>It’s Friday afternoon and we just finished a 15+ mile, fairly sloppy with big seas of up to 6′ and not quite enough wind, sail from Booth Bay Harbor to Allen Island, the summer home of the Wyeth family.  That’s the Andrew and Betsy side of the family.  Just off shore from Port Clyde, the islands Allen and Brenner enclose a lovely thoroughfare complete with a few moorings.    While we have been coming here for many years, I am still in awe of how beautiful this place is.  While there are many impressive places in Maine, or elsewhere for that matter, it’s rare to see as refined a display of what can be accomplished when you have both money and taste.

To see the many buildings that make up the “village” that is the Wyeth compound, it’s very clear that every detail was planned out by someone with an acute sense of what they were trying to accomplish.   The look of the place is totally Maine, and like a living Wyeth painting. Speaking of Andrew Wyeth and his work, check out the “official site”.  Very nice.

I had a nice talk with one of the caretakers, just to be sure that it was OK for me to be using one of their moorings, and he confirmed that the nice lady in the white slacks is Betsy herself.  He said that she enjoys watching the sailboats as they ride on her mooring.  That makes me happy.  On our last visit, Brenda was thilled to share waves with Betsy.  Today she was pretty sure that Betsy and her companion were watching her knit aboard Pandora.   That sounds about right to me.

I was told that there are some 100 sheep on Allen Island, I tried, in a very subtle way of course, to get a tour of the barn.  However, in the very nicest way, that the Wyeth’s appreciate it if there is no landing on shore.  That makes sense to me.

We are visiting here with our friends Miles and Loreen who live aboard their Aerodyne 47 yacht Ariel for about 10 months a year. They do the whole snow bird thing, with summers in Maine and winters in the Bahamas.  They have not been her before and are as thrilled with the place as we are.   Ariel is a spectacular cruising boat and while she is only four feet longer, the difference is just amazing.  Much larger and far more elaborate, Ariel is in a class that is so much more substantial than Pandora that it’s hard to believe that they are so close in length.  Built of composite materials,  Ariel doesn’t weigh a lot more than Pandora but is probably twice as large.  It’s safe to say that you could purchase two plus Pandora’s for the cost of an Aerodyne 47.   She was designed with a lot of go fast features including an interior built by a company that does private jet aircraft interiors.  They are super light and quite luxurious.  Their granite counter tops look solid but are actually very thin and laminated to a honeycomb structure.

Ariel is about the only boat that I have seen since purchasing Pandora that I could honestly say, I’d rather own.  What a boat.  Or should I say, what a yacht.  Actually, according to Miles, the definition of a yacht is “any boat that’s bigger than yours”.   I’ll buy that and that would make Ariel a yacht for sure.

For the artist that has everything, how about a Mini Cooper on your island.  And, it’s red, of course.  It’s a fairly small island and a small car to match.  I wonder if the dealer makes island calls to fix what breaks.

>I awoke earlier than usual at a few minutes after 5:00.  The sun had not yet peaked up over the horizon and it was still cool enough out in the cockpit to make a sweater a good idea.   Armed with a cup of coffee, I have been enjoying the solitude and peaceful harbor here in Booth Bay.   It’s Thursday and I have been putting in full days of work in what is a very busy harbor.  All day long there is a constant coming and going by the whale watching and day boats headed out for Monhegan Island and others giving harbor tours.  The winds, even in this very protected part of the harbor, really picked up yesterday and added to the excitement on the mooring in the afternoon.  When the whale boats head out and back into the harbor they come within what seems like feet of us.  It’s a bit daunting, I have to say.

While I was working yesterday, Brenda headed out with a friend to visit a local botanical garden so she was out for the day.  Reports are that it is a great place to visit.   I would expect that she will do a post on her visit.  The photos sure looked great.  Brenda’s site is www.argoknot.com  

While the folks back in the New York area are sweltering in the heat, here in Maine it’s a much more reasonable temperature, in the 80s although not as cool overnight as I would prefer.   It’s definitely warmer than normal, it’s a lot more reasonable than back home.

I didn’t particularly want to stay here for 5 days, ut it is convenient with good cell coverage and the opportunity to enjoy the local sites for a quick run ashore to stretch my legs and a change of scenery is very convenient.

The plan is to take an extended weekend and perhaps head out to Metinicus Island, the most remote on the Maine Coast.  Metinicus has a year round population of about 50, just about all hardy fisherman from families that have been there for generations.  Their independence is legendary and willingness to help each other out admirable.

A recent example of the strength of their community was demonstrated  when a small plane, ferrying some island residents to Rockland Airport crashed into the ocean shortly after takeoff.  As you can imagine, ditching a small plane into the water is risky and thanks to the fast thinking pilot, he and the two passengers survived.   Within a few minutes of the crash, the crew of a local lobster boat had dragged them all from the water.  The dramatic crash and rescue is described in this article from the the Bangor News.    I can’t imagine how terrifying it would be to see the water coming up that fast.  Not an experience I’d like to have.

