run to the states would be Carters Beach. Located approximately 50 miles Northeast of Cape Sable the anchorage offers not only a protected basin but the nicest beaches on Nova Scotia. With real sand! We had been told they rivaled Bahamas Beaches and while I think that’s a stretch they were beautiful. We met two couples on the beach who were traveling on a sailboat together. One couple was from VT. We invited them on board that evening for cocktails and found out they ski (Stowe) in the winter and live onboard in the summer. Sounded familiar.

Carters Beach kite flying

The beach

Big Smile and our new VT friends boat aptly named “Deep Powder”

Two days spent at beautiful Carters Beach was a perfect way to end the Nova Scotia excursion. We had spent 45 days cruising Canada and covered about 1,000 miles. While the weather could have been better we very much enjoyed the trip. The people were all friendly as were the boaters we met along the way. The 27 hour trip back to Southwest Harbor was uneventful. We leave again in about an hour for a few days cruising around the Maine Islands and a stop in Rockland. The weather looks perfect.

Halifax to Bras d’Or Lake

Our last night on Bras d’Or Lake and we are anchored in St Peters a quarter mile from the St Peters Lock. Our plans were to transit the lock today but with 15-20 knot winds and more importantly seas measuring 8 @ 8 we have decided to wait a day for things to settle down in the Atlantic. Anchoring near St Peters Marina is great as the dinghy dock is free and their free wifi reaches out into the harbor with our antenna booster.

The 170 mile trip from Halifax to St Peters took us five days but that includes a rare turn around day. There are numerous anchorages along the route as you make your way up the eastern shore of Nova Scotia. These anchorages however, while protected, offer no services, only a place to drop the hook. The weather was not very cooperative. Cool, overcast, foggy with rain and thunderstorms. Our turn around happened after our second anchorage. We left Liscomb Harbor and headed into the Atlantic. A half mile of pounding convinced us to turn around and drop the hook in Spanish Ship Harbor which is off Liscomb. It was the right move as seas the following day were much nicer.

Picking mussels in Tangier Cove

A fast moving front as we cruise up the coast

We left our last anchorage in Tor Bay just before 7AM. Seven hours later we were transiting the St Peters lock and canal to start our two weeks cruising the lake. The lock, completed in 1869, connects the Canso Straight and Atlantic Ocean with the lake. It is the only “double” gate tidal lock in North America. The double gates are required to compensate for the difference in the timing of the tides between the lake and the ocean.

St Peters Lock and Canal

Locking thru with the sailboat “Second Sally”

Swing bridge on opposite end of canal opens as we approach

We started our Bras d’Or Lake adventure in St Peters just as we are now ending it. Bras d’Or Lake is really an inland sea. It’s water is partially fresh and partially salt. The lake is enormous. It measures roughly 62 miles long, 31 miles wide and has a maximum depth of over 900 feet. Fortunately for boaters the depths in the many coves average only 15 to 30 feet. And better still the holding is glue-like mud. As I write this the wind is howling and spinning Big Smile on its axis but our anchor has not budged.

Our goal was to explore some of the small anchorages in the lake but also spend some time in Baddeck and rent a car. Baddeck is the counties “Shire Town”, or administrative seat and is home to the Bras d’Or Yacht Club. The four days we picked to spend in Baddeck coincided with the annual Bra d’Or Yacht Club Regatta. This week long event starts with an opening day boat parade. We happened to be anchored right in the middle of the event. They did not ask us to move, they just sailed around us.

The opening day parade

Front row seats for us

Lighthouse on Kidston Island protecting Baddeck anchorage

We both really enjoy Scottish and Irish fiddle music and step dancing. We were thrilled to attend our first Ceilidh (pronounced Kaylee). Ceilidh is Gaelic for a gathering or social event involving music and often dancing. Our first Ceilidh was in Baddeck and featured Buddy MacDonald and Howie MacDonald. They are not related. A small room in an old church hall has been holding the Baddeck gatherings for years. It was great music and fun.

A Ceilidh

Also in Baddeck Cath decided to give paddle boarding a try. An hour on the board and I think she liked it.

