Down the Maine Coast

There just isn't enough time to cruise and sight see when the weather is nice and we don't have any down time. You'll just have to wait for pictures to be posted in the last two sections, waiting to find wi-fi so I can do that. We entered back into the United States today, Friday, August 28, at Eastport, ME. We rode the outgoing tide down the Western Passage from St. Andrews, New Brunswick, getting a push upto 4 MPH. It was a great ride. We will hunker down here until Tropical Storm Danny goes by Saturday night and Sunday Morning, then we'll have to wait for the sea to die down before we can proceed south, probably Tuesday based on current wave forcasts. It's Saturday night, Danny is just to the SW and we are getting the rain and wind of it's leading edge. We are tucked into a small safe harbor with about 40 fishing boats, rafted up 6 deep to the floating dock inside an L shaped town warf. High tide was about two hours ago, and while we were up the wall of the warf was about 8'high and we were exposed to the NE wind. We're on our way back down, going down 17', and when we're at the bottom the wind goes over the top. Wind forcasted to die about 3 AM tomorrow, so next time we get to high tide the storm should be E of us. Danny passed last night, and at about 3:00 AM the wind died. We woke up to broken clouds and by 10:30 the sun was out. Moved back to the outside of the warf on a floating dock system, we're plugged back in, and it has been a beautiful day. That evening we finally saw some whales jumping out in the bay. Monday we took two ferry rides to get to Campobello Island, FDR's summer residence, which is actually back in Canada. With our bikes we walked onto the Eastport-Deer Island Ferry, and passed through Canadian Customs on Deer Island. Waited 30 minutes and then took a second ferry from Deer Island to Campobello. The National Park is managed jointly by the US Park Service and Parks Canada and is open free of charge. The Rosevelt cottage was simple with 10 bedrooms, on a beautiful setting facing Eastport across the bay. On Tuesday morning about 15 minutes before high tide we left Eastport so we could be at the international bridge to transit Lubec Narrows just after high tide. Even so, the water was pushing us close to 5 MPH as we went under the bridge. It's so much fun to go 15 MPH over ground when we are only going 10 MPH through the water. The first 15 miles to Bar Harbor was outside of any islands in the Bay of Fundy. We were getting a 2 MPH push as we went down the coast. Once we got to Long Point we could head inland and travel behind the coastal islands. The highlight was a passage through the "Thorofare", a narrow channel through Rogue Island. We arrived at Bar Harbor and tied up to a mooring ball at 5:50 PM, after a 86 mile run. And guess who was in town, CARRIBEAN PRINCESS and her hundreds of passengers. Remember, we passed CARRIBEAN PRINCESS in the fog as we left Saint John. Prior to our arrival in Bar Harbor we had made contact with the Foote's, friends from Boston who we had cruised portions of the Maine coast with us back in 1968. They have retired and now live on Moosehead Lake. Have we told you about the lobster trap buoys that are EVERYWHERE! On Wednesday, as I cast off the mooring ball, the boat had drifted over a lobster trap buoy, so when I put the boat in gear I immediatly fouled the line around the port propeller shaft which shut the engine down, and while trying to get back to the mooring ball, fouled some more of the line around the starboard shaft which shut that engine down. Called Doug on HAPPY CLAMZ on the phone to come over with his dingy to pull me back to the mooring ball, which he was able to do. So on went the diving gear, under the boat with my supper dooper Craftsman cutter, and 10 minutes later both shafts were clear of ropes. Oh, did I tell you the water is COLD up here! Tad and Kathy met us at 11:30 at the town dock and we cruised around Mount Desert Island up into Somes Sound, a fjord that splits the island. Upon returing to town we joined Foote's for dinner. Thursday was our day to visit Acadia National Park. We boarded a tour bus in town and took a 3 hour tour through the park and to the top of Cadillac Mountain. At 2:00 we were back at the boat and by 2:20 we cast off the lines from the mooring ball and heading south for an unkown anchorage. At 5:10 we dropped the hook in Mackeral Cove on the north shore of Swan Island. We'd been having trouble with the raw water cooling system on the generator. I'd already cleaned the strainer and changed the impeller in the pump. But still our water flow was too low for sufficient cooling. So, on with the dive gear to check the intake under the boat. Oh, did I tell you the water is COLD up here! No