A Night Off the Boat – Pretty Marsh Harbor

On Sep 2nd, 2012 Published By B.J.

One of my son’s objectives for this trip is to do some camping on islands, like he and his sister did up here in Seal Bay in 2010.  We’ve got a couple of sleeping bags and his two man tent in storage just in case.  We’re not talking “park for a week and cook all your meals” camping, we’re talking more like “have dinner with the family and sleep in the back yard”;  no campfires or food.

The Maine Island Trail isn’t as high profile as a lot of the various parks and sanctuaries around here.  It’s a sting of 190 (mostly) small islands covering some 375 miles of coastline, with about 1/3 of the islands being public.  The Association has set up some of these small islands for public use, with limited use low impact camping being permitted on some of them.   These islands are much more suited to the “back yard campout” style of camping we are looking to do, rather than the State Parks that charge a fair amount by the night but provide things like restrooms and firepits.  Hay Island, where the kids camped two years ago, is one of these islands.

We picked Pretty Marsh Harbor because it was close to where we were (Southwest Harbor) and was right nearby John Island, one of the Maine Island Trail islands where camping was permitted.

The sail over was fabulous.  There was a strong Southwesterly blowing, we saw some sustained winds into the low 20’s which is perfect for Evenstar.  With sails reefed we sailed comfortably up wind as she galloped across the water.  The only time we needed the engine (beyond the usual anchoring operations) was to cross the Bass Harbor Bar, a narrow channel near Bass Harbor Light, where the depths outside it when we passed at dead low tide were too shallow for us.  The channel is narrow, and that day happened to run dead upwind so we motored for a couple of hundred yards before cracking off the sails and heading on a fast reach up Blue Hill Bay.

Pretty Marsh Harbor is very…pretty.  It’s remote but not desolate, with a town dock around the corner and a walkway up the Eastern shore to a National Park picnic area.  Anchoring is good, the first night there we were the only boat anchored; Friday another boat joined us.

John Island is tiny, less than half an acre.  The permitted use is one party of two for no more than two nights.  Obviously there are no facilities.  It is a rocky bluff with a small crown of trees and vegetation and a site for a tent that offers a sweeping vista down Blue Hill Bay.

Our son is an avid camper, our daughter not so much and the rain that came on Friday along with her not feeling so great quickly damped her ardor for the adventure.  So I grabbed the chance for some father-son bonding time and off we went.

We were pretty well equipped for our backyard-on-an-island adventure, but we left the yoga pads that would have mitigated some of the more aggressive rocks under our backs.  Though no amount of padding would work on the rock we dubbed the “Cone of Torture” on my side of the tent.  Stupidly we also forgot a camera, so I can only paint a picture with words.

With some spatters of rain and a threat of thunder and lightning in the distance, we were dropped off by dinghy to spend the night.  We settled in with a deck of cards, our flashlights and the evening to talk together.  The night was cool, and the island was quiet – on a rock this small nothing larger than a crab was going to be there without flying.  A full moon lit the landscape; when I awoke in the middle of the night it was bright enough to read and the air was crisp and clear.

Yeah, we slept fitfully.  It’s a rocky island and we didn’t have a lot of padding, but so what.  It was a very cook night I got to spend with my kid.

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Cadillac Mountain

On Aug 28th, 2012 Published By B.J.

Cadillac Mountain is the highest point on Mt. Desert Island, with an elevation of 1,530 feet at the summit.  It has the earliest sunrise in the United States, and is within a day’s drive of 25% of the North American population.

I’ll skip the tales of woe, sweat and dehydration, since we drove to the summit.  In a car.  With air conditioning.  But the pictures I will share; it is a gorgeous and accessible place and the pictures do not do it justice.

A brief note on driving…

Last week my parents came to visit for a week.  When I met them at their car it occurred to me that I hadn’t ridden in or drive in a car for well over a month.  A bus, yes, but that’s not the same.  Let’s just say after rarely moving faster than 12 miles per hour for an extended period, getting in a car all of a sudden felt like OHMYGODWE’REGOINGTODIEWILLYOUFRICKIN’SLOWDOWN!!  When I took the wheel I felt like one of those drivers in Florida with a hat clamped tight on their heads driving 45 Mph in the passing lane with their turn signal on.