First time on a paddle board

After leaving Baddeck we slowly traveled to Ben Eoin Marina where we left Big Smile for a couple of days while we explored the Cabot Trail by car. I had not driven the trail in 40 years. It is spectacular scenery with several links golf resorts along the way. The Keltic Lodge is one of them.

View from Keltic Lodge

Hiking the lodge property

Although the 185 mile Cabot Trail is paved many of the Cape Breton roads are unpaved and many still turn into un-passable dirt paths. We managed to turn our rented Ford Fusion into an off-road vehicle.

On the dirt

A beautiful country road

On the western coast of Cape Breton is the Celtic Shores Coastal Trail. It is an old rail bed now a mixed use, 57 mile shoreline trail. We hiked only a few miles of it but we will return someday. It is gorgeous.

Celtic Shores Trail

View from the trail

We stayed at the Duncreigan Inn for one night. It is in Mabou home of the Red Shoe Pub. The pub is owned by the Rankin family, a well know music family. We had dinner at the Red Shoe but for entertainment we drove five miles to the Glenora Distillery. There, a fiddler and piano player entertained us in the bar.

A must stop 30 miles or so south of Mabou is the Celtic Music Interpretive Center. It is part restaurant and part museum. We ate lunch and listened to two fantastic musicians.

Celtic Music Interpretive Center

A long drive back to Ben Eoin Marina and our car trip was over. But since it was Friday night “wing night” at the marinas bar/lounge it also included a rocking fiddler and guitarist. Great way to end the marina stay.

Ben Eoin Marina

It’s 4:30 in the afternoon, the wind is still piping and boats come and go. We will leave tomorrow and catch the first lock opening at 8AM. With luck the winds and seas will have subsided.

The Cape Breton experience has rekindled my Scottish heritage research. Tens of thousands of Scots came over in the 17 and 1800’s. Cath and I have never seen so many Mac’s and Mc’s.

One of thousands

My father would approve

Firinneach

Nova Scotia: Shelburne, Lunenburg, Halifax

We left Southwest Harbor, Maine on July 10. We crossed the Gulf of Maine and pulled into Shelburne, Nova Scotia. The trip took exactly 24 hours. The weather cooperated and we had very smooth seas and light winds. Cath took her usual 8PM to midnight shift and said it was uneventful. However my shift got very busy at about 3AM. In the span of two hours no fewer than eight southbound sailboats crossed my path. Two encounters required course changes. These boats, it turns out, were returning to their respective ports having just competed in the Marblehead to Halifax race. It was fun to track them all on radar.

Shelburne is an official maritime port of entry into Canada. The Shelburne Yacht Club assists visiting boaters by allowing them to tie up at the fuel dock to contact Canadian customs. Our call went very smoothly. Often they will come to the boat and inspect you but we received our document number over the phone and were done.

We anchored in Shelburne Harbor for two nights. Shelburne is a small but beautiful hamlet founded in 1783. Many of its building date to 18th century. It still has an active fishing industry and shipbuilding industry.

Sunrise on the Atlantic

Shelburne, NS

Shelburne Yacht Club

Big Smile at anchor in Shelburne Harbor

Lunenburg was our next port of call as we began our slow crawl up the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia. The eleven hour trip was again perfect with no wind and smooth seas. We did have the thrill of seeing many Minke whales. One we almost hit but at the last second it dove under the bow. I was not able to photograph any of them but below is a pic from the web. This is what we saw; back and fin only as they briefly surfaced.

Minke Whale

Cath on the lookout for whales

Lunenburg is a town of fair size with a population more than double that of Shelburne. The harbor has plenty of room to anchor and is fairly well protected. Founded in 1753, Lunenburg was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. The town is replete with restaurants and shops many in historic buildings. The town has been a factor in many wars from the early 1700’s through WWII. The Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic is here and the replica schooner “Bluenose II” is operated by the museum and based here. On our second day in port we watched the Bluenose depart. Turns out it left for Halifax, our next port of call, and we would be its neighbor on the Halifax piers.

Bluenose II

Charter boat “Eastern Star” passes Big Smile

Lunenburg is also home to the Canadian Dory Racing Association. Below is the fascinating history of this Association and its sister club in Gloucester MA.

