July 15-31, 2025 Rockland, ME and back again via parts east (Mount Desert Island)

Tuesday July 15th

Motored out of Rockland as there was not much wind.

There were nifty tendrils of fog around the Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse.

The Rockland to Vinalhaven ferries were running. The Captain E. Frank Thompson was on her way in. There are lots of schooners, many that you can charter a ride on.

Owl’s Head Lighthouse giving off the iconic Maine vibe.

We put our sails up somewhere before Muscongus Bay due to shift in wind direction. Sailed almost all the way to Round Pond.

Our friend Pam, who is meeting us in Round Pond, went for a walk while waiting for us and got pictures of us sailing in Muscongus Bay! We got into Round Pond at 1556. We didn’t realize that Padebco might rent moorings, but the harbormaster gave us the number of one of the Cunninghams, and they were happy to rent us a mooring for $30 a night. It took a while to find it though. We were able to sort out which was the public dinghy dock to pick up Pam.

Our friend Pam, an Exeter classmate, who is an excellent cook, brought some leftovers for a dinner party she had last night. We took Boji to the dock to pick her and her provisions up. I put together a cheese and charcuterie plate with some of the gorgeous fresh Maine strawberries she brought and we feasted on those, plus the appetizers her friends brought to her house last night. Dinner was a chicken cutlet with a tomato, basil, balsamic topping, mixed veggies and smashed potatoes topped with sour cream and fresh chives. Pam spent the night in the V berth; it was nice to be able to catch up and not worry about having to dinghy her back to shore.

Our view from our mooring. Round Pond is beautiful. We could see the lobstermen delivering their catch to one of the floats and getting paid for their catch. It was interesting to watch. A friend of Pam’s came by baji-naji in her boat, which can be a canoe or sailboat. We put down the swim platform so she could bring the boat closer and we could chat. She and her family were headed out to Louds Island. This is the area where Pam vacations every year, and where she got married. I didn’t realize she grew up in the area, or at least spent a lot of time here and knows a lot of the folks around. She even knew the guy who had his golden retriever swimming from the dock. It was so good to hear the stories of the places and the things she’s done here.

A fine feathered fisherman came into view.

Another beautiful sunset!
Wednesday July 16th

French toast and bacon for brekkie, with some of the delicious Maine strawberries that Pam brought. Their season is almost done.

While we were having breakfast I noticed a finger of fog creep into Muscongus Bay between us and Louds Island. So pretty. Since she had a car, Pam was happy to drive me around for errands. It was really cool to get the scoop on all the places we were driving from her. We headed to Damariscotta for a few provisions at Hannaford, then to the hardware store for batteries and a sink declogging tool. I found some mesh traps for the sink to see if this will help with the clogging. We took Boji back to baji-naji, put away the groceries and went back to shore with Laz for lunch.

We walked up to the King Ro and had a lovely lunch. Fried Haddock sandwich with good onion rings and lobster roll with salad. The bartender/server is one of the servers I met at Home Kitchen Cafe in Rockland. Her family runs the King Ro and she helps out now and again. I bought some of the sweets from the market side, but will not buy from there again as they were much too sweet! I don’t think Laz has ever turned his nose down at a brownie, but this was too much, even for him. Pam took off after lunch and we walked down to the Granite Hill Store, where I found a stainless 2 cup measuring cup that can replace the plastic cups I have that are falling apart. We passed on the ice cream as we were pretty stuffed from lunch. Boji back to baji-naji and had a nap! After showers, I got a ping from one of our other local friends, another PEA classmate, who was able to take a break from work and meet for a drink before going to her sister’s house for some shindig. The line for drinks on the dock was long, so we wandered over to the Anchor, where Laz and I had dinner reservations. It was so nice to catch up with Heather. Both Heather and Pam are Soule sisters, the dorm where Laz used to hang out at PEA.

Dinner at Anchor was excellent! I had a lobster roll and salad, and there was enough to take it home. Laz had the haddock which was also amazing. We ordered a fried apple dessert as well as a chocolate orange mousse which was an amazing concoction with fresh orange puree (with some zest) on the bottom, a rich dark chocolate mousse in the middle and house made whipped cream on top. The apple was very good, the orange /chocolate mousse dish was excellent! Took some of that back to baji-naji. When our server noticed that I was taking pictures for my mother, she offered to take one of Laz and I to send Mom. That was very sweet of her to do.

