Mainly Cruising

It’s hard to picture a more beautiful place than Maine in high summer. Ocean waves crash against granite boulders and wash over colorful cobblestone beaches that stretch to the base of mountains dotted with fragrant pine trees. Days are long and often warm enough for a dip in a pond, but rarely too hot for a satisfying hike. Nights are cool enough to sleep under a comforter without air conditioning. The only notable downsides are an ungodly number of lobster pots that threaten to choke the rudder and condensation in the cabin caused by wet fog and a steep variance between air and water temperatures. With more than 2,000 picturesque islands and several vibrant towns in coastal Maine, we barely scratched the surface during our four weeks cruising between Portland and Bar Harbor.

Portland Head Light in Cape Elizabeth

We spent two nights (July 11-13) anchored in Portland Harbor, a quick dinghy ride from the public dock at Maine State Pier. My friend from college and local resident, Winston, was kind enough to give us a driving tour of the area on an unusually sweltering afternoon. He took us to Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth, where we indulged in juicy lobster rolls and craft blueberry soda from the Bite Into Maine food truck. Winston explained that Bite Into Maine lobster rolls are his favorite because they only contain soft claw meat, whereas most others contain chewy tail meat as well. After lunch, we climbed the remains of Fort Williams, a largely demolished army post that was in service during WWI and WWII. Then we walked along Casco Bay to the iconic Portland Head Light. Completed in 1791 at the direction of George Washington, it is the oldest lighthouse in Maine. After splitting ways with Winston in downtown Portland, we headed to Harbor Fish Market at 9 Custom House Wharf. A fish market (most recently acquired by the Alfiero family in 1966) has operated at this location since the late 1800’s. Harbor Fish Market offers an incredible variety of local and exotic seafood. Customers can watch fresh-caught lobsters be carried from lobster boats on the dock behind the market and dropped into recirculating seawater tanks on the sales floor. 

Dock behind Harbor Fish Market in Portland

On July 13, we sailed 21 nautical miles NE to Harpswell and spent a night anchored in Harpswell Harbor. The next day, we sailed 24 nautical miles ENE to Southport and anchored in well-protected Moffat Cove. We loved this peaceful anchorage because it is within dinghy distance of bustling Boothbay Harbor, but far enough off the beaten path that we were not disturbed by boat wake. We celebrated Mike’s birthday (July 15) in Boothbay Harbor with a round of drinks and live music on the patio of Pier 1 Pizza, followed by a hearty seafood dinner (fried scallops and lobster pot pie) at Kaler’s Restaurant. We hopped in the dinghy at sunset, as a thick fog rolled in. In addition to boats and jagged rocks that barely reveal themselves at a low tide, we had to dodge moored platforms stacked with lobster traps on the ride back to Moffat Cove.

View from hilltop on Damariscove Island

On July 17, we motored seven nautical miles south from Southport to Damariscove Island in light wind. We snagged one of two guest moorings maintained by the Boothbay Region Land Trust in the island’s tiny protected harbor. The moment we stepped ashore, we were greeted by a married couple that resides in a small cottage on Damariscove Island and maintains the grounds there during the summer. The friendly groundskeepers gave us an overview of hiking trails on the southern half of the island (the northern half is a protected bird nesting area) and warned us of areas infested with fire ants and poison ivy. We followed a seemingly untrodden trail through flowing fields. The overgrown trail led us up a hill that overlooks a cobblestone beach covered in shells. The beach lies between the ocean and a six-acre freshwater pond graced with flocks of birds. We leisurely hopped along the rocky shoreline until a squadron of mosquitoes struck, at which point we bolted inland and made our way back to the harbor.  

