Our Summer Cruise 2019

 

Sunday, June 16

Just as well I went to bed early last night as sun streaming in the door of the stateroom blasted me at about 4:30 am and that was the end of sleeping. Coffee woke me a bit more and, by 6:00 am, I was installing the anchor and then giving the boat's topsides a thorough scrub down. Although the boat had been out of storage for a few weeks, there was more dust and pollen than anything so my work in the Fall had paid off.

The rest of the day was spent doing a number of small jobs around the boat such as replacing wiper blades, Rain X'ing the windows, flushing the water tank, etc.

Lacking any real food on the boat, I had to head to Blue Hill to find anything open and had to settle for the Thurston Co., a restaurant we had not tried before. Turned out to be a good choice with an excellent pork chop, mashed potatoe, roasted walnuts, and fiddleheads. That was a new one for me....fiddleheads are part of an ostrich fern and a Maine delicacy for a few weeks in late Spring as the fern sends up a curled up shoot that will eventually be a fern leaf up to 6 feet high. The small shoots are harvested in the wild and blanched and sauteed. An expensive treat at $15-35 a pound. They have a texture something like a green bean but have more flavor.

Sauteed Fiddleheads

Another early night just after sunset... but the room blacked out this time!

Monday, June 17

Slept in but work beckoned and it was a blue sky, sunny day again so I washed the boat hull down and applied a coat of polish which took me until lunchtime. Next on the list was to clean the dinghy up as it had got pretty dirty in the day of rain at the start of the trip. A few more miscellaneous boat jobs were accomplished including replacing the dinghy lift winch that was getting a little noisy and a brake that was slipping. It has had a good workout over the past three years and, for $49 at Harbor Freight, has done well.

The winch worked as advertised and lifted the dinghy off the trailer with no problem - good for another 4 years!

Tuesday, June 18

Summer continues with sun and blue skies promised until at least noon tomorrow. Buffed the polish off the hull which took way longer than planned. The sun yesterday had really baked it on and it was hard work. I guess that means it will stand up to the environment better and longer.

Low TIde at The Boatyard

The boats is completely sorted out now and things not needed for the summer have been offloaded into the Land Rover. Surprising how much I took off!

This evening I met up with Brion Reiff, a local boatbuilder, for dinner at the Barncastle Hotel to catch up with the news around the area. The restaurant was packed for this time of year which is unusual but it is open and the food is good and reasonably priced.

Wednesday, June 19

Up early to do a quick tidy up before heading to pick the Admiral up at Bangor Airport. Had to make the detour to Hamilton Marine in Searsport on the way to drop a few dollars in their till but not too big a bill today.

Judy's flight was on time and, with just a small carry-on, we were soon on the road back to the boat.

Early night as Judy was up at 4:00am.

Thursday, June 20

Launch Day arrived with a forecast of rain right around our launch time but it held off.

STB Looking a Little Precarious as it Moves Through the Yard

 

.... and Into the Water

STB fired up once the fuel pump filled the filters and we were off to a mooring ball in Herrick Bay. Safely tied up, we dropped the dinghy down and the outboard started on the first turn of the key and idled perfectly. Thank you "The Edge"!

The rain eventually came in the evening but did wash some dust of the boat.

Friday, June 21

With the rain at bay, we headed into Blue Hill to stock up with non-ethanol gas and do our big shop at the supermarket. Dean and Charlotte arrived from Portland with the news that Charlotte was going to have to head back to Chicago for a medical appointment next Tuesday - bummer! Hopefully not too big an impact on their summer.

Atlantic Boat had not completed the two jobs that Dean had signed up for so their launch will be delayed anyway until after Charlotte's return which is up in the air.

We celebrated their arrival with dinner at the Barncastle.

Saturday, June 22

Brooklin to Northeast Harbor - 18nm

Sunny skies greeted us this morning as we set off from Herrick Bay for a short run to Northeast Harbor on Mt. Desert Island, home of the Acadia National Park. The boat ran well in millpond conditions with only a few lobster floats to avoid. The lobster season is late this year from discussions with a few of the fisherman at Atlantic who still have their boats on the hard. Those that have launched are getting poor catches for the amount of work and expense involved.

Flye Point Lighthouse at the End of Herrick Bay

 

Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse

After a couple of hours run, we arrived at Northeast Harbor tucked away on the South shore of MDI to find it very sparsely populated with recreational boats. The floats only had one boat and most of the slips were empty; 80% of the mooring balls were free so we had our pick of the floats which we prefer.

Float 300

Overlooking NE Harbor

We idled away the afternoon in the Boater's Lounge catching up with good internet access and talking to a local sailor about good anchorages, tides, currents, and other things nautical before enjoying a peaceful evening on the water.