Low tide as we walked back to the dingy dock. The rocks revealed at low tide are so beautiful!

We noticed the fog rolling in and then maybe out again as we had dinner. At one point we weren’t sure if we could find our way back to baji-naji! The temperature dropped precipitously when the fog rolled in and the sun went away. Off to North Haven tomorrow.

Thursday July 17th

Up by 0920, and got a text from Ben that he was free for a chat. Lovely catchup with him til ~1000. They’re in the throes of moving into their new home and having things fixed. I made coffee and breakfast after talking to him. We left our mooring at 1115. It is foggy outside Round Pond in Muscongus Bay. There was not much wind initially. It built from 4 or 5 kts to 14-17 kts from the S. We put up our sails and had some excellent sailing. The radar was quite helpful in the dense fog. We were surrounded by fog, and had to wipe the condensation off our glasses multiple times. I teased Laz that we needed to CGI some scenery around us, since it was just fog. Luckily we were able to see far enough ahead to avoid the lobster pots. We had a great exchange with the Rockland Vinalhaven ferries, the E. Frank Thompson (picture above in the Rockland section) and the Richard G Spear, since none of us could physically see each other, just saw each other on AIS and radar.  It’s nice to avoid a collision.

We got to the Fox Islands Thorofare by 1715 and the fog started to clear up.

Absolutely beautiful scenery with the fog and pine trees.

Passed Vinalhaven and the Goose Rocks Lighthouse, and we anchored in Kent Cove at 1815. We were happy campers to be safely anchored.

The view from our anchorage was gorgeous. A few other boats, but it was mostly just us and scenery.

We had leftover ossobuco and corned beef hash and egg for dinner.

Our sunset was swallowed by the clouds, but nonetheless beautiful to look around.

Friday July 18th

Left Kent Cove at 0920, no fog, bright sunny day, what a treat!

With clear skies we could see all around Kent Cove to the dock across from where we anchored and the wind farms on North Haven. Headed out to Penobscot Bay passing the Goose Rocks Lighthouse.

Big wind 10-15 gusts to 25 predicted from the S, so we started with reef 1 and ended up Reef 2 in western end of Casco passage. There were so many lobster pots, some with toggles, much more than we had seen in other parts of Maine.

Gorgeous views of the rock islands, some with pine. The lower left is of Scragg Island and the lower right photo is looking back towards Camden. We saw Sheliak on AIS and say hello via VHF. Sheliak is sauled by Paul Giroux the rigger's nephew. They looked to be sailing in tandem with another boat.

We were dancing with Moondance, the ketch, since we got into Penobscot Bay. There was a hardworking bright lobstah boat zipping by us. One of them was named Laura, I think this one. There was a narrow cut between two reds outside of Bass Harbor Head Light that everyone was taking, even motorboats, because of the shallows on either side. We managed to zip through on one tack which was nice. Big wind meant I didn’t take pictures, keeping both hands on the wheel, as we sailed towards SW harbor. We got to Dysarts Marina on Mount Desert Island at 1600. I tried to put her stern in, but the cross wind was 15+ and there was a beautiful Hinckley next to us. They had someone on that boat to fend. After two tries I gave up and went bow in. It was ~ 1/2 tide and you could see a wreck on the rocks farther in. I figured that was a sign.

We walked up the top of the hill to the main road. You could see all the boats moored in SW harbor. We walked into town and got ice cream at Salt. We scoped out places to eat, then went back to baji-naji to clean up.

Dinner at Red Sky, delicious! I started with the grilled watermelon and feta salad, which was pretty cool. Our hostess looked Asian and asked us to guess her ethnicity. I could not, and she is from Kazakhstan. The blond hair was a bit confusing, so I had guessed Korean. I had the duck, which they were kind enough to make without the Chambord sauce. Laz had the bolognese over house made pasta.

It was dusk by the time we walked back to the marina. Our view from the docks.

Saturday July 19th

View from the docks at Dysart’s. I’m fascinated by the wreck; it looks like a sailboat or a lobster boat. Anyway, I did not want to end up on those rocks yesterday!