Anyway, our hope is that the winds will be convenient to make the run out over the weekend with our freinds Miles and Loreen from Ariel.   For today, the winds are forecasted to be quite strong, up to 25kts from the SW.  That’s pretty heavy and will be made even more fun with the addition of waves up to 6 feet.  Not for me.  Actually, more to the point, not for Brenda at all.  As my son Rob likes to say, to take Brenda out in rough conditions is definate “career limiting move”.  Yes, he speaks the truth.

If the seas subside overnight and the winds hold, it would be a lot of fun to visit Metinicus, a place that I have spoken of often but never visited.  While far away from the mainland it’s an easy day sail from Booth Bay, it’s about 35 miles and worlds away.  This chart shows how remote it really is.

And this detail shot shows how exposed the harbor on the eastern side of the island is and suggests how rough it would get in a nor’easter.  Not a good place for me in the winter.  That’s clearly why the year round residents are so tough. They have to be.

Speaking of sailing and Brenda, with all of the cruising couples that we have met over the last few years while visiting Maine, she has become much more open to doing extensive crusising and while I am fearful of saying it aloud for fear of jinxing it, she has said, several times now, that the “time may be right” for us to head out aboard Pandora for an extended cruise.  Her thought is the winter of 2012/2013.   That’s the first time that we have been able to put a date on our plans.  It’s a big step.

Planning for such a trip does get complicated as it conjers up questions of what to do with our home while we head out for months at a time.  Do we sell now, buy another home before we go?  Where do we want to move to?  It’s tough and a lot to think about.  This summer’s two month trip has proven to be complex enough and in spite of careful planning, we do fear that an important bill will be missed and not paid while we are away.  We also wonder how the gardens will look after two months of hot weather on their own.   For sure, the weeds will be in charge, not to mention the ground hog and deer.  I don’t even want to think about that.

No, better to think about sailing for a few days.  I’ll close with a photo of one of the say schooners on a wharf just off of our stern.  

>My initial impression of Booth Bay Maine when we visited for the first time years ago was that it was a very busy tourist town jammed with T-shirt shops and ice cream, not a particularly appealing image.  However, after years of visiting perhaps I’d still describe it in that way but now I have decided that that’s some of what makes Booth Bay a particularly nice place to visit.  Yes, it’s jammed with tourists and everything that you’d expect, particularly on the weekends but there’s a lot of charm too.  The harbor is busy with boats coming and going including lobster boats, pleasure yachts and the whale watching day boats.  I think that it’s great fun.

Booth bay also has a lot going for it around the harbor including some beautiful B&Bs plus a good size Hannaford Grocery that’s only a short walk out of town.  There’s also a good hardware store and book shop, two places where I always enjoy spending time.

Frankly, I was ready for a visit to town and bit of shore leave after having spent the last 4 days in more remote areas.  Since leaving Cundy’s Harbor we traveled to Snow island, Five Islands Harbor, had a great sail out into the gulf and over to Seal Cove (no seals in evidence there, perhaps the seals had gone to another “Seal Cove” of which there are many).   So, yesterday we decided to head into Booth Bay for a few days.

As we arrived in the harbor I was on the lookout for fellow SSCA (Seven Seas Cruising Association) members showing their colors with the hope of meeting some fellow cruisers.  We were in luck and I immediately headed over to a cute Kadey Krogen trawler power yacht for a visit.  It turned out to be a live-aboard couple that were visiting Maine for the summer.  Another couple was aboard, also from a trawler who  live aboard full time on their 50+ boat.  We had a very nice time comparing notes and will probably get together as a group for a drink this evening.  As the larger boat is on a mooring fairly far out in the harbor, they have even offered us launch service in there dink.  Actually with a huge engine and center console, their tender looked nearly as big as our first boat.  Our little 9′ dink looked like a toy next to theirs.  We will certainly welcome a lift from them tonight.

I nearly always introduce myself to someone in a harbor when we visit, usually within an hour of anchoring or picking up a mooring.  You meet the most interesting folks that way.  It’s fun to compare notes about favorite harbors and to learn more about how they use their boats.  Besides, how else would we get a ride in a tender capable of going 30kts?

Here is a chart of Booth Bay.  If you look closely, you can see a boat icon in the upper right.  That’s where Pandora is moored, just off of the town landing.  We like this part of the harbor as it is so protected although, in the thick of the action.

I am sure that I’ll have more to say about Booth Bay Harbor over the next few days but for now perhaps a few nice photos of the sights before I close.

