Maine Coast - Kittery to Boothbay

Kittery
Sunday, July 7 - It was a beautiful day, warm but not as hot as the day before. While the temperature read in the 80’s it felt hotter in the sun and was more humid than I expected. But on the dock it was great! Pepper and I walked in the morning exploring a little bit of Kittery. The current in the river can be rough and with all the weekend boat activity it was rolly on the boat. Roberta and Ted came to visit at 1:30 and visited on the boat for a while and we gave them a tour of it, then went to eat at a lobster shack in Kittery across the street from the marina. Lobster rolls were good, lots of big chunks of meat!

Portland
Monday, July 8 - Ted drove back to Kittery in the morning to bring us mail that we had sent to Roberta and was delivered to her house while they were in Kittery with us, that was so kind of him as it is at least an hour each way. Each morning we heard bugles and The Star Spangled Banner coming from the Navy base in Kittery. It was the same in Annapolis, but there it was the Star Spangled Banner first then the bugles. We departed the marina at 9:30 a.m. and the water was very calm compared to the last 2 days; low winds and no boat traffic. The temperature on land at 8:30 read 67 but again felt warmer. However, moving on the water at 6.6 knots in 61 degree water made it chilly and I was back in long pants and a jacket in no time. We pulled out the mainsail when we were still in the river and the jib at around 11:00 a.m. The wind was 8 knots and mostly off our port side bow. At 2:54 we hit a wall of fog and visibility was as low as Saturday, the hunt for lobster pots was on. It stayed foggy for the remainder of the trip, so much that my hair became wet. We reached South Portland at 5:00 and as we got closer to the small island to the west the fog lifted, though it was still thick in the distance. Kevin spotted a seal and I was only able to catch its head from a distance. There are a lot of lighthouses and several old forts in close proximity to one another. That night we talked to Gary and Renee to make plans for getting to Boothbay Harbor and whether to anchor or moor as the remains of hurricane Beryl was headed up that way.

Boothbay
Tuesday, July 9 - while still in Portland Kevin brought me to the dinghy dock and I walked to Whole Foods to get some provisions, non-important stuff like Coke, fruit juices and snacks, along with some produce. That store is not good for that type of thing, ridiculous items at ridiculous prices. I really wanted to go to the local grocery store that was less than a half mile further but time was limited. I wanted the exercise but next time, when time is an issue, I’ll Uber to a regular store there and back. The walk was nice though, Portland reminds me of Seattle with tall multi-unit homes, narrow streets and cars parked everywhere. As we departed the harbor we stopped at the fuel dock and set off from there around 11:10. By noon we had both sails out and were on a port beam reach at 6 knots with 21 knot winds. At 12:22 the motor was shut off. The air was not as foggy as the past few days and visibility was good. It was sunny on shore but cloudy in Casco Bay, where we were sailing. As we got further offshore the water became choppy but the waves were mild. We were able to sail between 6 and 7 knots until we made a turn to the north that put the wind behind us. We turned the motor on and pulled in the jib at 3:56. As we were getting close to Boothbay and going between islands the air temperature warmed up nicely. Once in the harbor to get to the mooring field we had to traverse around a bunch of little sailboats racing. We moored at 5:07.
Sail time: 3 hours 36 minutes
Total time: 6 hours

Wednesday, July 10 - We strolled around the town of Boothbay by the wharf with Gary and Renee and did some souvenir shopping, it’s a cute town with pretty views of the water and lots of summer flowers. Later in the afternoon we all went to the Cabbage Island Clambake. A tour boat took us around the harbor and islands and the captain talked about the history of each island. On Cabbage Islsnd we were served a meal of chowder, 2 lobsters, a dozen clams, potato, corn on the cob and an onion and egg! It was a fun excursion.

Thursday, July 11 - The weather prediction held true with rain. After a welcomed lazy morning we changed the impeller and did other stuff on the boat. That evening we went over to En El Viento for a dinner of pizza and played cards.

Friday, July 12 - We checked out the town trolley in the morning that took us to several of the area resorts and got to hear the same history trivia as before. 😉 We got off near Hannaford, the local grocery chain and did some more shopping. This store sells liquor and wine, and at a good price. We decided to walk back as it was only a mile and the trolley would have taken longer than an hour. Later we went into town again with Pepper to give her land time then had dinner on the boat.Weiterlesen