Castine, ME

The distances between destinations in this part of Maine are much less now so our cruises are shorter. After taking  Archie for one last walk through town and helping our two cruising couples take off, we were ready to head to Castine by10 a.m. on Monday, August 8. Our cruising partners on Glory Days and Seaquel were going to Camden but since we had already been there we wanted to check out the smaller town of Castine. They planned to meet us in Buck’s Harbor in two days.

On our way out of the harbor we passed Ancient Mariners II which is owned by an elderly couple from Boca Raton. The woman is in her late nineties and the man is reportedly over 100. The captain was in his 70’s. What an appropriate name for their boat!

It was a lovely short cruise on calm seas. The day was overcast and cool unlike most of the warm sunny days we have had on this trip.

As we  entered Castine’s large harbor we passed many lovely traditional New England homes lining its shore.

We anchored across from the harbor in Smith Cove which had very few boats and lots of places to anchor. We found a spot that seemed like a short dinghy ride to the Castine town dock. We had a view of an old New England home overlooking the water.

After lunch and a little relaxation we took the dinghy into town.  Securing a map of the town center, we were able to do our own walking tour.  Castine is actually one of the oldest towns in New England. It predates the arrival of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. It has the unique history of having been under the rule of France, the Plymouth Colony, Acadia, and the Dutch during the turbulent years before and after the Revolutionary War.  The town is filled with lovely, genteel homes that are all beautifully maintained. It is also the home of the Maine Maritime Academy and we strolled through that campus as we walked through town.

This is a most unique example of the many little free libraries that are so popular now.

Before returning to Zendo we stopped at this little concession stand for an ice cream cone and ate it overlooking the harbor. Some teenagers pointed out several starfish in the water next to the dock.

Upon returning to Zendo we had a delicious dinner of lamb chops and eggplant that Jonny cooked on the grill.  We received the happy news that Stephanie has to use up some vacation days before October 1 and will be joining us onboard for several days when we return from our trip to the San Juan Islands in Washington state.

Our next stop is Buck’s Harbor where our friends Addie and Lange from Miami will be joining us for a few days. They are faithful visitors who have joined us almost every year onboard Zendo since we’ve been cruising. 

Belfast, ME

The first thing we did on Saturday, August 6 was to dinghy in to Warren Island State Park to hike around the island. It was a beautiful day and we had a gorgeous hike though a well maintained trail.  Archie was in heaven because he could be off leash and zig zag across the path looking for chipmunks and anything he could find.

When we returned to Zendo Jonny went for a very quick dip in the water thinking that he might dive on the prop to see if there were barnacles. But the water was a bit too chilly and murky so he hopped right out!

We reluctantly pulled up anchor by 10:30, though we could easily have stayed another day, and took off for the short cruise to Belfast.  Belfast had been strongly recommended by our friend Lynda and she had noted a number of places to visit while there. It was a calm day on the water with not many lobster pots which makes cruising a lot easier.  We arrived at the Belfast Municipal Marina and tied up behind Seaquil, the boat that Roy and Marie own.  We squeezed into a slip with a huge retro-fitted Arctic work boat less than 5 feet from us on the port side. It was a hulking presence and as long as it was tied up tightly (which it was) we would be just fine. Our sun deck faced the open harbor so we were happy. Pat and Joe, on Glory Days, were also docked nearby.

As we walked up the hill into town, we understood why Lynda likes this town so much. It is very authentic and not anywhere near as touristy as some of the other towns we have visited.  We went to the United Farmer’s Market which was held indoors in a space that sold homemade crafts of all sorts as well as fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, cheeses, etc.  We stocked up on native tomatoes, corn on the cob and freshly baked bread.

We took our goodies back to Zendo and had our favorite (and first of the season) tomato sandwiches for lunch. What a treat!  Laundry was the next chore on the list and we lugged a huge load of it up the hill to the local laundromat in a cart provided by the marina. Amazingly, we were able to load the laundry into one of their giant machines. Those big machines are also a lot faster than standard ones which makes doing laundry less onerous.