>Yesterday, after much deliberation we decided against going to Bath.  The description in the guidebooks are alarming, suggesting that the currents headed out on the ebb can be very strong, especially when the tide is against the wind, so we decided against heading up.   The wind filled in from the south, shifting to the typical prevailing soutwest by early afternoon.  While we first headed nearly toward Portland, as the wind shifted to SW we were able to head right down the coast and had a wonderful sail. A friend of mine recently introduced me to a neat piece of navigation software that is available for free on the Web, www.opencpn.org.  This is a nifty piece of open source software that will interface with most current navigation systems.  For me, I particularly wanted it so that I could put shots of charts on my blog.  While the process is a bit awkward, I am able to print to a PDF, convert to a .jpg and import like any other photo to my blog.  Well, here goes, a shot of our route yesterday.  The route doesn’t show up as well as I would like as it’s blue.  Perhaps I can figure out how to make the route in red.   So, as a debut on my blog, charts…

One of the major lighthouses on this part of the coast is Segin light, located a few miles out from the mouth of the  Kenebec River that heads up to Bath. You know, the place that we were going, not going, going, etc, is a major landmark for mariners heading east and west along the coast.  The lighthouse is located up high on the island and can be seen for many miles.

Another factor that helped us make the decision was the nice breeze that filled in, allowing us to have a terrific sail over to our destination, Five Islands Harbor.   This quaint archipelago of islands a bit west of Booth Bay and a few miles up the Sheepscot River is a favorite stop for us.

Of particular note, Five Islands Harbor has a yacht club for the use of the families that have homes on the various islands.  As a courtesy to visiting yachtsmen, they keep a number of large moorings in the harbor available for use at no charge.  I have also found that usually someone from the club comes out to welcome you to the harbor.

Yes, I am loving this chart thing so two follow, one of a close up of the harbor and another one showing the back route into Booth Bay Harbor, Towsend Gut.  It’s described in a scary way in the guidebooks, but we have found it to be an easy and fun passage.

Early this morning it was very calm, as is usually the case here in Maine, and I thought that a few shots of the harbor would fill out the picture.

Up above the dock is the Five Islands Lobster Company, a great spot to sit and enjoy the view.  Last night we sinned mightily by having fried onion rings and terrific fish sandwiches and crab cakes.  We had better walik up the hill a few times to burn it off. I almost forgot the nice bottle of wine we used to wash it all down.  Who would have thought that an Argentinian Sauvignon Blanc would pair so well with fried onion rings.   And, on top of that, EVERYTHING tastes better on a boat.  Am I right?

As you’d expect, there is a Five Islands Lobster Company for real.

And a very cute little yellow home on the water. What a view.

Of course, a view of Pandora from shore is always nice.  How original.

As you can see, all of this illustrates that today is getting off to a particularly rough start to Saturday.  I guess I will have another cup of coffee and make the best of it.  

>The sun has risen over the trees here at Snow Island and I am sitting in the cockpit of Pandora checking on e-mail and thinking about the next three days.  The weather is perfect with temperatures in the 60s over night and forecasted highs in the low 80s for today.  The sun is out and we are looking at a three day weekend.  What more can you ask for.

We have been aboard Pandora in Maine for two weeks as of Saturday and have settled into a nice routine.  However, with the occasional few hours off to clear my head, I have worked two full weeks aboard.  There is a big project that I am trying to make headway on before the end of the month and happily it’s coming together.  My hope is that I can take some real time off in August prior to heading back home and to real life and what will certainly be a long winter while I prepare for summer of 2012.  However, I am getting ahead of myself.

While my partner and I are the only two full time employees in our company, we are talking to a sales rep, someone that we have worked with for years in the past, about joining us as well as perhaps taking on a third partner.   These big steps will allow for more growth and perhaps a bit more flexibility for me personally.  For sure, there is a lot going on and having a few days off is very appealing.

While the weather is looking wonderful, we are a bit uncertain about where to go.  One option is to head up the Kennebec River to Bath but after talking with some locals last evening who said that the currents are tremendous, we are not so sure.  The prospect of heading 12 miles up a winding river with currents that can run 8 knots is a bit daunting.  However, if they can get Aegis Cruisers from Bath Iron Works up and down the river, we should be able to make the trip in Pandora.

The guide books say that the flood tide is largely offset by the current headed downstream but that the ebb plus the water running down what is the longest river in Maine, is a sight to behold.

Well, I guess that we will have to make a decision and get on with it.  As there is not much wind in the forecast for the next few days make a trip under power up the river sound appealing given the fact that we are going to motor mostly wherever we go.   However, there is that current.  Tough call.

Brenda is up now so I am going to sign off.  However, no morning post is complete without some serene photos.  This place is so beautiful it hurts.

Did I say that we have an eagle nest about 100 yards from where we are anchored?  It’s very close but it doesn’t seem to bother mother or chick.  Not sure that chick applies as it’s nearly as big as the mother.  It’s got to be dangerous to feed a baby that’s as big as you are. Here chicky, chicky… No, quit it with the pecking.  I hate pecking!!!  Get that blood of of your face. Stop acting like a birdbrain.  Kids…

Interestingly, there is an osprey that doesn’t think very highly of mother and baby and spent much of yesterday buzzing the mother eagle sitting in a tree near the nest.  I am not sure if, sharp pointy beak and talons and all, that I would divebomb an eagle twice my size even if I were an osprey and had the pointy beak and claw thing going for me.

To complete the picture, here’s a shot of my computer out in the cockpit.  Not a bad place to write.