In 2007 we revisited many of the destinations of the previous year, but on a more relaxed schedule. Instead of rushing to Newport via the south shore of Long Island, we took our time with daysails through Long Island Sound. We left Keyport on June 30 just before dawn with Paula and Urs Muller and anchored in The Gulf just outside Milford that evening. Urs and Paula took the train home the next morning and Janet and I spent the night nerviously anchored to the east of Fishers Island's Hawks Point with a north wind testing our holding.
On July 2 we bypassed Newport and sailed straight to Quissett on Buzzards Bay, spotting the tall ship shown on the far left. It was the Barque Picton Castle, a sail training ship based in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada but flying the flag of the Cook Islands. On the near left is Applied Physics at Greg Duckworth's mooring right in front of the National Academies' conference facility at Quissett Harbor. Greg and his wife Deveaux joined us that evening.
The nights of July 3,4, and 5 were spent at one of Flyer's moorings in Provincetown. We stayed beyond the 4th because the weather on the 5th was nasty. The parade was great fun, but we were grateful to have a bimini to protect us from the rain during the fireworks.
On July 6 we sailed straight to Gloucester, arriving just before a nasty thunderstorm.The next day, leaving at dawn, we went ~80nm to Birch Island in Maine where Paul and Anne Mankiewich have a house. Again, we arrived around 4 PM just before the skies opened.Janet was ready for the worst.(photo left)Except for small, scattered bits of plastic and some innocuous electronics, going to Birch Island feels like a happy exercise in time travel. There are no wired or piped utilities. Lights, stoves, and fridges run on ferried-in propane. Now there is wireless phone and data service, which is convenient, but removes some of the charm. Some people have solar panels to run gadgets and there are gensets to run power tools. But I never heard stereos or TVs. People amuse each other by socializing. It seems the local community, which goes back about 100 years, finds an excuse almost every night for a party.
Peter Mankiewich enjoys poking around in the mud flats at low tide alone or with his friends. When the sun warms the mud and then the tide comes in, Anne likes to go swimming in the not completly frigid water. Paul keeps watch.
On July 8 was still. We motored with the Mankiewichs to Freeport and back to Birch
The ride from Casco Bay to Linkin Bay was unpleasant. We left Birch around 9 am July 9. 90 minutes later we were in the ocean and greeted by fog and little wind. When the wind did pick up, it was joined by thunderstorms with lightning all around us. We had considered going as far as Penobscot bay that day, but we decided that a shorter day, with a secure mooring in Linkin Bay, was a better idea. I think these seals were actually at the entrance to Casco Bay near Eagle Island.
On July 10 we sailed into Penobscot Bay and started visited our usual favorite anchorages. We saw this schooner July 13 passing by Spectacle Island, near Bucks Harbor
About an hour's sail north of Camden is Warren Island. It can be a nice place for a stroll if the mosquitos aren't around, which was this case this year, but not in 2006. The osprey at the south end of the island complained when we walked past its nest.
Dave met us in Camden for Bastille Day
Eva and Jerry Vogel joined us in Castine on their way to Nova Scotia. Of course there was fog in the morning, but it started to burn off.
Buckle Island is a favorite anchorage. Getting there is tricky; it requires dodging lobster pots that are mid-channel in the swift flowing, narrow Casco Passage. Throw in some fog, and maybe rain, and other boats coming from the opposite direction and you can have some real fun.
The sail north with Eva and Jerry to Castine on July 17 was a perfect day on Penobscot Bay.
Eatons Boatyard has convenient moorings, if you can get one. (Sometimes large yacht club flotillas come through.) We had a fun lobster dinner at Fort Madison that was a fund raiser for a local conservation group. We were later joined at our table by a women who had just got back from Afghanistan and by the young woman from Spain she was hosting who was student at the Maine Maritime Academy in Castine. Apparently, it is hard for women to get started in the merchant marine going through schools in Europe, so she decided to study in the US.
We eventually made our way to Northeast Harbor, our gateway to Acadia National Park. It was convenient for us because there is a bus that goes from there to most places on the island. On July 21 we took our dinghy to the dock for Thuya Gardens, and then hiked up Elliot Mountain and then on to Jordan Pond,finally taking the bus back to the dock.
By bus it's possible to get to most of the popular spots at Acadia. At several towns, including Northeast Harbor you can rent decent bikes that are well matched for the miles of car-free "carriage roads" that traverse the park. One road climbs from nearly sealevel to about 700' where there is a nice supply of all-you-can-pick blueberries. We heard there was only one known bear on the island during our visit, so a repeat of the "Blueberries For Sal" story was unlikely.
Doug Gage met us in Rockland. We did an overnight across the Gulf of Maine to Provincetown, spotting whales at dawn north of Cape Cod. Doug got off in Connecticut and we were joined in Glen Cove by Chuck and Laura Von Schmidt and their son Joe for the ride through the East River back to Keyport. That's Old Orchard Light in Raritan Bay behind Janet.