Small World - Friendly People

That’s a wrap! Maine is in the can.

The end of our summer season in Maine had much better weather than our start. The frequent fog, rain, and wind that kept us mostly at the dock changed to on-and-off-again wonderful weather, alternating with rain and fog.

ROAD TRIPS!

We decided to take some road trips during the times that boating would not be good. During the first week of August, we drove to Rockland for the first day of the Maine Lobster Festival. The festival wasn’t crowded, making it enjoyable to see the local celebration, even if it was a little wet.

Gardens! Birds, Blossoms, and Butterflies, Oh my!

During another spell when water activities were limited we headed off to Canada to see Petticodiac, New Brunswick, a place where Marvin's great-grandparents lived for a while in the turn of the last century, and near a place where distant ancestors had lived at the head of the Bay of Fundy. The buildings on the main street (Kay St.) sported murals showing the town's history.

The Canada border officer was extremely friendly and laid back. We were worried that it might be difficult to cross since our passports are close to expiring. It was so Canada of her to say that she would also accept IDs other than a passport, as long as people didn’t look suspicious. (We got through anyway.) We went north to St. John, stopping to view the reversing falls. Although the meeting of the St. John River and the Bay of Fundy was interesting to watch, it did not exceed expectations, probably because it was close to slack tide. The phenomena is most spectacular when the tide is coming in, forcing the river to reverse.

Our original plans were to reenter the U.S. through Calais, Maine and then travel to a park highly recommended by our friends Pete and Pam. The Saint Croix Island International Historic Site is an island interpreting the history of the French, Indian, and U.S. conflicts and occupations on the St. Croix River border.

Instead, we learned of a free ferry from L’Etete to Deer Island and then another ferry (this one private, costing about $30 US) from the opposite end of Deer Island to Campobello Island. Noticing a Florida license plate on the car in front of us, Lee inquired where they were from. They had noticed the Florida vessel registration on our aluminum dinghy, now perched on top of our car. And that's how we met Debbie from Holbrook Travel in Gainesville. It turns out she was friends with our Cuban house guest, Ernesto. Such a small world!

We stayed at the historic Owen House on Campobello, built in 1835 by a son of a sea captain. Jan and her partner June run the combination BnB and art gallery, where June's beautiful watercolors and acrylic paintings are on display. At breakfast we met many interesting people, including Liza, a CBS producer for 48 Hours and her husband Brian, an acclaimed, not-digital, black and white photographer. Other guests at the inn joining us for breakfast were couples from California and Michigan who were visiting Campobello to attend a wedding.

Leaving Campobello, we came back into the U.S. at Lubec, where the Customs officer was professionally indifferent. While getting fuel in Lubec, we met Lucy. She saw 'Wakulla' on our Florida license tag and shouted out to us. She spends winters at Alligator Point and talked about how much she loves Wakulla Springs and St. Marks. While chatting about her summer home in North Lubec, she suggested a local bakery that had so many tasty treats, right out of the oven. Great suggestion!

From Lubec, we drove the coastal road to Cutler where we met Kurt and Carol on IceBear. We talked about their 4-year circumnavigation. Cutler is their home port, but they also live in Charleston. IceBear is likely the only recreational sailboat in the lobster-focused town. She was beautiful on her mooring in the harbor.

(CHECK OUT VIDEO LINKS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST)

We joined Pat and Judy for another road trip, this time to inland Maine. Our first stop was Bog Walk in the Bangor City Forest. A University of Maine project, the Bog Walk is a fabulous place with an outstanding boardwalk traversing a bog that is reminiscent of the Alaskan tundra and taiga. Pitcher plants and tussock cottongrass in the low wetland were very interesting. The cottongrass tops bobbed in the wind on thin stalks, looking like fireflies flying across the bog. The floating boardwalk was the fanciest installation we have ever seen in our career.