In 1951, Lloyd Heisler of Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia and Tom Frontiero of Gloucester, Massachusetts, met in a bar in Lunenburg. They began a conversation that turned into a debate about which dory rowers from which fishing town were the superior rowers. They decided that the only way to settle the matter was to challenge each other to a race. Tom took the idea of this challenge with him back to Gloucester and the process of the International Dory races had begun.
In June of 1952, Lloyd and his dory mate arrived in Gloucester, Massachusetts to settle the bet. Although the race did go to the Canadian team, the competition and comradery that developed between the two fishing towns could not be forgotten. Every June since 1952, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia sends their best teams of rowers from each category to race against their American counterparts in Gloucester, and every August since 1952, Gloucester teams take their turn coming to Lunenburg to race in Canadian waters. This year will mark the 63rd anniversary of dory racing and the tradition is still going strong. These past 63 years has continued to strengthen the bond between these two fishing towns, and every year we once again look forward to some fun and competition with our American friends. Dory racing is a part of our heritage and we hope to continue this tradition many years into the future.

Lunenburg dory

We loved the town and will stop again on our return to the states.

Fog. We weighed anchor at 6:30AM in pea soup fog. With our fog horn automatically blasting every two minutes we crept past Battery Point light house and down the bay to the Atlantic. The fog remained and we navigated the six hour trip by radar and chart plotter. As we approached Halifax harbor the fog lifted slightly but than returned not lifting till we were just off the commercial piers.

Halifax Harbor

Three masted charter boat in the fog

The next couple of days would bring near perfect weather and no fog. Our pier assignment was also perfect. There is no real marina on the waterfront and a development group runs the piers and assigns the berths. As luck has it we were berthed next to Bluenose II. We were also the smallest boat berthed. About a half mile down the waterfront are the cruise ship berths. In for two days was the Queen Mary 2 prior to departing for Southampton England.

Halifax is a small, manageable city with a population just under a half million. Named after the Earl of Halifax it was founded in 1749. The harbor is the heart of the city but also saw one of the greatest Canadian disasters in history. Know as the Halifax Explosion, this catastrophe occurred on December 6, 1917. The SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo ship fully loaded with wartime explosives collided with the Norwegian vessel SS Imo. The French ship caught on fire igniting her cargo and causing a cataclysmic explosion. More than 2000 people were killed and over 9000 injured. The blast was the largest man-made explosion prior to the development of nuclear weapons.

Aftermath of Halifax explosion

The current city is a major cultural center. It retains its maritime and military traditions and is home to a sizable Canadian navy. Fort George located on Citadel Hill was first fortified in 1749. The Citadel was never defeated because it was never attacked. The story told is that numerous commanders including General George Washington spied on the fort but declined to attack due to its impenetrable design.

78th Highlanders Regiment of Foot re-enactment

The waterfront is the heart of the city on the weekends and we really enjoyed the crowds and show.

Big Smile dwarfed by Bluenose II in foreground

The Halifax Public Gardens are a must see. Established in 1867 the Victorian style formal gardens encompass 16 acres. The original bandstand, circa 1887, was built to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee and still stands today.

1867 bandstand

In the gardens

Berthed at Museum wharf we had a really short walk to the Maritime Museum. It is a fascinating museum with scale models, full size boats, and exhibits about the Halifax explosion, the Cunard family (Cunard Lines) and other historical events.

Big Smile from inside the Maritime Museum

Farmers Market

We rented a car for a day and drove to Peggy’s Cove, a picturesque cove an hour from Halifax. I was last there 40 years ago and tourism has taken over. It’s still a nice landscape and cove.

Peggy’s Cove lighthouse

On the road to Peggy’s Cove

The cove

Exploring the coastal towns

We leave tomorrow and won’t see another marina for at least a week. Our last night in town will probably find us at The Old Triangle Irish Ale House. There is a band playing tonight who we caught a couple of days ago.

Big Smile

Southwest Harbor, Maine

We never would have thought that seven weeks could go so fast. We arrived Memorial Weekend and now several days after July 4th we are finally letting go the dock lines and departing Dysart’s Marina. It’s been a wonderful experience.