We took the loaner car to Seawall Campground to buy Park Passes. Stopped at the Seawall beach vista to check out the view. At the campground, we got two National Park Senior Passes, good for life. Most couples only get one, as it’s for the car, but we figured the NPS needs all the support it can get. We met Ranger Ginger who knows our friend Anne, another Exonian and Soule sister. Anne is a “fee girl” and takes fees from hikers and campers at whatever station she is at. She and Ginger have worked together at the same station, as they get moved around the park. Armed with our new passes, we packed the little backpack I got from the ISTH on my trip to DC with water and snacks We missed the Island Explorer, the free bus that takes you around MDI. Unfortunately it doesn’t make many stops in SW Harbor. There is very little cell signal on MDI, at least for Verizon, so I went into the office to call for a cab ride. Paula, of Grab a Cab, picked us up. She is a very interesting woman, with lots of stories. She is disabled, after a fire in her home, has many dogs, some of whom ride in the front of the cab, and used to be in a band. According to the information sheet from Dysart’s, she is eccentric but reliable. She dropped us off at Long Pond and we exchanged cell phone numbers. I was able to text from the side of Long Pond, so I knew we’d get a ride back to the marina.

Hiking around Long Pond then going up Bernard Mountain to Little Notch, Great Notch and Knight Nubble. This is the view around Long Pond Trail.

There was some gentle up and down around the pond. Saw a chickadee land just in front of us then hop up onto the log on our left. Some really cool mushrooms along the sides of the trail.

There was plenty of vertical. The photos I took only show modest hills to climb. I forgot to take pictures of the sheer verticals as I was too busy trying to find hand and foot holds. No ladder rungs though, like there are on other hikes. Laz has longer legs, and does not need to stop as often, so he went ahead of me so he could get into a rhythm.

Knight Nubble! We did not go up more, as to summit Bernard would have been another 320’ in 1/4 mile. And our legs were tired as we have not been hiking in quite some time. I am quite happy with my trail running shoes though.

View from the scenic overlook on Bernard Mountain Trail. Last photo is from further along the trail looking out towards the islands we sailed through.

We made it back to the parking area at Long Pond, and sat to wait for Paula’s cab.

Got back to the marina to find super yachts that moved in. We walked into town for dinner at Dry Dock. It was decent but not special. Ice cream at Salt for dessert. 27,909 steps and 10.92 miles today by the time we got back to baji-naji

Beautiful sunset from the dock at Dysart’s.

Sunday July 20th

Predicted rainy day, so we did not plan a hike or sail. We had brunch at Vacationland coffee, which is next to the West Marine up the hill from the marina. Laz had a sausage, egg, and cheese and I had an avocado toast. The coffee was excellent. Boat chores after breakfast: we washed down baji-naji and refilled water tanks. We took the Island Explorer Bus to Bar Harbor at 2p.

As everyone was running from the rain and the storm front coming in, Laz and I ran towards the docks. Incredible clouds rolling in. Rain followed soon after, but the clouds passed quickly so it was a quickish squall.

We ducked into the Fish Pier for a late lunch. The NE clam chowder was OK, the fish tacos were meh.

After lunch we did the Harborwalk in the light rain. Some stunning views from it. We walked back into town from the end of the Harborwalk and got some Mexican hot chocolate at Chocolate which was very good. Snacked on part of a bagel with cream cheese. We looked at shops in town, and I bought a Hike Acadia Under Armour shirt, but we were holding off on any other merch as we will get recommendations from Anne first.

We found the Bar Harbor Congregational Church; funny how they all seem to have the same architecture. I love the gargoyles in the fountain; the screws in their snout look painful, even though they are inanimate. There are some beautiful flowers at the movie house which also had Reel Pizza. I love that Smokey the Bear logo is at the Bar Harbor firehouse. We took Paula’s taxi back, as we missed the SW harbor and the next bus was not for another hour. She charged $50 to go back to SW,. Not cheap, but reliable! We had her drop us off at Salt, so we got a few provisions there.

Dinner of Cambell’s Chunky chicken gumbo soup and cheddar chive biscuits from Eventide. Yum. With dinner, we watched the Sail GP which was in Portsmouth, England. Kiwis won! Go Black Foils!

