August 30-31, September 1-4, 2014 Warren Island, Rockland, Sawyer Island, Riggs Cove and Bath, Maine

8/30:  Didn’t have far to travel (about 12 miles) so got a leisurely start at 1105 and were on a mooring ball at Warren Island State Park by 1345.  Was brisk breeze (@ 20 mph) on the nose so was a very bumpy & spray filled couple of  hours.  Warren Island is a State Park, only way to get there is by water.  It is “primitive” by intent; what you carry in you carry back out, outhouse latrines, etc. No, we didn’t carry out the latrine, just Jada’s poopy bag! We were in a protected cove between Warren and Spruce Island to the east and off of Isleboro Island; still very windy but wave action was minimal.  We went ashore and hiked over the spine of the island and walked the western shore, really a neat experience.  Bonnie: Local Knowledge recommended Warren Island, beautiful setting and free moorings. ….is everything promised! Kayakers arrived as we did – to set up their camp on the island. There are many campsites available; chopped and split wood is available. As we dinghied ashore we were greeted with that wonderful Camper’s wood smoke smell. I often describe our 28 ft lodgings as “camping on the water”. But the one thing missing are those aromatic wood fires! In the center of the Island is a large clearing that used to stand a large home-had 27 bedrooms! Unfortunately, as often happens, the owner passed away before its completion. His son did complete it per the original plans and it was quite a place for family and friends to vacation. It burned in 1919 and all that is left is its foundation’s footprint. This was a little known gem to visit! Thank you Jane of True Blue.

Snack before dinner..the family was returning at low tide for clams!

Wilderness camping with best sunset views of Camden Hills

Clearing where 27 bedroom mansion was located

Campers' kayaks

Faery House

8/31:  Left Warrren at 0800 due to forecast of increasing winds & nasty storms later in the day.  Turns out that the winds came early, again on the nose, this time generating waves at 5’+.  Given the forecast for storms we decided to duck into Marina in Rockland Maine rather that head to our planned anchorage.  Arrived at Journey’s End Marina and in slip (same one we occupied a couple of weeks earlier) 17 miles & 2 hours later.  The forecasted storms never came though we did get a lot of rainfall in the overnight hours.  Awoke on Labor Day to a foggy, fuzzy landscape.  Bonnie:  Leaving Warren Island we cruised by Dark Harbor on Iselboro Island-it had the highest concentration of mansions we had seen so far along Maine’s coast. History has it that even Britain’s Anthony Eden would chose this location for his US vacations.

9/1:  Labor Day morning brought pea soup thick fog, too little visibility to go anywhere, even with radar.  Had sufficient burn of by mid morning that we had ¼ mile so we got under way at 1020 with radar cranking.  We ran for about 4 hours under these conditions before weather cleared completely.  With the radar I could “see” targets at about 2 miles and track them as we approached each other.  At about the quarter mile range ring (@ 1,300 feet distant) we could make out ghostly shape of the other vessel thru the fog.  Was both exciting and a bit nerve wracking.  Arrived in an absolutely stunning anchorage off of Sawyer Island (near Boothbay Harbor) 6 hors and 48 miles later.  Bonnie:  This is another little gem of an anchorage we found solely due to Active Captain—website we use to locate anchorages, moorings, marinas along our journey. All reports are submitted by cruisers like ourselves. In addition to it’s beauty and totasl 360 degree protection, it was only a dinghy ride to Coastal Maine’s Botanical Gardens. We took Jada ashore near a boat ramp that happed to lead to a delightful day park that jutted out into the river. Good walk for us both! Enjoyed a grilled garlic rosemary pork tenderloin and pan seared fresh vegetables.

Rockland LightOwls Head Light

 9/2:  Lazed about in the AM, in thick fog until @ 1030 when fog mostly lifted.  Took dinghy about 2 miles to the Booth Bay Botanical Gardens.  Much to my surprise I found it both fascinating & enjoyable.  Were back on board and underway by 1430 and headed out for the Town Dock of Bath.  We weren’t under way for 30 minutes when another, seriously dense, fog bank arrived on the scene.  Visibility was instantly down to under 200 feet.  And, this time we weren’t on the open sea; rather in a very narrow waterway (the Inside Passage between Boothbay and Bath) with a reputation for being a “difficult” passage due to conflicting tidal and river currents.  Needless to say, radar within narrow rock ribbed canyons is not very effective.  So, we reversed course, found a Marina less than 3 miles away, pumped out holding tank and pumped in 41 gallons of diesel fuel.  We are now on a Marina mooring ball watching other boats in the mooring field appear/disappear as fog continues to roll in/out.  With an assist from Mom Nature, will try for Bath again tomorrow. Bonnie:  Learning of these gardens was by sheer accident—had just been trying to locate a nice anchorage. These gardens occupy +100 acres along a wooded ridge leading down to the water. There is a meditative garden, a water garden, a woodland faery garden—wonderful for children , a kitchen garden, children’s garden—oh my you name it plus there are wonderful sculptures including many including  water . Naturally, Maine granite is the primary medium.  It was an especially nice “side trip”. As we were entering the fog—or was the fog enveloping us—I was reading the “fine print” of the Passage. Hmmm there was to be a South Hells Gate and a North Hells Gate: “beware of turbulent waters; a Maine white water experience; narrow rocky passage where tides and river fight each other”. Didn’t sound great when you could see the “turmoil”, less so since we couldn’t see anything to begin with. Again, yeah Active Captain (and wifi availability) and there was this perfect mooring almost just around the corner from us. Whew!

