Somes Sound turned out to be a very long stay. However, it was a very nice stay even though we had to solve our engine problem. Every day consisted of taking the LLBean bus to Southwest Harbor where there were all kinds of amenities, to try to find the right screw to close up the leak. Finally, we decided to bring the boat down to Southwest Harbor to have the diesel mechanic look at it. We were running dangerously low on water and we needed to get diesel too. On our last night at Somes Sound though, Ray and Helen from Rigamarole came into the Sound and we finally met up with them. They joined us on John Ray for dinner. We had chicken cacciatore a la Michele and dessert courtesy of Helen. Good fun was had by all. Even Ray was happy because he got to have meatballs too. Actually, he told me that my meatballs tasted like his Italian grandmother's meatballs. So I was quite pleased with my bad self.
We finally got the leak in the engine plugged up. After we finally found the right size set screw/plug or whatever you want to call it, it wouldn't fit in. Everyone we talked to at Yanmar and other diesel mechanics told us what it should be, but it just didn't want to work. So we travelled down to Southwest Harbor and had the diesel mechanic at Down East Diesel look at it. He had it fixed up in an hour. The problem was that the mechanic who did the install plugged it up with a metal screw and it had rotted out leaving pieces behind. Obviously, we couldn't fit the same screw in there when pieces of the old screw were still there. While Steve and the mechanic futzed around with the boat, Michele met Robb and Terri Lukens (and Eli and Casey) for lunch. Robb is a teacher at Michele's school and his wife teaches at Thayer Academy. It was very nice of them to drive down from their cottage to meet with us, and it was extremely nice of them to treat for lunch! Thanks guys.
So, with our boat in no danger of sinking, we headed to Swan Island and anchored at beautiful Mackerel Cove. The anchorage was very peaceful and scenic. The next day we reluctantly left Mackerel Cove and headed to Seal Harbor at Vinalhaven Island. We arrived fairly early in day, but the anchorage was already slightly crowded. There was still plenty of room for us though. We had the choice between Seal Harbor or Winter Harbor and chose seal. However, at high tide you're able to dinghy all the way around from Seal to Winter. Winter Harbor is where we saw the seals though. Both anchorages were beautiful. Again, very scenic and very peaceful. It was so peaceful that we decided to stay another day. We went ashore to a little island in the middle of the harbor and Steve collected a couple dozen muscles which he cooked up for dinner with garlic, butter and linguine. It was delicious!
This morning we left Vinalhaven and we arrived here at Camden Harbor this afternoon where we are doing much needed laundry. Domenic is meeting us here for a couple of days so we will be exploring the area around Camden.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Mt. Desert Island, ME
After leaving Cranberry Island, we headed over to Northeast Harbor on Mt. Desert Island. Even though it was only 3 or 4 miles, it took well over an hour trying to sail there without the engine and very light winds. You see, we got this new engine back in May, but it seems to have a slight problem. There is water coming in! Long story short, a set screw came out of a drain plug and we can't seem to find the right size to replace it. So whenever we run the engine, we take in water which really isn't such a good thing. We stayed at Northeast Harbor on a mooring for one night. While we were there, we took the free LLBean free bus to Bah Habah. Neither of us had been there before so it was a very nice take.
The next day, we sailed up Somes Sound, the only natural fjord in the contiguous United States. A fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides, created in a valley carved by glacial activity. Alaska is the only other state that has one. Anyway, we have been here at Somes Sound since Sunday. We are planning to stay here another night as we are still trying to fix the engine.
We have been taking in the scenes of Somes Sound and Southwest Harbor since we've been here. Ray and Helen from Rigamarole will be joining us tonight for dinner as they just left Northeast Harbor. Nothing else is new. The time is going by very fast though. The end of our cruising is getting close!
The next day, we sailed up Somes Sound, the only natural fjord in the contiguous United States. A fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides, created in a valley carved by glacial activity. Alaska is the only other state that has one. Anyway, we have been here at Somes Sound since Sunday. We are planning to stay here another night as we are still trying to fix the engine.
We have been taking in the scenes of Somes Sound and Southwest Harbor since we've been here. Ray and Helen from Rigamarole will be joining us tonight for dinner as they just left Northeast Harbor. Nothing else is new. The time is going by very fast though. The end of our cruising is getting close!
