AND THEN THERE WAS MAINE!

Approaching Maine

Arriving on a grey blustery day we approached the coastline of Maine and immediately we were struck with the beauty of the place. Emerging from the the low lying fog was a forest of pine trees growing out of the rocky shore, bathed in the most beautiful light. We realised we were in for a treat.

We had a couple of days to kill until we were meeting Chris and Di in Portland and so busied ourselves with the usual chores. We dropped a hook outside Portland but found it difficult to land ashore with the dingy and our first impressions of the town were not great. So early the next morning, having  scooped up our shipmates,  we headed out to the islands eager to explore the beauty and remoteness of the area, slightly apprehensive of the many lobster pots we had been told we were about to encounter . Many of the villages and towns are named after places from home, hence the name New England, and the Yarmouth river looked like a must for our first stop. Motoring up the river Andrew called the harbour master to inquire about a mooring ball only to be informed by a passing fisherman that we were not in the Yarmouth river after all! I doubt this installed much confidence in our guests, who must have wondered how on earth we had got so far  from England with such appalling navigation skills!! However our stop in Freeport was very enjoyable, a long walk to and from town where we finally managed to purchase a mosquito net, perhaps not the usual purchase in a duty free village, and a much enjoyed lobster supper onboard the good ship Hullabaloo.

Chris & Di

Jule Island was our next port of call anchoring in cocktail cove, happily not full of locals enjoying such beverages on this occasion. We went on a hike around the island, climbing the old World War Two look out towers which afforded us a memorable view of all the many islands. Having returned to the boat we were telling Chris and Di about the local weather station NOAA that we had nicknamed the Voice of Doom because every time we switched it on we felt that they were overly pessimistic in their forecasts and seemed to be constantly warning us of our imminent demise. To prove the point we switched the VHF on and sure enough we were being told to get into our basements immediately to avoid being hit by falling roofs... we were having a good laugh when I spotted a tornado heading in our direction followed closely by a lot of lightening, needless to say we all ended up down below with all electrical equipment in the microwave and a little egg on our faces. 

Supporting our team

We had not been following the World Cup but Chris had and as we were in the Semi’s we made it our mission the next day to find a bar with a television. This we duly located in Sebasco Harbour and we settled in for lunch and a nail biting match. Returning to the boat we had our own disaster when our generator decided to pack up and there followed over the next couple of days much head scratching by the skipper and Chris his new engineer. Sadly the generator decided it really had had enough and the water separator melted sending all exhaust through the water pipe and thus creating a mini Vesuvius under the boat. Time for a professional yard once Chris and Di had left us.

We spent our last couple of days with them around The Basin, a very beautiful and remote anchorage. We ventured ashore fighting our way through the undergrowth to find a track feeling quite brave, once I had a long stick in my hand that is.  Di and I had dusted off our TRX a few days previously, she made it look easy and I was reminded that I needed to do more of it in the future. Having had another work out and warmed by our exertions we decided to go for a swim to a buoy only forty meters away. I hit the water at breakneck speed apparently and realised once I got to the buoy that I couldn’t breathe, looking behind me Di had gone blue! We made it back to the boat shaking with the cold, for once I was pleased with my seal like qualities! Maine is no place to go swimming!

Our man with the technology 

All to soon it was time to head back to Portland and say a sad goodbye to our shipmates. We dropped them ashore and headed out to Peeks Island to drop the hook and work out what to do with the generator, another one of those days!! Luckily the Maine Yacht centre came to the rescue and having visited us on the Island we followed them into their marina where we spent three days with the boat in pieces whilst the lovely Rand set about putting our generator back together. He had the technology and we were back in business. We went out to dinner in Portland on our last night to celebrate our belated wedding anniversary. We had an excellent Japanese dinner, found a bar with live music and had a very jolly evening and surprise surprise Andrew developed his usual chocolate cravings. Spotting a Starbucks still open and being a caring wife I rushed into the store but alas it was the cleaning staff and they could not sell me anything. Imagine my horror when a young lad came running after me offering me some pizza that had been left by someone, he was worried that we were in need of feeding. OMG do we now look like homeless people!

In the fog

The next morning we motored out into the bay smile firmly fixed back on our faces despite the great patches of fog rolling down on us in waves. And so began a whole new skill set navigating in fog whilst trying to avoid the carpets of lobster pots, an almost impossible task. The fog was so thick at times that we couldn’t see in front of us and then it would suddenly lift and we could see the beautiful coastline for a little while, and then it would roll in again and we could have been anywhere. Added to this when it is very thick it is almost like being in the rain, an event that we named Frogging.

