Mt. Desert and Bar Harbor

The last day in Penobscot Bay included a lunch stop in North Haven.

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!

Not steep enough to be called a fjord???

Somesville

  We had a nice boat neighbor at the next mooring over.  Asolare can be chartered for about $100,000.00/week if you are interested!

Ketch, anyone?

Since nobody invited us to be guests on Asolare, we decided to try the excellent, free-to-ride propane propelled buses that link nearly all of Mt. Desert.  We jumped on the westbound #7 bus , and went on our own to explore Bass Harbor and Southwest Harbor.  Suffice it to say that by the end of the week we knew not just the harbors around Mt. Desert, but also every stop of all 7 of the island's bus routes. 

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!



Tourists on the rocks near Thunder Hole

I'll take that one!

Or, maybe that one?

Or . . .

"To the Bat Cave, Alfred!"



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!

 



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!



 

Without any more dialogue, here are a few shots from the hike:

The Summit



Descending the South Ridge Trail



Down the Canon Brook Trail




Steep and Wet

Lighthouses and Penobscot Bay

With an estimated 5000 miles of coastline, it's no surprise that lighthouses dominate. We saw a few of the great ones, along the way to the west entrance of Penobscot Bay:

Pemaquid Point Light

Whitehead Light
 

We sailed up beautiful Owls Head Bay, and rounded Owls Head Light towards Rockland.

Owls Head Light

Once you round Owls Head, you're at the entrance to the large harbor of Rockland

Rockland Harbor Breakwater Light

 Rockland was a very tourist friendly town, bustling in the summer.  We spent much of the next day walking the shops and visiting the Farnsworth Art Museum and Wyeth Center. 

After two easy nights anchored in Rockland Harbor we set out for the upper half of the west bay.  On a whim I wondered aloud to Susan whether our friends and slip-neighbors in Barrington, Tony and Joanna on Starshine, were somewhere nearby, since I remembered they spend a good chunk of their summer in Penobscot Bay.  "Hi Bennett, we're off of Warren Island," Joanna tells me.  OK, where could that be?  "Oh, that's just 2 miles ahead of us.  See you in a few minutes." 



Pratique and Starshine off Warren Island

Next day we said our goodbyes and headed north into the upper bay, then around Turtle Head, the north tip of Islesboro.  On the way down the east side of Penobscot Bay we passed, you guessed it, more lighthouses!

Dice Head Light, Castine

near Eggemoggin Reach

Pumpkin Island Light, near the northwest entrance to Eggemoggin, and opposite Bucks Harbor

Just down from Castine and around Cape Rosier lies the entrance to Eggemoggin Reach, which separates the mainland from Deer Isle.  Even though a suspension bridge with 85' clearance spans the middle of the Reach, we weren't ready yet to head east to leave Penobscot Bay for Mt. Desert.  Instead, we found one of the nicest spots of the week--Bucks Harbor, just before the northwest entrance to Eggemoggin.

 

Bucks Harbor

 We found just enough room to anchor amidst all of the moored boats, on the northeast side, behind Harbor Island.  It's a short walk from the marina to the one small market nearby. 

One more lighthouse, further south the next day, on the way to North Haven and Vinalhaven Island:

Eagle Island Light

Back Up to Maine

June was mostly devoted to working on some maintenance items and summer planning.  On Friday, July 18 after getting some electronics work completed, we started out on the 2014 trip to Maine.  After a night at anchor in Sachuest Harbor we zipped up Buzzards Bay to meet Lee and Cheryl aboard their Outbound 46 sister ship, Hippocampus.  We both went through the CC Canal and motored together across Stellwagen Bank and the Gulf of Maine, en route to Boothbay Harbor. 

List of items that we encountered:  Seals, dolphins, small whales, crossing fishing boats, crossing cruise ships, birds, lobster pots, lobster pots, and lobster pots.

Pratique and Hippocampus let the Maasdam cross our bows.

Seals

Maybe a Minke whale?

The Becky Lynne graciously allows us to pass port-to-port

We arrived at Boothbay Harbor at 0800 the next morning after an uneventful overnight.  Unfortunately there was very little wind so the motors were on the whole way.  Boothbay, however, was just as beautiful as it was last summer:

Morning in Boothbay Harbor

After lobster dinners aboard Hippocampus it was time for an early bedtime, since we didn't get much rest the night before. 

Next morning we said goodbye to Lee and Cheryl who were going to cruise around the Boothbay/Casco Bay area.  Off to our first tour of Penobscot Bay . . .