Shells covering cobblestone beach at Damariscove Island

On July 19, we sailed 37 nautical miles NE to Rockland Harbor and anchored next to Seal Ledge. Mike busted out his snorkel mask and spent nearly two hours scrubbing an inch of growth below Traveller’s waterline (a chore last undertaken in the Bahamas). The thermometer on the transducer read 74 when Mike jumped in, but he was swimming in cooler water beneath the keel that got colder as the sun faded. Traveller gained a knot of speed after the scrub-down, so Mike maintains it was well worth almost contracting hypothermia over. We spent several hours walking around Rockland to run errands and get a feel for the town. Rockland’s economy, which once centered around fishing/lobstering and granite/limestone mining, is now fueled by the service industry. There are modest art galleries, boutique shops, and restaurants lining Rockland’s Main Street. The town is working to extend its lovely harborside trail. The trail is adorned with a steel sculpture commemorating the 33 crew members of the cargo ship El Faro (including four graduates of the Maine Maritime Academy), which sank en route to Puerto Rico during a hurricane in 2015. I had fun leaping over cracks in a mile-long granite breakwater that extends to Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse. The breakwater took 18 years (1882 - 1900) and 700,000 tons of granite (most quarried in Vinalhaven) to complete. 

Pond on Hurricane Island

On July 21, we motor-sailed 11 miles east from Rockland to Vinalhaven and anchored at White Island. The next day, we took the dinghy to Hurricane Island and parked it at a free dock next to the visitor center. An enthusiastic girl working at the visitor center ran down to greet us and handed us a map depicting trails and points of interest on the small island. Hurricane Island was the site of a wildly successful granite quarry between 1870 and 1920. It also served as a company town where quarry workers rented homes from the company. The remainder of their salaries were credited to accounts at the company store. Most workers were immigrants from Sweden, Finland, Scotland, England, or Italy. The year-round population was about 250, and one teacher was charged with teaching 60+ pupils that spoke different languages at the island’s school. Railroad expansion eventually made it more affordable for builders to acquire granite from inland quarries than from island quarries (via barges). The company town was abruptly abandoned after management declared the quarry closed and ordered worker-residents to leave. A science and leadership center focused on fostering environmentally sustainable practices now houses its campus on Hurricane Island, but equipment and other remnants of the old quarry are still scattered about.

Mike swimming in a quarry on Green Island

On July 23, we motored seven nautical miles north from Vinalhaven to North Haven and anchored at Grindstone for the night. On July 24, we proceeded ten nautical miles NNE to Green Island in Stonington. We hiked around the perimeter and up the hill at Green Island before cooling off in an abandoned quarry pit filled with rain water. We quickly realized that the anchorage at Green Island lay in the middle of a heavily trafficked lobster boat highway, so we moved two nautical miles east to Hells Half Acre (another tiny island in the Stonington region) before nightfall. 

Sargent Cove

On July 25, we sailed 30 nautical miles NE from Stonington to Mt. Desert Island and anchored at Sargent Cove. This was our foggiest sail yet. Commercial lobster boats are not required to transmit their location on AIS, and it seems none of them do. We vigilantly eyed the chart for navigational buoys and the radar for boats, as visibility was limited to a few feet. It was unnerving to hear lobster boats zooming by from all directions without ever catching sight of them. We did not miss the autopilot, which crapped out in Rockland, because it was necessary to hand-steer in these conditions. We spotted a nefarious looking fin, which we later found out belonged to a basking shark (a large filter-feeder), as we neared Mt. Desert. The fog dissipated, and we had a clear view of mountains towering on either side of us as we sailed up Somes Sound to Sargent Cove. 

