Super Fund

Smith Cove, Brooksville, Maine

Tanqueray returned to Smith Cove this time with Viviane aboard. We re-connected with Trip and Nicole aboard Kalyra and spent time ashore hiking the public trails on the west side of the harbor.

I'm still smitten with Smith Cove. It's the perfect place to keep a boat moored or anchored, albiet a bit far from civilization. The only minor problem is the nearby superfund site.

I expect to blog less frequently now that I'm slowly heading home and often visiting places for a second time. I also know the blog timing can be confusing. Tanqueray visits a destination on one date, I write the blog entry at a later date and then I post at a still later time when I get some internet access. Healthy stretches of procrastination are mixed in to further extend the schedule.

Eggemoggin Reach

Center Harbor, Brooklin, Maine

Center Harbor is home to a lot of beautiful, old, wooden boats. It's also where the video website Off Center Harbor is based. They produce videos about all things sailing and nautical but with a heavy slant towards old classic boats.

The videos are very well done. After watching only a few you will want to move to Maine, lose your r's and buy an old wooden boat.

Eggemoggin Reach

Center Harbor is located on Eggemoggin Reach. Likable because it has a cool name, very few lobster pots and is the first suspension bridge Tanqueray has gone under since the Throgs Neck bridge.

Kollegewidgwok

Blue Hill, Maine

looks green to me

Blue Hill is home to the Kollegewidgwok Yacht Club where we rented a mooring. When I first called them on the radio, I didn't even try to get the name right. Instead, I tried to slur something quickly that started with a 'k' and had a 'w' in there somewhere. I soon realized that no one has any idea how to pronounce the name and so everyone just calls it KYC.

Blue Hill Bay

Allen Cove, Blue Hill Bay

Blue Hill Bay is one of the nicest stretches of water we've sailed in Maine. One can see Blue Hill to the north, the Acadia mountains to the east and, best of all, there are few lobster pots cluttering the way.

We spent one night in Allen Cove, a quiet cove exposed only to the north.

Homecoming

Southwest Harbor, MDI, Maine

Our last destination on MDI, Southwest harbor is where our Morris Justine was born - 27 years ago at Morris Yachts. It's the first time she has been home since we've owned her. Morris was purchased by Hinkley Yachts a couple of years ago. I suspect it's no longer the family owned business it once was.

The Mountains of Acadia Park above Southwest Harbor

fjards

Somes Harbor, MDI, Maine Somes Sound is the only fjard in the lower 48 states (or something like that). It was impressive to be sailing in such deep water nestled between the mountains of Acadia Park. Some day I hope to visit even more impressive fjords in Newfoundland and Quebec. Not sure why I didn't take a picture.

End of Easting

Northeast Harbor, Mount Desert Island, Maine

Leaving Swan's Island and heading northeast brought us to Northeast Harbor, Mount Desert Island, Maine. This is the farthest east Tanqueray will go this summer. There's not much between here and the Canadian boarder.

Admiral V

Northeast Harbor is home to the most expensive collection of boats I've seen since visiting Nantucket. The local population (including several billionaires) voted against allowing cruise ships to visit the harbor.

Swan's Island revisited

Swan's Island, Maine

On our way farther downeast we stopped at Swan's Island. My second visit there. After exchanging emails with Deb, she graciously offered to give us a tour of her home on Toothache Cove.

Toothache Cove

We had a throughly enjoyable time hearing about their life on Swan's Island and seeing their beautiful, custom built home. They have spectacular ocean views from every room in the house (Ed pointed out you have to leave the bathroom door open to make the statement completely true). We're determined to return here again and take Deb and Ed up on their offer to give us a tour of the island.

Deb and Ed's amazing home

It is both fun and scary to imagine life on an island without a supermarket or even a drug store.

We were moored in Burnt Coat Harbor which is dominated by Lobster boats. There were very few pleasure craft around. Every morning at dawn the (loud) lobster boats head out to sea. In early afternoon they return and pull up, one by one, to a little green shed at the co-op (or other dock). They pull their catch out of a holding tank and put them in plastic crates. The crates are then passed through the green shed where I presume they are weighed. Next, they are strung together and put back in the water where they stay until (often the next day) they are manually hoisted up by a small pulley and crane and put into trucks to be sent off island for sale.

Lobster pound

Tanqueray among the lobster boats

Puffins

Seal Island, Maine

I have been on a quest to see Puffins, but the more I learned about them, the less likely it seemed. Other than coming to remote islands for a few months in the summer to give birth, they live their entire lives at sea and are rarely ever spotted even from ships at sea. Turns out there are only a few breeding colonies in Maine.

One of the islands where a summer colony has been re-established is Seal Island, just east of Matinicus. It's a long, thin, piece of jagged granite on which only birds live (though scientists visit). Fortunately, the water is deep right up to within a few feet of the island.

Seal Island

The weather departing Matinicus was settled so we decided to sail as close to Seal Island as possible with our binoculars in hand. As I was scanning the rocks and crevices, Viviane said "Oh, look at those funny birds in the water in front of us". I trained the binoculars on them and, sure enough, they were Puffins. Lots of them. They were much smaller than we expected.

Puffin

We didn't see any on the island, but we did see lots of them swimming in the waters around the islands and even for some distance as we sailed away from the Island.

