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Maine Cruise 2004
Week 1 (Continued)
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Week
1 | Week 2 | Week 3
| Week 4
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Thursday, July 29, 2004
Cabot Cove - Pickering Island (10.6NM Plotted)
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Route Chart
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 The
day began with more fog, as expected, but by 0900, things were looking
up; the sky brightened, and the fog began to dissipate. Shortly
before 1000, I departed, happy to be underway again.
Outside Pulpit Harbor, I was pleased to
find the visibility even better than expected (I had dinghied out
on a reconnaissance mission about an hour before, and things were
drastically better now). Once again, there was light to
nonexistent wind, so I motored with the main up. The day continued
to improve, until it finally seemed like a real summer day, with hot sun
overhead and clear skies, albeit hazy and rather humid.
Nice! After a few days of fog, rain, and clouds, this was the
right medicine. |
 To
get to Pickering Island, I chose a course that led me through a nearby archipelago,
winding through a few small islands and ledges. In reserve, I had
a more straightforward (though only 0.1NM shorter) course in case
visibility was a problem; since it was not, I chose the more interesting
route. I motored through most of the day's route, but once I got
to the eastern tip of Butter Island, a light breeze sprung up, and I
sailed most of the rest of the way up to Pickering Island (about 4
miles) before the wind pooped out again. Later in the afternoon, a
gusty southwest-westerly breeze picked up, but by then it was too late.
I arrived at Pickering to find it
deserted, as usual, so I picked up the mooring in the cove. Later,
three additional boats stopped in--the most I'd ever seen there, in
several previous visits two years ago. These boats chose to anchor
well outside of where I was on the mooring, which seemed a bit odd since
there is good water in the cove to the west of the mooring. Just
as well, though--no need to be all stacked up together. |
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 In
the afternoon, I rowed ashore for some exploring. I wandered
around some of the beach, but didn't go too far since I had the wrong
shoes on (just some aquasoles or whatever they are--no support for the
rocks). It was nice to go ashore, though, and I spent close to an
hour before returning to the boat. The afternoon passed quickly,
between dinghying, reading, and scoping out the new arrivals to the
cove. I added five gallons of diesel from one of the jugs to the
tank. |
 By
the time I managed to get enough cell phone reception to get through to
the red tide hotline, the tide had come up, so I picked no mussels
today. Pickering had great mussels two years ago, and returning
for more was one of the things I looked forward to most. Heidi and
I will return here later in the trip, I am sure.
It became surprisingly chilly as the sun
went down, making for more good sleeping weather. |
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Friday, July 30, 2004
Pickering Island
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 I managed to get in touch with Heather and
Nathan on Dasein; it turned out they were just up the bay in Bucks
Harbor, so they decided to head to Pickering for a rendezvous.
That was fine with me, as I had been thinking of staying the day
anyway. It was a sunny morning, with fog all around but clear at
the cove, for the most part; within a couple hours after sunrise, the
fog had dissipated as far as the eye could see, though the forecast
threatened more for overnight and Saturday. One day at a time.
It was another warm, summery day--a real
pleasure after the so-so weather so far this trip (not to mention the
dismal weather for a couple weeks prior). In flat calm and high
tide, I rowed the dinghy all the way over to the eastern cove at
Pickering, where I had never been; it was beautiful there as well, and
there was no sign of the house that is supposed to be there
somewhere. Perhaps it's on the south-facing shore. In any
event, the whole of the island, from what I could see, was effectively
wild and unsettled--what a pleasure. |
 Dasein arrived around 1330, along
with a powerboat that sped in. At first, I thought the powerboat was trying to "beat"
Dasein into a good anchoring spot, but
then they headed my way. Shortly, it was clear that they intended
to talk to me, and I groaned inwardly, figuring that my time on the
mooring was surely over. Indeed, after a short exchange I
understood that the boat's owners were members of the "Mount Desert
Island Club", or what have you, which placed this mooring--and some
other moorings--in a few places on the coast for its members. I
had no problem moving once I understood this, and dropped anchor a bit
further in the cove, ahead of Dasein and the mooring. I
ended up in about 9' of water at low tide. You take your chances
with these moorings, and it was no big deal to move. Of course, I
would have preferred staying on the mooring, but... |
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 At low tide, Nathan and I rowed ashore to
pick some mussels--mmm. It seemed a little harder to find the
small, delectable ones that I remembered from two years ago, but we
found plenty nonetheless. I picked many extra so that I could keep
them hanging in a bag over the side for future meals and entertaining,
especially once Heidi arrived in a few more days--she'd kill me if I
picked mussels from Pickering and didn't provide enough for her!