blockage there. Next I disconnected the supply line at the strainer, put it in a 5 gallon pail full of water to check the pump operation and every thing down strem of the strainer. The generator engine quickly sucked up the water the exhausted it, so the problem still has to be in the intake hose. Dissasembled it at the elbow of the thru hull and found blockage where the hose connects to the hose barb. Removed kelp pieces, reassembled, problem solved. Friday, August 4, is another beautiful day. We pull anchor and head up Eggemoggin Reach on a flood tide for Castine, ariving just in time for lunch. Tie up at the town dock next to the Maine Maritime Accademy. Had a nice simple lunch at "The Breeze", a take out lunch counter at the dock, then a 2 hour walk about town. Back on the boat, by now the tide has turned, for a quick ride down the western branch of the Penobscott river to Camden. Sure helps to have a 2 MPH tidal push all day. Camden is having their annual "Windjammer Festival" so their are lots of people around, and about twenty scooners. Caught up to HAPPY CLAMZ again and enjoyed dinner with them in town, and then enjoyed the fireworks that evening. HAPPY CLAMZ left early Saturday morning for Boothbay Harbor. We went into town to walk around and see some of the many old homes and buildings in town. Just after noon we returned to the boat, had some lunch, cast off from our mooring ball and started south running behind the islands. We anchored for the night in LONG COVE near Tenants Harbor, watched the sun set to the west ending another georgous day, and watch the full moon come up over the water to the east, it just doesn't get any better than this. On Sunday we traveled the last 30 miles into Boothbay Harbor, got there in time for lobster rolls for lunch and a walk around the town. There are crowds of people enjoying the last weekend of summer. We'll spend one night at the Tug Boat Marina and head up to Bath tomorrow through some small back waterways, running with the tide. Should be fun. We had a ball Monday going up to Bath. Left Boothbay Harbor two hours after low water, went up through Townsend Gut to Sheepscot River, through Goose Rock Passage to Knubble Bay through Lower Hell Gate to Hocomock Bay, and up the narrow Sanoa River to Bath. At times we had a 5 MPH    push. Once in Bath tied up to the city dock to see the town. The large cranes at Bath Iron Works tower over the city. The Bath boat building industy was able to convert from wood to steel and today are one of our nations largest ship building centers. After the tide turned we went down the Kennebec River two miles and tied up to the Maritime Musiem dock. Tied up to the dock at the musiem was a sister hull to the BLUENOSE, but this boat was diesel powered and only used it's sails as stabelizers. We left at 5:00 PM when the musiem closed. By now the tide was about three hours past high in Bath so we had maximum push going down the Kennebec. Along the way we saw seals on some of the rocks. We anchored in Small Point Harbor for the night. ODYSSEE headed for South Freeport on Tuesday morning                                                                     for a shopping day at L L Bean. WOW, what an operation they have in Freeport, open 24 hours for your shopping convience. They have some interesting cars running around in the hargor too! Wednesday, September 9, we have moved to Portland and are tied up to a friends mooring ball. Yesterday and this morning the forcast for Thursday and Friday called for seas building to 7-8', so we were planning on spending several days here. This evening the wind is calm, not as forcast this morning, and the forcast now for tomorrow is for seas of 3' building to 5' in the afternoon. So we now plan to get up early and head for Portsmouth, NH. If the seas get uncomfortable we have three bail out harbors. So, we'll see how the day goes. Thursday arrived and we proceeded to try to get to Portsmouth. We rode the tidal current out of Portland harbor and when the outgoing water met the Atlantic, very confused big waves resulted. We slugged through them out to the sea bouy and turned SSW towards Portsmouth. The swell was on our side from the SE with a 1-2' NE wind wave on top. It wasn't comfortable but we were tollerating it. An hour went by and the wind wave built to 2-3', and we decided enough was enough, so we turned the boat more westerly and headed for Kennebuckport. On Friday we finished our trip to Portsmouth. The Portsmouth city dock is at their waterfront city park. We spent the last three days of our Maine visit spending time with our friends Chuck and Barbara Ganem, boaters on GOLD WATCH. We toured all the sights along the SE coast of Maine. It is now Sunday, September 13, and we are heading for Ipswich, MA.