Monday July 21st

Another lay day in SW, staying at Dysart’s. Had hoped to go to Somes, but the fierce NW winds make that not a great choice. Coffee and cookie at Vacationland; I do love their coffee.

Anne is working, with her next day off on Wednesday. She did send a photo of her in her uniform, as I requested. Love the NPS ranger look! We borrowed the loaner car and made a quick IGA run for provisions and I came back to the boat to work on this log.

We walked to the other side of SW Harbor, as the Dyneema Laz had ordered to be delivered to Hamilton Marine had come in. Had we known we were going to be right by a West Marine, we might have ordered things to be delivered there. Oh well, it was a lovely day for a walk.

Walked back into town for dinner at Bub’s Burrito. Dinner was excellent! Fabulous shrimp ceviche, great fish tacos with rice and beans, Laz had a burrito and we shared the churros for dessert. The owner/chef stopped by to check in. We found out that SW harbor has better food than Bar Harbor, because the volume of tourists is so much lower. Everything can be fresh house made, unlike Bar Harbor. We complimented her on the food; it is delicious!

After dinner we hung out with Robin and Mary on Andi, a Lyman-Morse and their beautiful dog. Another beautiful sunset as we walked back to baji-naji.
Tuesday July 22nd

The wind is a bit mellower today, so we thought we would go for a day sail.

We sailed up and around Sutton I. NE Harbor is in the second photo. Sailing by Pierce Head. It’s amazing to me how all the NPS buildings have the same look, no matter where in the country we are.

A beautiful schooner working their way towards Sutton Island.

We sailed by Bubble Rock, which we are hoping to climb this week. We also sailed by Sand Beach and Old Soaker Rock, which is just outside Sand Beach. Anne is working the fee station at Sand Beach. I texted to have her look outside to see us, but turns out the fee station is 1/2 mile from the beach and she could not see us.

The wind kept shifting so we decided to head back and go up Somes Sound instead of around Cranberry Island. As we came back towards SW Harbor, heading to Somes, we saw this awesome foiling cat!

Sailing up Somes with a beautiful schooner ahead of us, under sail. Somes is as beautiful as everyone says. A harbor seal popped its head up to see us. We sailed the back way into SW harbor and were back to our slip at Dysart’s at 1600. With the calmer winds I was able to take her stern in.

We went to dinner at Peter Trout's Tavern, excellent wedge salad with pork belly and chicken tenders. Only 3 of each, which was a little light. Laz had a fried chicken sandwich. Broccolini, corn and biscuits for sides. The crew from EBIDTA was at Peter Trout's and hailed us. Had a wonderful chat with them after dinner. EBIDTA is in NE harbor and they took their tender over for dinner.

Wednesday July 23rd

Hard to believe Laz’s Mom has been gone a year now. We miss her every day and wish we could share these stories with her.

Today we spent with Anne, a friend of Laz’s from high school. She works as a fee person (feebie) at Acadia National Park and has a wealth of knowledge.

We parked at the Hulls Cove Visitors Center, then took the free Island Explorer bus to Jordan Pond House for lunch. The popovers were decent, but not great. I got a chicken pot pie popover which was meh, except the popover. We had to take a few buses to get to Bar Harbor but we weren’t in a hurry. We walked a bit and bought souvenirs, a hiking book and T-shirts for Laz, another Hike Acadia shirt and a Patagonia sweater for me.

Back to Hulls Cove to get Anne’s car, and then decided to go to dinner at Harbor Table in SW harbor. Apparently everyone else had the same idea so there was a bit of a wait. We wandered into the SW Harbor library where there were some musicians jamming. It’s a nice little library with all kinds of books, including a great children’s section. The pediatrician in Anne and I approved.

Headed back to Harbor Table where our table was just about ready. We shared the hummus, which was excellent with freshly made pita and I had the trout almondine, which was quite delicious. I forgot what Laz had, since I didn’t take a picture, but it was good. Anne had a burger which she enjoyed. With all the food, I was able to take home some of the hummus and my meal.

Later in the evening I encountered a nighttime visitor on the docks as I walked up to the shore head. I heard a scrabbling on the boat and paused, to see if something needed help. Then this adorable otter came up on the finger dock. He did look briefly at me, but I didn’t get that on camera. What a lovely treat to see!

