Off to Kennebunkport where we have spent the night.  The highlight of that passage was the pilot whale sighting!  Not far off of our beam, we watched as he gracefully dove in and out of the calm seas, seemingly oblivious to all of the excitement he incited aboard Abacus.  Even Ollie was at the bow squealing.  The Kennebunk River has a very narrow jetty entrance, and the river channel is wide enough for two boats to pass each other and perhaps 6 feet deep at low tide.   Kennebunkport, as expected, is a cute little tourist town with narrow, winding roads and lots of fun shops to peek into. Many of the shops occupy buildings dating to the late 1700’s and 1800s, so that hand hewn beams are visible in the ceilings.   Other stores are built on pilings to accommodate the tide.  The town fully met everyone’s expectations...........plus, we are pretty sure that we sailed right by "Walker Point" which is the summer home of you-know-who: GHWB.

 

On Tuesday, we continued to York Harbor.  Mr. Donnell’s dock was taken, but his daughter Mary has a dock also just upstream.  We pulled in, where Mary and Mr. Donnell, who is 91, greeted us and helped with lines.  We bought 4 lobsters from Mary and enjoyed them on this last evening in Maine.

 

About an hour out, we were under sail with sunny, warm weather when Debbie tried to throw the gear into reverse to close the prop when  UH OH…the gear would not engage and the shift lever was very “wobbly”.  She called to the ship’s engineers who promptly arrived on deck with their belt-laden tools and they both got to work dismantling the gear lever at the helm.  It turns out that a ¼ “stainless steel set screw had sheared!  What to do…….well, our well-trained and highly-skilled engineers knew just what to do as they first oiled and then got out the drill  to back out the sheared stub the threads.  Despite a mind boggling store of spare parts, bolts, pins and screws on board,  none were the right size (of course) so we jury-rigged a vice grip to use for gear shifting.  As we were only a few miles off shore of Portsmouth, NH, we headed in to find a chandlery.  Wentworth Marina in Portsmouth was incredibly helpful in allowing us to berth Abacus and to use their courtesy car to get into town.  It took 2 hours and several marine and hardware stores before we finally found the necessary bolt………..plopped it in place……….and off we went to spend the night at Isles of Shoals, six miles offshore.   Gosport Harbor is formed by three islands linked by a breakwater.  A large religious conference center/250 guest hotel is located on one island, and the University of Maine operates marine testing facilities on the other.  The holding ground is poor and anchoring is not recommended.  However, we found an unoccupied Portland Yacht Club mooring ball, which is available for public use provided a club member doesn’t come to claim it in the middle of the night.

 

An update on Bob, the fisherman.  He has been tending his line now for four days.  Around day 2, he decided to offer to his potential catch something a little tastier than Reynold’s Wrap, so he purchased 5 dead mackerel at Kennebunkport.  Francie warned that the size of the mackerel would attract a fish much too hearty for his  “hand reel”.  Debbie suggested that he ditch the hooks and have mackerel for dinner.  No, no, Bob was not to be deterred.  Last evening at anchor, Bob was still tending his line as we three were enjoying cocktails, smoked sausage and kalamata olive hors d’oeurves.  Bob was getting very excited because the fish were biting.  They ate all of his mackerel without so much as sustaining a lip injury.  So ends the saga of Bob, the fisherman.

 

We haw a great evening at anchor and we are now en route to Marblehead.  As all of New England is eyeing “Bill”, we are fairly certain that we will need to lay-over for a few days as this area is expected to get waves of up to 15-20 ft.

We have left "Down East" and we are now back south.  We stopped in Northeast harbor to fuel and reprovision.  The next day, we stayed in very picturesque Perry Creek, just off the Fox Thorofare which runs between North Haven and Vinhaven Islands.  John McLeod (of Cloud Dancer, who we met in Buckle Harbor) generously let us use his mooring ball there.  We continued to Portland enjoying our first warm day (sunny and 80’s) since arriving in Maine.  What a treat!  Most days we have been wearing sweatshirts, windbreakers and dropping the cockpit side panels to keep out the cold, humid, wind.  It was fun arriving back in Portland, as the wind was blowing 15 out of the SW, so we sailed into this very large harbor of Casco Bay...........almost all the way to our mooring.  Being Saturday, there were lots of sailboats along with the busy commercial traffic filling the harbor.  We sure enjoyed the sail which was challenging as we were not only dodging other vessels, but dodging quite a few islands in narrow passages in the harbor (many with 1800’s fortifications) and also a few areas of rock shoaling.  As we were lowering the dinghy, up popped a seal to see what the local humans were up to....

