Sharing Maine

NOTE:  due to a dead battery in our InReach tracker, the map on our blog homepage makes it look like we haven’t moved since August 4, but I can assure you...we have moved!!

For the first time, since we started cruising, our social calendar was bursting at the seams.  We were scheduled to pick up our niece (Allison, 19) and nephew (John, 16) from Portland, Maine on August 11, and scheduled to return them to the Portland airport on August 18.  Since our pick up and delivery plans included a day at a marina (to facilitate laundry and groceries) we thought it would be easiest, for all involved, to schedule our second set of guests (Patricia and Dave, friends driving in from NH) to arrive on the same day Allison and John departed.  Patricia and Dave planned to stay with us for 5 or 6 days.  Keith and I spent a significant amount of time planning for our upcoming company and identifying the places we really wanted to share...exciting!

On Wednesday, August 11 we arrived at the marina as planned, and once laundry was done we head to the grocery store.  We were ready for the adventure to begin, but as soon as we returned to the boat we found out the flight had been cancelled.  The next Southwest flight from BWI to Portland wasn’t until Friday afternoon...ugh!  On Thursday morning we returned to Jewell Island (about 12 miles outside of Portland) to wait for the Friday arrival.  On Friday afternoon we head back to Portland.  As we were entering the harbor we received a text that said  the flight was cancelled (15 minutes before boarding)...UGH!  We agree for one more try on the next scheduled flight the next day at noon. 🤞🤞🤞

Now, best case scenario, we will have them onboard for 3 full days and 2 half days...time to cut our itinerary in half!

How can we possibly show them the ‘best of Maine’ in 3.5 days?  We had three non-negotiables on our list.

1) We want to take them to a great place to kayak! 

Their plane landed at 1:42 on Saturday afternoon, and after a short taxi ride to the marina (we weren’t staying at the marina, but instead hovered outside until the plane landed) we conducted a curbside pickup with a brief ‘touch and go’ off the dock, and were quickly on our way to Quahog Bay.  Located approximately 24 miles northeast of Portland, Quahog Bay offers excellent protection with several small islands to explore. 

1) = ✔️

They weren’t fans of the mud at low tide, but they loved the rocks!

We came upon an oyster farm in these protected waters.

2) We must get fresh lobster directly from a lobster boat!

On Monday we returned to Jewell Island, and soon after anchoring Keith took them out to find a lobsterman/woman willing to sell some if his/her catch. Someone got a little excited when the lobster started flipping its tail.

At $6.00/lb a bakers dozen was in order.

After we each made a selection for dinner, we processed the remaining 9 for the freezer.

Fresh lobster dinner...priceless (or $6.00/lb)!

2) = ✔️

3) Hike and explore our favorite anchorage in Maine...Jewell Island.  I love climbing on the rocks!

They like it too!

3) = ✔️

However, Jewell Island has much more to explore than just beautiful trails and amazing beaches.  We also discovered two watch towers, a gun emplacement, and an underground ammunition storage bunker left behind from WWII...creepy!!! This tunnel has numerous rooms branching off.

Once inside, the rooms are pitch dark...I think I’ve seen enough!

I much prefer the great outdoors.  


Already it is time to return to Portland to exchange our passengers.  We return to South Port Marina, which was a wonderful place to stay.  Everyone (Mandy rocks!!!) was very accommodating and extremely helpful when it came to working around our airline issues.  Patricia and Dave arrived in the afternoon, and we delivered the kids to the airport.  As we were researching restaurants in Portland, to secure dinner plans, I received a text that included the words “flight cancelled”...unbelievable!  

Since the two of them were flying to different locations (one home, and one to college) they were on different flights, so Allison was the one we returned to the airport to retrieve.  Her cancelled flight allowed her to join us for our dinner debacle in Portland.  We started at our restaurant of choice and placed our names on ‘the list’(no place would take a reservation).  We were told it would be a wait of 45-60 minutes...no problem, let’s take a quick walk around the harbor.  We returned 30 minutes later to learn that no one had left and it is still a 45-60 minute wait...OK, let’s take a walk down main street...30 minutes later, still a 45-60 minute wait...ugh!  By this time we were all starving and were worried places would start closing before we found food. We got rejected from two other places before finding a restaurant that put us on a 20 minute wait list, that actually was 20 minutes.  Our grand plan of a wonderful seafood dinner turned into a pleading prayer for burgers and fries.  Apparently Portland is also having trouble hiring help.

