Enjoying Eastport

Enjoying Eastport

Eastport is a lovely small town, with well kept historic houses and a rebounding historic district along the waterfront. At one time numerous sardine canneries made for a booming population. One local commented that had Steinbeck visited here, Eastport would be on the map. Off the beaten path for sure, we met local folks who refuted that this was the end of the earth and that one could only see it from here.
 

Roosevelts and Eastport

Just across the bay, called Friar Roads, from Eastport is Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada. Campobello is accessible via a bridge from Lubec, a small town about 3 miles by boat from Eastport but 45 minutes by car.

Bridge to Canada from Lubec

Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt had a summer home on Campobello. In fact, Franklin contracted polio while on the island and had to be carefully brought to Eastport for treatment and returning to NY. He did not want people to know that he was incapacitated. After FDR contracted polio he only returned once to the summer home. But, Eleanor came several more times and was involved in both Eastport and Campobello Island projects like the local library.

Weather Watching

We spent 5 days in Eastport, mostly due to weather. One day would be beautiful but the next would not be. To make it back south we needed 2 days of good weather, with calm seas since we would be traveling into the prevailing winds most of the time. One day was particularly windy. Boats tied up to the dock where we were, as well as the boats inside the breakwater, were rocking and rolling. Because of our position on the dock, we were doing OK.

Not exactly the "Goldylocks" day we prefer for an offshore run.

The temperature in Down East was cooler than we had been experiencing in other parts of Maine. During the day, it was a warm day if it got above 72 degrees. Nights were in the mid-50s. This is mid-August, folks! When the sun was shining, t-shirts and shorts were the fashion. Cloudy days or evenings brought out the light jackets.

Friendly People

But, by spending the time in this port we had the chance to meet some very nice and interesting people.

One of the first people we met was Dean Pike, proprietor of Moose Island Marine. We had a great conversation about cruising in Maine and Florida. Dean knew all about the waters from Cedar Keys Florida south to the Keys. But he was intrigued by our area of the Big Bend. One winter day we may be welcoming him on our dock. 

Nice rig outside Moose Island Marine

We were in Moose Island Marine because the tides in this part of the world are extreme. We docked at the Port Authority public docks. There are 2 power poles up on the pier. If we wanted electricity (and we did) we had to allow for 18 to 20 feet difference from low to high tide, plus the distance across the dock to the boat. We needed another 50' power cord. The folks at Moose Island Marine have everything you would need for boats, including the power cord, at reasonable prices.

With our electric cord purchased and electricity hooked up we walked up the hill to have a late lunch or early dinner at the Chowder House. Good food and a beautiful view. They also have a marina with a few more amenities than the Port Authority docks, like coin-operated showers and laundry. While sitting in the warm sun waiting on our meals, we saw an immature bald eagle being harassed by a gull and a whale surface. 



We discovered that the Chowder House serves the best carrot cake. They call it "Mile High" and they are not kidding! 5 layers of carrot cake with delicious cream cheese frosting. Might just be the best we have ever had.

Lubec 


The day after we made landfall in Eastport, we decided to go to Lubec via the Eastport to Lubec Ferry. Our space on the dock was directly behind the ferry and in front of the whale watch boat. The captain, James, and Meredith, first mate, on the ferry, Quoddy Dam, were among the friendly folks we met. On the short ride to Lubec, James pointed out several features on the islands we passed. Meredith is a performer gigging at local pubs when she's not apprenticing for her captain's license. She has Lubec lineage and a Caribbean soul.

Because it was low tide we could see one feature in particular - a rock and earthen dam between Treat Island and the small island just to the east of it. Franklin Delano Roosevelt had the idea of building dams between many of the islands in Cobscook Bay to harness the energy from the vast amounts of water that passes in and out of these bays and inlets 4 times a day. Called the Quoddy Dam, the hydropower would produce electricity. Of course, it was not economically viable. But, the idea keeps popping up from time to time. In fact, an idea is being explored to put a floating turbine system in the bays to capture the energy of the tides.

Lubec is a small community, with a main street that parallels the shore. A U.S. Customs and Border Patrol station is located at the base of the bridge to Campobello Island. On the other side, you meet the Canadian equivalent. We did not cross into Canada (by land, only through the water). One day we will come back and take the trip across the bridge. Although small, Lubec is not too small to have a craft brewery right downtown. Lubec Brewing Company has about 5 types of beer that they make and bottle, so, of course, we became patrons. 