Mount Desert Island or MDI is a diverse island with friendly people, great food and an incredible shoreline. Acadia National Park located on MDI is a gem in the National Park Service system. We bought a year pass that allowed us to visit the park and use all of the facilities whenever we like. We took advantage of the pass as often as possible. The numerous hiking trails are well marked and incredibly scenic. There are miles of carriage trails available only for foot traffic and horse drawn carriages. Many of the hiking trails hug the granite cliffs and rarely do you find a fence blocking access to the cliff edge. We downloaded an App that provided running commentary as we drove the 24 mile perimeter route that culminated on Cadillac Mountain. We found June to be a perfect month to visit. Cool weather, perfect for hiking, no bugs and few visitors. With a year pass to use we will be back for a few more hikes in the year ahead.

Beech Mountain Fire Tower

View of Southwest Harbor, Somes Sound and Cranberry Isles from St Sauveur Mountain

View of Southwest Harbor and Cranberry Isles from St Sauveur Mountain

Cath at the edge of Cadillac Mountain

Bar Harbor in the background from the top of Cadillac Mountain

June was not all land based exploring. One of the reasons for planning a month in Maine was to have a couple of shake down cruises. Big Smile spent a winter on the hard at Hinckley in Southwest Harbor. She had never been out of the water for more than a month prior to this winter. We knew some of her systems would need attending to but what we did not plan on was the repairs that would be necessary due to shoddy work by Hinckley.

The first problem noted was our non-working inverter. We rely on our house bank of batteries and our “Outback” brand inverter to provide 120 volt AC from our 24 volt DC system. While our genset handles most of the AC loads and all of the 230 volt load it only runs a couple of hours a day. The inverter needs to work and it was not working. I hired a tech from Outback and he discovered that two of our six house batteries had been disconnected and in fact had suffered a collapse. These are special AGM “Absorbed Glass Mat” batteries and are quite pricey. Replacing the two batteries and properly reconnecting the system fixed the inverter issue.

Our first trip out was a five hour down east run to Mistake Island. This pristine anchorage is noted for its seal population and as we were the only boat in the small anchorage we had a front row view. They seem almost human as they lie about on the small islands at low tide, grunting and playing the day away. As the tide rises it becomes feeding time and dozens swam around us.

Seals at Mistake Island

A curious Seal

Moose Peak Lighthouse on Mistake Island

While lowering the large Delta anchor Cath noticed that the port chain wheel on the dual capstan appeared to be spinning off. She was operating the starboard side, the side that had been repaired. Fortunately there is a device called a stripper that keeps the chain wheel from falling off. However we did not want to strain the system so the next morning we weighed anchor and cruised back to Southwest Harbor. Hinckley came by a couple of days later and fixed the problem.

The last problem was one that really bothered us. The bimini had been removed by Hinckley in the fall to facilitate the lowering of the electronics mast. In the process they bent the stern bimini support. When the bimini was installed by us, (should have been re-installed by Hinckley) it now had a huge belly in the one year old fabric. We decided to take another one day cruise to check out more systems. This cruise, up the beautiful Somes Sound was a delight. However, during the night a deluge of rain came through dropping possibly an inch overnite. In the morning we heard a loud bang as we sat in the pilot house. The bang was our entire bimini collapsing under the weight of the collected water.

Back at the dock with a collapsed bimini

Hinckley was contacted and told to fix the mess.

Fortunately for us we had planned to get to our house at Lake George for two weeks leading up to July 4th. That gave them time to fabricate new stainless supports and make any other repairs to the system that were required.

At the lake: The main reason for the lake trip was to see our next door neighbor and help another friend launch his sailboat. The weather cooperated and the launch was successful. We managed to get in a couple of fantastic sails pitting our neighbors Capri 18 vs our friends Capri 22. Perfect weather and perfect company. The 22 always won but no-one cared.

Bob’s family grinning as they pass us

Andrew and Mitch managed to join us for a couple of days and we sailed and fished in that short period of time. Mitch easily won our informal fishing contest.

