July 1- 14, 2025 Gloucester Ma to Rockland, ME

Tuesday July 1st

Slept in, a little tired from the long sail from Provincetown. We had a light breakfast, since we were headed to Minglewood for lunch with our friend Lisa, who was driving in from Boston. We had a lovely lunch with her; I had an Asian salad with chicken which was tasty, and she had a burger and fries. Laz had the Nashville chicken sandwich sans pickles. No pix, too busy catching up. After lunch we went to Turtle Alley to restock. Lisa bought a few things as well.

We took a short walk around town. There were beautiful window box flowers, and a cafe called Little Sister, which made me think of our friends in the Little Sister band. After we saw Lisa to her car, we headed back to baji-naji to read and relax for a bit. We headed back to town for dinner at Bravo by the Sea, the sister pizza shop to the one in Manchester by the Sea. We had another artichoke and mushroom pizza, this time with their sausage, instead of bacon.

A lovely Catholic church up the hill, St. Ann, with an even lovelier message from Pope Leo. Just beyond the church is the Holy Cow ice cream store (yes, right across the street from a church), with homemade ice creams. Pretty good. There was a sub shop the other way across the street and we bought a couple of egg salad sandwiches to stow away for lunch the next day. We picked up a pizza at Bravo by the Sea

Walking past, we saw the Cape Ann Museum, which was closed, but had this very cool sea snake/dragon like sculpture outside. Heading back to the town dock, the seagulls were all lined up on the lumberyard. Storms were expected all day, but had not yet appeared. We met a few other couples on the Gloucesterman launch: Bill and Rosemary on a Nordhavn 56 on a mooring ball close to us, and a lovely couple on Adagio, a 36’ Island Packet. Both couples are Safe Harbor Members with Bill and Rosemary out of Zahniser’s in the Solomons and Adagio in Onset. We are all heading up to Maine, so perhaps we will see them later.

We watched from the coach roof to see the storm rolling in; the clouds were magnificent. I took a snapshot of the radar to show that the storm is over much of the East Coast. The blue circle is where we are. There was lightning in the distance and when the rain started coming down for real, we headed below. Lots of rain, some thunder and lightning over us, but not too much. A nice thunderstorm. Rain all night made for good sleeping. We know the mooring balls in Gloucester Harbor are good; we were in 40 knots wind a couple of years ago with no trouble. Tomorrow we are headed to Portsmouth NH.

Wednesday July 2nd

Up by 0830, off the mooring before 0900 heading out. Coming out of the harbor we saw Adagio in the distance

We saw a parade of wooden gaff rigged boats heading towards Cape Ann. The wind was SW for the most part 8-13 kts. We were able to put up our sails, flying the code-0 all day. Other folks had their sails up and we rounded Cape Ann light (double light) under sail. During one of the jibes, the lazy jack on the port side snapped. Ugh, not an easy fix. We had a great sail to Portsmouth, to Safe Harbor Wentworth By The Sea. Got another lovely goodie bag with another great stainless commuter travel mug (aka my go to coffee mug for baji-naji), some stickers and another koozie, in the small Safe Harbor bag. I use the one we got two years ago to hold my laundry detergent sheets and wool dryer balls. We also picked up the packages that were shipped there, since we knew we would be going there at some point. My new vacuum cleaner, some Maine charts and a Maine cruising guide arrived! two of the packages were delivered at the hotel, as we input their address, not the marina’s.

I explored the docks while Laz tried to find help for the lazy jack. I saw a beautiful lion’s mane jelly fish. I sent pictures and video to Ben to show Tristan, who promptly said “that’s too big to live!” Dan called Paul Giroux, who was listed as a rigger, but he is 72 and no longer as nimble as he used to be. We knew it was a long shot to find anyone, plus it’s the holiday weekend. Dan’s phone rang soon thereafter. A guy named Kevin, who Paul called to call us was happy to come by in 1/2 hour to help. Kevin brought his daughter Ama, who is quite a good rock climber. She went up the mast using her rock climbing harness and our main halyard and got the lazy jack! It was delightful to meet them, and even more delightful to have Ama experience going up a mast, a first for her. She was used to climbing and not being hoisted. I gave her a tour of the boat as she was fascinated by the liveaboard concept. She is off to teach rock climbing in Colorado, taking a gap year after she finished high school.