Just sayin’…


Long Island, as seen from the top of MDI



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Long Island (Frenchboro Maine, not New Yawk!)

On Aug 27th, 2012 Published By B.J.

Idyllic is an overused word so I will try to avoid it.  But what a nice place.

Long Island is a handful of miles South of Mt. Desert Island (pronounced Mount Dessert Island by the locals BTW).  It is a smallish island in a cluster of other islands, and the harbor is small and snug.

There are less than sixty residents of Long Island; it is a fishing community populated mostly with lobstermen or people in the lobster business.  There are a few summer residents but most of the people that are there are living, not vacationing.  A passenger ferry runs about once a week, with occasional ferries for cars and a mail boat.  There are a few rooms and houses to rent, but not a lot.  Most of the visitors to the island are transient boaters, many of them coming for the lobster!

And lobster there is!  Long Island boasts two (2) commercial establishments (Lunt’s Deli and the Offshore Store) where you can sit down and get a bite to eat.  The chef d’oevre in both places is of course the lobster – lobster rolls, and lobsters you can buy cooked or alive to take back to your boat.  You can always get a burger, hot dog or a couple of other options if you don’t like lobster…I’ve been told they are quite good.

Within minutes of landing on the island at Lunt’s (who graciously provides a dinghy dock) we were happily seated eating a first rate lobster roll.  Great lobster there, but we go distracted and didn’t make it back to Lunt’s for another.

Further up the harbor is the Offshore Store, run by Jay & Tammy DesJardin.  It’s a small unpretentious building with a tent outside and a few picnic tables.  Jay has a lobster boat and Tammy runs the store; Jay also has a background in boat maintenance and repair and both of them are friendly and willing to help you out in a pinch (as we were to find out).

We were initially drawn there by the “Lobster $3.25/lb” sign outside.  We ended up going back there again for the welcome, the good food and the atmosphere.  And the friends; my daughter hit it off instantly with the Desjardin’s two girls, and Jay an Tammy suddenly found themselves with an extra daughter for two days.

Beaver pond

Our plan was to spend a night or two on the island.  There is a 1100+ acre nature preserve that was created  a couple of decades ago when a large portion of the island was put up for sale.  To help preserve the wildlife habitat and the island way of life a massive fundraising effort was undertaken save the land from development.  There are more than 10 miles of trails through the woods and wetlands and around the coast.  We figured a day of exploring and a lobster dinner and we’d be headed back to MDI.

It was just too nice to leave.  Currently there is a “negotiation” under way between the Lunt’s (who had provided the mooring balls to rent) and the Federal government (who just recently dredged the harbor) over whether one can charge for mooring balls in waters that were the beneficiary of a Federal dredging effort.  The net result is a bunch of moorings that are installed and maintained and open to use, but that nobody is allowed to collect payment for.  At a comfortable mooring in a protected harbor with great food, new best friends for Danielle on shore, and miles of woods to explore?  We stayed an extra day – even though the propane system broke and we couldn’t cook on the boat.

One of the many cool pools and formations on the trail

We arrived Wednesday and cooked on the boat, planning to bring back some lobsters on Thursday for dinner and to leave Friday.  Everything was going better than plan and there was already mutinous talk of staying another day as we motored out to the boat with our bags of lobsters.  As I was melting butter and boiling water to cook the little beasts I noticed it was taking a loooonng time.  The stove was out and wouldn’t re-light; the likely culprit was the system’s solenoid switch; an electromechanical switch to allow us to turn the propane off at the tank from inside the boat.  I’d debated carrying a spare, but this one was relatively new.  As I tried to bypass the solenoid in my zeal for lobsters I overtightened a connector and broke it, permanently crippling the system until I could get a replacement part (a 1/4″ NPT Female to 3/8″ Male Flare connector, for the curious).