A fabulous rainbow

The winner

Back On Board in Southwest Harbor Maine

It’s been many months since the last post. Big Smile spent the winter safely huddled indoors at the Hinckley yard in Southwest Harbor Maine. The Hinckley yard is enormous. The waterfront site is where boats are stored and maintained. Their manufacturing site is inland about 30 minutes away. According to the locals it was a brutal winter so indoor storage turned out to be a good investment. That said, despite Hinckley’s pristine reputation, I am not happy with their service. From what I have been told by several boat owners and a marina manager, the Hinckley operation suffered through a couple of debt ridden takeovers. Staff was cut and morale suffered. There are new owners now and improvements are being made but damage was done. They are busy however turning out new boats, a testament to an improved economy for some.

Indoors at Hinckley

Our many months ashore were very busy. We got to spend some time at Lake George and more importantly time with our friends Bob and Tibby and John and Marion. Bob and John each have sailboats on the bay and fall sailing is a delight. Bob also has a deck boat and his “toe dipper” cruise helped celebrate our wedding anniversary.

John and Cath sailing Moonshadow.

Toe Dipper cruise

Inspiration Point with John and Marion

After closing up Lake George we returned to Vermont for the balance of the fall and winter. While some dread the winter we enjoy it. This season Vermont was blessed with over 150 inches of snow. This made for some awesome skiing and snowmobiling. Temperatures remained below freezing the entire winter so the snow just kept on piling up, at least here in the northeast. Elsewhere, like Colorado and other parts west, it was a different story. Snow was scarce.

Unfortunately Cath broke her ankle at Smugglers Notch the first week in January. Since we had a 10 day trip planned to Colorado she had one goal. Recuperation. The doctor said it would take about six weeks to heal enough to ski and that was enough time to allow her to ski on vacation. But she missed some great skiing back east.

At the top of Snowmass

Elevation 12,500′

After a week of skiing at Snowmass with Tara and Andrew they returned home and we continued on to our friends home in Breckenridge. Jim and Beth we had met the year before in the Exumas. They are also skiers and their home has an awesome view of the Breckenridge slopes. It was a fun three days and we thank them.

Jim and Beth cooking for us

Life after skiing

On a more somber note, while we were skiing at Breckenridge we learned that John and Marion’s son Matt had a tragic accident in Tahoe. He hit a chairlift stanchion and broke vertebrae resulting in paralysis from the chest down. As of this writing he, with the help of countless friends and family, is slowly recovering and adapting to a completely different way of life. Cath and I wish him the best.

Matt and his mom

For a few years now my “employer” Stratton Mountain has held a 24 hour charity ski event. This year I decided to join the Resort Host team. While I was sick as a dog that week and was not much help to my teammates we finished in the middle of the pack. Not bad considering how small our team was.

Resort Host Team

Early AM shift for me

So the winter ended and April arrived. In order to avoid some of the “mud” season in Vermont we planned a trip to Spain with a quick first stop in Portugal. It was a fantastic 15 day tour. All of the 23 tour mates were great and Antonio, the full time tour guide, was superb. Lot’s of photos here.

Tour groups last supper

Before leaving Vermont for Big Smile we decided to pull the trigger on a large home project. It will include an addition and land clearing to provide views of the Green Mountains across the West River valley. The land clearing started two weeks prior to our leaving so we were able to get an idea of what the cleared view will be.

The land clearing starts

This machine does the heavy work

So we are now on Big Smile for the next six months or more. We will spend a month at Dysart’s Marina in Southwest Harbor. Since we have a car we will also do lots of land exploring. Southwest Harbor is located on Mt. Desert Island (MDI), home of Acadia National Park. Acadia is the oldest national park east of the Mississippi and was originally named Lafayette National Park. In the fall of 1604 Samuel de Champlain observed the island and named it Mt Desert.

The season here in Maine starts late and ends early. We launched before Memorial weekend and maybe 5 percent of the boats were in the water. Each day more Hinckleys splash and many come to Dysart’s Marina for a couple of days before moving on to their summer destination. It’s a beautiful parade of classic sail and new Hinckley power boats.

