Then on to Seal Bay on Vinalhaven Island. We noticed a shallow spot in the northwest corner of the common entrance to Winter Harbor and Seal Bay, with the AIS signal of another boat persistently superimposed over it. When we got near it we saw a nicely heeled sailboat on starboard tack sitting there, going nowhere. I suppose in another six hours he'd be lifted safely off, but we didn't stop to watch or take pictures. Instead we zipped it into Seal Bay, and saw--you guessed it--seals!
We were able to get into the inner section of Seal Bay but there were 9 or 10 other boats there, so making sure we had depth and swing room was a little challenging.
The next morning we headed for Mt. Desert area. We decided to swing south of Isle Au Haut, leaving Stonington and the Deer Island Thorofare for another trip, winding up on the north side of Swan's Island in Mackerel Cove. We landed our dinghy near the ferry dock, and realized we really had nowhere to walk from there. Not to worry, in about 15 seconds we were greeted by a local resident who offered to give us a car tour of the entire island! So on to see Burnt Coat Harbor and then visit the general store, where I took the opportunity to score two nice sized lobsters and some fish. Bags in hand, it wasn't long before another ride took us back to the ferry dock. Medical tech Donna Wiegle, who pretty much single handedly runs health care on the island, told us about how it all works, including how telemedicine is used and how Obamacare has impacted positively on this island. Great to hear!
We decided that our first stop on Mt. Desert would be to sail up Somes Sound and stay at its head, near Somesville. Somes Sound is described as the only fjord on the east coast of the US, but Wikipedia tells us "it lacks the extreme vertical relief and anoxic sediments associated with Norwegian fjords, and is now called a fjard by officials." Maybe so, but it is still stunning!
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| Not steep enough to be called a fjord??? |
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| Somesville |
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| Ketch, anyone? |
The next day we decided to stay another night in Somes Sound and took the #7 again, this time east, to give us a preview of Bar Harbor. Although packed with tourists, it was still a fun town to walk through, and it gave us the opportunity to figure out where we could anchor Pratique later in the week. The next morning we sailed back down the Somes Sound and rounded the southeast side of the island. Spectacular!
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| Tourists on the rocks near Thunder Hole |
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| I'll take that one! |
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| Or, maybe that one? |
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| Or . . . |
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| "To the Bat Cave, Alfred!" |
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| Bah Habah |
We spent several nights anchored just north of the bar that gives Bar Harbor its name. Susan took advantage of the early day light and fog and came up with a few great morning photos:
The bar runs from the main island (Mt. Desert) to Bar Island, and the first morning we woke to some eerie fog. The scene was even more eerie when all the little bodies crossing the bar emerged. They have a limited time to get across and back, because at high tide the bar is completely covered! In the last picture you can see another visitor has joined us again!
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| The Maasdam is following us! |
Later that week we hiked Cadillac Mt. from the north. We peeked over the ridge and saw Pratique all alone at anchor:
We brought snacks, but the blueberry bushes were plenty to keep us going!
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| The Summit |
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| Descending the South Ridge Trail |
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| Down the Canon Brook Trail |
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| Steep and Wet |