I took a lot of pictures. They are skittish so we could never get very close and my zoom lens isn't very powerful. Once I uploaded the pictures and digitally zoomed in, it is clear (ok, fuzzy) that they are Puffins.

The day was a record for wildlife. We saw seals, porpoises, a whale, the puffins, storm petrels and, also for the first time, Gannets.

Gannet

Remote

Matinicus Island

West point hike vista

Matinicus Island is the most remote of the Maine islands with a year round population. Most of the permanent residents are Lobstermen and their families. I should mention that I've seen a lot of lobsterwomen and several boats with all women crews.

Matinicus wharf

Lobster traps

This island has no medical facilities - not even a doctor or nurse on duty. The ferry to the mainland runs only once a month. Cell phone service and internet are intermittent at best. There is a small gravel airstrip, but with the frequent fog, it is sometimes closed for days at a time.

A sign at the airport warned that flights are often delayed, even if you are sick or injured

Other than occasional visiting yachts (like us) I suspect almost no one but the locals ever visits Matinicus Island.

Bermuda One - Two

Long Cove, Vinalhaven

After dropping of Jobert in Rockland, I had the pleasure of joining the second place finisher of this years Newport-Bermuda 1-2 race and his wife on their boat Bluebird for a drink. The race is done single handed down to Bermuda and double handed back to Newport. Gust has done the race many times and because he owns a sister ship of Tanqueray I was keanly interested in everything he had to say about sailing Justines.

The next morning Viviane joined me again for two weeks of crusing downeast Maine. We spent our first night in outer Long Cove, Vinalhaven.

The One Percent

North Haven, North Haven Island, Maine

Jobert was scheduled to begin his long drive home to Pennsylvania on Friday morning so we decided to spend our last night in North Haven. It would be only a short, two hour hop back to Rockland and his car the next morning.

North Haven is a favorite of wealthy families, many from the Boston area. Unlike the other islands we had visited that had only snack bar at best, here we dinned with the 1%.

Dinner in North Haven

Many thanks to Jobert for a really fun few days and the uptick in pictures for the blog.

Lobsta Pots

Swan's Island, Maine

Whenever one reads about sailing in Maine, there is always mention of the ubiquitous Lobster pots. Still, I wasn't prepared for their number and density. Many parts of Penobscot Bay look like they are in the fall-out zone of an explosion at a giant Skittles factory. Multicolor bouys are so thick one can almost step from island to island. The crew can never relax while cruising in Maine - especially when under power.

After a relaxing two days anchored in the Isle au Haut Thorofare, we set sail for another of Maine's outer islands. The breeze was moist and cold - hard to believe it was late July.

July sailing in Maine

If we liked Isle au Haut, we loved Swan's Island. It's larger in area and population with about 300 year round residents. While wandering around we stumbled on the dream home and it is for sale. While we were gawking at the home and its view, the next door neighbor came out and said hello.

View from Swan's Island homes

Deb showed us around her property and told us a lot about life on the island. Deb's home is even more amazing than the one for sale. New, high quality construction and a wharf with floating dock that had me salivating.

Deb's on left, for sale on right

Ditty

Isle au Haut, Maine

After one night at Warren State park on Southern Islesboro Island, I stopped back in Rockland to pick up my friend Jobert who was joining me for a few days of sailing Tanqueray around Penobscot Bay. After a relaxing day in Minister's Cove we headed south for remote Isle au Haut.

The island has a small fishing village on the north side but most of the Island is part of the Acadia National Park. While the more famous parts of the park on Mount Desert get 5 million visitors a year, the boat to Isle au Haut is limited to 50 hikers a day. Jobert and I hiked through the northern section of the park eating wild blueberries and fighting off mosquitoes.

Obviously named by the French, it's equally tricky to figure out how it should be pronounced in either language. After receiving several conflicting answers I have decided to use this little ditty as the authoritative answer:

Says the summer man when the fog hangs low, "There's a bridal wreath on Isle au Haut". But the fisherman says as he loads his boat, "It's thick-a-fog on Isle au Haut".

Tanqueray at anchor, Isle au Haut

fog

Turtle Head Cove, Islesboro, Maine

After walking past all the homes for sale in Belfast, I wanted to move on but the fog prevented my early departure. Late in the day, much later than usual, the fog cleared enough to get underway.

Once out on the bay I could see yet more thick fog banks to the south. I elected to go only as far south as the northern tip of Islesboro, where I anchored for a peaceful, calm evening as we were well protected from the south winds.

Avenue de la Grande Armée

Belfast, Maine

Belfast is odd in that it's a pretty large city for Penobscot Bay, yet it seems slow and quiet compared to others. There are few tourists and route 1 does not go directly through town.

I found the best Nautical book store I have ever visited. The second best is on Avenue de la Grande Armée in the center of Paris. I picked up a few used book and look forward to returning for more someday.

Bagaduce

Smith Cove

After seeing all there was to see in Castine, I motored up the Bagaduce River. The Bagaduce is deep and meanders pretty far inland. It would be a great place to keep a boat - safe from storms yet with easy access to open water.

Across from Castine is Smith Cove, a well known hurricane hole. It has a mud bottom which makes for secure holding. I anchored at the far end of the cove in total tranquility. I could see Castine in the distance, but out here Eagles and Ospreys fish undisturbed.