The Saint John River

On Wednesday morning, August 19, we left Westport for a fast run of 71 miles to Saint John. It was fairly clear, visability of 3 miles or so, the sun was starting to light up the eastern ski, the wind was SW at about 12 Kts, and we were running with a rising tide of about 2 MPH into Saint John until 11:19 AM. With a SW breeze, you want to run to Saint John on a rising tide or face very large, square waves. We put the throttles down and got ODYSSEE up on top running through the water at 15 mph. With the tide behind us we were averaging 17 MPH over ground, and with the ocassional surf off a big wave, we were up to over 19 over the ground. What a boat ride, probably one of the nicest rides we've ever had on this old gal. We arrived at the entrance to the harbor at about 10:30 and were tied up to the Market Place Pier by 11:00, where we waited until 1:35 pm for the 1:45 slack water at the reversing falls at the mouth of the Saint John River. The reversing falls are created by the difference between the river level and the water level in the Bay of Fundy. With a tide swing of 24' in the bay, when the bay is higher than the river, the bay flows into the river at the falls and when the bay is lower than the river the river falls into the bay, so you must pass through the falls at slack water, when the water levels of the river and the bay are the same. We followed another boat through that is a local and when timed correctly it's a non event. Once in the river we tied up at the docks of the Royal Kennebecasis Yacht Club. I was now fairly close to our truck which is still in Mirimachi. On Thursday morning I rode my bike 4 miles to the bus depo, purchased a ticket, folded up the bike and put it in it's bag and checked it through. Once I arrived in Mirimachi, I unpacked the bike and rode it three miles to the truck, folded it up again and put it in the back of the truck, and drove the truck back to Saint John. On Friday I moved the truck to Bangor, Maine where Steve and Jean Purdy picked it up to drive back to South Carolina where they have their trawler for the summer. I checked my bike, got on the bus back to Saint John, unpacked the bike, and rode it the four miles back to the boat. So, the truck is heading south, will be back in Hilton Head in a couple of weeks. We left Saturday morning on a drizzely morning for a trip up the river to an anchorage in Grand Lake, Douglas Harbour. HAPPY CLAMZ is traveling with us, and beat us to the anchorage and had picked out a spot by the time we got there. Doug and Leslie joined us on our boat for dinner. Sunday, Tropical Storm Bill was now a little SE of us and we were getting a NE breeze and rain. We pulled anchor and headed for Fredericton, arriving shortly after noon. By the time we arrived, the weather was clearing. As the capital of New Brunswick, and a history that goes back 1500 years, there is much to see and learn about, and they do a nice job at telling you about their city with most of the walking tours and government building open free of charge. All afternoon, one night, and the next morning until 3:00 gave us enough time to see most of it. Monday afternoon into the evening we cruised back down the river in an anchorage called Kinston Creek, about 2/3 rds the way back to Saint John. It was a beautiful afternoon, no wind, just a great day for a lazy cruise down the river. Tuesday morning I went under the boat with my third lung to inspect everything and change zincs as necessary before we got back in the cold salt water. I found a rope wrapped around the starboard propeller shaft and I did change out the rudder zincs, the shaft zincs will make it back to Beaufort. That project done, we finished our cruise back to Saint John and are at the RKYC. Wednesday morning we left early for a trip back through the reversing falls                                                                     at 7:10 AM. Once through the falls we continued down the coast of the Bay of Fundy to Dipper Harbour in a ebb tide, arriving at Dipper Harbour at 10:30 AM just before low tide. The waves in the Bay of Fundy were 4-6' in every direction and the fog was thick giving us visability of less than .2 of a mile so we were glad to get to our destination.