Maine Island Hopping
There are enough islands in Maine to explore to take up a lifetime of sailing. We've spent the last few weeks exploring some of them, but are far from done in this part of the world. We plan to be back up this way next year, but for now, we are going to slowly start working our way back southwest.
We made it to Acadia National Park this year, which was our goal. It had seemed like such a long way from where we started, but day by day (lobster buoy by lobster buoy) we worked our way there. Next time we'll keep going to Nova Scotia and maybe beyond. We've heard it is just as nice as Maine, but not nearly the amount of lobster buoys! Sailing here has its challenges... well, I should say "cruising" here has its challenges. We have done very little sailing since we've been in Maine. There is no relaxing when we are motoring along, we need to be focused 100% of the time. Sometimes the buoys are being drug down by the current and are barely visible. Sometimes they are blue or black or whatever color happens to be hard to see. Sometimes they have a separate buoy on a pennant rope that floats on the surface 20+ feet away (you don't want to pass between these!). Sometimes if we can't miss them, we have to stop the engines and coast over them so they don't get tangled in our props. It is exhausting to travel more than 5 or 6 hours a day. We've tried to get a photo that shows the comical amount of buoys in some bays - the photos just don't capture it. OK, enough about all the buoys, now on to the good stuff...
We've been able to get to shore for hikes at many of the islands. There are nature preserves with trails nearly everywhere we go. Some have actual docks, some we find a beach. The tides are 10+ feet here, so some thought has to go into when / where we leave the dingy. We also learned right away to bring the bug repellant - mosquitos are thick! The trails are incredible with moss covered hikes through the woods, ocean views, beach walks, and rock hopping. One island was decorated with Fairy Houses that people have built using seashells, feathers, bark, etc. - also doorway in the middle of the woods to continue down the trail. Fun stuff!
Beach access to the hiking trails Nice hair, Dan... Forest hiking trail Fairy Houses - all along the trail Door to nowhere Typical hiking trail in Maine
We have had lobster a few times, but we finally found what we had been looking for. We bought the lobster right off the dock where the boats were unloading their days catch. Cooking them aboard was interesting. We had brought a big pot, but it wasn't quite big enough for two lobsters! Best we've had so far! We are a little less irritated at maneuvering through the buoys now..
Lobster boats unloading at the dock Swans Island Fisherman's Co-op dock Pick your lobster here, right where they are being offloaded from the fishermen Buckets full of lobster Our two medium sized lobsters were plenty Fresh lobster Need a bigger Pot! Jill steaming up the boat Prepping... Ahhh, lobster dinner on the boat!
A couple more photos of our adventures...
Smooth "sailing" in Penobscot Bay Marina view Dingy parking - Option 1 Dingy parking - Option 2 Graveyard of the Atlantic - biting black flies! Caught some bait fish! Jill working on the bait fish - we've decided this probably isn't worth it! New sewing project - tablecloth Snuggling down on a stormy day Our comfy bed on the starboard (right) side of the boat.
Looks great, guys!
(And I like Dan's monster fish!)
Don McKinney is retiring on Sept. 3, I received an email invitation.
Have fun!