Saturday, August 8, 2009
The Cranberry Islands
We left McGlathery Island after one pleasant night. However, when we left the fog started to fill in heavily. Most of the 20 miles stretch to Great Cranberry was spent in heavy, heavy fog. It was an extremely stressful sail. We had the radar on the entire time, and it was nerve wracking to see huge objects in or near our path and not be able to see them. We passed islands as close as 1/4 mile away and couldn't even make out the shore or trees or anything. At one point, a very loud fog horn sounding like it belonged to a huge ship blew practically right next to us. We didn't see anything, but half expected a ship's hull to come crashing into us. We circled around and kept an eye on the radar. A few minutes later, the horn sounded again, but behind us this time. We made it through that, but still had another hour or so to get to our destination. At one point the fog just lifted, but it was very short lived - only for about 15 to 20 minutes before filling right back in. We finally made it to Great Cranberry Island and snagged a free town guest mooring. What a huge relief. That night we stayed put on the boat, but the next morning we went ashore for exploration. Since our Verizon Internet card is broken, we first went to the library to check email and update the blog. After that, we explored the tiny town and walked on a really cool trail behind the museum. The trail looked like we going through an enchanted forest. At the end we wound up on a pretty neat beach where we walked along the rocks and sat for a while to have a snack.
We had a quick lunch at the general store and chilled out overlooking the harbor. It was a great day. The next morning we took the dinghy to Little Cranberry Island or Isleford. We heard quite a bit about this island from our neighbor who raved about it. However, our expectations exceeded our experience. The island seemed much more populated with locals, summer residents and visitors. We walked one trail that was extremely buggy. The horseflies were huge! We walked all the way to the other end of the island to visit the Coast Guard Station, only to find out that it is a private residence - with no trespassing allowed. After much about the Dockside restaurant, we decided to try their lunch. The service was horrible and food was terrible, not to mention expensive. The portions were tiny as well. We discussed our experience with the manager, and she gave us break on the sandwiches. With just sodas and chowder, it still cost us $20.00. Oh well. The weather started picking up while we were at the restaurant with the winds coming right at us on the way back in the dinghy. It was a very uncomfortable, long ride back. So suffice it to say, we like Great Cranberry Island much better than Isleford!
We had a quick lunch at the general store and chilled out overlooking the harbor. It was a great day. The next morning we took the dinghy to Little Cranberry Island or Isleford. We heard quite a bit about this island from our neighbor who raved about it. However, our expectations exceeded our experience. The island seemed much more populated with locals, summer residents and visitors. We walked one trail that was extremely buggy. The horseflies were huge! We walked all the way to the other end of the island to visit the Coast Guard Station, only to find out that it is a private residence - with no trespassing allowed. After much about the Dockside restaurant, we decided to try their lunch. The service was horrible and food was terrible, not to mention expensive. The portions were tiny as well. We discussed our experience with the manager, and she gave us break on the sandwiches. With just sodas and chowder, it still cost us $20.00. Oh well. The weather started picking up while we were at the restaurant with the winds coming right at us on the way back in the dinghy. It was a very uncomfortable, long ride back. So suffice it to say, we like Great Cranberry Island much better than Isleford!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
McGlathery Island to Great Cranberry Island
On Tuesday morning we left Isle au Haut and headed northeast to McGlathery Island which is a favored spot in the Blue Hill Bay area. McGlathery Island is just south of Stonington on Deer Island. Getting to this anchorage was challenging since we got socked in with fog. Actually, it has been foggy up here since we arrived. Travelling in the fog is very stressful. There was only about an 1/8 of a mile visibility. While we almost at our anchorage, we ran into a couple of kids in a dinghy. They were following their own sailboat and ventured off to a beach when they got socked in and couldn't find their own boat. The girl was about 17 and the boy was only about 11. They had no radio or cell phone or any means of communication on them. After talking to them for a few minutes, we realized that their sailboat had just passed us going in the opposite direction. It was already lost in the fog. There was no way they would be able to find them. We couldn't leave them alone with no radio, charts, warm clothes or anything. We used our cell phone to call their crew. We informed them that we would tow the kids into the northern anchorage at McGlathery and they said they were going to the same place. Well, they didn't. They went to another anchorage on the western side of the island - we were at the northern anchorage. The kids had to dinghy to them, but at least the fog had lifted somewhat and they could follow the shore along to the other anchorage. Weird!
Our anchorage was quite nice. We went ashore, but it was difficult to find a trail to hike so we walked along the rocky shore - more exercise rock climbing! It was pretty neat though.
We had an excellent pork chop dinner and we were able to pick up the Red Sox game (too bad they can't seem to win at the Trop). On Wednesday, we planned to head out towards the Cranberry Islands which are south of Mount Dessert Island (and Bar Harbor). I'll post that part of the trip a little later.