We put a hook down in Riggs Bay and enjoyed a fabulous sun set. Then the next day we anchored in Boothbay where the fog came back with some rain and we had to console ourselves with a shopping trip to buy some new plates and our first try at cooking live lobsters. Carrying them back to the boat in a paper bag we were both rather dubious about the whole affair, watching them running around our cockpit we felt like killers, putting them in a steaming pot seemed very cruel, but they tasted absolutely fantastic and all reservations disappeared with the fog.

There followed a trip to Linekin Bay, memorable because I anchored for the first time on my own, I know how sad am I, and also because I made Andrew canoe around the Island and he was not a happy bunny as he was convinced that we would capsize and that would be the end of us. The next morning we headed to Port Clyde, hook down couldn’t see a thing! Breakfast in the store we felt like we were on the set of Little House on the Prairie, walking around the local area we came upon some interesting keep out signs on a property, only in America!

Our new American friends Kim and John were around the corner at his family house in Tenants Harbour so that was our next stop. The usual fun and frolics, dinner in a local restaurant where we met at the bar the skipper of the yacht in the Perfect storm, his tales made our storm experience seem rather tame in comparison! Then with promises to meet later in the summer we headed off to meet our lovely girls, another two weeks en famille lucky lucky me! It is so special to be able to spend a whole two weeks together..

Our precious cargo

We picked them up from Rockland a sight for sore eyes and after a quick provision ashore we headed out to Perry Creek with our precious cargo onboard, much chattering en route as we had lots to catch up on. We were keen to cook lobster on their first night and approached one of the fishing boats but apparently it is illegal to fish on a Sunday so we had to wait until the next day. We were up early due to our girl’s jet lag so the the morning was spent with George killing me on the TRX and Andrew and Emma going for “the most memorable Kayak of their lives”..... Tipple (George’s giant lilo) was retrieved from the bilges and filled with water so now we had a swimming pool onboard, apparently the sharks of North America are much more ferocious than those in the Caribbean and even Tipple is not enough protection from then in the water.

Dinner

We  purchased four lobsters out of an old rowing boat from the local store in Northhaven that had definitely not entered the twenty first century, and took them back to the boat in a bucket. We left them in the cockpit having first made sure all the windows were shut, we didn’t fancy four lobsters in the bilges! We jumped in the dingy and went on a hike around the island, Emma in the lead, old people trying hard to keep up! Arriving back at the boat we were apprehensive as to what we might find, the girl’s as squeamish as we had been in Boothsbay about  broiling these poor creatures alive. In the pot they went amidst much squealing from the humans, the lobsters themselves pretty quiet at this stage as only one of them was still alive. General agreement much tastier cooked on the boat, everyone went to bed tired and happy.

Our PT at work

Out came the sun the next day and we motored to Winter Harbour, another remote and beautiful spot. All four of us killed on the TRX in the morning thanks to the efforts of George our personal trainer with whom I then set off with in the afternoon to better the most memorable kayak. We were both very happy to be picked up at the head of the river and towed home, especially as the rescue party supplied a nice glass of red wine!

The sun came out again the next day, in fact the weather god’s favoured us for pretty much the entire time that the girl’s were with us. We headed to Camden and dropped a hook in the bay. Dinner ashore, the girl’s having to return to the boat to retrieve their passports in order to have a cocktail the drinking laws being very strict in Maine, the best Cobb salad ever as it was served with lobster! There  ensued a very rolly night and we happily decamped ashore the next day on a mission to climb Mount Battie. This time Georgie leading us on, it almost killed us! We enjoyed some well earned Oysters and drinks before returning to a much more stable vessel for dinner. We loved Camden, a really pretty town with a great vibe.

The dreaded lobster pots

We spent a night in Rockport where the entertainment involved retrieving lobster pots from the shore for Emma to take home. Then back to Rockland for the Lobster Festival. I have never been to a Festival and I thought this might tick the box.  It didn’t but we did eat copious amounts of lobster which I only just kept down when taken on a rather adventurous fair ground ride. Andrew’s and my screams could probably have been heard in Florida, together with the girl’s chuckles.

Heading North, navigating through the now familiar lobster pots, we enjoyed the beautiful scenery, loving the cute seals swimming along with only their little faces poking above the water, admiring the small fat dolphins and staring in awe at the soaring bald headed eagles. We made our way to the National Park the jewel of Maine, if it needed one. Our first port of call was South East Harbour and having purchased our park tickets we set off the next morning catching the bus our mission to hike St. Sauveur. Personal trainer dancing before us we climbed the rock faces gasping for breath, the heat so intense I stripped down to bikini top and shorts, for once I really couldn’t care who saw me. What a great way to spend a morning though and such fabulous views from the top. Lunch in the town and then a sail up and down the sound looking up at the heights we had scaled, hook down at Cranberry Island.

