Maine is calling....

Salvador Dali lobster phone

Maine is calling!

While there are the rewards in cruising to beautiful landscapes, enjoying the sunsets and glimpsing history and culture of new places, a satisfying
benefit of traveling the coast is meeting people. From the salt-of-the-earth commercial fisherman and boatyard worker to the wealthy entrepreneur or university professor, we've enjoyed meeting new folks, learning their stories and learning from their experiences. We're honored to meet so many good people and so grateful that they continue to contribute their efforts to worthwhile causes with grace and humility. The people we meet, along with the young people we know, give us a glimmer of hope for the future of the nation and the planet.

A brief return to Florida for appointments allowed us to meet up with our newly-engaged niece Lindsay and her fiancé Matt in St Petersburg before getting back to our home. What a delightful couple! The Dali Museum in St Pete is always wonderful to visit. But Maine called us back for continued adventures! (BTW: Check out Allegiant Air - decent prices and decent flight from out-of-the-way locations to Maine.)

Journeys End Marina and Boatyard is a great place for any repair and provides excellent service. It is AQUAVIT's winter home inside their heated storage barns. Ryan and Mike worked on our Westerbeke generator while we were away and got us up and running so we could continue coastal cruising in Maine. Unfortunately they had to pull the entire generator out of the boat, including removing parts on the 2 main engines to make room, to replace a simple $7.00 part.

Across the harbor from Journeys End, our summer-season marina is Safe Harbor Rockland, and it is simply the best place for us. Protected from weather and sea swell, with excellent facilities, it is first rate with the best staff: Melvin, retired USMC, Irv, from Grenada, and new Merchant Marine-certified dockmaster Chris. We're happy to hang out at the dock, but like to get away to visit new places.

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It's such a pleasure for us to share boating with friends, and having Georgians Frazier and Cessie, and 7-month-old Harris, with proud grandparents Robin and Mike and Aunt Meg was the case. It was the first "Baby on Board" for Aquavit on a tour of lighthouses around Rockland. 

After Frazier and Cessie's visit, it was time to let go of the dock lines. We went speeding off to Boothbay Harbor to catch up with Shell Point friends, Pat and Frank. The hospitality of Frank's brother Tim and sister-in-law Mary at their fabulous family lodge was exceptional. Their 1909 home overlooks the Townsend Gut waterway, and the vintage interior is warm and welcoming with a spectacular native-stone fireplace and beautiful wood paneling.  

It was interesting to learn they had spent years in Boqueron, Puerto Rico and had volunteered at Cabo Rojo NWR. Mary continues to volunteer at Sevilleta Refuge in New Mexico. We were lucky to have Aquavit on their mooring and then at their dock for a couple days.

There's plenty to do in Boothbay Harbor, but topping the list is a trip to Round Pond for the regular Monday night outdoor jam. Tim is an expert banjo and 12-string guitar player, joining a group of 16 musicians in a music circle to entertain 60 folks. Lotsa talent here in Maine. 

It is neat to be introduced to interesting folks; people who have been coming for years to enjoy the Maine vibe, people of remarkable accomplishment and gravitas in diverse fields, putting aside their professions and living as Mainers for awhile. "Rusticators" the locals call them. Rusticating in their summer homes to take in the scenery, culture, and lifestyle, if only for a few weeks or months.

Tim and Mary's friends, Wes and Susie, from Colorado came to visit and all 8 of us went to the Boothbay Opera House to catch a performance of ragtime pianist Bob Milne.

An excursion to nearby Damariscove Island with Pat and Frank provided a wonderful hike and day trip. Aquavit hit a submerged 4x8 timber at 20 knots which took the shine off an otherwise sparkling day. Fortunately we had a nearby boat yard, Hodgdon Southport Boatyard, with a storied past and wide capabilities to diagnose the damage and make repairs to a shaft cutlass bearing and not-very-big crack in the hull.

Aquavit anchored at Damariscove Island, 4 miles off Boothbay

While Hodgdon hauled the boat for repair, benevolent friends Pat and Judy, took us in at their great compound in East Blue Hill. Their guest cottage was a big comfort after staying on our boat out of the water on blocks in the boatyard parking lot. Pat and Judy are very generous hosts and wonderful friends to hang out with. 

We enjoyed excursions of driving to Stonington on Deer Isle, hiking Blue Hills Land Trust trails, driving to Lubec (the easternmost town in the U.S.) and crossing the bridge into Canada to visit Franklin D Roosevelt's Campobello Island estate. 

Hiking on East Blue Hill Land Trust trails at Peters Brook...

Roosevelt International Park on Campobello Island, Canada, just across the bridge from Lubec, Maine

Judy and Pat at the Hubbard Cottage at Roosevelt Campobello Intn'l Park

Swan Is. Light

Another day we took a ferry to Swan's Island to explore by car. A vehicle is a necessity to get around this island as residences and small businesses like TIMS (The Island Market Store) are so spread out. 

Later, another couple of Pat and Judy's interesting friends joined us for dinner - yacht builder David and wife Barbara, who have a summer estate nearby. Betsey from Boston stopped by for happy hour, and we met a retired investigative journalist author at the shoreline. 

Seems like so much fit into just a few days as terrestrial-bound mariners. But there was time to sit back and enjoy the misty rain and fog that quiets the world and calms the soul.

Back on Aquavit, all fixed up, we're ready to head out again. Time's running short on the summer hourglass sand. There's much here to explore by land and sea and there's not enough time to do it all. So we will fit in what we can in the time we have left and then leave Aquavit in capable hands to resume rambling next summer. 

Happy Sails!

Thanks for reading!

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