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Our Summer Cruise 2018

 

Sunday, August 26

Herrick Bay to Buck's Harbor - 16nm

A very quiet night under the full moon and we woke well rested with no particular plans for the day other than to leave Herrick Bay. The forecast looked good with only light winds predicted from a southerly direction so we headed out around 9:30 to go somewhere northwest up the Eggemoggin Reach, the long straight passage shown on the chart above. This is a very popular cruising area, particularly for sailboats as it generally has good wind. Being early in the day, it was relatively quiet with just a few boats out all the way to the Deer Isle Bridge that spans almost 1100 feet between its main towers.

 

Coming up the Reach we searched for boats we might know using an AIS app, MarineTraffic.com and noticed "Mirto", a 37 NT, was in Cradle Cove not too far away on Isleboro Island. We had met John and Laurie, the owners, on the St. Lawrence in 2016 and traveled on and off with them nearby. They were heading out soon and we agreed to rendezvous at Buck's Harbor about an hour away. The harbor had been on our list of places to visit this year; we were soon tied up to Mooring Ball No. 9 and enjoying the peaceful surroundings.

"Mirto"

Buck's Harbor, named after Colonel Jonathan Buck who founded the nearby town of Bucksport in 1763, is a semicircular space with a heart-shaped island creating east and west entrances facing west. It is a great place to be in bad weather with limited exposure; not needed today with just a few knots of wind. While the Harbor has over 100 moorings, it was relatively quiet with many open balls. (The Harbor Marina is owned by Jonathan E. Buck, a descendent of the Colonel). The kids go back to school here next week and things are starting to wind down for Mainahs and especially those from "away" (non-Mainahs).

 

Part of Buck's Harbor

 

Bruce and Karen, aboard an F-25, also joined us in Buck's. They are good friends of John and Laurie and made the trip from Rockland very quickly in relatively light winds. Their trimaran is a high performance model that Bruce bought as a kit and completed the boat himself. They are both in business owning a distillery and a wine making company. We enjoyed talking with them on Mirto over wine, beer and snacks ending as dusk approached.

 

Monday, August 27

Buck's Harbor to Holbrook Island - 10nm

Just a short run around the corner or Cape Rosier to find all of the Holbrook Island Sanctuary free mooring balls available. We took the one by the shore of Holbrook Island as it has better protection from the 8 knot winds predicted (LOL). We would have been glad of 8 knots as we are getting a Maine heat wave of mid 80s. As you can see, it was an ideal opportunity to do a couple of lines of washing and get it dry in couple of hours. The spin dryer is still working fine after the Dremel job and makes drying very quick. We had a relaxing day taking the dinghy for a couple of hours to explore the entire shoreline noting where the rocks were as the tide dropped. At least half a dozen small islands appeared in the drop from high to low tides. Work continued on the blog with a goal of getting last week's out by tomorrow.

 

Particularly Good Stretch of Shoreline

Ram Island

I had a funny response to our blog from a good friend and painting buddy, Ed Huss, in Kalamazoo. We have both been painting works from Andrew Wyeth's early watercolor period and have both got to know some of his other work as well.

 

The cloud we had earlier in day disappeared as dusk fell so the sunset was a bit blah but nature made up for it with another near full moon colored bright orange. We have been told that it is due to dust in the atmosphere from the fires out West but that sounds a bit unlikely.

 

Tuesday, August 28

It was a warm night with windows opened (but screened), only dropping to the mid 60s with a forecast of mid 80s again. After getting the blog finished we took off in the dinghy to the dock on the Island to take a hike but after going about 50 yards on shore, we literally ran back to dock chased by a million mosquitos and were each bitten numerous times.

No hike on the Island today, so we spent some time in the dinghy checking out the other Sanctuary dock on the mainland side. Several people on the dock reported a similar problem so we chatted with an couple who had just bought a Ranger 27, having downsized from an Albin 35 trawler. They are from Maine and were another good source of information on places to go by boat. We have an excellent cruising guide to Maine that is very comprehensive but locals can often add good perspectives from their experiences.

 

As usual, the blog took a little longer than anticipated with the uploads to YouTube taking a long time before they appeared to add in to the blog. By early afternoon, I was done, proofed, and uploaded so I took a well-deserved break to sit in the sun and catch up with some reading and my afternoon cup of tea.

By dusk (7:18), the wind had picked up a little so we had some breeze through the boat but it was still 78 degrees ..... another warm night coming.

Fire in the Sky Tonight

The State of Maine has issued an Air Quality alert for our coastal area until 11pm tomorrow due to high particulate pollution levels combined with the higher temperatures and humidity; maybe that does account for the orange moon. We will see a little later when the moon rises. No red moon - dense cloud!

Wednesday, August 29

Holbrook Island to Smith Cove, Castine - 4nm

Another calm night with temps in the 60s and sun greeting Judy as she made the coffee; we have a deal, Judy makes the coffee most mornings and I wipe the shower down.

Just a short run around the corner today to anchor in Smith Cove, south of Castine. We tucked in close to shore and anchored in about 18 feet of water behind an immaculate older vessel registered in the UK, "Blue Guitar."

"Blue Guitar"

There is a lot of internet chatter about who the owner of the 1967 Camper Nicholson superyacht is, with many claims that it belongs to Eric Clapton but since he owns another superyacht, "Va Bene," below, it seems unlikely.

"Va Bene"

Regardless, the Camper Nicholson is a great example of a beautiful 50 year-old vessel at 100' long (a really big private vessel for its time), a beam of only 16', and a weight of 80 tons. It is powered by two Gardner diesels of 225 horsepower each with a cruising speed of 10 knots and 12 knots top speed. To give you a comparison of how efficient it is, our boat has a 380 horsepower diesel, is 40' long and has a beam of 13'. Top speed is 18 knots.

We have been to Castine a couple of times before and have always taken a mooring right by the town. Both times, we've found the current in the mooring field to be very strong and the water rough since it is in the mouth of the Bagaduce River and tidal as well. Being at the northeast corner of Penobscot Bay doesn't help either. Smith Cove is only a short dinghy ride way and much less affected, except it is exposed to the north.

After our normal late-morning breakfast at 11:00, we took a fast dinghy ride across to Castine (less than ten minutes) and tied up at the town dock where they are very accommodating. The forecast was correct for once with 86 degrees F at noon and no breeze.

Castine

 

 

Thursday, August 30

 

Friday, August 31

Smith Cove to Warren Island - 14 nm

Our intent today was to enjoy a quiet day at a small anchorage, Crowe Cove, close to the center of the west shore of Isleboro Island. It was quite well recommended in our cruising guide. As we made the turn towards the cove we encountered two aquaculture sites; probably growing oysters or mussels on vertical nets. In the Cove itself, they had added four more sites that essentially blocked the Cove off from anchoring.

Since we were in the area, we decided to go just a little further to Warren Island where we had spent a couple of days earlier in the season with Dean and Charlotte. The moorings, maintained by Warren Island State Park, were empty so we had our choice. Throughout the day, a few more boats came in and campers arrived in small boats to land on the Island for the weekend.

 

Saturday, September 1

Warren Island to Camden - 8 nm

 

 

Being Light and Quick is the Key

Not a Bad Effort - But an Amateur

Good Effort by the Second Adult to Run But He Broke a Crate - End of Racing!