Home in the Faery Village

 Work table in Faery Village

Pine cone sculpture

Rain run off to divert flood waters

Droopy pines in their natural state!

The Kitchen Garden

Place your face in one of the holes, any sound made sounds like you are surrounded with sound

Entrance to Children's garden

Play house

To foster Monarch Butterflies' population, they are goring Mexican Milkweed=Monarch catepillar=Success!!

9/3:  Dawn brought crystal clear skies, unlimited visibility and the urge to take on the challenge of navigating the “shortcut” channel to the town of Bath.  Traveling the long way around from the Boothbay area entails about 15 miles down the Sheepscot River, around the point and then about 20 more miles back up the Kennebec River.  The shortcut totaled 9 miles and took 2 hours.  Having said that however, I will say that the route was exciting; severe tidal rips/surges at several locations combined with very narrow (maybe 30 feet wide in spots) areas kept us on our toes.  The scenery was magnificent, the weather perfect and we arrived early enough (@ 1100) to be able to spend a whole afternoon at the Maine Maritime Museum.  Joe Gracia and a friend met us there and we returned to the boat for docktails, followed by a great dinner at the tavern at the end of our space on the Town Dock.  Bonnie: The Passage was beautiful—especially since we could see it!!! And saw another Harbor Seal! The Bath Town Dock is free, has a free pump out and water but no power. It is part of a lovely waterfront park, only 1 block for the historic district and a good grocery store and Reny’s (Maine’s own has everything you need and didn’t know you needed department store).  We rode our bikes the 2 miles to the MMM-up and down a few hills and in traffic, most as we rode by the Bath Iron Works Boatyard. The Museum was as good as “advertised”-that’s saying something as lately, we have been to quite a few small and large maritime museums. They have a HUGE metal sculpture depicting the actual size of the Wyoming, the last  6 masted schooner ever built, and built right on the spot where the sculpture sits. At one time Bath had 21 shipbuilding companies. The Museum occupies the site of 3 of them. Was a delightful surprise to be joined by Joe Gracia and his good friend Bob Santos. Enjoyed dinner—Bill had scallops and asparagus in a cream sauce (this is the guy who was “allergic” to asparagus for 65 years!) and I finally had my “lazy lobster”. Before leaving Maine I just wanted some lobster to dunk into clarified butter and they delivered well!

Floating "cottage" to rent-comes with small boat!

Currents in Inland Passage

no rocks-current meeting tide

Silk screen of Schooner Captain's family--from photograph

Meritime Museum Boat Builder

Made by 8th graders--a semester's class

Lifesize sculpture of the Wyoming-largest and last 7 masted schooner built on this same site

9/4:  Lay Day at Bath Town Dock (still free); featured planned activity will be a motorized tour of the Bath Iron Works (General Dynamics), a fabled Maine shipbuilding enterprise since the 19^th century and now a major Defense contractor.  They are currently building the USN Destroyer Zumwalt (DD 1000).  She is visible from the river and is one strange looking vessel.  Purportedly, her radar cross section appears to be that of a fishing trawler and she is the latest in stealth technology.  Bonnie: Due to these stealth destroyers’ construction, there are no longer tours inside the BIW. So, we enjoyed a well done video detailing the history of the yard and showing in “unclassified” detail the step by step building of an Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer including its boarding of its Navy crew as it is finished and sea trials. We then were driven by sections of the yard when construction was visible—all of which made “sense” thanks to the video and our excellent guide. Bill returned to the Elissa II and I enjoyed a ramble through the historic district and helped the economy some—when at free docks, we do try to help the local economy!! Bath has been a delightful interlude.

USS Zumwalt

Snow Squall- 1851 South Portland, ME----Of 300 clipper ships produced in the US, this is the only one remaining; rescued from its underwater "tomb" in the Falkan Islands, 1864-1987