island packet 445 – Sheila365

Vacationland.

At the end of July, I flew up to Portland, Maine, to join Lori, Mike, and Louie aboard S/V Trident. They have been on board together since June, making their way from the Chesapeake up to Maine. I joined them for the two-week cruise along the coast and islands of beautiful Maine, ending up with a visit to Acadia National Park (’cause, you know, goals).

Friday & Saturday – Austin to Portland to Boothbay Harbor

I flew into the Portland airport. After several unsuccessful tries, I finally found an UBER driver that agreed to take me the 90-minute drive to Boothbay Harbor. Mohammed was at first reluctant but finally agreed to drive me, and we had a great talk along the way.

The first night in Boothbay, we dinghied to the Lobsterman’s Wharf for the first of many lobster dinners I indulged in during my stay. In the morning we taxied to and from the grocery for provisions, loaded everything up, ready to head out the next day.

Sunday – Boothbay Harbor to Monhegan Island

We sailed to Monhegan Island. Its beautiful, sheltered harbor has only a few visitor mooring balls, available on a first-come-first-serve basis. We snagged one and enjoyed a great hike up each of the two hills – one led to the Monhegan Lighthouse, and the other to the Monhegan Brewing Company. I logged a geocache along the way, earning my Maine badge! 🙂 (’cause, you know, goals…) I even found a few pieces of sea glass where we beached the dinghy.

View of Monhegan Island from the lighthouse hill\

Monday – Monhegan Island to Matinicus Rock to Camden

Lori & Mike raised the dinghy and we dropped the mooring line early the next morning. Lori graciously added a long side trip out east to visit the remote Matinicus Rock, home to the largest colony of Atlantic Puffins in Maine, and Razorbills and Arctic Terns as well. We didn’t stay long, but I thoroughly enjoyed seeing these rare birds. Mike saw a shark, we think it was a blue shark, along the way.

After seeing the Puffins, we headed back to the northwest to the vibrant harbor of Camden and grabbed a mooring ball before sunset, for two nights.

Sunset from our mooring in Camden Harbor

Tuesday & Wednesday – Camden to Rockport to Isle au Haut

Camden Harbor has hundreds of moorings. We explored both sides of the harbor, checking out their wine bars, and bakeries. On our second day there we went ashore for a short walk, and ended up walking the 2 miles or so to neighboring Rockport. Along the way we stopped in to the Camden-Rockport Historical Museum. We grabbed a taxi back to Camden in time to clean up for a nice dinner ashore. The next morning we left Camden, and headed to the southernmost portion of Acadia National Park, an island called Isle au Haut. We anchored there for one night. We took a long dinghy ride to their town dock, and walked down the road to the Acadia National Park Ranger Station for our first official park visit. We visited the lovely Shore Shop Gifts store and bought some ditties, and then picked out 3 big lobsters from the local lobsterman to boil on the boat for dinner.

Thursday – Isle au Haut to Seal Cove to Burnt Island

Bad weather was in the forecast for the next few nights, so we all took one last dinghy ride to shore for a morning walk along the rocky beach and then we said goodbye to Isle au Haut and made our way to a sheltered anchorage. Along the way, we stopped and anchored in Seal Cove for lunch, a beautiful undeveloped place, but we didn’t spy any seals. After lunch, we headed to and anchored off of Burnt Island (near North Haven) for two nights. We were the only boat there, so we had the entire island, its trails and coastline, and a pair of osprey and bald eagle nests, to ourselves. We explored the island at the end of the first day, and spent a rainy second day aboard the boat, doing boat chores.

Friday & Saturday – Burnt Island to Southwest Harbor

After the storm passed, we moved farther up the coast, to Southwest Harbor, one of several harbors on the biggest island in Acadia National Park, Mount Desert Island. After we grabbed a mooring ball for the night, we headed to shore for dinner. We ended up at Beal’s Lobster Pier for my third lobster of the trip!

Sunday – Southwest Harbor to Somesville

The next morning, we moved on, exploring the Somes Sound, which cuts up the middle of Mount Desert Island. Somes Sound was formed by glaciers many years ago and the sea filled it in when the glaciers melted. It is a rare US coastal fjard, which is like a fjord, but not as deep or mineral-rich as those found in Scandinavia. Regardless, it was beautiful, and we made our way up to the top of the sound to anchor overnight outside of Somesville.

Looking north into the mouth of the Somes Sound. The 140
yacht to the left is the S/V Rebecca, owned by the CEO of H-E-B

It was a peaceful, beautiful spot. We got there early in the day, and we took the opportunity to go ashore and hop on the Island Explorer free Acadia Park Shuttle for a ride into Bar Harbor for some more provisions. The bus is a fantastic way to explore the entire park. It’s a well-run outfit with 11 different routes that you can take to visit different spots in the park.