Classic Friendship sloop. The 1899 Alice E

1966 Hinckley across the dock

Foggy morning on the dock

Hiking Acadia along “Ships Harbor”

Nantucket to Southwest Harbor Maine

We dropped the Nantucket Moorings pennant and left the harbor for the five hour run to Naushon Island. Part of the Elizabeth Islands, Naushon has been owned by the Forbes family for over 150 years. On the northern end, across from Woods Hole, are two anchorages providing excellent holding and protection. We chose the outer less sheltered anchorage knowing the weather was completely benign. This anchorage also afforded an easy trip to the Cape Cod Canal entrance. We wanted to catch slack tide on the canal as currents can run upwards of 4.5 knots.

Kayaking in Hadley Harbor.

Cape Cod canal provides easy access to Cape Cod Bay and Massachusetts Bay. It also eliminates approximately 135 miles of potentially treacherous waters around the Cape. The idea for the canal dates to the early 1600’s. Numerous planning attempts were made thru the 18th and 19th centuries but it was not until 1914 that the canal opened on a limited basis. This past summer the canal celebrated its centennial. The canal is only 7 miles long but approximately 14,000 trips are made each year.

Approaching the only lift bridge on the canal

Once through the canal our destination was Provincetown. Cape Cod Bay was like a pond for the 22 mile crossing. While it was great for us it was not so good for the classic yacht regatta being run that day in Provincetown Harbor.

Provincetown Regatta

We were hoping to drop the anchor behind the Provincetown jetty but there is barely room to motor through. We instead called the harbor master who directed us to call Provincetown marina. They operate most of the mooring balls and had one available for our size boat. You can’t beat the location. They also provide free and very prompt launch service. We enjoyed the area so we ended up staying three nights.

At mooring in PTown

Provincetown is one of those places difficult to describe. It is liberal, colorful and fun. It also has beautiful beaches and great dining. Many people find it hokey and touristy but we had not been there in over two decades and enjoyed our stay immensely. One of my cousins has lived on the Cape for many years and joined us on board for cocktails. We than took the launch in and ate at the restaurant owned by his wifes family. The Lobster Pot is an institution and always crowded. But being family there was no wait.

Me and cousin Doug

Cape Cod National Seashore is part of the National Park Service. With nearly 40 miles of beach and over 40,000 acres to explore the park is rich in history and beauty. Biking is a great way to see PTown and there is a bike trail within the park that is a must ride. We rented two bikes for the day and rode to the beaches and throughout the park. We also did lots of walking and discovered some unique shops in addition to the very unique clientele of PTown. Being a beautiful weekend in early September the ferries were packed with visitors and the streets were crowded. My cousin gave us a primer on the various parties and weekends that occur in PTown including Baby Dykes and Bear Week. We easily could have stayed a week.

Riding in the National Park

A very unique metal shop

Downtown

We left early Sunday morning with Gloucester MA as our destination. Arriving at 2PM we had hoped to drop a hook in this harbor but like PTown we thought it too full of moored boats. Instead we called the Harbormaster and he had one mooring left that could handle our size so we grabbed it. A gritty working class town Gloucester lays claim to being the oldest American seaport and birthplace of the US fishing industry. Gorton’s has been a Gloucester institution since 1849. The waterfront is varied with the inner harbor completely commercial and the outer harbor surrounded by homes and marinas. We spent two nights and on the second night we were treated to one of the most spectacular sunsets we had seen all year.

Gloucester sunset

Gloucester Gig Rowers

It would be all Maine after leaving Gloucester. Kittery was our first Maine stop. Due east of Portsmouth NH Kittery claims to be the oldest incorporated (1647) town in Maine. Badger’s Island, part of Kittery and located on the Piscataqua River, was an important shipbuilding center during the American Revolution. The very first vessels of the US Navy were constructed here including the 1777 USS Ranger commanded by John Paul Jones. We anchored in the shadow of Fort McClary located at the mouth of the Piscatagua River.

Fort McClary

Kittery coastline

Twenty five miles up the coast is Cape Porpoise. Touted as a good short term stop we steered for the harbor entrance. Entering was not simple as expected due to the narrow channel and scores of lobster buoys. I’ll never begrudge someone making a living but our first three days in Maine found us saying there has to be a method to the madness. There just can’t be that many lobsters for the taking and there has to be some sort of regulation stating you can’t completely block an entrance channel with lobster pots. We did make it in without snagging a pot but once inside the harbor we found an anchorage completely encumbered by private moorings. We knew the harbor was narrow and planned accordingly. After a couple of attempts we got the hook to grab between some currently unoccupied moorings. We were on a short scope but with the wind out of the NE we felt good about the situation.

