Enetai - Salem Massachusetts to the Canadian border 2016
Part 2: July 24 to July 30, Rockland Maine to the Canadian border
24 July Rockland to Northeast Harbor, Mt Desert Island 42.7nm
As we headed "Down East" from Rockland, we opted to go around North Haven to the north rather than go through the Fox Islands Thorofare. The Fox Island Thorofare is more interesting but the more northerly way is more scenic.
We crossed East Penobscot Bay at max flood. There are so many lobster traps here and the current runs hard. The trick is to sit on the down current side of the boat and crab through the buoys at an angle. Each buoy has a "toggle" which is a float below the surface that keeps the trap warp off the bottom. You can steer between the toggle and the buoy if the current is not running too hard. Schooners abound in this area. Here you can see the layer of pot buoys on the sea surface with a schooner in the background.
We slid past Stonington (Hi Joe Coomer, saw your boat), across Jerico Bay to Casco Passage. From there, we crossed Blue Hill Bay, over the Bass Harbor Bar and into the Western Way. We arrived after the turn of the tide and had to buck the ebb. Safe in Northeast Harbor by late afternoon.
We have visited Northeast Harbor many times over the years. We hunkered down here in 2011 when hurricane Irene blew through.
The Chamber of Commerce has always maintained a "Yachtsman's" facility. The old one was a humble building made out of knotty pine. It used tokens for the showers, which would just stop working when the time ran out. However, the plumbing was such that even if a shower had quit when the time ran out, water could flow from cold to hot through the valve, freezing the bejesus out of any other shower takers - so plaintive little hand-written signs would ask people to close the shower valves. All that was swept aside a few years ago when between-seasons a luxurious new yachtsmen's facility was built along with a new harbormasters office and public restrooms. The new buildings are high-end with granite counters and tile floors. The showers work great now and come free with the mooring rental.
Northeast Harbor has a convenient and well-stocked grocery (where we always get supplies), a hardware store, restaurants, and a nice little museum.
We were supposed to meet some friends and took the free shuttle bus to Bar Harbor for dinner. There was the usual crush of tourists and though we missed the friends, we did celebrate the 100th year of the National Park Service!
25 July Northeast Harbor to Pig Island Gut, Beal's Island (near Jonesport) 36.4nm
In the morning we got breakfast and coffee in town and walked around the end of the harbor and climbed the path up to the spectacular Thuya Garden. Not to be missed. We also stopped by the perfectly groomed Asticou Azelia Garden.
As we left, we stopped at Clifton Dock for gasoline and ice on the way out of the harbor.
We had to cross the bar at Petit Manan. There is a marked passage over the bar that saves several miles vs going around. Petit Manan Bar extends from Petit Manan Island to Petit Manan Point on the mainland. The bar consists of ledges and large boulders through which is a channel, marked by two fairway buoys, the westernmost a bell buoy, that can be used by small vessels when the sea is smooth. There is 13 feet in the channel.) Fortunately the sea was flat and we motored across without incident.
We sailed in and out through the lovely islands as we approached Cape Split and Moosabec Reach. We passed Shipstern Island which does look somewhat like the stern of a ship. (Really. It doesn't show in the picture.)
There is a bridge across the Reach from Jonesport to Beal's Island with only 39 feet of vertical clearance. We fit under it with our air-draft of 35 feet. Larger boats must go around, about 25 miles. Bummer.
We anchored for the night in a dredged mooring area in Pig Island Gut. We positioned ourselves very carefully in the margin between the moored fishing boats and the edge of the basin.
Several lobster boats, including the harbor master, stopped by as dusk fell to warn us how shallow it is there. Indeed, as the light faded, and the tide fell, and the fog socked us in, we could see the bottom close below 'Enetai'. An eerie bunch of junk appeared at the edge of the dredged basin within a few feet of us. It was tight but we did not touch anything in the night.
26 July Beal's Island to Cutler 23.9nm
In the morning, the lobster boats started work early. They were maneuvering carefully in the thick fog. We saw these seaweed harvesters heading out. Later we saw them full to the gunwales with seaweed. We upped anchor and motored cautiously across The Reach to Jonesport in the fog.