View from top of Sargent Mountain

We spent several days hiking, swimming, and kayaking in and around Acadia National Park. A restaurant and marina next to Sargent Cove kindly permitted us to park our dinghy there at no charge. We walked to the Giant Slide Trailhead from there, and then scrambled up and over boulders to the peak of Sargent Mountain (the second tallest mountain in the park at 1,373 feet). Acadia National Park provides free bussing across the island to pass holders (a one-week pedestrian pass is only $20). We were able to catch the bus to a trailhead on the southern foot of Cadillac Mountain, hike up and over it, and catch a different bus on the opposite side. At 1,530 feet, Cadillac Mountain is the tallest mountain on the eastern seaboard of the U.S. From its summit, you can see the tiny islands surrounding Mt. Desert, as well as smaller mountain peaks, lakes, and ponds throughout Acadia National Park. We spent a lot of time adventuring with my friend from college, Teresa, who has spent almost every summer of her life on Mt. Desert Island. Teresa was extremely helpful and generous. She shared insider information about less trodden trails, drove us to a freshwater pond few tourists know about, gave us a tour of Bar Harbor that ended at a great seafood restaurant, and invited us over to do laundry and grill BBQ chicken. She also accepted delivery of the new autopilot control head, which Mike promptly installed to get the system back up and running. We had a boisterous gathering aboard Traveller one evening with Teresa and our new friends/fellow Island Packet owners, Ernie and Lilly of IP465 Adventura, who were anchored next to us. While Mike recovered the following afternoon, Teresa and I kayaked to Little Cranberry Island and rewarded ourselves with honey-glazed duck wings, muscles, and ginger-free “gingerbread cake” (a local favorite that is to die for) at Islesford Dock Restaurant. We moved to Southwest Harbor and spent our final three days at Mt. Desert Island anchored in Mill Dam. It was fun to check out a new area, but we regretted leaving Sargent Cove upon realizing that it is difficult to find transient dinghy dockage in Southwest Harbor and only one bus stops there every two hours. There was also more boat traffic and wake than we experienced in quiet Sargent Cove. 

Summit of Cadillac Mountain

On August 5, we left the dreamland of Acadia National Park, and sailed 41 nautical miles SW to Rockland. We headed ashore the next day to stock up on groceries for longer southbound voyages ahead. We were met with excited commotion at the town dock. A large crowd cheered around a roped off section of the harbor and a booming voice announced the names of contestants over a loudspeaker. We elbowed through the crowd to discover what was going on. It turns out that we stumbled into the middle of the Maine Lobster Festival, an annual event since 1947, just in time to witness “The Great International Lobster Crate Race.” The rules are simple: contestants attempt to run across a floating bridge of 50 lobster crates connecting two floating docks, and whoever clears the most crates without sinking wins. It quickly became apparent that lighter contestants have a strong advantage. We watched several fit adults plummet into the water straight out of the gate. Then a 50 lb girl completed five laps (impressively clearing 250 crates) without sinking, even though she stumbled onto her hands and knees a few times.

We waited out a couple of days of heavy rain and wind in Rockland, and set out on an overnight sail to Cape Cod Bay yesterday morning. The wind was steady from the NW averaging 12-15 knots, at times gusting above 20. Although there were a few times that the wind died and we briefly ran the motor, we sailed most of the 145 nautical miles on a beam reach. The autopilot worked great, except for one freak incident in which it shut off and we spun straight towards a 485' oil tanker passing behind us. We still had to keep a sharp lookout because, even 30 nautical miles offshore in 400' water, there were a few lobster pots. Pursuant to our original plan, we checked the tidal chart for the Cape Cod Canal when we got close to see if it made sense to push through it. Since the tide would be flooding/working against us when we reached the canal, we decided to divert north to Provincetown. We dropped anchor at Cape Cod Cove in Provincetown (snuggled inside the hook formed by the northern tip of Cape Cod) at 9:30 this morning. Anchoring posed a final challenge at the end of a 26-hour long sail. A sand bar extending from the shoreline dramatically drops off to 70-90’ deep water. On the second careful attempt, we successfully hooked the anchor in 17’ of water with a safe swinging radius clear of any sandbars. Foul weather is forecast for tomorrow, so we plan to stay here for two nights. After that, we will pass through the Cape Cod Canal and head southeast to Martha’s Vineyard. Then we will continue our journey back to Maryland, stopping at a few other places we missed on our way up to Maine in the process.