Our anchorage was quite nice. We went ashore, but it was difficult to find a trail to hike so we walked along the rocky shore - more exercise rock climbing! It was pretty neat though.
We had an excellent pork chop dinner and we were able to pick up the Red Sox game (too bad they can't seem to win at the Trop). On Wednesday, we planned to head out towards the Cranberry Islands which are south of Mount Dessert Island (and Bar Harbor). I'll post that part of the trip a little later.
Hingham, MA to Isle au Haut, ME
(Sorry it took so long to post. We haven't had Internet since we left. Our Verizon Internet card is not working and this is the first time we've had access to a library!)
On Saturday morning, we left the dock at Hingham Shipyard Marina. It’s been a while since we’ve been cruising, so it was exciting to be heading out again. We left at approximately 10:00 a.m. and motored sailed all day and into the night. During our travels on Saturday afternoon – WE SAW WHALES! Steve mentioned that there were reports of whale sightings around Stellwagon Ledge, so we started looking. After about a half hour or so, Michele spotted the spray shooting up from the water as the whales came up for air. They were at least a mile away from us, so we didn’t get too good of a look, but we did finally see them. We could see fins and tails coming up out of the water, but we weren’t close enough for a picture. Then they were gone. We spotted them again, but this time they were behind us. But at least we finally saw whales.
Michele took the first watch at 8:00 p.m. Although, Steve was below, he stayed awake reading until at least after 9:00 p.m. which would only give him 3 hours of sleep. Michele started a new book and was very much into it. The time passed quickly so she stayed up until 1:00 a.m. so that Steve could have close to 4 hours sleep. He then took the watch until almost 5:00 a.m. At 8:00 a.m., Michele got to go back to sleep for another couple of hours.
The fog started rolling in around 8:00 a.m. and we were pretty socked in by the time Michele got back up around 10:00 a.m. Thank goodness for radar and chart plotters (GPS). We managed to avoid all the rocky ledges and get into our anchorage at Duck Harbor, Isle au Haut, okay despite the fog. We chilled out on the boat for the afternoon deciding to spend the next day going ashore to explore. And that we did!
When we rowed the dinghy ashore, we found a campground with trail maps. So we started off on an innocent hike. Well, 5 hours later, we were exhausted. We circled the entire island which was probably about 13 -15 miles. We enjoyed a nice hike through woods and trails, waterfalls, ocean views and then into town. The way back was mostly on paved and unpaved road - which was an 8 mile jaunt back to Duck Harbor where we wer anchored. Since we ran out of snacks and water, we sssooooooo happy to get back to the boat. Next morning we planned to leave to McGathery Island. More to come later.
On Saturday morning, we left the dock at Hingham Shipyard Marina. It’s been a while since we’ve been cruising, so it was exciting to be heading out again. We left at approximately 10:00 a.m. and motored sailed all day and into the night. During our travels on Saturday afternoon – WE SAW WHALES! Steve mentioned that there were reports of whale sightings around Stellwagon Ledge, so we started looking. After about a half hour or so, Michele spotted the spray shooting up from the water as the whales came up for air. They were at least a mile away from us, so we didn’t get too good of a look, but we did finally see them. We could see fins and tails coming up out of the water, but we weren’t close enough for a picture. Then they were gone. We spotted them again, but this time they were behind us. But at least we finally saw whales.
Michele took the first watch at 8:00 p.m. Although, Steve was below, he stayed awake reading until at least after 9:00 p.m. which would only give him 3 hours of sleep. Michele started a new book and was very much into it. The time passed quickly so she stayed up until 1:00 a.m. so that Steve could have close to 4 hours sleep. He then took the watch until almost 5:00 a.m. At 8:00 a.m., Michele got to go back to sleep for another couple of hours.
The fog started rolling in around 8:00 a.m. and we were pretty socked in by the time Michele got back up around 10:00 a.m. Thank goodness for radar and chart plotters (GPS). We managed to avoid all the rocky ledges and get into our anchorage at Duck Harbor, Isle au Haut, okay despite the fog. We chilled out on the boat for the afternoon deciding to spend the next day going ashore to explore. And that we did!
When we rowed the dinghy ashore, we found a campground with trail maps. So we started off on an innocent hike. Well, 5 hours later, we were exhausted. We circled the entire island which was probably about 13 -15 miles. We enjoyed a nice hike through woods and trails, waterfalls, ocean views and then into town. The way back was mostly on paved and unpaved road - which was an 8 mile jaunt back to Duck Harbor where we wer anchored. Since we ran out of snacks and water, we sssooooooo happy to get back to the boat. Next morning we planned to leave to McGathery Island. More to come later.
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