We have had courtesy cars from marinas before but they were all end-of-life. This marina gave us a brand new GMC SUV. We had it for going into town 4 hrs and again for the evening to go to dinner. Also unheard of in our experience as it’s usually an hour max.
Mid morning we took a 1 1/2 hour boat tour of the harbour which was well worth it for both the scenery and the history. There is a submarine base here plus many fortifications from the Second World War back to colonial times. The town has very much kept its older buildings preserved. The Wentworth Hotel beside our Marina was where the 1905 treaty to end the Sino Russian conflict was negotiated. A local merchant, William Pepperrell, led the New England forces supported by the British Navy to take the fortress at Louisbourg from the French in 1745.
Before dinner we used the car to drive the narrow winding streets to view the many houses from the 1700s.
Portsmouth waterfrontNaval submarine base
The notorious US Naval brig closed in the 1970sWentworth Hotel
Our marina – part of the tourDowntownMy purchases for the day
Sunny start with calm seas. Easy run to Portsmouth with both sails up also the motor. Thanks to Chris’ suggestion we think we finally have the slight overheating of the engine under control.
Arrived at Wentworth Marina about mid afternoon. Very nice facility but then this what you get when you pay USD 3.85 a foot.
Relaxing dinner on-board with a wee bit of scotch to follow.
Sure happier to have made here on my ship rather than this one.Cape Elizabeth light, a fine example and just one of the many along the way.
Awoke to sunny skies and silence except for a few bird songs. Enjoyed the quiet and beauty until 11am when we departed for Portland. The seas were calmer but the soft winds were often on our nose so didn’t have any sails out for long. This being Labour Day w/e there was an enormous amount of boat traffic and, of course, the usual crab pots.
Breakfast on deck for US Chris while CA Chris does boat work
The Portland harbour is in behind some islands which have forts on them from days gone by.
Had to wait for both the fuel dock and our slip to be ready. Why do folks tell you it’ll be ready in 2 minutes when they know it won’t be? I’d rather know the truth. Waited on the fuel dock with the incompetent dock hand.
Spent the evening wandering around the old town. Some streets were pedestrian only with old warehouses converted into shops and restaurants. Quite a vibe going. It was quite crowded and mostly with university aged kids. We discovered that indeed there are several colleges close by.
Ramble On (left at fuel dock) with some slightly bigger craftTide’s out !Old warehouses serving a new purpose
Anchored off Snow Island. The red J46 is where we had dinner
Bit of a slog under sunny skies. Winds were in the high teens with the waves 3 to 4 feet with a short period between. Ramble On tacked out to run in under sail but we don’t point as well so we decided to go with full main, shortened jib and motor. It wasn’t overly pleasant but it was only a few hours before turning up to run with the wind the 5 nm to our anchorage. More protected from waves and wind it was a smooth and wonderful sail up the channel with occasional alterations of course to avoid anchored/moored boats. We were passed by a small runabout with 5 or 6 people aboard who slowed down and yelled, “yay Kingston , wonderful sailing”, followed by a thumbs up. Since very few Americans have heard of Kingston that was an interesting moment.
This anchorage was a meet up with friend’s of Ramble On. They came out to meet us in their dinghy to give some guidance of the best place to anchor. We had dinner on their boat which was lovely and interesting to hear their sailing adventures. They spend most of their summers cruising these waters and racing the Newport to Bermuda race and the Marblehead to Halifax race so many interesting, funny, and horrifying tales.
This part of Maine is a whole set of long fingers that lead to pretty and protected harbours and anchorages, see the attached photo.
The jagged coast of Maine. We are the red triangle in the top right
A long day of motoring through various islands and, of course, crab pots. But no fog! We do an hour on an hour off so one can relax a bit and keep refreshed for crab pot lookout concentration.
Arrived in the very picturesque Christmas Cove late afternoon under warm, sunny skies. Enjoyed a very good dinner ashore and I had the best oysters this trip from the nearby Damariscotta River.
Ramble On departing CamdenRamble On in the Christmas Cove mooring fieldOur view at dinner sitting on the balcony
Awoke to fog which cleared and we had a fun sail tacking down Penobscot Bay arriving just after 2:30 in Camden. We followed several large, old schooners in through the biggest mooring field we’d ever seen-could only capture 1/2 of it on camera. The small harbour at the end uses floating dock islands rather than mooring balls to be able accommodate more boats (floating docks don’t swing with wind and current changes). We tied up at the town dock and enjoyed our walk around town — it’s a lovely old town with a real vibe.