The next morning we sent Allison back to the airport via taxi, and we left the marina bound for Jewell Island.

We decided to start at Jewell Island (since it was a Thursday and we knew we would be able to get in), and move to a less popular location for the weekend.  

This time we knew the direct route to get to the highest tower. This concrete structure is amazingly intact considering its 80+ year age.

It takes 8 flights of steps, but the view is amazing!

Oh crappers...were we gone too long?  I have mentioned the extreme tidal range in the past, and this time our planning was not sufficient.  We knew the tide was going down, and we rigged a rather ingenious (thanks to Keith) pulley system to anchor the boat in deeper water. You can see the two lines on the left of the boat that allowed us to exit the boat on dry land, then pull it back out to the anchor in 3.5 feet of water.  Clearly 3.5 ft wasn’t enough for a two hour hike...ugh!  Luckily, a group of helpful people saw our quandary and helped us get Shrimp back into the water.

In addition to reenacting the lobster feast (Keith and Dave went out on the Whaler and returned with another 12 lobsters) on Friday, we celebrated our last morning together on Saturday with stuffed French toast, bacon, and mimosas...delish!!  After watching the forecast for hurricane Henri, Patricia and Dave decided it might be best for them to cut their trip short and return home before the storm arrived...😢.  They have assured us they will make up for lost time when they join us in the Caribbean!

And so...after returning them (again a touch and go drop) to South Port Marina. Keith and I headed to our hurricane hideout to ride out the storm, which ultimately turned out to be a non-event...just the way we like it👍

During lunch one day we were mesmerized by an ongoing fight between an Osprey and an Eagle.  They were squawking and swooping for a very long time.  The ordeal didn’t end until a second Osprey came to the aid of the first, and started dive bombing the Eagle.  Finally, the Eagle broke off pursuit and flew away.  We had no idea what the whole disturbance was about, and speculated it must have been territorial.  It wasn’t until I went back to enlarge the pictures did I realize the Osprey was carrying a fish.  That Eagle put a lot of effort into trying to steal that fish, but in the end he/she didn’t get it!

Mola Happiness

After leaving Seguin Island we headed northeast to Penobscot Bay. We had a week to explore this bay before we were scheduled to be back in Portland to pick up our niece and nephew, who were flying in to spend a week on the boat with us.  Our usual decision to head to the farthest planned destination, and slowly work our way back, worked perfectly for this leg of the journey.  We anchored for one night in Tenants Harbor before traveling to Belfast, Maine...our most northeast point of travel for this year.

Many mornings we wake to fog, but it usually burns away fairly quickly to reveal a beautiful day.  The temperature is usually between 75°-83°, but the water is cold...so on the boat it feels cool, while on land it can feel quite warm.  I have enjoyed the cooler weather this year (much more than our trip here in 2019).  

The coastline and lighthouses are picturesque everywhere.

We enjoy watching seals catch their breakfast as we drink coffee on the deck.  We do cheer for the seal when he/she/they catch a fish.

Belfast is a wonderful town to visit.  They have a great dinghy dock and a shed that houses a book exchange for cruisers.  There are several restaurants, a wonderful river walk with a pedestrian bridge, and excellent ice cream shops (this is very important in my ranking system)!

Since our last visit here, they have decided to paint the crosswalks with whimsical nautical themes...cute!  We stayed in Belfast for a few days, hiding from wind, before making our way to Rockland.  I intentionally planned a stop in Rockland to visit the Bixby Chocolate factory.  During our last visit in 2019, we purchased the most memorable box of chocolate covered toffee, ever!  Sooooo disappointed to approach the door to find a sign that said “Due to Covid the retail/tasting room would remain closed through 2021”...ugh!  

Marine supply stores in Maine carry emergency gear I have never seen on display in a marine store before, but it does act as an effective reminder that the water here is cold!

Due to the frequent fog, the navigational aids here have bells that ring constantly.  If you look closely, you can see the large gongs that swing with wave movement and bang into the bell.

After Rockland, we traveled to Boothbay Harbor.  The waterfront properties here offer a great reminder of the 10 foot tidal range.  