It was late by the time all that was done, and we weren’t sure if the restaurants were closing at 8pm. We changed quickly for dinner, and headed to Latitudes, just up from our dock, dock D. They were able to seat us, and we were not the last to leave. I had a delicious salad with lobster; it was so big 1/2 of it came back with us to baji-naji. Laz had a chicken Caesar and we shared a strawberry shortcake for dessert. It was a little short on strawberries, but the cake was good. We borrowed the courtesy car and attempted to go grocery shopping, but everything was closing soon. The one market open til 11pm in Portsmouth did not have much in it. We are staying in Portsmouth another day so can do those errands tomorrow.

Thursday July 3rd

Up early as I was meeting Mary Braun Bates for breakfast. She is an internal medicine physician who writes a great column on Substack called Doctoring Unpacked. I met her via her Substack and commenting on articles, etc. I like her approach to medicine and her writing. She picked me up at 0830 and we went to The Beach Pea in Kittery for breakfast burritos. Quite adorable that I was mentioned (not by name) in her newsletter with a photo of us on baji-naji.

After the Beach Pea, we went to an amazing chocolate shop, Byrne & Carlson, not far from Beach Pea. Elizabeth, the lady behind the counter (not the chocolatier, as per Mary, but someone who has been there for 15+ years) was giving me multiple samples of their delicious product. Of course I had to buy some, just to be nice of course. Mary bought several packages, many were gifts, but I’m sure some was for her as well. We then headed to Kittery Trading Post, which is quite a huge place with an overwhelming amount of things to buy. I found a Smartwool tank on sale and some gloves! I miss my Smartwool gloves AND my puffy Patagonia, both of which would be welcome in this intermittently cold sailing season for us. While it is nice today on land, the ocean breeze is chilly. After Mary dropped me back at the marina, Laz and I went grocery shopping. It is so nice to have the courtesy car. We headed to Market Basket and got the usual necessities of milk and orange juice, and a few other things.

While at a stoplight, Laz noticed the license plate of the car in front. Cute! In Portsmouth I found a British shop and picked up the REAL Cadbury fruit and nut, made in the UK. Also found some frozen meat pies, which fit nicely in our little freezer, with some coaxing. After putting away our provisions, we washed down baji-naji with the great non skid wash. She needed a good scrub. I knew there was a rainstorm coming, but it was still good to get her cleaned up. At least the rain held off for enough time for the non skid to dry.

Dinner was at Salt, the restaurant at the Wentworth by the Sea hotel. It was excellent! We started with burrata and tomatoes with balsamic glaze. Laz had the grilled sous vide lamb with harissa tomato risotto, grilled marinated squash which was excellend. Harissa is a new flavor for us. We both loved it; I will learn to make it when I have my full kitchen on land. I had black sea bass with black garlic polenta cake, marinated chanterelles, buttermilk cashew cream, and an arugula, asparagus & green onion salad. Dessert was petite, so we each had our own. Although I did end up giving Laz some of mine since I ate my entire entree. Dessert was a roasted pineapple pudding cake, with raspberry sorbet, Chantilly cream, and macadamia nut shortbread crumble. All of the food was as delicious as it sounds. We asked if we would be able to see the fireworks from anywhere in the hotel, but they thought we’d have better luck at the metal bridge, which I later found out is the Blunts Island Swing Bridge. We walked over there after dinner, and with a nice breeze, I didn’t attract too many mosquitoes. I stood with an older local man, who affirmed that the spot we were in was the best spot for viewing.

He wasn’t wrong. It was a delightful fireworks display. A lovely ending to a lovely evening. Tomorrow we are headed to Cape Porpoise. Laz had chatted with the harbormaster, Frank, earlier today. Frank initially told Laz that there were no moorings available, but then called back a short while later to tell us that one of the boats is up on the hard for repairs, so we could use mooring 47. Cool!