Thursday July 24th

Unfortunately I think the chicken pot pie was not good at all, as I was up tossing my cookies at 1230am. Pretty sure dinner was fine and the pot pie was the only thing I ate that no one else did. Finally able to sleep and then got up at 0920. I was still determined to go hiking today despite the rough night. We caught the 1122 Island Explorer bus in SW harbor, heading to hike near the Bubbles. Bus driver let us off somewhere where we could cross the road to catch the Jordan Pond bus going to Bubble Pond.

Hiking along Eagle Lake Trail. We met a cute family with little ones on the side of the lake. One of the boys yelled “do you want to see snapping turtles?” Of course we did! We walked over and he showed us these cute snappers. Then he said “ see it’s neck go out all the way? In my whole life I have never seen such a thing!” His Dad said softly “all 5 years”. Adorable! Saw these beautiful flowers in the water and had a lovely view of Eagle Lake as we walked around.

Continued for a mile on Eagle Lake trail, which gets rockier, then up the Bubbles Trail, which is both rockier and climbs up.

It was worth clambering up the rocks for the view on Bubbles Trail. Had a wonderful view of Eagle Lake. We passed a couple of women who told us the Bubbles Trail is their favorite and clued me in that wild blueberries are now in season.

As we neared Connor's Nubble there were indeed wild blueberries in abundance! Exercise, view AND a healthy snack! They were delicious.

The view from the top was stunning.

I believe this is the view of the Bubbles. The descent had lots of rocks, one "lemon squeeze" which was fine for me but a little squeezy for Laz, which we took down to the Carriage Road. The Carriage Roads were built by John D. Rockefeller Jr between 1913 and 1940 to allow horse drawn carriages to enjoy the Park and not have a lot of automobile traffic. We walked back along the Eagle Lake Carriage Road to the Bubble Pond parking lot to try and retrace our steps back to SW Harbor, but the loop road bus that pulled up was full. The next bus took us to Jordan Pond and was filled up to the brim, then on to the Acadia Visitors Center in Hulls Cove, the opposite of where we needed to go. Where there was a modicum of signal (mostly none) on the way to the Visitors Center, I texted Paula for a ride and she met us there at 4:40p to give us a ride back to SW Harbor. Along the way she regaled us with more stories.

We asked for a drop off at Little Notch for pizza (artichoke, prosciutto, onion and mushroom) and a couple more raspberry turnovers. I picked up a soppresatta at Sawyers and we enjoyed our pizza outside Little Notch. They had some good Spindrift flavors to go with the pizza. Walked back to the marina, did tick checks, got showers, de-iced the fridge a little bit to make room for leftover pizza, and changed the sheets on the bed in anticipation of laundry day tomorrow. 19,581 steps and 7.7 miles today, a nice day in the Park.

Sunset from the boat, with a sunset selfie!

Friday July 25th

Slept in, to make up for shorter sleep the night before, and for the tired muscles from hiking. I went to Vacationland coffee for an avocado toast and a plain latte. Their coffee is really good. Today is laundry day. $4.50 for wash and $3 for dry. Luckily they have commercial size washers and dryers and we only had 2 loads. Credit card or Google pay works. Laz changed out one of the lazy jacks with the Dyneema we picked up at Hamilton Marine. I got two new power cords with LED lights and the Eel connector with 15% off at the West Marine right by the marina. Every little bit counts. Our friend Anne came down from Ellsworth to have lunch with us. We went back to Vacationland for lunch to try their lunch offerings. I had a salad with roast chicken and it was tasty. After lunch, Laz worked on the other lazy Jack and Anne and I went into town for me to pick up some 7 grain bread from Little Notch and for her to look for her Dana Point hat. Back to baji-naji to put away laundry and work on this log as well as other computer things.

We went to dinner at the Upper Deck with Louise and Bert from Adagio. Bert has a cousin who's friend looks just like Laz, or so he says, so he asked for a photo to show his cousin. Of course, we forgot a photo of the four of us. Too busy talking.

Bert was getting ready for his lobster dinner.

I had the haddock tacos, which came with corn. The guacamole was an add on. Very tasty, but I wish there had been a little more fish. Laz had the burger which was decent, and Louise just had a Caesar salad. After dinner we joined them on Adagio to chat.