The solution was a panicked call to Jay & Tammy “Are you still open to cook our lobsters PLLEEAASSE!!”,  to which they replied “Of course, bring them right in.”  So Danielle and I raced in with the lobsters and handed them off.  We got lucky that night, as they were up late picking lobsters for a large party they were supplying.  They cooked our lobsters quickly (too quick for the girls who were eager to spend more time together) and Jay gave us a ride back to the dinghy dock in his truck.

East beach seawall

That night we decided we’d stay another day – without gas we could still make waffles while we were running the generator in the morning, eat a cold lunch and go to the Offshore Store for dinner and make our lobster mess there.

It was worth staying.  After a relaxing morning (with only one person antsy to get off the boat and find her new friends) we came ashore and split up.  My parents (visiting us for a week) decided to enjoy the comforts of Jay & Tammy’s shaded and breezy tent, Danielle disappeared with the girls and Will, Kathy and I headed for the woods.

Will and Kathy trying to figure out whether
the goat went left or right.

Our first walk was a short one with just Kathy and I around the beaver pond in the middle of the island.  Friday we took Will to the beaver pond, and beyond out to Rich’s Head at the far end of the island.  The paths were well marked and clear, mostly easy.  We looked at the trail map and saw a trail from Rich’s Head to East Beach, where there was a sea wall that looked interesting.  It seemed to follow the same height level on the topographic map, so we thought it would be flat and easy.  It didn’t actually have a lot of hills, but it sort of looked like they picked the trail by tying a can of blue spray paint to a mountain goat and chasing it around the island.  This was a considerable bit less worn and used path then the others, and we had to follow it more carefully, at one point climbing up a fairly steep rock face that had a rope strung for just that purpose.  But it was worth it, it was a gorgeous part of the island, remote and stunning with the raw beauty.

My parents at the Offshore Store

We arrived back at the Offshore Store to find my parents relaxed and happy, my daughter soaking wet and not ready to leave her friends, and all of us hungry and ready to settle in to an excellent dinner which was readily had.

P.S. – Try the brownies, or better yet the brownie sundae!

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Holbrook Island Sanctuary

On Aug 26th, 2012 Published By B.J.
Goose Pond, which is actually salt water and has quite a tidal flow at Goose Falls

Holbrook Island Sanctuary is a state park near Castine, Maine (apologies for the lack of chronological order to the posts, but some stories need to be told!) that we visited for an afternoon of nature walks and trail hikes.  It encompasses Holbrook Island off the coast as well as a tract of woods and marsh on the mainland.

This time, we were prepared!  Bug Spray!  Sunscreen!  Water!  What a difference it makes to being able to walk in comfort for a much longer time.  You’d never think this was the same family that set off to climb Pemetic Mountain on Mt. Desert Island two years ago with nothing more than half a pint of water and a trail map in our pockets, we had a backpack even.

We walked the Beaver Pond trail, which turned out to be much more of a swamp/woods walk than a walk around a pond teeming with beavers and otters.  We never actually saw the pond, though we saw water, marshes, flowers, plants, frogs, and a variety of insects both beautiful and irritating.  It is a very rustic trail, not heavily used but well marked and easy to follow. 

When we walk as a family in the woods we always do so with the hope of catching a glimpse of some wildlife.  It seems you almost always see something, though we’ve come to realize that we probably ought to head out earlier than noon if we want to see anything bigger than a squirrel.  Not that we object to seeing squirrels, they are cute and the red squirrels up here in Maine are different from the gray squirrels we are used to.  They chitter at you in annoyance when you invade their space as they scamper from tree to tree, unlike the grey squirrels that just run away.

Elusive wildlife not spotted in the
Holbrook Sancutary

We’ll figure it out; maybe head out at dawn if we want to see deer and otters and other more elusive beasts.  But for now we enjoy a walk in the woods and what we see.

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Gettin’ Nekkid on the Hinckley Docks

On Aug 26th, 2012 Published By B.J.