We had a fun cocktail hour on Glissando, enjoying fresh mussels
cooked to perfection, and then later, the fun continued with grilled
burgers on Dasein. I finally made it back to the boat at
about 1015.
(Photo courtesy of Dasein) |
Saturday, July 31, 2004
Pickering Island - Bucks Harbor
(4.83NM
Plotted) |
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Route
Chart
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 The day dawned
with thick fog: gross. In addition, NOAA was calling for
snotty winds--southwest 20-25,which usually means all of that and
more. I was looking forward to getting settled in Bucks Harbor for
the day, where I was scheduled to meet Heidi in a couple days.
After getting up way too early at just after 0600, I restlessly waited
for the fog to, I hoped, improve before setting out, though I was
prepared to make the epic journey the short distance up the bay no
matter the visibility. At around 0900, though, the visibility
improved markedly, so I departed, after saying my goodbyes with Dasein.
They were headed for Pulpit Harbor, and would also be departing shortly.
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 It seemed as if it had been pretty gusty
in the Pickering Island cove, but when I got just a short distance away
on my route, it seemed that the wind had all but died, leaving a sloppy
chop. I decided what remained of the wind wasn't worth trying to
sail with, so I was a lazy bum and didn't even hoist the main; it was
such a short trip (my speed over ground ended up being almost 6 knots
the entire way, with the current in my favor), so I just didn't see the
point. If the wind had been stronger, I probably would have reside
the sail. |
 I arrived at Bucks at about 1000, and
motored by the yacht club looking for my friend Andrew, the head dock
guy there who I had met a couple years ago. He wasn't around, but
fortunately Heather and Nathan had run into him the day before, when
they were in Bucks, and had given me some suggested (by Andrew)
moorings; I found the one suggested and picked it up. It was
nicely out of the way, and well protected. |
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After cleaning up the boat, I put the
outboard on the dinghy and headed to the yacht club dock, where I walked
up to the nearby store, mostly to check things out and less because I
needed anything (other than white wine, a key component for cooking
mussels, which I had forgotten to bring). However, I was hoping to
find something interesting for lunch, and found some delicious olive and
onion foccacia. On the way back to the boat, I stopped at Bucks
Harbor Marine for some ice, and returned to enjoy my lunch and
relax. The wind had picked up, though it was hard to tell what it
was like outside because my mooring was so sheltered. I watched an
Ensign motor out the channel, barely making any way against the
chop--and several times losing ground!
A little later in the afternoon, I
happened to be glancing away from my book and noticed another Triton in the
anchorage. Then I did a double take: it was Dasein!
I figured they were here because the weather outside had turned nasty,
but I was surprised since it had been so benign--despite the worst
fears--while I had traveled up this morning. I jumped in the
dinghy to find out what had happened, and they reported ridiculous winds
and seas that just prevented them from getting anywhere, so they turned
around and surfed--quite literally--up to the safety of Bucks. It
was good to see them again, anyway, and they said that their planned
rendezvous with Lucky Bear--Heather's parents' Hans Christian
38--had been moved to
Bucks as well.
It was a quiet, relaxing afternoon, and
later, I was invited to dinner on Lucky Bear, which I happily
accepted. After some days of quiet and alone time, it was fun to
be social.
Please click here to
continue the log.--->
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