We dinghy’d ashore and did some walking. It is a quaint community. It also has several restaurants including one at the main wharf. My tide chart indicated a nine foot range. Dinghying back in for dinner we saw that the tide chart was certainly correct. We parked the dink at the end of the dock and had a great dinner at Pier 77.

Our plan was to leave early the next morning. Unfortunately the wind had shifted 180 degrees during the night and we woke to find ourselves with the stern stuck in the mud. Because we were on short scope my anchor alarm never sounded to notify us of a wind shift. We could not budge Big Smile. It would be three hours before the tide rose enough to lift us out and allow a safe start of the engine.

Dinghy dock at low tide

Cape Porpoise Harbor

DSCN4472

Stuck in the mud

Finally free we beat a path out of the harbor thru the lobster pots. We were now beginning to make good use of of our pilot house. It was a cold and rainy trip to Portland and we pulled into DeMillo’s Old Port Marina mid afternoon. We had a reservation only for one night but managed to cram in a lot of walking and a dinner with Cath’s cousin at the marina restaurant. During our walks we found a wonderful seafood market and an awesome bakery. The weather cleared that evening and by time we let the lines loose the next day it was blue skies again. We enjoyed Portland and will spend more time the next visit.

Shopping for seafood and bread

Leaving Portland Harbor

With scores of anchorages to chose from we decided to set a goal of about 25 miles per day and whatever anchorage fit that goal was fine with us. Leaving Portland we had about 125 miles to Southwest Harbor, our final destination. This meant only four more nights at anchor. Next up was a hurricane hole aptly named “the basin”. Roughly a half mile square the basin is entered thru a narrow, dogleg cut in the Maine granite. Once inside the basin opens up to what looks like a small lake. There are some homes barely visible thru the trees but much of the surrounding land is a preserve. In 2006 an anonymous donor gave 1910 acres to the Nature Conservancy including four miles of coastline. We landed our kayaks at one of the Conservancy’s trail head and hiked thru beautiful woodlands.

Anchored in “The Basin”

Hiking the Conservancy trails

From “the basin” it was on to a much more touristy stop, Boothbay Harbor. While Boothbay Harbor is a nice protected anchorage the town itself reminded us of the NJ shore. If you wanted a t-shirt this was the place.

Anchored in Boothbay Harbor

Our next stop was a nice surprise. We expected to anchor on the outside of Tennants Harbor but instead found a large anchorage just off the harbor called Long Cove. Easily entered and nearly devoid of lobster pots it was perfect. The cove hosts a small fleet of lobster boats who were polite and idled past us in the early morning so as not to create a wake.

Cocktails on the bow waiting for sunset

Sunset looking West

Sunset looking East

Our last anchorage we hoped would be special and it was. The destination was Seal Bay on the south side of Penobscot Island. Penobscot itself is tucked inside Vinalhaven Island and thus is a well protected anchorage. The entrance in is challenging and Maine granite will meet your keel if you are not careful. There is one mooring, ownership unknown but available if unoccupied. We arrived just as a sloop was leaving and so we grabbed it. The surroundings were pristine and we were the only boat. The kayaking was some of the best we had done all year.

Seal Bay

Seal Bay to Hinckley Yachts in Southwest Harbor was bittersweet. We had left Sunset Bay Marina on March 9th and now many months and 1,800 miles later we were dropping Big Smile off for the winter. We chose the Hinckley yard for several reasons. We wanted Big Smile in heated, indoor storage and there are not that many places that can handle a 60′ LOA boat. We needed a place we could trust and also wanted to be able to fly in if necessary to check on her and ready her for next years trip to Canada. With Bar Harbor airport nearby Hinckley fit the bill.

We spent two days unloading and preparing her for the winter. Hinckley would do the heavy lifting ie systems shutdown and long term storage requirements. We packed our rental car and left for VT and the lake.

The last sunset from the Hinckley dock