Bailey Island Bridge, Boothbay Harbor

We saw the Orr’s Isl-Bailey Isl cribstone bridge this morning and were suitably impressed before we turned and headed to Boothbay. (Built in 1927, the granite stones are held in place only by gravity. The openwork allows tides to flow through. It is the only bridge of its kind in the world, and is a Nat’l Hist Landmark and Nat’l Hist Civil Eng Landmark).

We had toyed with the idea of staying at Bailey Isl, but it was a very short hop from Potts Harbor, and no moorings were available for our boat length. We decided to make a push to get some distance in. We sailed around 20-25 miles today.

We headed out to the open seas, to 1-3’ swells, survived a crash of the navigation system (not a big deal, we have our paper charts), and argued over whether the display should show North Up (me) or Course Up (David). (I just took matters into my hands and changed it when he wasn’t looking, because we all know North Up is more sensible.) We also saw The Sisters (N43.44.60’ W069.43.60’), a few rocky outcroppings that must have the names Leigh, Cynde, and Lisa.

The closer we got to Booth Bay, the bigger the swells. We had our mainsail up for a while to see if that would help stabilize the boat, and it did, a little. Once the swells got bigger, to 4’ or so, it didn’t seem to help that much.

Fun things included seeing several seals and a couple of porpoises, one of which was only about 10’ from our boat. Then David threw up (not sure why, I’m the one who seems to be suffering from seasickness and is using the wristbands and Dramamine, but ok) but then he felt better.

Rain started during our last hour or two, but was never heavy. We are now snug at our mooring and warming up with a cup of tea.Read more