 

Debbie hiked 2 hours to the grocery store..............sore feet in new sandals! and returned to Abacus around six.  We poured medicinal G&T’s and  sat in the cockpit, with a stiff breeze blowing and lots of entertainment in this busy harbor  These Mainers must wait 364 days for a summer day like today.  A real treat was watching a 1000ft Royal Caribbean cruise ship pull out, marshaled by 2 police boats and a pilot boat to lead the way past our mooring. 

 

Our friends Francie and Bob from Marblehead joined us on Sunday as we head south and west.  The weather was sunny  and hot and we all were excited about the brisk SW winds that were predicted to build throughout the day.  However, under very calm conditions, we headed out into Casco Bay........and waited......and waited.......and waited for even a hint of a breeze.  Nothing.  So, Bob decided to go fishing.  He is a very handy sort of guy and fashioned tin foil minnows to put on his hooks, attached it to a hand reel of  what looked like butcher's string and tossed it astern.  Debbie got very excited, hoping to make a Salade Nicoise for lunch with his fresh tuna catch.  We waited.....and waited......and waited..........and while every cormorant in the bay was bringing in a catch every 3 minutes Bob could not even snag some kelp.  About mid-afternoon we saw 8-10 kts of wind and had something of a bit less than a "brisk" sail to our evening anchorage in Seal Cove at Richmond Island, which is a well protected bay created by a breakwater connecting the island to land, with a large sand beach, bluffs with pine trees and semi-desolate rocky shoreline.  Ollie was happy to hit the water after a hot day aboard Abacus.  

The next day, August 9,  was clear and calm, so we motored to Roque Island.  We benefited from a 1-2 knot tidal current and arrived at noon at “the thorofare”, a narrow passage which opens into Roque Island Harbor, which is shaped like a horseshoe with a mile long sandy beach lining the inside curve of the harbor, while rock bluffs and trees line the sides and islands protecting the end to the East.    The tide is 12 feet, so positioning and scope of anchor chain had to be adjusted to accommodate the change in depth.   This is a spectacular anchorage, among the best we have seen.  With weather approaching, 10 other boats arrived to anchor in the bay.  Ollie had an opportunity to play with 2 different dogs on the beach and in the water.  He was exhausted by days end. 

                                           

The next day we explored Roque and Spruce Islands by dinghy, finding herons, eagles and seals as well as wonderful scenery.  Returning to Abacus, and noting it was now a sunny, clear day, we decided to move 7 miles to “The mudhole”, a fully protected anchorage in the Great Waas Island.  This meant that Roque Island was as far "down east" as we would go, and we were now headed home toward SC. 

 

As soon as we pulled out into the ocean, the fog rolled in and waves kicked up.  We managed to make the turn past the Mistake Island light house about a mile back into the series of ledges and islands.  The mud hole approach falls to 2 feet of water unless you hug the shoreline and use the lobster trap buoys as an indication of shoaling.  We successfully navigated though the hazards and found a small patch of 16 feet deep water, occupied by 3 sail boats and 3 power boats.  Nonetheless, we found enough room near the shore to drop our anchor, and with the help of Craig and Carol from Mizpah, dropped a second anchor from the stern to keep us from clocking.  Craig and Carol joined us for cocktails. 

 

Hearing noises outside later that night, I arose to find Craig in his dinghy, in thick fog,  resetting his stern anchor, as Mizpah had drifted to within 15 feet of our bow.  He expertly respositioned it and all was well.  Two other nearby boats also had to reposition for similar reasons.  Tight quarters. 

 

Everyone departed the Mud Hole except us, but we were joined in the anchorage by  two J42's traveling together ("Sweet Beam" with Christie and Johann and their two dogs, a lab and a golden doodle , and "Amigo VI", with Bernie and Lynn.  We enjoyed cocktails aboard Amigo VI.  We also met Mike and Judy aboard Aleyah, a Ocean Cruiser 42.  They offered great information regarding sailing to Nova Scotia, Belfast Maine and other local anchorages.

 

On August 12, we decided to pull anchor, bound for Bar Harbor.  I thought I found enough depth along the shoreline for us to leave at low tide, despite the chart indications of 2 foot shoaling.  Wrong! We immediately ran aground in soft mud, so we backed off and reset our anchor in the deep basin we had just left.  We waited 3 hours for the tide, and then left without further incident. 