On board septic waste management is just a fact of life on a boat.  Most smaller boats have what is called a “Type III Marine Sanitation Device”, or in plain English a toilet connected to a tank to hold what goes into it, with some plumbing that lets you pump the contents of the tank out at an appropriate facility.  More than three miles off shore it is legal and environmentally not-awful to simply open the valves and empty the tanks; I’m reasonably certain your average 30 ton humpback whale feeds the crabs and other scavengers more in a day that our boat would in a week.  Close to shore you need to get the tanks emptied.  Yes there are crabs there too, but the water doesn’t get changed as often in a small shallow bay compared to when you are in 300 feet of water.

Fairly typical shore installation.

So this time the plan was to stop by the very nice Hinckley yard in Southwest harbor on our way off shore to pump out the heads (boat speak for “bathroom”) and take on fresh water.  After some cross currents at the dock provided some entertainment for the other yachtsmen as we took three tries to land, it was time to get down to work.

The process is rather simple, there is a hole in the deck that connects to each holding tank (we have two heads and two tanks).  There is a device like the one pictured on the shore which connects to a high powered pump and a mysterious yuck removal system (Another tank?  Direct to a sewer?  I don’t really want to know.).  You open the hole in the deck, connect the end of the hose and open the valve on the end of the hose to remove the contents of the tank as it is pumped out through the hose.  A tight seal between the deck and the hose is needed to maintain the suction.  Most pump out devices I’ve seen have either a rubber flange around the head that seals against the deck, or a screw in insert that goes into the threads for the cap, then the hose clamps over the fitting.  Depending on where you go this is either a self service operation, or sometimes the deck hands climb on your boat and do it for you.

The fitting at Hinckley didn’t have the flange or the lock.  It was sized so you got the nice seal by jamming it into the opening.  Also, it was a rather mighty pump with a lot of pressure.  The dock attendant handed me the hose, I started the pumpout by emptying the forward head.  The next step is that someone in the head pumps some clean water in to the tank to give it a rinse; it is generally better to turn off the suction at this point so you don’t pull the rinse water out faster than it can be pumped in.  So far so good.

Let’s just say I was happy I was wearing my sunglasses for what happened next.

They way I figure it I must have leaned or tipped the suction head and broken the seal with the deck fitting.  When I restarted the suction to remove the rinse water I was greeted with a loud noise and a blast of…material…out of the top of the tank which splattered all the surrounding area.  I was part of that surrounding area.

Gamely I went back and pumped out the other head after a quick rinse of my face in the deck shower.  “I’ve never seen THAT happen before!” said the dock attendant.  I bet she hadn’t, and I admire her ability to endure the entire debacle with a straight face.  I don’t think I could have done that.

Fortunately I had more than enough time for a long hot shower while the water tank was being refilled.

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Onwards (and back!) to Mount Desert Island

On Aug 17th, 2012 Published By B.J.

Every is very excited to head back at Mount Desert Island again.  Our trip here two years ago was fantastic and we felt that in many ways we barely scratched the surface of all there is to see and do in this area.

Deciding how and when to go to MDI depended on a lot factors, including the weather, our state of provisioning and the boat’s tanks (holding tanks for waste, and water), and what me might want to see along the way, and our plans to rendevous with my parents later in the week.  Ultimately we decided that with dodgy weather coming on Wednesday and downright lousy weather projected Thursday it might be a good idea just to get there, as we could provision in Bar Harbor once we’d arrived.  This would also give us some time to scout a few things out such as where to park my parents car and maybe deal with a few chores such as laundry.  Laundry can be an all day affair when you live on a boat.

So Tuesday night we brought up the boats and made ready for an early departure with a quick stop by the Castine Town Dock on the to pump out our holding tanks and take on water.  We’d picked out several “bail out” harbors along the way in case the weather got bad.  The morning came and it was clear, cool, gorgeous and without a breath of wind.  We quickly finished our final preparations and weighed anchor for the town dock.