Friday July 4th Independence Day!

Just Perfect, the 86 ft motor yacht on the face dock on our starboard side, was leaving for Kennebunkport at 0900 to catch the higher tide. We chatted with their crew as they readied her, and her owner confirmed that they needed to catch the right tide to get into the Kennebunk river. Another boater, who keeps his motorboat at SHWBTS, has a daughter who was a day student at PEA and was keeping us company while Just Perfect made her way out. Laz or I must have been wearing something with Exeter on it to prompt the conversation. He was very nice. With PEA just up the road, a lot of people know it, unlike in the Mid Atlantic. We were off the dock by 1000.

The predicted winds, as per NWS and NOAA are 5-10kts from the NW. We have 10-15 gusts to 20! We decided to reef 1. We were moving quite well. We saw For Pete’s Sake out there. We saw her 2 years ago when going from Block Island to Cuttyhunk.

We passed Cape Neddick Light on Cape Neddick Nubble, off of York. Lots of beautiful lighthouses along the East Coast.

To Cape Porpoise by 1430. This is the entrance to Cape Porpoise. We are on mooring 47, right by this lobsterman’s float with traps, etc. My favorite view of Goat Island light and bell tower. I’m not sure what it is about this view that speaks to me, but it is one of my favorite places.

Took a Boji ride up to where the docks are. Or where they were. They were quite old and deteriorated in a winter storm, so they are rebuilding. There is still a small dinghy dock for us to use.

We walked around a bit and saw the tidal flats from the bridge that connects Bickford Island to the rest, although at low tide there is not much water between Bickford and the rest of Kennebunkport.

Took Boji to Goat Island! There is a dinghy dock and there were some families picnicking with kids playing in the law. Apparently the Goat Island light is part of the Kennebunk Conservation Trust and three lightkeeper families take turns staying there for a week each time. They were having a get together for the 4th of July. One of the women was nice enough to take us to the top of the lighthouse and give us some history and information about it.

The spectacular view from the lighthouse. Absolutely gorgeous.

The many looks of Goat Island Light, bell tower and house in different light. Can you tell I’m obsessed with this view?

There are other quite beautiful views as we look around.

Snacks of chips and salsa and hot dogs for dinner! It is the 4th of July, after all. I brought Gulden’s mustard, relish and sweet gherkins just for the occasion.

Saw this sailboat having a good time in the breeze.

A multitude of sunset pictures. Because sunset.

Moonrise is equally beautiful. We weren’t sure we would be able to see any fireworks from our mooring, but we could see some off in the distance, which might have been Kennebunkport’s. Heading to Casco Bay in the morning.

Saturday July 5th

Woke up hungry, so made a brunch of eggs with zucchini, cheese and shallots with English muffins. The English muffins got a little too toasted in the oven, but were still good. Passed this red/green which made me think of Tabasco sauce. Not that I like or use Tabasco sauce; I’m a hot/spicy wimp. Great winds from the SSW 9-16kts. We headed out into the Atlantic, passing Cape Elizabeth and Portland and headed into Casco Bay. It was a wonderful sail. We were originally going to anchor off of Little Chebeague Island, but there were a lot of mooring balls there and a lot of boat traffic. We tucked into Chandler Cove on Chebeague Island, and found a spot that was only 18ft deep at mid low tide.

Gorgeous views as we sailed Casco Bay. A few other boats were out, both motor and sail. Saw a loon pop up.

Our view from our anchorage tucked up against Chebeague. You can see some of the homes on Chebeague in the middle lower picture and the ferry Wabanaki which goes from Chandler Cove to Long Island and Great Diamond Island.

Dinner is my homemade spaghetti sauce over penne. The sauce is made at the house and frozen for later use. Beautiful sunset sky over Chandler Cove, with moonrise view just a little later.