Then we rode to Orono, home of the Univ. of Maine, where we stopped briefly at the Shaw + Tenney shop. This shop has been making wood paddles and oars, by hand, since 1858. While visiting Old Town, we sadly learned that the famed canoe maker is no more than a memory or imitation of the fabled brand. Even their Old Town canoe showroom was closed.

The last stop was an unexpected treat and a must-see location for any forestry friends who might visit Maine in the future. Leonard’s Mill is out of the way, part of Penobscot Experimental Forest in Bradley ME. During many festivals throughout the summer, Leonard's Mill is a living history museum showing forestry operations, from cutting to hauling to milling logs into boards and shingles. The property is open to self-directed visitation even when there's no live demonstrations going on, so we explored the restored sawmills, log haulers (trains on skids), houses and out buildings, and the mill creek with a fishway that 250,000 alewives use in the spawn. It was very interesting.

Although this blog seems like we were spending all of our time on road trips, we did manage to get out on the water. Previous blogs describe our cruising adventures to Jonesport, Cross Island, Roque Island, and Frenchboro, when the weather cooperated. The communities Downeast from Mount Desert Island are so different from the tourist towns further south (or is it west?). Ports of call are few and far between and the coast is rougher as are the waters. Watching the marine forecast and trusting one’s eyes, we were able find decent weather to venture into this wilder coast.

As the end of August approached, we bid farewell to Dysart’s Great Harbor Marina for the season. Getting back on the water we re-visit Frenchboro, staying on a mooring for the night.

We visited with Davida and Jason again before leaving.

Next stop was Belfast, traveling through the Eggemoggin Reach, where we planned to meet up with Steve and Edie (of Marathon and Long Island NY) and their Marathon neighbors Jonathan and Anne who also live in Gloucester MA.

We spent a couple of wonderful days with and enjoyable boat trips down to Camden and the Small Wonders Gallery, Camden Falls, and ice cream. We also went up to the spectacular Penobscot Narrows Bridge at Bucksport, after visiting Castine, a port where we had never docked before. Pat and Judy came down from their compound in east Blue Hill to join the six of us for lunch in Castine. Home to the Maine Maritime Academy, Castine is such a lovely town, with many interesting restored buildings and a history dating back to the 1600s. Once we returned to the town dock at Belfast, we grilled a pork tenderloin for everyone for dinner - the first six-person meal served aboard our little boat. And, of course, we followed the delicious meal with a short walk for ice cream.

photos by Jonathan Wilson - on board photographer!

After spending four days with perfect weather, we knew it wouldn't last. And it didn't. As we said goodbye to our friends, weather was approaching. We headed out early to beat the storm. The 25 miles down Penobscot Bay was as rough and bumpy as we would ever want. We fortunately were welcomed back at Safe Harbor Rockland marina and were safely in a slip ahead of the really bad stuff. Using the courtesy car the following day we shuttled our Volvo back to Rockland from Southwest Harbor.

A new inflatable tender is a little more stable than our vintage Grumman hardshell.

With a watchful eye on a tropical storm building between the Yucatan and Cuba, we packed and prepped to leave Maine. Once we saw the cone of "death and destruction” centered on our home dock and Bay Breeze, we rushed home in a stressful three-day drive. Arriving a few hours before Hurricane Idalia, we were able to make additional, last-minute preparations. We always get our home prepped for a hurricane before we leave in the summer. But, being in the "bull's eye" we wanted to effect even more protections. As it turns out, we had the good fortune to be on the “good” side of the storm. Idalia came ashore just about 40 miles east of us and we had no damage or flooding, with all boats still afloat.

How ‘bout a hurricane after party?

This summer season was different for us. With only a few years' experience in Maine, we are not sure how erratic the weather pattern really was. But, the locals we talked with all lamented about how they had no summer at all this year. But, looking back, we beat the summer heat back home and still found adventure. Down times in Aquavit's cabin were spent editing books and drafting a sequel to Across Florida Straits to answer the questions readers have posed.