View from carriage trail near Hulls Cove Visitor Center @ Acadia NP

Monday – Somesville to Northwest Harbor

The next day we headed back down Somes Sound, this time going into a slip at a marina, as there were some strong storms expected for the next few nights. Lori and I explored the downtown area, and for dinner we all walked over to the Nor’Easter Pound and Market for dinner. I had my fourth lobster of the trip!

Tuesday & Wednesday – Northwest Harbor to Winter Harbor

The next day was a rainy lay day, so we got up early to shower and do laundry. Then Lori and I donned our rain jackets and boots and took the Island Explorer bus to Sand Beach, hoping to find some sea glass. Sadly, we only found one jagged piece of recently broken brown glass. Oh, and a sand dollar! We walked the Ocean Path from Sand Beach to Otter Cliff, catching the bus to Jordan Pond, and then back to Northeast Harbor. We made the most of a rainy day and saw more of the beautiful Acadia park.

A view from the Ocean Path, Otter Cliff in the way back

We all walked back up to mainstreet and enjoyed some beverages at the bar at Colonel’s Restaurant, then had another fine meal aboard the boat for the evening.

Thursday – Winter Harbor to Bar Harbor

The next morning, we had a lumpy sail over to the Schoodic Peninsula, getting a ball at the Winter Harbor Yacht Club. This area is home to the only portion of Acadia National Park that lies on the mainland of Maine. We went ashore, walked into town and caught the Island Explorer one more time for a ride around that portion of the park.

In the morning, Lori and I took Louie on a lovely walk down to the end of Grindstone Point and enjoyed the views. Back on the boat, we dropped the mooring and headed to Bar Harbor for the night, where we got one of the 5 mooring balls that the city of Bar Harbor maintains.

We went ashore, and I walked along the shore path and back to take in more of the beautiful sea views. We had drinks at Paddy’s Irish Pub and then went back to the boat for dinner aboard – my last night of the trip.

Friday – Bar Harbor to Bangor to Austin

Friday morning, Lori dinghied me over to the dock and we hugged goodbye. Another adventure come to a close. I grabbed a taxi & a bus to the Bangor airport, and then made it home at the end of a long travel day.

Maine calls itself ‘Vacationland.’ After spending 2 weeks there, I can see why. The Maine coastline is huge and full of rustic islands to explore. Acadia National Park is the 3rd most visited US National Park. The scenery is amazing. The free shuttles make it easy to get around without a car. The seafood is delicious. There is a nice mix of remote destinations and tourist destinations to explore. The summer weather is pleasant. The wildlife is abundant. I’ve never seen so many beautiful b0ats. This is definitely a must-see sailing destination.

Lori, Mike, and Louie were very gracious to let me join them on this part of their summer cruise. I had a really wonderful time. ❤

S/V Trident (left of center) moored in Bar Harbor. S/V Margaret Todd on the right.

Again!

I’m off on another sailing adventure: Charleston to Annapolis.

Final state.

We pulled out of Brunswick, Georgia, on Saturday morning, heading down the ICW for our last 2-day leg to our destination, St. Augustine, Florida. So many birds, so little time.

Cumberland Island is situated right along the ICW, it is an undisturbed island and a lovely spot, with wild horses roaming about.

We motored past Kings Bay Naval Base in Georgia, a place my family almost moved to when I was in high school, but my dad’s assignment ended up being in Madrid, instead. We anchored in a lovely spot right off the ICW after about 35 nm.

The next day was uneventful, other than a rainstorm that we went through right before arriving at the Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine for the 2pm opening.

Bridge of Lions, St. Augustine, Florida.

It was GREAT to pull into the slip and tie up. Michelle greeted us with bubbly to celebrate our arrival.

Cheers! Oops, that prosecco disappeared fast!

Our journey of over 920 miles is completed. Now I just need to get home to Austin by Thanksgiving!

Finally offshore!

After Carolina Beach, Lori and I stopped in Southport, North Carolina at a marina on the Cape Fear River for one night. We used Lori & Mike’s folding bikes to go into downtown. It was t-shirt and shorts weather again!

We grabbed nibblies at the bar, watched a little football to keep up on our fantasy football team scores, and then headed back to the boat.

The next day, Tony joined us, and we left North Carolina, heading south in the Atlantic Ocean bound for Charleston, South Carolina. That is an overnight sail, so we took turns at the helm overnight; in the cockpit for 4 hours, sleeping 2 hours, repeat.

Navigational goodies to steer by when you can’t see anything on a moonless night.

The sail to Charleston was great! We were able to sail with main and jib up all the way, pretty much on the same tack, in a straight line to Charleston ship channel entrance. It was, however, brutally cold. You take what you can get.