Watching Whales

On one of the beautiful days, we decided to take a whale watching tour. The day start out foggy, with a prediction of rain, but it cleared off and turned out to be calm and a perfect day for a boat ride.

Justin, Butch and Lee liming on he Ocean Obsession 

Capitan Butch Harris, and his nephew, Justin, run Ocean Obsession to take people out in Friar Roads and Head Harbour Passage to watch whales, harbor porpoises, eagles, osprey, and look at "Old Sow". (Note that Harbour is spelled the British way because it is in Canadian waters.) Butch owns Eastport Windjammers. His whale watching boat was an 80' wooden schooner until the Eastport Breakwater failed in 2014 and fell on his boat, damaging her beyond repair. He now runs a lobster boat fit with benches and does whale watching, private parties, and fishing trips.

With Butch at the helm and Justin as spotter, we saw minke whales, lots of harbor porpoises, black guillemot, eagles and gulls, mostly herring gulls, and terns, Arctic and common. The harbor porpoise are small and agile. At 3 to 6 feet, with round noises, they pop up and quickly go back down. They are a porpoise, cousin to the bottle-nosed and spotted dolphins we see in the Gulf of Mexico.

Minke whales are about 25' long and are the second smallest baleen whale. They are the most common whale seen in northern Maine, but an occasional fin whale, humpback, and even northern right whales have been seen in Head Harbor Passage.

Later we took AQUAVIT up to Old Sow to experience
the tumultuous tides for ourselves!

Butch also took us, and fellow passengers, up to see "Old Sow" (see our previous blog) and did a demonstration of hauling a lobster trap.

How fortuitous it was to meet Butch and get acquainted while on the whale watching tour. He noticed the Moose's Tooth logo on Lee's t-shirt and struck up a conversation about visiting Alaska. He had just been at Moose's Tooth brewery and restaurant in Anchorage a few weeks ago.


Later in the day of our whale watching, he took a private party out for a charter sunset cruise to see whales and the Reversing Falls in Cobscook Bay. We happened to be walking on the dock back to AQUAVIT when the boat returned and the guests were disembarking. Friends of Butch, Amanda and Gary, were the party's caterers. They invited us to help with the leftovers. We enjoyed a glass of wine and delicious smoked haddock and lemon curd tartlets. Delicious! To return the favor we invited them to AQUAVIT to enjoy a shot or two of Aquavit. SKOAL! Amanda and Gary lived in Dillingham Alaska for 6 years, which is one of the many places we have had the pleasure of visiting in Alaska during the winter.

Music Fest 

One afternoon we walked a few blocks to the Peavy Library, downtown in Eastport. They were having the Eastport Music Festival in the gazebo behind the library. It was the first year this free event has been organized. On the first afternoon there were two performers followed by a songwriter circle of 2 more performers, all of whom were local musicians. The following two days had more performances. The crowd on the first day was light. Only about 20 people were milling around. We hope this effort is the spark that will become a bigger festival in the coming years. There is a lot of talent in the area that needs a venue and venues that could use a musician. 

Speaking of music, a brochure brought Marvin's attention to an Eastport luthier, Ellerson Guitars. So off we went walking up the hill on Key Street to find him. John was so nice and gracious to invite us into his studio and show us 2 of his custom guitars. One was made of zebrawood. The other was palo escrito or Mexican rosewood. The palo escrito guitar was modeled after the Gibson L-1 in its size. Both guitars sounded mellow and seasoned. While Marvin picked on the L-1 style guitar, John joined him on the zebrawood guitar. They sounded great together and what an honor for Marvin to jam with such a talented jazz musician.

Marvin was taken with the guitar so he contacted John to meet up with him again to take another look. This time we had the pleasure of briefly meeting his wife who it turned out is an author, Sarah Graves, of mystery novels. Early in our Eastport adventures Lee purchased two paperback Sarah Graves mysteries at a local store and was thoroughly enjoying reading one of them. They are centered around DIY of a fixer-upper Victorian house. Later that day we returned to AQUAVIT from some further exploration or a delicious meal at one of the local restaurants to find two autographed Sarah Graves hardbacks. What a delightful surprise! 

We had one more pleasant visit with John when he and his sweet dog came to say Bon Voyage as we were planning to leave the next day. 

Such good people in Eastport - so glad we got to visit a spell!

08.15.2019

Ellerson Guitar  - patterned after a Gibson L-1,  just a bit smaller to fit the wood.