The next morning our now regular TRX work out, followed by the quickest dip in the water to cool down. It was rather like taking an ice shower after a sauna! Then off to Barr Harbour for our last stop with the girls. We meet Kim and John in town for dinner, which led to drinks which led to them missing the last bus back to their boat and there were no taxis so a sleep over ensued. Six very hungover individuals enjoyed the skippers fry up and a quiet day followed, weather for once a little wet and grey. We took a sunset tour to the top of Cadillac Mountain where the views were spectacular and then had tacos in town.

Kim & John & Dallas family 

The next morning the sun was out again which was lucky as the girls were on a mission for one last hike and the chosen route was the Beehive. Never again will I be able to hear mention of a Bees home without a slight shiver of fear! I knew that it was going to be scary but it really didn’t help when at the bottom of the trail we came upon a sign informing us of the risk to our lives if we continued. Law suits are rife in America but you may take your life into your own hands, no health and safety here. Up we went hand holds in some places, not in others. Sheer drops to one side, rock to the other. The situation was not helped by the delay in some areas when we had to wait clinging to the mountain whilst unknown adventurers froze ahead of us. Once we got going again I just wanted to keep moving and get to the top, in previous less steep climbs I had found myself out of breath but on this climb I don’t even remember breathing! I had the advantage of having calm Emma behind me talking me up, carefully chosen after a similar experience in Verbier on the Tortain run.... I did giggle when I heard George’s retort to Andrew when he told her to stop nattering at him, ‘perhaps you won’t go on about my fear of Sharks daddy’.

Exhausted and exhilarated we made it back down to terra firma and a last night out was definitely in order, if not earned. We had a lobster supper and then we found a great bar with live music. Not ready to go to bed we found ourselves in the local night club where there was a pool table. Plenty of time to dance later we thought but night life finishes early here and we were cast out into the dark before we had finished our game, let alone a dance. Probably a good thing judging by the hangovers the next morning, well we had climbed a Mountain and risked life and limb...

The usual mad dash for the girls to pack in time for the cab and the usual heart wrenching good bye.  I just want to stop the clock and make them stay, god knows what it will feel like when we say goodbye after Christmas and we won’t see them for eight plus months.  On a happier note did I mention that I won the family games cup AGAIN!!

We made one more stop in the park to visit North East Harbour with the intention of a bike ride around the old carriage ways the following day. Waking in the middle of the night, as you do, in this truly beautiful harbour surrounded by fir trees I felt that I was somewhere truly special. Bikes were acquired in the morning and we set off, bloody hard work up and down the hills we went, it felt like we were in a ski resort in the summer. It was truly beautiful and worth the effort. Returning tired to the boat disaster struck, our VPN would no longer let us download TV from the BBC! 

We had thought we would go to Nova Scotia so that we could add Canada to our list of countries visited, but having ventured to Winter Harbour we realised that our timetable meant we needed to head back south. I read on a sailing blog once that you cannot possibly see everything and therefore there is no point in stressing about what one doesn’t see and that is so true, we will just have to come back. And besides we had the Richards to pick up but not before a very Jolly day with Kim and her two girlfriends Bonnie & Darrel picking them up from Castine and taking them out for a sail and lunch.

Ben and Karen were bringing our son Sam out to start at North Eastern University in Boston and came to join us for six days. We picked them up in Belfast, it was so lovely to see them all and they were so kind in telling me that my accident with the hair dye that morning really suited me, when I in fact looked like a member of the Gestapo complete with black helmet!

The first stop had to be Winter Harbour so that they could experience the beauty and remoteness of the area. We picked up five lobsters on the way, the cooking experience a little more traumatic for all concerned when one of them escaped the pot jumping out of it and down the back of the cooker. Andrew once managed to pour an entire risotto down the back of a cooker on a family sailing holiday, this meal proved harder to retrieve putting up quite a fight.

The fog made a comeback the next morning so we motored to Camden, ten eyes better than four. Tying up to the dock Karen and I browsed the shops, Ben and Andrew the bars, poor Sam unable to drink had to put up with some silliness later in the evening from his elders who should probably know better. Hangover brunch the next day and then a beautiful sail back to Port Clyde store for Andrew’s birthday breakfast the next morning. 

The birthday dinner was consumed in the yacht club in Riggs cove and the after dinner entertainment on the boat was put on by the girls and Sam with the aid of Grandma, her gambling addiction and her numbers 369! Well we thought we were fabulous if the other members of the crew were not so convinced! A last sail with our crew mates to Boothbay which was much prettier in the sunshine. A final lobster dinner and all too soon it was time to say goodbye and they headed back to Boston to settle Sam into Uni. As always a marvellous time was had with many fond memories.

It was finally time to leave Maine and head back down to Rhode Island. We loved our two months there and both felt that it was up there on our list of favourite places, despite the fog and the lobster pots. And you really can have enough lobsters!!!