A view of Charleston waterfront along the Ashley River

We stayed at anchor overnight in the Ashley River, across from the Battery in Charleston. Then, in order to keep moving, we opted to go south on the ICW. We enjoyed a beautiful night at anchor in the Ashepoo River.

The next day, we continued on the ICW, exiting out to the ocean in the afternoon at Port Royal Sound, bound for Brunswick, Georgia. It was not as cold as the other night, but this sail was an uncomfortable one. NNE winds, 15-20knots, gusting in the 30’s, almost directly behind us, with seas around 6′ which got bigger towards the morning. A bonus was a squall that hit about 3 AM, with rain and gusts up to 40knots. It was warmer, but it was 15 hours of pounding up and down waves. We couldn’t use the autopilot, with the stern being thrown with each wave, so we hand steered – or as I like to call it, wrestling the bear. Not to fear, though, we made it safely into port yesterday morning. As we entered St. Simon’s Sound at dawn, we went by the wreck of the MV Golden Ray, a massive car carrying cargo ship that heeled over and was run aground a year ago. Lori, Monte and I saw it last December when there to move Trident to Brunswick.

Work continues on the MV Golden Ray, laying on its side under the yellow saw that will cut it up in place.

With a not-improving weather forecast, Trident will be heading down the ICW into Florida today. We hope to be in St. Augustine, Florida, by sunset tomorrow night.

We’re almost there. Stay tuned!

Change of pace.

Last week I flew to Maryland to join Lori and help take her boat to Florida. Theoretically it is post-hurricane season, but you can’t tell these days. On one nice day, we drove to Mount Vernon to tour George Washington’s estate and mansion.

Mount Vernon, from the front. It looks like it’s made of stone, but it is really a wooden facade carved to look like stones.

Mount Vernon, from the side. The big porch on the back of main house overlooks the Potomoc River.

Mike left over the weekend, driving the car to Florida so it is there when we arrive. We spent a few days in the slip at the marina at Solomon’s Island waiting for some bad weather remnants of Hurricane Zeta to pass. On a rainy, freezing, blustery day, we cooked some meals to freeze for easy prep underway. I even grabbed a quick geocache, my first in Maryland. Tuesday the 3rd looked good for our departure from Solomon’s Island, Maryland, and so we did.

Day 1, we froze, with temps around 40 F and a very chilling wind around 15 knots. Nonetheless, we made our way south down the Chesapeake, anchoring in a lovely spot. It turned out to be the only day we were able to sail on the bay.

Point No Point Lighthouse on the west side of the Chesapeake Bay.

Day 2 was windless, but WARMER! So we motored 9 hours and anchored in a beautiful spot inside Mobjack Bay by ourselves. I even put out a crab pot overnight.

We saw dolphins, the water must be getting saltier, and lifer birds.

Day 3 started with a beautiful sunset, and when I pulled up the crab trap, we had a wee one! We let him go, but it was fun to catch something. Today is windless, again, but warm enough to take off jackets. The bay is as smooth as glass. The only thing we have to battle are the tidal and river currents going against us. This afternoon we will exit the Chesapeake Bay and anchor at Norfolk, Virginia.

Tomorrow, Day 4, we will start down the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway for a few days.

Quick trip.

Last week, Monte and I flew to Charleston to meet up with Lori, to crew for her as she moved S/V Trident south to Brunswick, Georgia for the rest of the winter.

Trident in her slip in Charleston is in the foreground, to the right, of the picture below, with 2 tankers getting ready to pass nearby in the narrow Cooper River ship channel just outside the marina, and the Ravenel Bridge in the background. The two-masted schooner at the dock to the left is the 140′ Spirit of South Carolina. We finagled our way on board her to watch the Charleston Christmas Boat Parade up close the night before we departed.

After we landed in Charleston, I had the Uber driver make a side trip to my old house. I moved many times when I was a kid. When I lived in Charleston, I was around 7 to 9 years old, and I think it is the first place I lived where I have lots of my own, real memories – as opposed to memories from snapshots, stories, or individual moments in time. The old chez:

After provisioning and finishing the short pre-departure list of boat chores, we had a chance to walk around Charleston a bit, and sample its great seafood, which was nice. I would like to come back with more time to see the sights. The Pineapple Fountain in Waterfront Park:

Colorful housefronts along Rainbow Row:

We took the Intercoastal Waterway from Charleston to Savannah, anchoring one night in a creek just off the ICW, and staying at marinas in Beaufort and Savannah. We strolled around Beaufort’s oak-lined and moss-draped historic streets, making a stop by the house where The Big Chill was filmed. We had a lovely visit with our niece and her family in Savannah. Amy Lee gave us the best car-tour of its historic downtown, as a slow rain fell. Then we took the outside ocean route overnight from Savannah to Brunswick.

It was very COLD overnight on the ocean, but we made it! Another adventure in the books.

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