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.
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!
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!
Work table in Faery Village
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!
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 19th 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.
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