When I pulled in to the town dock I told the attendant “We’re here to get a pumpout and take on water.”  He pointed out the water source and we attached our own hose as he readied the pumpout.  As he was finishing the pumpout I told him I’d be here for a few minutes more as we hadn’t topped our water tanks yet.

“Oh,” he said, “that’s not potable water.”

I apologized for my language after I quickly yanked the house out of the filling port.  What it came down to is that the Powers That Be decided this year the water was “non potable”.  It was the same water source as the other dock and it was “potable” last year, but because the hose was used to help in flushing out the pumpout dock the whole thing was considered unsafe.  Well, we’d used our own hose so I really didn’t think this was a seriously thing, but we decided discretion was the better part of valor and we should at least empty out our water tanks and give it a quick flush.  The only way to get the water out of the boat is to open up all the faucets, and our water pump is rated for five (5) gallons per minute, maximum in perfect conditions.  With 270 gallon tanks, well you can do the math and figure out how long we were sitting there on the docks draining the tanks.  The boat got a nice bath though and we got some fresh baked snacks from Bah’s Bakery up the road so it wasn’t a total loss.

Slow forward two hours, and by 11:00 we had our water filled up, and we headed out some two hours later than we’d hoped.   We really, really didn’t want to travel at night because there are so many lobster pots around here it is just hellish to picture doing that so we got a bit nervous about our ability to make it to MDI before dark.  The only real upsides to the delay at the docks were that while we were waiting the tidal currents were moving in our favor and most importantly a nice fresh breeze picked up.  As soon as we left Castine harbor we set our sails and started beating South for Deer Island Thoroughfare.  Seals and porpoises and pretty boats…you get the picture!

The sailing was beautiful – nice breezes (albeit upwind much of the way) and warm weather and sunny skies.  While passing through the Deer Island Thoroughfare we did turn the engine on as the wind was blanketed and it is really…narrow…with a ton of lobster pots mined all throughout the passage.  As we left the thoroughfare and entered the pot-infested waters of Jericho Bat we caught some nice breeze and our upwind sailing was over.

Of all the places in Maine we’ve visited to date, Jericho Bay has the most impressive number of lobster pots, period.  The picture to the right serves to highlight a few important things about this area we were sailing through.  First, the beautiful schooner in the fog – Maine is filled with gorgeous boats from the smallest dinghy to the magnificent schooners and windjammers you see everywhere.  Second…look at all the lobster pots.  Holy mackerel there are a lot of them – in some places so close together I wasn’t sure I could get Evenstar between them.  We ran over a few, but we were sailing which isn’t so risky – but it is aggravating and challenging.  Third, did you notice the fog around that Schooner?  Yeah, there was some fog coming in.

Fortunately we didn’t catch the fog on Jericho Bay.  After picking our way through another narrow rock & lobster pot infested pass (the “York Narrows” onto the “Casco Passage”) we were on the final stretch of water before MDI.  We could see it in the distance.  It looked…odd…with fog over one end of it and piled on the islands south of it.  The Bass Harbor Bar and the Bass Harbor Light were quite enshrouded in fog and it was between us and where we were headed.  The wind was dying and our boat speed was dropping, and we’d just passed our last bailout point, so it was time to motor again in earnest.

Fog envelopes Bass Harbor Head Light like The Blob.

The fog was low to the water, and very dense with visibility less than 100 yards.  But it was a thin layer – we could see blue sky over our heads.  Shreds of mist were passing through the cockpit as the sun shown down on us.  It was very beautiful and eerie from the outside.  Blinding cool and a little spooky once we sailed into it.

As we passed South of MDI we could see land, but it faded out in the fog as we pressed on.  Lobster Pot watch became a bit more challenging as cross currents were pulling on us.  Fortunately few people were on the water as we saw very few contacts on the radar.

As we approached Southwest Harbor about 6:00 p.m. the fog finally thinned out a bit and we could see again.  The fog still lay think around the island though in some interesting patterns.