Anchored floating docks offer storage areas for lobster boat supplies.

When navigating this harbor pay close attention to charts and buoys!  All of the dark brown growth on the rocks in this picture are totally under water at high tide.

It was fabulous entertainment watching these kids race around the anchorage.  The girl in boat 11 was kicking butt!

This coast offers such a wide variety of lighthouse designs.  

While working our way back toward Portland we finally spotted an Ocean Sunfish (Mola Mola) fin.  During our trip in 2019 we spotted dozens of these interesting looking fish, but this year we were in Maine for 12 days before finally spotting the floppy fin sticking out of the water.

This fish is close to 4 feet long, and is exhibiting horizontal basking behavior where they appear to stay close to the surface to get warmed by the sun. 

We were in neutral, taking pictures of the fish, when it changed course and swam directly toward us.  I giggled like a little kid...so exciting to see a Mola!

We anchored at Jewel Island, about 10 miles from Portland, in preparation for an easy pick up when our company arrived the next day.  This is still my favorite anchorage in all of Maine.

As always, I am slightly behind in my postings.  The next blog will share the wonderful adventures we had with two sets of guests, but at the moment we are hiding from Henri.

Calm before the storm...

We are currently hiding out in the islands northeast of Portland.  This location is providing good protection from the easterly winds we have seen most of today.  It has been a chilly, windy, and rainy day, but we are each snuggled in our recliners with a cup of tea, fresh baked muffins, and a book.  We will probably stay put until Wednesday when we know all remnants of the storm have passed.

This Is Maine

If someone asked you to describe your favorite thing about your home state what would you say?  Would everyone in your home state agree with you? Of course not!  Everyone internalizes the things that make them happy.  For some, it might be the beach, for others it’s the mountains, and still others might love the hustle and bustle of city life with stadiums, museums, and festivals.  

If you haven’t figured it out yet...I like the water, and the scenery and wildlife associated with the water.  Each location we visit has a special look and feel.  When describing a place I think it is normal to highlight those things that make our heart sing!  To me, this is Maine!

Seals are adorable!  I still feel this way about them because they have not attempted to board my boat.

There are so many interesting places to explore!  We decided to visit Seguin Island.  Just happened to see it on the chart, and read a few of the Active Captain reviews...sounded interesting.  This picture features the only bathroom on the island.

The posts described several mooring balls, but specified that larger boats must get one of the two outermost mooring balls to ensure adequate depth at low tide.  Here we were tied to the outermost mooring ball, and this is our view from the pilot house.  Does it look like we are too close to the rocks?  It feels like we might be too close to the rocks. 

Seguin Island Light - erected in 1857, with a 1st order Fresnel lens, has the highest focal point of all operational lighthouses in Maine.  However, this was not the original lighthouse on the island.  A wooden structure was erected in 1794 (before Maine was even a state).

This information comes from the Seguin Island website, but it is slightly outdated as the bulb has been replaced with an LED bulb...and...

Solar panels and a large battery bank have been installed to power the light.  The current caretaker told us this change in power source decreased the light’s visibility from 26 to 14 miles.

It doesn’t feel like we are so close to the rocks when the tide is up.

The island has several hiking trails. The views are spectacular!

The 700 foot long tram was built in 1895 to transport goods up the 150 ft incline.  The tram was closed to people in 1949 after a cable broke and the lighthouse keeper’s wife suffered serious injuries.  It is now the oldest tram still operating in Maine, but is in desperate need of repair.  Friends of Seguin Island are trying to raise $600,000 for needed repairs.

View from inside the lighthouse.

View from the catwalk...stunning!

We love climbing on the rugged shoreline.

Our new camera features a panoramic option. 

We took the north trail and hiked around to the cove.  However, the trail seemed to end and we had to do a little bushwhacking to make our way back.

Birds eye view (drone’s eye view).

It doesn’t look like one should be able to get lost, but this is where we were when we lost the trail. It’s a much larger area than it appears.

This shot gives a great perspective of the protected cove and mooring balls, but the inexperienced drone pilot/photographer cut off the light house...ugh!  I guess we will have to make another trip to this wonderful place!

The seals, islands, lighthouses, rugged terrain, and quaint towns (to be featured in the next post) make my heart sing!! To me, this is Maine.