The harbor itself was fog-free. The tide was out. The tidal range has been increasing as we go east toward the Bay of Fundy. We picked up an unloved mooring and rowed in to the dinghy dock.
We walked into "town". But we didn't find a 'town', per se. The IGA had closed down, erasing the only real focal point for the town that we could see. Actually, on the way back to the boat we walked into the convenience store at a gas station to find a bunch of guys sitting around folding tables in a de facto café. There was a small kitchen in the corner serving breakfast. (We bought some fabulous apple turnovers to take back to the boat). This seemed to be the hidden-in-plain-sight center of the town. 'Business' might be in East Jonesport now.
We considered walking over the bridge to Beal's Island but the combination of narrow lanes, big trucks and no sidewalks put us off that idea. Gina peeked in the window of a shop selling tourist stuff, mainly shell jewelry, near the bridge ("She Sells Sea Shells"). Not very long until the proprietress zooms up in her car and opened the shop. I'm pretty sure she has somebody nearby who alerts her anytime a tourist approaches the shop. A few items of shell jewelry later we were on our way.
We anchored off a Roque Island outlier for lunch, as close as we got to the famous beach, not visible in the fog.
We had more fog crossing Machias Bay and Little Machias Bay. We were able to sail most of the way until near the big antenna and all of its subsidiary antennas.
We approached Ross Narrows and the fog closed back in. We could see the field of towers through the fog, but they began to disappear as the fog got thicker as we continued through the narrows.
We navigated from buoy to buoy in the fog until Cutler Light appeared. Approaching the harbor, we found the fog much reduced as we approached the land again.
We headed in to Cutler harbor and it was clear in the tight little harbor. Cutler has big tides and not a lot of room to anchor, no one "in charge" either. We were treated to a fabulous rainbow as the day ended.
Despite all the communication towers on the peninsula to the west, there was no cell coverage, nothing worked. There are no stores, nor restaurants in Cutler. It felt a little unwelcoming. This is not a tourist town. However, it did turn out that the little library on the hill (in town hall) had their wifi on. We felt much less isolated being able to access "lovetoread".
27 July Cutler to Rodgers Island, Cobscock Bay (near Lubec) 26.8nm
Cutler is very hilly, after we rowed into shore, we could see Enetai, anchored in the harbor and ready to go.
We needed the flood tide to carry us up Grand Manan Channel to Lubec (luBEC). The low slack wasn't until 11:30 am so we rowed into the town ramp. As we carried the dingy up the ramp, down came a truck front-first! A very friendly fellow told us about Lubec's marina (see next entry), which we'd seen in our guidebook, but couldn't find any information on. We made our good-byes and as we walked along the road, we watched in consternation as he continued down the ramp front first. It all worked out however, he wasn't launching from the ramp, he did a turn onto the beach to launch from there, no problem, although it seems like you'd be taking a chance if you messed up on the tides!
We walked out the trail to "The Knubble" at the east side of the harbor entrance. The trail was enticing at first but after you get around a few bends it is not much bigger than a game trail. Anyway, it was worth it to finally pop out of the woods onto the beach at The Knubble with great views in all directions.
Our boat looked like a sailing dinghy in the packed harbor.
We set out at 11:00 AM near the low and headed on up the "Bold Coast". No wind. The flood had just started.
Soon, the current was whipping by the few, very large, lobster buoys.
The big buoys looked like they were motoring upstream!
We throttled back the motor and let the current do most of the work. It was running at about 3 knots. The tidal range is about 20 feet here and the currents must be respected. This part of Maine is called "the Bold Coast" and it feels pretty wild and unsettled. Thin wisps of fog at several levels outlined the bold shore topography.
We passed several coves that might provide a little shelter in a pinch but there isn't really any place to stop in the 17 miles from Cutler to West Quoddy Head.
It was foggy as we rounded the Head and headed for Lubec Narrows. The guidebook emphasized the dangers of Lubec Narrows but we did not have any trouble with rips or whirlpools as we whooshed through under the bridge and out into Passamaquoddy Bay.
Last time we were through here in 1987 in our old boat, we were fighting the ebb and needed sails, motor and, ultimately, paddles to get through the bridge piers. The fog cleared as we passed Lubec and headed on up to Eastport. The tide was nearing high and Passamaquoddy Bay was filled to the brim, a beautiful vista.