As we passed Southwest Harbor and reached our anchorage we breathed a bit of happy relief that the fog gave out and we were able to find a safe place to stay as the day faded.  Further adventures await on the island!

The fog rolls back in as the sun sets on our anchorage – photo by Will Porter.
Posted in Fog, Lobster Pots, Maine, Mt. Desert Island, scary | 1 Comment

Smith’s Cove, Castine

On Aug 16th, 2012 Published By B.J.
Grindel Point Light, Islesboro
Scenic lighthouses, seals, porpoises, beautiful boats, great sailing…is this getting old yet?  Because it sure isn’t for us.

The day we decided to leave Cradle Cove started out free of fog and damp and clear, a warm sunny day in the making.  Without a whisper of wind on the water.  After making a quick patched repair on the loudhailer we set out.  We’d not decided to go to Belfast or Castine until about the time we left.  There are some differences between the towns; I can tell you about the paper differences (Belfast is supposed to be larger with more there and not as easy to anchor) but can’t directly compare because we didn’t end up in Belfast.

Castine doesn’t have a great spot to anchor close to town so we decided that nearby Smith Cove looked perfect.  Deep enough for us us but not too deep, muddy bottom for anchoring, remote from town but reachable (about a mile and a quarter by dinghy).  The comments about it are that it is peaceful and not crowded, and right near the Holbrook Island Sanctuary, a nature preserve with some nice walking trails.  Perfect!

There were porpoises swimming by us as we were setting our anchor, and ospreys all around.  The cove is a wide open with some islands and sand beaches to explore (which the children did) and town was about 6 minutes away at fast dinghy speeds.  Holbrook Park get’s it’s own post but that was a worthwhile trip.  While we were there two windjammers came in and spent the night at anchor with us, and for a day we thought we were anchored near Eric Clapton – the Internet was wrong about his boat, if you can imagine that.

Castine itself was a little less than we’d expected.  It’s a quaint little waterfront town with some lovely old buildings and B & B’s.  There are a couple of restaurants and a convenience/liquor store.  Not the place to provision like we’d hoped but not lacking in New England charm.  It does have some basic services for the boat and you can get milk, eggs, beer and other staples but you aren’t going to be able to disappear off the grid for a week on what you can get there.  Hindsight being 20/20 Belfast would have been the better stop for the larder, but you can not beat waking up to Porpoises so close to the boat you can practically pet them.

Morning at Smith Harbor, near Castine Maine

Same morning, just a little later…

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Cradle Cove, Islesboro

On Aug 16th, 2012 Published By B.J.

NEWSFLASH!  Maine…has fog.  Sometimes lots of it.  Pictures of it are, for the lack of a better description, Not Very Interesting.  Unless it is far off and doing cool things on the horizon, or rolling down upon you, which is does seem to do here.

Really, there is fog coming.

Cradle Cove is a quite little harbor off of 700 Hundred Acre Island, a mostly private island near Islesboro Island in the middle of Penobscot Bay.  It is actually off of Gilkey Harbor, which is more of a thoroughfare than a harbor.  Cradle Cove is nestled among a few small islands with a single boat yard on shore.

The operating word is Quiet; there’s not a lot of traffic here.  On shore there is the boat yard with a small (very small) ship’s store, showers and heads.  700 Acre Island, being mostly all private property, doesn’t afford much walking around though there is one state maintained dirt road that leads across much of the island.  This is still a very nice walk through woods and fields with some gorgeous views, even if you can’t go “off road”.  Bring bug spray though; we didn’t.  They weren’t biting bugs but they were friendly bugs, flying around our heads in clouds and landing on us for reasons that were apparent only to them.