Beautiful sunset sky as seen from their slip. We chatted until the mosquitos started to bite then it was time for everyone to go below in their respective boats. They are a fun couple to hang out with, with lots of knowledge of Maine. They've been sailing up here for the last decade or so. I'm glad we met them. Hopefully we will see them at another port.

Saturday July 26th

Off the dock by 1000. We didn't have a long way to go. Good wind 10kts from the SW to start. Got our sails up after leaving the mooring field.

Bass Harbor Head lighthouse, with picturesque lobster boat just in front. Turns out it's a tour boat, which became obvious when it passed us. Laz took the helm so I could take pictures; on the way in it was too breezy to get any photos.

A view of where we had hiked, the Bubbles Trail and Connor Nubble. A beautiful boat sailing by; you can see how many lobster pots there are, many with toggles. Unfortunately we got tangled with a lobster pot line. We were going along at 6kts, but then slowed to 3.5 kts over water, but we did not come to dead stop or stall the engine. We saw a long line in the water trailing back. We slowed to forward idle and I got the trailing line with the aft boat hook and moved it to our port side. There were 2 floats dragging behind us from that line, but I did not see the toggle. We think our keel protected our prop and the line got caught in the rudder. I turned the wheel gently one way then another. Laz used the forward boat hook to try and free the line, then suddenly a pink float popped up and we were free! It was a weird as we did not see how they were all connected.

It was wonderful sailing in Eggemoggin reach. It's just ‘shallow’ enough (less than 100ft) that there are minimal lobster pots, making for very smooth sailing. The wind shifted to the S and SW so that we didn't have to tack. We sailed past EB White’s farmhouse, where he did much of his writing. I think it might be a bit inland so we didn’t see it. I's really neat to be in Charlotte’s Web country. In the last photo, Deer Island and Little Deer Island are on our port side.

Sailed under the Deer Island Bridge, 85’ in the center. It never looks like we will make it, but we did.

Picked up a mooring ball (#22) in Bucks Harbor for $50. They don't do Dockwa but they will take your credit card info over the phone. Laz had enough signal to make it work. Bucks Harbor is where Robert McCloskey set One Morning In Maine and Blueberries for Sal. The views from our anchorage are just beautiful.

Leftovers for dinner. I had the rice and beans from Bub’s Burritos with some of the leftover trout and Laz had his leftover burrito.

I never get tired of watching and photographing sunsets. Each place has it’s own magical beauty and Bucks Harbor is no exception.

Tomorrow we will sail to Smith Cove, just south of Castine.

Sunday July 27th

Slept in as we did not have far to go. Windy day.

We had breakfast in the cockpit and it was great fun to watch these folks sail their Laser around in the wind. We were off our mooring at noon.

Big wind today, blowing 15+kts with gusts to 20+kts. Passed the Pumpkin Island Lighthouse which is quite cute. We had to go upwind towards the Deer Island Bridge then downwind in the Western Penobscot. The Canadian wildfires are causing poor air quality and haze. You can smell the smoke.

We sailed by Spectacle Island, which on the chart, does resemble a pair of spectacles. So many cormorants and sea gulls on it!. We sailed past Castine into Smith Cove, a beautiful cove.

Some of the other boats sailing into or anchored in Smith Cove. Plus a little friend who came to check us out. We saw an otter closer to shore, as well as this seal and another seal (or maybe it was the same one twice?) as well as some dolphins.

We were settled on our anchor at 1500 and the view from our anchorage was fantastic.

It was a bit chilly, OK, quite chilly, especially with the brisk wind and water temperature of 59 degrees. I made some snacks and hot tea to warm us up.

There is a new chef intown. He made a lovely dinner of grilled cheese and tomato bisque soup. We watched the Women’s Euros Final with England vs Spain. I’m a long time England supporter and was thrilled when England won on penalties. That’s back to back Euro wins for the Lady Lionesses! With the haze and overcast skies, there were no sunset pictures to be had. Tomorrow we are headed to Camden.

***more pictures and words to be added with the next available wi-fi! Thanks for reading this far!****

Monday July 28

Smith Cove late departure due to system problems to Camden

Dinner Waterfront

Tuesday July 29th

Layday Camden

Wednesday July 30th

To Rockland for fuses. Maine Lobster Festival and Warship 24

Thursday July 31st

Layday Rockland