August 13, 2007
After leaving Old Lyme marina at 0530 we traveled through a morning of misty rain but calm seas. Rather than stop at Cuttyhunk, like we did on the north and south bound legs last year, we decided to set our autopilot for an anchorage a bit farther called Hadley Harbor. It is within sight of Woods Hole, MA, probably better known to most of you. With our late arrival of 1700 the well-protected inner harbor with all the closely packed free moorings was already full. Even the outer harbor had too many boats to suit our anchoring style, so we found good holding in an isolated spot outside the outer harbor, just big enough for our needs. Protection was good from all directions except the north, but it was a bit rolly from the ferries going in and out of Woods Hole.
Of course, a thunderstorm would have to arrive from the north at 0030 (that's 12:30 a.m. land time), turning us 180 degrees on our nicely set anchor. Usually I would be feeling like King Neptune was against us and feel sorry for us having to worry about turning on our anchor. However, we watched a sailboat which had been anchored (obviously not securely) in the outer harbor have to pick up his dragging anchor and try to battle the winds and waves for 1.5 hours amongst the other boats and rocks before he could reset the anchor properly. We felt lucky that we hadn't anchored in the outer harbor and had to worry about him running into us or pulling out our anchor chain.
We had to get an early start the next morning to get through the Cape Cod Canal on a favorable tide. With a 4 knot current pushing us, we hit our all-time high speed of 12.3 knots – that's warp speed for a trawler!
Grooming Under Way
Fairy Tales Do Come True!
August 14 – 16, 2007
After a choppy, and bit uncomfortable, ride across Cape Cod Bay we arrived at one of my favorite places on the East coast, Provincetown, MA. We wanted to get here by the 16th to be able to see the parade, part of the festivities associated with the community's gay week celebration. After accidentally happening upon it last year, and laughing about it for 12 months, we decided to try to make a point of attending again this year. A lot of other people had the same idea: the streets were packed!
Waiting for the Parade
After our two stops last year, we had some familiarity with the harbor and decided to drop anchor instead of picking up a $40/night mooring. This was a bold move on our part because we knew we had windy weather coming, but we also knew the bottom provided good holding. We anchored first on the east side of the harbor which had lots of roll from the ferries. After a wind shift from the west, we moved over to the west side of the harbor for more protection and less roll. We felt fairly secure despite steady winds in excess of 20 kts the whole first day.
Provincetown Waterfront
When you're out in the harbor, Ptown provides a pretty picture. The Pilgrim Tower stands like a tall guardian over the little community. The neatly kept homes and shops line the waterfront, all with the salty look you would expect from a town whose roots trace back to Portuguese fisherman. The bright white church spires stand out in front of the treed hills behind them. There is such a diversity of activity on the water: ferries, whale watch boats, commercial fishing vessels of various sorts, private sail and power boats of all shapes and sizes, harbor tour boat, kayaks, windsurfers, kite boarders, and parasailors. You can't be bored even if you're just sitting on the boat.
Replica Ship
At least the weather cooperated enough to allow the parade to progress, despite a late start. Since this year's theme was Fairy Tales we were treated to adult interpretations of those famous stories in ways only the gay community can dream up using their flair for art, creativity, and humor. Ursa, wearing her cool sunglasses, proved to be a big attraction; getting photographed by at least 100 people and kissed and petted by many of the revelers.
Ursa and Dorothy
Captain Hook and Friends
Everyone Wears Beads!
Laughing with the Fairies
Carol Burnett and Phyllis Diller
So Pretty in Pink
Back to the Land of Buoys
We left Ptown at 0630 on August 17 in a foggy mist which hung around most of the morning. It hampered our viewing activities going through the whale world of Stellwagen Bank. We saw about 10 humpbacked whales, but none were breaching. There were a couple of beautiful flukes, besides our own though!
Extreme wind was in the weather forecast for the next day or two. Our cruising area did not have any safe harbors where we could lay on our anchor for such weather, so we had to find a place where we could safely pick up a mooring.
From sea, we entered the inlet formed by the Piscataqua River which divides Maine and New Hampshire. The Piscataqua River is the second fastest flowing river in the U.S. That can make anchoring a real challenge, especially if there are high winds too. Portsmouth, NH, a big industrial seaport area lies on the south side of the river. However, we decided to try out a mooring at the Kittery Point Yacht Yard located in Kittery, ME., a small facility more to our tastes in cruising, located on the north side of the river. Kittery was Maine's first town, incorporated in 1647. We knew we were back in Maine when we saw the river full of lobster buoys! The winds persisted, stirring up the seas more than we wanted, so we spent 2 nights at KPYY.