Eastport is only a few miles from Lubec by water but it is a 40 mile drive to get there by land. Eastport's harbor is a small, enclosed by a pier (which was fully taken by large boats), and an L-shaped breakwater; with a huge concrete 'bollard' smack in the middle of entering it.
The resulting situation is that you cannot see into the harbor prior to going in and you're navigating tide current and trying not to hit this thing while coming in. On top of this, the breakwater/wharf was being rebuilt and enlarged.
We motored into the basin behind the wharf, looking for a place to tie up. There were several Coast Guard boats tied to the docks, near a ramp, possibly displaced by the construction work. We must have violated some invisible perimeter because suddenly guardsmen were all over the decks and on the dock. No guns in sight but there was some tension as we asked about docking while being flagged away. We completed a U-turn and headed back out.
To tie up and go into town, we were advised to try a restaurant further along the shore. Indeed, the Eastport Chowder House allowed us to tie to their dock while we hiked into town and then up to the grocery store. Then when we got back, we had an excellent early dinner at Eastport Chowder.
We moved off to anchor behind Rodgers Island, back over towards Lubec, for the night. It had been a long day. We celebrated getting up the Grand Manan Channel and around the corner into Passamaquoddy Bay with some liquid refreshment
28 July In Lubec 1.1nm
In the morning we landed on Rodgers Island to stretch our legs. Beautiful scenery here. The cruising guide strongly discouraged any exploration further up the bay due to the reversing falls and rapids caused by tidal flow through the narrow passages. There were several issues with the tides, including the fog. The real issue would be the timing, the currents are so strong, that you'd have to time entering and exiting any narrows; and it didn't look like the timing would be good. So, we heeded the warnings. Maybe getting timid in our old age.
We moved on to Lubec, tying to the town dock to assess where we could stay. The harbor master noted that the only empty mooring belonged to the Passamaquoddy yacht club, and called to ask if we might use it. We gladly gave them a donation for their good programs teaching local kids to sail and picked up the mooring.
There is a substantial but not very large floating dinghy dock with the Harbormaster's office at the top of the ramp. The woman serving as harbormaster is also president of the Chamber of Commerce. Lubec is a small town.
Lubec does have a very nice (and long) state boat ramp.
Here's pretty much the story we'd heard from the man in Cutler: A few years ago, a large marina was built here. Unfortunately it was designed (supposedly by designers from Florida), with the fingers perpendicular to the strong tidal currents that run parallel to the shore. Evidently unaware of the strength of the huge tides, the designers didn't realize that the boats docked on the finger piers would drag, or would be pulling strongly on these docks in the tidal currents. The finger docks kept breaking off, and eventually began pulling the pilings out. After a few years of this, the town had had enough paying for repairs, and scrapped the whole thing. There is now a row of mooring buoys along the shore for the fishing boats, and the dinghy dock where a whale watch tour boat docks.
There is no cellular coverage here either for any but US Cellular. Wifi seems only to be available from the local inns/hotels. We rented bicycles from The Inn on the Wharf and rode them to West Quoddy Head to see what we could see. We had not actually seen the lighthouse as we passed it in the fog the day before. This was a beautiful sunny day on land. We explored the lighthouse and grounds, and the wonderful little museum.
We tootled around town, coming upon a sculpture from the 2014 international sculpture competition, enjoying the local artwork and historic/commemorative monuments. There is a bridge across Lubec Narrows to Campobello Island in Canada where Franklin D Roosevelt had a summer place that we had visited on our 1987 trip on 'Sanderling'. We thought about riding over the bridge, but with the traffic, it looked a little treacherous and our passports were back in the boat. We had some beer and hamburgers at the local pub, where we could see the historic smokehouse from the deck. We'd photographed it at lower tide, and now it was high tide - quite a difference.
29 July Shuttle truck and trailer from Rockland to Lubec
We had to get back to Rockland to pick up our truck and trailer and on another foggy morning we rowed in to meet again our friend, Russ, who met us at the parking lot at the state ramp in Lubec. Thanks again Russ!!
We enjoyed many interesting highway sights on the drive to and from Rockland. We returned to a final night on 'Enetai', still foggy in Lubec.
In the morning we pulled out and drove home.
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