What’s New       HUNTS HEAD TO MAINE CRUISE LOG           Day 1 - July 15, 2007 • Portsmouth, RI to Provincetown, MA Left Portsmouth at about 2:30 PM, stiff wind, blowing 15-20, seas pretty lumpy. Took the Sakonnet River route around and out to avoid the mouth of Narragansett Bay. Calm through the Cape Cod Canal but Buzzard's Bay was all mixed up…Cape Cod Bay was like a washing machine, too. Chilly in P'town! Decided on two separate moorings on account of the wind and took the launch in for dinner. Bob made a couple of cocktails “to go” for the launch ride. Had excellent fish while sitting outside at “Bubala's.” Topped off dinner splitting a wonderful hazelnut gelato and went to the Portuguese Bakery for a cookie…Walked around until the last launch run at 10:45 PM. Too rough for me to sleep down below…tried to sleep on the settee without much success. We met a couple of guys headed for the Canal in a Cigarette boat…they never made it because it was too rough. The wind finally laid down and I climbed down below and got some rest.   Day 2 - July 16, 2007 • Provincetown, MA to Southwest Harbor, ME Morning…lots of rain…good, it'll wash off the boats, plus it stopped by the time we were underway. Egg sandwiches by Peter and coffee thanks to our new Bodum French press coffee maker…mmm. We held to about 35 knots on an amazingly calm ocean. Sun came out, pealed off a couple of layers of clothing. Spotted whales 4 or 5 times - very large, lots of spouting! The best sighting was a large whale that surfaced right next to our boat. We turned off the engine and he surfaced at least 5 times. Another time, I spotted a small head in the water, veered around it and it quickly submerged…a seal, I guess? Pretty cool in the middle of the Gulf of Maine. We saw lots of dolphins as well. As we came up on Mount Desert, it was unmistakable, breathtaking from the waterside approach. We snagged a mooring in Southwest Harbor and rafted up with Bob's 36. We inflated the raft and motored to shore. Judith and I walked through town and the guys motored to Beal's (the lobster place) where we met for dinner. Long line for a Monday! Lots of mosquitoes but the lobsters and clams hit the spot.   Day 3 - July 17, 2007 • Southwest Harbor, ME to Swan's Island, ME Woke up to a gorgeous day in SW Harbor…Bob dealt with a “funny noise” in his head… let's just say it had something to do with a cherry pit and leave it at that. Walked into town again and went to Sawyer's grocery store for a couple of blueberry muffins. (the best screen door!) Finally got underway (all in Bob's boat) and meandered up (a considerably warmer, more sheltered) Somes Sound. The emerald colored water there is always amazing to me. Then, we dodged the veritable mine field of lobster traps to Schoodic Peninsula and picked up a mooring at Winter Harbor. Lots of beautiful views along the way…we (Peter) rowed the 4 of us against the wind and tide in the dingy to the pier. We walked up to the little town on a quest for lobsters yet again. We found the place all sold out with every lobster on the truck to be shipped out. Bob and Judith stopped in at a little store, J.M. Garrish's, and returned with lots of treasures…cheeses and breads. We ran back to SW Harbor to pick up the 29…then on to Swan's Island and a mooring at Burnt Coat Harbor. The name derives from the original French name from 1604, Brule-Cote. What a crazy entrance to this harbor (or at least the way we chose to enter…) I wasn't even sure that we were in the right place (except that a rainbow guided us in)! But once inside, what a beautiful harbor! The local restaurateur, Kevin, greeted us almost immediately. He offered to bring us dinner…a complete shore dinner with lobster, clams, and crab for $35. We added his “famous, acclaimed” cream chowder for $10. a pint. We ordered 2 and made Mojitos with the mint from my garden at home. Not too bad, with a spectacular sunset to cap it all off. Chowder on Bob's boat and lobsters on ours (no teak deck to worry about) We had so many rock crabs we'll save them for another day. Blueberry muffins and oatmeal cookies for dessert. Not too bad.   Day 4 - July 18, 2007 • Swan's Island, ME to Vinalhaven, ME Woke up to clouds and drizzle. Wonderful coffee then Peter went kayaking…(we had our kayak strapped to the hardtop) He returned with a pile of mussels. We took the dinghy to shore for a quick walk and look around. On shore I read signs about some sort of paralytic disease from mussels so once back on board I discreetly dumped Peter's fine catch…fully prepared to defend my actions. The fog was rolling in fast and so were loads of boats mostly from Point Judith, RI. They hailed from some yacht club and obviously, as they yelled to one another from boat to boat, knew each other quite well. Lots of grey hair and barking pets aboard. Time to leave this once quiet harbor. Thought we had a plan but guess not. Picking through pea soup fog…getting thicker by the minute. Ended up in Carver's Harbor, Vinalhaven. The most lobster boats (hundreds) any of us had ever seen collected in one place. No pleasure boats or yachts…definitely a working town. Peter finally asked a guy where we could raft up on a mooring for the night and where we could find fuel. Fueling up was quite an adventure in itself…pulling up to a lobster factory, lots of slimy bait underfoot! We went ashore, walked up and down Main Street. Decided to eat at a little place called “The Harbor Gawker.” Good food, cheap, free mooring and a toast with a bottle of “Newfoundland Screech” rum before bed. (a gift from Peter to Bob for his rum collection). Little to NO cell phone service in this town!   