This is only half the mooring field !Floating docks
A pleasant sunny morning with little wind as we motored the 10 nm to Belfast. Studied the spots where the British ships lined up against the American invaders in the 1799 battle and also where the US fleet was destroyed in the Penobscot River. This river was also the setting in the movie, “Red October”, where Sean Connery takes the Russian sub.
Arrived about noon and spent the afternoon visiting the history museum and looking around town.
Still on our mooring in CastineMouth of the Penobscot RiverDowntown Belfast
A cool morning today waking up to 14C. But it warmed up nicely and was a beautiful sunny day. Unhappily due to low wind speeds and often being on our nose it was a full motoring day. The usual crab pots along the way but hardly any at all as we neared Castine. We think it’s because the Maine Maritime Academy is here with it’s 500’ 160,000 ton training ship that plies these waters and doesn’t dodge crab pots!
Many islands with small fishing inlet villagesThe two mooring balls on the left are for visitors
A real estate broker with its own building for sale. Not this guy’s a capitalist
About mid afternoon we fetched mooring balls at the yacht club and dinghied ashore to pay and then explore the town. The town is older than the settlement at Plymouth Rock by 7 years ergo 1613. It is a fine example of 1700s style housing many of which survive today. However, not all or st least not here. Some houses were built prior to the American Revolution and when the Loyalists departed after 1783 some took their houses with them. There is a vacant lot on Main Street that speaks to this, they all went to St Andrews New Brunswick.
We got directions to the History Center from a very kind, elderly woman. I read within the last few years Bernard Cornwell’s, “The Fort”, about the American army and navy from Massachusetts trying to take the British fort, The George, in 1779. I had some notion that it was near Castine but I discovered at the museum that the fort and battle were only a few blocks away. So we walked over to see it. Nothing like seeing the real thing to bring it alive. So our boats are where the British ships would’ve lined up to defend against the Americans. Unfortunately for the American forces no one was in charge so the whole operation ended badly. It’s been listed as the worst US naval disaster until Pearl Harbor.
Fort George
This pub designer had a sense of humourThe Castine mooring field … Ramble On and Finnish Line 2.0 are on the right on the outside
Our only shot of Burnt Coat Harbor due to our hasty exit
The morning was a leisurely breakfast before we agreed that about 9:30 we’d all dinghy ashore to check out the village and shops. As we all came on deck we saw that things didn’t look right. We had dragged our anchor back in a straight line back 150’ and were now just 20’ off a fishing trawler. Lots of scrambling to cast off Ramble On while we tried to stop the dragging, and recover the anchor. The wind was piping up so this was a bit more challenging and as the anchor came up it snagged a pot. After wrestling with it using a boat hook Chris realized the answer was to let down the anchor and then take it up again. That worked so we tried to anchor again and again we dragged right away. Why it held all night but not now isn’t clear. We read later that it was a very weedy, soft muddy bottom so maybe that along with the extra wind coming in caused this. We decided to call it quits and set off for that night’s anchorage.
Another day of lazy sailing and crab pots. Just before our island I noticed a crab pot ahead in my path out of line with some of the others. When I got up to it, it was a seal with its nose in the air apparently sleeping. Half a boat length away he woke up and dove away.
A field of crab pots —- no straight line sailing hereThe entrance to Seal Harbor
We arrived about mid afternoon and decided against the first anchorage in this long winding harbour and instead go the mile and a half to the one at the end. This is a well known beautiful spot so there were several other boats on the way as well as at the end. But there was room for us so we relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful rocky, treed surroundings.
Other than the crab pots it was a pretty easy, sunny day with half of it under main only kinda drifting along like real cruisers. With low tide approaching the narrow channel entrance was a bit of a cautious entrance into the harbour—we kinda came in through the side door. Took a long time to find a good anchorage spot so we didn’t hit any crab pots, nor fishing boats nor run aground …. one of most challenging so far this trip. We got it done but then didn’t like so we got it done again. As usual Ramble On rafted from us so we enjoyed cocktail hour and a good dinner. Dinner was below despite the beautiful view of the fishing village but cold and mosquitos do that to one. Sadly there are no photos of the village but you’ll have to read tomorrow’s entry to find out why.