That evening the six of us had great fun taking our dinghies across the harbor to Young’s Lobster Pound. Jonny and I had never been to a restaurant quite like this. You bring your own drinks and dessert and order lobster and all the fixings by waiting in line at a crazy busy counter.  The lobsters are in huge tubs and they fill your order by placing your lobster, steamers and corn in a mesh bag and cooking it in a big pot of steaming water.  When your number is called you pick up your order and bring it to the picnic table on the deck.  Everything was really fresh and delicious! It was quite a scene!

After we finished our feast, we dinghied back to the marina as the sun set and had a quiet evening on board. Next stop will be Castine.

Warren Island, ME

On Friday, August 5 Jonny got up early and walked with Joe and Archie through the town of Rockland. They then headed over to Hamilton Chandlery where he found a new life ring for Zendo.  Afterwards they had a proper Maine breakfast of  eggs, toast and haddock cakes at a local restaurant.  Jonny returned to Zendo quite satiated!

Later that morning the two of us walked by the lobster festival through an array of pens with farm animals including miniature horses, goats, rabbits and pigs. Very cute! 

We headed for the wonderful Farnsworth Museum which is spread out over several blocks in downtown Rockland. It is filled with the works of Maine artists and some others. Their particular focus is on NC, Andrew, and Jamie Wyeth. It was a very good museum and well worth a visit.

The grounds of the museum had a number of very interesting sculptures as well.

On the walk back to Zendo we ran into these jaunty pirates who were volunteering on a pirate ship that was at the festival.

We had decided that we didn’t want to stay in Rockland another night and we preferred to head out to a nearby anchorage since we hadn’t spent any time anchoring in quite a while.  We discussed meeting up with our travel companions in either Camden or Belfast the next day based on the availability of moorings. So around 1:30 we headed out stopping at the fuel dock for fuel, water, and a pump out. 

We arrived at a beautiful anchorage after a little over two hours of cruising. The anchorage was in Warren Island State Park and it was just beautiful!  It was a very large anchorage with a few mooring balls that cost only $20 on the honor system. We opted to drop a hook not far from a dinghy dock that led to the island and park. There were just a few other boats in the anchorage. This was just what we were looking for!

We took Archie into the park and walked one of the trails around half the island. It was well maintained with several campsites.  Only a couple of them were being used. The only way to get there is by boat!

That evening we had dinner sitting on the aft deck loving the quiet and serenity of our surroundings.

Rockland, ME

It was a little foggy on Thursday, August 4 but we only had to wait a half hour beyond our 7 a.m. start time to take off from Boothbay Harbor bound for Rockland.

We proceeded ENE along the Maine coast passing some lighthouses illuminating the craggy shoreline.

Rounding the headland towards Little Egg Island we saw sunfish, seals and dolphins.  Roy had us circle Little Egg Island because it is a puffin sanctuary and the southernmost point to which puffins migrate each year. We were lucky enough to see scores of the little black birds with white chests and bright red beaks.  I wish I had a telephoto lens camera to be able to get a good shot of them!

We proceeded to thread through the islands of Penobscot Bay past Port Clyde, home to the Wyeth family and on to Rockland.

We arrived in Rockland about 12:45 but had a hell of a time finding our mooring. The mooring field is huge and the harbor master (or his staff) gave really poor directions.  Glory Days and we must have wandered the mooring field for 30 minutes before finding our mooring ball.  It was at the far end of the field. Jonny was so annoyed he was ready to cancel and just anchor out there but in the end decided not to. There was really no advantage to us mooring over anchoring since there were no services such as a launch, etc.

After he cooled off a bit we dinghied into town where a big Lobster Fest was in full force. We walked through through it and then out of it into the town of Rockland. It was a genuine, non-touristy town (except for the lobster fest) but nothing was open.

We tried to find a local brew pub or tavern but they were all closed except for one close to the harbor. It was an old time bar that used to cater to fishermen and “women of the night” but it was bought by new owners and now it’s just a local, very basic watering hole. So we enjoyed some nice cold beers and sat outside talking to a small group at the next table. We were somewhat surprised to find out that they consisted of a lawyer, a professor and a teacher all of whom lived in Cambridge - not the crowd we expected. Walking back to our dinghy, we saw that we were in good company!

That evening we had dinner onboard and decided to visit Rockland’s Farnsworth Gallery the next morning since the museum is supposed to be excellent and we had walked through its interesting grounds earlier in the day.