Kittery Point Harbor Scene
We got an early start on the 19th to head out to sea and keep moving in a more easterly direction moving along the Maine coast. We cruised up the New Meadows River, full of buoys, to an anchoring area known as The Basin. It is a true hurricane hole by cruising standards. A deep, narrow channel juts off from the river and opens up in an area that looks like a mirrored lake surrounded by rocky hills covered with trees, with protection from every direction. The area is big enough for many boats, even one like FLUKE which requires lots of room for all the anchor chain we always put out. The Basin holds some of the warmest water on the Maine coast, 67 degrees. That's way too cold for our tastes which are more suited to temperatures not less than 80!
Entering the Basin/Note-buoys!
Fishermans Island Light and Keeper's House
Have You Seen Castine?
August 20-22, 2007
Castine Waterfront
Castine lies on a hilly peninsula at the mouth of the Bagaduce River off the east side of Penobscot Bay. Its saving grace from being a tourist trap is that it does not have a major road that goes through the town to anywhere else; it is at the end of the peninsula and functions as a quiet summer resort for most visitors. It is a wonderful laid back little village of beautifully preserved Georgian and Federalist style homes dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries on streets lined with gigantic elm trees; the entire town is on the National Historic Register. If you're a shopaholic this isn't the place for you: there is 1 gift shop and 1 bookstore.
Eye Catching Storefront
Historic Inn
Free walking maps are available which provide historical information and point out interesting landmarks. Castine was not always a reserved village. Its history dates back to the early 1600s when it was the sight for an active trading post. 16 different military fortifications were built on the peninsula to protect the bay and river, and the town changed hands 25 times between the French, Dutch, British, and early colonists. Today, excavated remnants of Fort Madison and Fort George are open for public exploration.
Visitors can tour Maine Maritime Academy's 500 ft. training ship, State of Maine, when it is in port. The MMA's campus sits on the hillside just outside of the town proper and is also open to the public.
Our reason for visiting Castine was two-fold: we had met a couple (Jeff and Karen Siegal, keepers of the useful cruising website activecaptain.com) from Castine who were visiting Vero Beach last winter on their 53'DeFever who said they had an extra mooring we could use if we were ever in their area and secondly, our Vero Beach neighbor's son (Robert) has run the summer tennis camp at the Castine Golf Club for the last two years and we thought it would be fun to see what his job was like.
On the way out of The Basin we called Jeff to confirm the mooring was available. He gave us helpful information on getting to the mooring, located in Smith Cove, about 1 ½ miles from the town dock. We were pleasantly surprised by the beautiful setting and how well constructed the mooring was: 1” chain, clean mooring ball, and double bow bridle. We declared it the best mooring we have ever been on! Smith Cove is so quiet and well protected, lined by rugged hills covered with trees. Harbor seals sunned themselves on the rocks at low tide, eagles and ospreys flew overhead. It was an easy dinghy ride to the town dock.
At the Mooring
We spent the first day on shore walking all around the town. We made an unannounced surprise appearance at the tennis courts to watch Robert giving Junior group lessons. Everyone was having fun in the girls against the boys competition. Most of the summer kids walk or ride their bikes to the club and have free run of the town – most unusual in today's world of child raising.
Robert's contract provides housing on site: he stays in the upstairs portion of the 1857 Castine Golf Clubhouse, right at the top of Main Street overlooking the first tee of this Maine back country layout. He doesn't even take his car to Castine since it is so small; he rides around town in a golf cart! We met Robert for dinner at Dennett's Wharf, an open air restaurant, to catch up on summer news.
The next morning we rendezvoused with the Siegals at the Castine Variety store and soda fountain for a country breakfast of everyone's own choosing. French toast for us, something we never have. We learned that not only is good food served up there, but it is THE site for town political discussions outside the town hall. Located right smack in the center of town, visiting the Castine Variety store is like taking a step back in time for all you nostalgia buffs.
We finished up our last day browsing the 2 shops and walking around town. A trip up the hill via Perkins St. on the waterfront to Dyces Head Lighthouse (1828) is well worth the walk. The lighthouse was discontinued in the 1930's and the keeper's house is now occupied, but they are both well-maintained and very photogenic. The view of the Penobscot River and Bay is far-reachingly immense.
Dyce's Head Light and Keeper's House
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