Nearby is Warren Island State Park which has a campground set up for boater only access.  There are no ferries or bridges.  Some nice trails around the island are available with campsites nestled in between them.  The children are dying to camp on an island again this year, but unfortunately the state parks charge quite a lot of money ($25/night) for non residents to camp there.  We don’t begrudge this since they have things like restrooms, water, etc. to maintain but we’re not looking to CAMP there with a fire and cooking so much as a sleepover in the back yard for the kids type of camping.  So we’re still looking for that island destination, like Hay Island in Seal Bay two years ago.  In the picture above you can see the South tip of Warren Island, accessible with shallow draft boats at high tide over the rock bar that you can see in the picture.  Which is exactly what Kathy and the kids did with our kayak and the Pudgy.

A couple of days of lounging around, sailing, kayaking, seal watching, and walking in a secluded spot was just what the doctor ordered.  Oh, and a little boat work.  On the way over here our loudhailer stopped working.  This is a speaker on the mast which we can both speak though (not so useful) and which will play automatic fog signals (one can not understate how useful this is!).  It seems the wires are cracking, which allows our worst enemy, water, to get in there and start corroding things.  For someone reason no one wants to send me (the guy that weighs twice what anyone else does) up the rig to fix things.  This speaker is located on the first spreader (we have two sets) as you can see here where Kathy is cleaning up the wiring.  We made it better, but not perfect so we will have to do this one more time while re-splicing the wires rather than just re-taping and securing them for a quick fix.

Posted in broken things, Fog, kayak, Maine, Portland Pudgy | Comments Off on Cradle Cove, Islesboro

Forced March!

On Aug 9th, 2012 Published By B.J.
This is Rockland Harbor Breakwater Light.
This is a chart of the harbor.
Clearly pictured are Evenstar at anchor, approximately where the dinghy landing we have been using is, and the lighthouse.  The breakwater you see that the lighthouse is on is 7/8 of a mile long.  You can see the  breakwater here, from the top of the lighthouse.  Clearly we all made it in one piece, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
We’d decided that Saturday would be a great day to do a few things.  Given that we didn’t get off the boat until lunch time that “few” devolved to “basically oneish” which would be to walk out to the lighthouse.
The maps of the area suggest it is about three miles or so from down town out to the base of the breakwater.  This feels about right.  With great enthusiasm and proper planning we said to each other after lunch “we should probably have brought some water from the boat”.  OK then, we’ll pick some  up on the way.  Sure.  At least we made sure none of the kids was wearing flip-flops.
There is allegedly some sort of “Trail” that they show on the maps from downtown out to the lighthouse.  If no signs or sidewalks equals a trail than this is an excellent one.  But we persevered, well past the last convenience store.  Note that this is a sunny, bright day – hot for Maine.  But as a group we buckled down and walked.  And walked.  Eventually we saw a sign that said “lighthouse” and we knew we were at least not walking in the wrong direction.  
As we walked down this road we now had several children and adults in need of…facilities…and everyone tired, hot and very thirsty.  We passed a sailor from the USS San Antonio (in town for the Lobster Festival) and asked him about the rest of the walk as we were thinking of turning back.  He told us “Oh, you have quite a ways to go, then a long walk out the breakwater and there’s no water or bathrooms anywhere.  And the lighthouse is closed.”
OK.  Well this immediately suggested to us “Let’s go.”  Don’t ask way.
Roughly 100 feet from where we spoke to the sailor we saw a sign that said “Restrooms”.  Hmm.  Several Porta-potties were sitting in the shade on what looked like some sort of park or campus.  Quickly I spotted two things of import; 1) we were on a frisbee golf course and 2) there was a guy in some sort of cooks outfit taking a smoke in the trees nearby.  We accosted him and found out that we were in fact on the edge of the Samoset Resort, and they did indeed have a cafe where we could get drinks.  Double hmm.
Within minutes we were ensconced poolside at the pool bar, enjoying crisp cold drinks and a panoramic view of Rockland Harbor and Owl’s Head.  This is one gorgeous spot for a resort, and this place had everything.  Golf, tennis, swimming, Frisbee golf and a whole host of activities in a stunning setting up on a bluff.  And a waiter gracious enough to keep the water glasses filled.  If I ever decide to spend way too much money to come to a resort in Maine I’m coming to this one.
Refreshed and recharged, we sought a shortcut out of Samoset down to the lighthouse.  From here our spirits ran high – the children that were dragging their feet before were charging ahead leaving the adults to stroll down the causeway.
 