Day 5 - July 19, 2007 • Vinalhaven, ME to Camden to Brooklin, ME Fog cleared a bit by morning…we were ready to make a run for someplace else…headed toward Camden. Bob was headed to Rockport so we did a quick drive by as everyone checked their messages. We passed the entire schooner fleet as they headed out for the day. Peter got us dock space at his dealer, Yachting Solutions in Camden. Walked around town and had some chowder at “Cappy's Chowder House.” Cute place, chowder was OK. We headed out toward Swan's Island again to meet up with Harvey and see his new schooner anchored at Hat Island for the afternoon. Bob headed toward Brooklin our next overnight spot. We got across Penobscot Bay with no trouble, then hit a wall of fog once again...took us a couple of hours to get back to Swan Island. The crew from Islandia had been told by a member of the Rockefeller family that they owned an island with a pink rock beach and beautiful pink rock outcroppings. Emma and Amanda were determined to get there and Colin knew where it was. Just as we saw a boat coming up on the radar, the schooner appeared before us in the fog. The crew was ashore searching for the perfect egg-shaped rocks - tumbled by the surf. Jamie ferried us ashore…we had so much fun (Emma, Amanda, Dee and another friend of Dee's named Carol) climbing around the rocky shore, collecting rocks. The schooner, named “Maine Experience,” a beautiful boat, built in Brooklin, totally of wood…lots of detail…whales carved into the side rails, shells inlaid in the tables. Back on board, Harvey got tangled in a lobster tap…easy to do as we drifted after pulling up anchor. Jamie and Amanda were on board the 29 so Peter was the only one to volunteer to go overboard to cut the schooner free. He had to dive twice. I was really scared, the water was extremely cold and it was so foggy. Finally, we made it to Brooklin and our lobster boil at the Wooden Boat School. We were supposed to go to Torey Island for the boil, but it was too foggy and rain was expected. Cool place, beautiful views, long dock, great building. We met Colin (Brayton's) family. His description of his parents as “old hippies” was right on, they were great. What a feast put on by Colin's dad…lobsters, mussels, steamers, sausage, corn, salad! (He's originally from Westport, MA and mom from S. Dartmouth) It was Colin's little brother's birthday (19) …so we had a cake and ice cream as well! We stayed anchored at Northeast Cove in front of the school…our latest night so far! Our most exciting and fun day yet! (especially for Peter with his diving into icy water and me with rock collecting).   Day 6 - July 20, 2007 • Brooklin, ME to Buck's Harbor to Monhegan Island to Boothbay Harbor, ME Poured hard all night…woke up to dense fog and more rain. No wind, doesn't look good for sailing the schooner today. We motored the boats over to Center Harbor, Brooklin…a beautiful harbor FILLED with custom wooden boats mostly sail, built right there in a couple of yards. Jamie picked us up and took us to shore. We walked about a mile up the hill to a little gem of a breakfast place called Morning Moon Café…lots of blueberries! Toured the little general store as well…walked back to the boats in a deluge! Peter took a peak in the Brooklin Boat Works sheds and he was instantly recognized! Colin brought us back to Islandia (also moored here for the summer) to say thanks and goodbye to Harvey, Dee and the crew. As we drove past Islandia on our way out, Jamie launched a cannon salute! Peter and I launched a barrage (sort of) of water balloons with our new launcher. We were so bad at it that Jamie had to call out direction from their boat. They brought out their super launcher and immediately shot us dead on. Colin came around in the dinghy and helped us by hurling balloons at Islandia by hand. Fog was really creeping in again as we motored away…on to scenic Buck's Harbor to fuel up. As we headed toward Monhegan we were in and out of pea soup. No fun. Monhegan “Harbor” is hardly a harbor at all…more like an exposed space between two land masses. We grabbed a mooring and rowed ashore to the “town landing”…nothing more than a tiny beach of dirt, rocks and lots of people standing…kids playing in the water and jumping off the rocks. Not really what I had envisioned…lots of little houses and shops, little artist display spaces (most of them were closed at 4:30 on a Friday.) We walked around for about an hour…went up to “Lobster Cove” - waves crashing on rocks. Lots of people looking artsy (mostly older women). On to Boothbay Harbor. By now the fog had lifted and we could see. The harbor was a typical southern Maine vacation spot, physically pretty but honky-tonk touristy and fairly crowded. Finally settled on McSeagull's for dinner…very reasonable prices, food was fine and we ate outside. Stayed overnight on the public landing…right under the sign that said “ NO OVERNIGHT TIE-UPS.” Pretty noisy with head boats in and out and loud voices but we survived the night without getting kicked off.   Day 7 - July 21, 2007 • Boothbay, ME to Portsmouth, NH to Marblehead, MA Headed out early toward Portsmouth, NH to rendezvous with Bob's younger son, Andrew. We landed at Portsmouth Yacht Club at precisely the time he was dropped off by Maryland friends, Bill and Baird. En route to Marblehead I saw lots of interesting sea birds…Northern Gannet (I think) a really streamlined, heavily built bird with a thick neck…they reminded me of penguins! I also saw some sort of duck that literally ran on the water in lieu of flying away. We arrived at Marblehead Harbor to find Wayne on his boat and we rafted up on either side of his Concordia, Skye. We shared a drink and some of the rock crab legs leftover from Swan Island…ate them right over the side of the boat. Dinner at the beautiful Corinthian Yacht Club…a lobster boil! Music afterwards…everyone was falling asleep! Saw Kim for a few moments, caught up on kid news. Said our goodbyes and thanks and got moving toward home in the early morning. Made it back to Portsmouth, RI before noon! Cleaned up the boat and headed home to our shower and dry beds!