 

 

The next morning, August 6, we left for Northeast Harbor.   Having run over a lobster trap line as well, Debbie alertly put the engine into neutral, feathering our prop before it fouled.  I was able to disengage the trap line and we continued on.  North East harbor is well protected, forming an L into Mount Desert Island.  We were surrounded by 200 foot hills.  We hiked up the Asticou rock terraces to the Thuya lodge and gardens for a glorious view of the harbor and island.  We then left for Somes Harbor, six miles into the interior of Mount Desert Island.  A wind storm hit, but we were protected by 1000 foot bluffs on both sides until we anchored in the harbor for the night. 

 

From Somes (two syllables) we went to NE harbor again for fuel and water and motorsailed to Eastern Harbor.  We are now past Schoodic Point and officially “Down East”.  Looking for an anchorage, a lobster boat (Oscar and John aboard South Wind) directed us to an available mooring ball and sold 2 fresh lobsters for Debbie’s birthday dinner.  After a nice walk in a very rural area, we returned to the boat, enjoyed the lobsters and a very fallish evening (60 degrees, partly cloudy/high grey clouds) reminiscent of late September in Canada in Lake Superior. 

 

Lots of catching up to do now that we have a strong WIFI connection. 

We departed Tenants Harbor for Pulpit Harbor, on the northeast shore of  North Haven island.   The entrance is difficult to see until you are upon it, turning sharply to starboard alongside a rock upon which rests one of the oldest known osprey nests (e.g. hundreds of years old- imagine the mess) and into a very snug harbor.   We anchored in a narrow channel which was protected from all directions and enjoyed a quiet night.  The next morning, we were greeted by heavy fog.   We motored to Castine, about 14 miles.  This harbor was so ideal that the English, Dutch, Americans and French vied for control of the port starting in the 1700’s.  It is a pretty town with a classic town square and houses dating to the 1780-1825.  We spent the night on the town dock with the State of  Marine Academy training ship, and its tugboat towering over us.  

 

From Castine, we sailed down the Eggemoggin Reach  to Woodboat Harbor, the headquarters of the Woodboat magazine and a boat building school.  In the course of a week, 10-14 foot boats and kayaks are built, usually by father/son/daughter or grandfather/grandsons, from epoxy glue up to fibre glas finish.   Great fun.  After touring the operation, we reboarded and left for Buckle Harbor, a great little anchorage on the north side of Swan Island.  While only 6 miles away, a storm was approaching, so we got settled quickly.   The access to the anchorage is a narrow passage through ledges (i.e. rocks) called York narrows.  We noted, after anchoring, that a 28 foot boat, Abishag, ,  had gotten tangled in a lobster trap line and lost their engine.   We launched our dinghy, and joined by another boat’s dinghy (Cloud Dancer) we moved the disabled sailboat to anchor.  Cloud Dancer had diving equipment on board, enabling Tim on Abishag to cut the lobster trap line from his prop.  We hiked on shore with Tim’s two daughters, Zoe and Cleo, plus Ollie, Roddy the Lab and John  from Cloud Dancer. 

After a very rainy night, the next morning, August 1st,  was gorgeous, Maine at it’s best.   We took Ollie ashore and noticed a small graveyard across a field from the Olson House, tucked in among trees on a point in the bay.  On inspection, we found the markers for Christina Olson and her brother, who died in 1967-8, their parents, and Andrew Wyeth 1917-2009!

 

We returned to Abacus and set sail at 11 AM  for Tenants Harbor, about 16 miles.  Conditions were so great that we daysailed offshore for a couple of hours before returning to our course.  Tenants Harbor is a small, working harbor, well protected and very busy with lobstermen.  We took a mooring  ball and went ashore to the Cod End, the restaurant/fresh seafood/marina located in a single red shack  (a cod end is the bag at the end of a funnel shaped trawling net where fish accumulate).   We stopped for dinner there, lobster and clams, outdoors on the deck, perfect weather.   Wow.  Maine at its best.

 

 

On Friday, July 31, we left the Boothbay and pulled into Maple Juice Cove about 15 miles away.  The trip was uneventful, but lobster traps are spread like confetti.  We had originally intended a different island anchorage, but it was open to north winds, which we are expecting.  Ashore we found the Olson House which was included in Andrew Wyeth’s “Christina’s World”.  The house is now a museum.  We returned to Abacus as a lengthy rain storm passed through.