This is yet another breathtaking spot.  The walk out the 7/8 mile to the light is easy as the rocks are large, flat and pretty even.  The lighthouse and building itself are scenic, and the water is clear and the breezes fresh.
Funny, that the walk BACK to town didn’t seem nearly as bad.  Of course the ice cream at the end helped.
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Lobstah Fest!

On Aug 8th, 2012 Published By B.J.
Someone get me a 55 gallon drum of melted butter, please…

Oh yeah, it’s the Lobster Festival!

Rockland really goes all out for this one, it’s a regional festival that draws from all over the area.  You could tell by the firetrucks in the parade (clearly labelled with the town they came from) and the Sea Princess who were not themselves labelled, but their bios in the festival guide told us where they all came from.

We weren’t sure quite what to expect.   Many years ago before we were married my wife and I attended a family gathering at my Aunt’s house in Wilton, Maine which was also the same weekend as the “Wilton Blueberry Festival”.  The festival was nice and, but very cute and modest in a really small town way; the parade had a lot of pickup trucks and a few floats on Radio Flyer wagons.  It’s not something you’d plan to spend a couple of days at, of even more than a morning.

Without banking on a huge extravaganza, we decided that even if the Lobster Festival was a bust Rockland had more than enough to do without my wife’s brother and his kids who were coming to meet us for the weekend.

The primary food tent.  There was LOTS more to eat elsewhere too.

Our first clue that this was perhaps larger in scope was the tents – big ones.  One huge one for food, smaller ones for various activities and displays and booths.  There was also a carnival as part of this whole setup with rides, food stalls, midway games and the whole works.  Also there was a central stage where music acts were to appear, including .38 Special as the headline act Saturday night, which some readers of a certain age will recognize as a reasonably major band from way back when.

Without planning it we lucked into some great stuff at the Festival.  The corner of the Festival was the town dock, so if you arrived by boat you couldn’t get into town without walking though the gates, so the Festival folks were kind enough to get us wristbands to allow us into the festival.  While there was a nominal charge to get in we planned to come as a group and Do The Festival on “Family and Local Day”, which was free admission Sunday.  Walking back and forth through the event to get to other places though we caught some great live music including a local jazz combo and .38 Special doing two of their signature numbers.  For ‘Hold on Loosely’ my son didn’t realize it was the actual band that recorded the song playing until we were through crowds…”No wonder it sounded so good” he observed.  Yes, he knew the song.

I think L.L. Bean might have helped with this float.

On the way to breakfast Saturday we managed to catch most of the Lobster Festival parade.  After dawdling on the boat waiting for the kids to get up we finally get everyone to town around 11:00; an hour after the purported start of the parade.  Of course we were coming up near the end of the parade so we still got almost a full revue of the various participants, from the Shriners zooming around in little boats, several Sea Princesses, a very warmly received marriage equality group and a very loud and raucous truck by the Maine Democrats with very loud and local rock band.

Sunday we started in true Festival fashion, with a few of the adults going in for the All You Can Eat Pancake Breakfast.  Blueberry pancakes in Maine, you can not go wrong except maybe not to go back for seconds.  We came in later with the sleepyheads and turned them loose where they proceeded to wreak havoc on the cotton candy and fudge booths while the grownups checked out the arts and crafts and local products.  Sadly we could not get any of the children to participate in the “Youth Lobster Eating Contest” which to me seemed like at least a way to get your kid a lobster for the one buck entry fee.

As we said our goodbyes to our cousins, we saw the infamous “Lobster Crate Race” under way.  This is a race across part of the harbor on a chain of sunken lobster crates.  The idea is to keep running crates until you get exhausted or fall in.  We didn’t see anyone drop from exhaustion but more than a few took a chilly Maine plunge.

A good time was had by all!

Cool sky over the midway!
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