Sunday July 6th

Another day with lovely wind. We sailed Casco Bay, all the way to Paul’s Marina in Brunswick, then back to Great Diamond Island and Diamond Cove.

There was a power plant that looked a little like Manresa in Norwalk, CT. It’s the Wyman Energy Center in Yarmouth. There are a lot of little islands to dance around, along with the ubiquitous lobster pots. It was good to see so many boats out. The winds were mostly steady, but definitely affected by the islands. We passed Soulemate, and Laz radioed over to ask about the origin of the boat’s name. Turns out it’s a family name, and yes, they are related to the folks who donated to Exeter and have the Soule dormitory named after them. I posted a little something on FB for all the Soule Sisters that we know and love.

We arrived at Diamond Cove around 3pm; it’s quite shallow past the face dock. We ended up pivoting on the stern to access the power pylon. We headed to shore to check out the provisions and restaurants. Stopped in the General Store and got a couple of seltzers. There are pastries and breakfast sandwiches. The Crown Jewel had small plates and is more ‘hip’ as per the hostess. The Diamond’s Edge is more of a full service restaurant. We walked back to baji-naji to clean up before dinner. The Pursuit powerboat, Gratitude, behind us had people on it, so we stopped to chat. Tony and Barb, their daughter and son-in-law with their grandbaby, a very cute toddler named Julia, are from Freeport, and had a lot of great recommendations. They like Kim at Boothbay Harbor Marina as she does a great job and the marina is right in town. There is a good restaurant in Sebasco, I forget the name. And in the Goslings, there are mooring balls for big sailboats. Tony thought that if a mooring ball was empty at 5pm, you could take it without issue.

After cleaning up, we decided to have dinner at Diamond’s Edge, and we are so glad we did. I had an excellent salad with julienned romaine, cabbage, carrots, cucumber, avocado, edamame, radish, with a sesame citrus vinaigrette. I also had the slider trio: Lobster BLT – Citrus & herb mayo, crisp smoked bacon, lettuce and tomato, Crispy Clam – Panko breaded, fennel & ol’ bay slaw, remoulade, Grilled Fish – blackened fish, pineapple salsa, shaved cabbage. It was generous enough that I saved the lobster and over 1/2 the salad for another day. Laz had the apple cider brined pork chop which was incredible. So tender and delicious! He had the Whoopie pie for dessert and I enjoyed the Maine blueberry crisp pie. Some of which also went home with me. The view from the restaurant was beautiful. We chose to eat on the deck and not down on the grass, especially as I’m a bug magnet.

Monday July 7th

I walked up to the General Store at 0830 to get coffee and breakfast sandwiches and was quite disappointed to find everything was closed, including the dock office. I chatted with the landscaper, who said that many things are closed on Mondays and Tuedays. Oh well. I have things aboard we can eat, so made the usual yogurt and coffee with some corn bread for Laz.

We had another wonderful sailing day, with wind building to 15+ kts in Casco Bay. We went out to Halfway Rock Light and back into Potts Point and South Harpswell to Dolphin restaurant and Marina in Potts Point, Harpswell. Docking was a challenge on the inside dock because it was 20+ knots. Tide was going out, and the wind caught our bow with our high freeboard. A lot of engine, back and forth and some bow thruster and I managed to get her close enough to the dock for the excellent dockhands, led by Lexie, to get us in. In retrospect we should have gone bow in, starboard to the dock and pivoted like we did in Diamond Cove.

The view of all the mooring balls. Adagio was on one of them. We had briefly met the owners on the Gloucesterman launch boat. baji-naji safely tucked in on the inside of the dock.

We walked up to the restaurant to check it out, then up the hill past the dumpsters to see what was on the other side. This is a family dock and some moorings for the family members to put their boats on when the marina is too full and they need dock space. The Dolphin is a family run business, since 1966. We learned that they are on well water, and do not offer water to refill tanks on boats. If you need drinking water, they can allow ~ 5 gallons, but nothing more. They do have free laundry, with two nice washers and dryers, commercial size. So…laundry this afternoon! We met Louise and Bert on the dock, from Adagio. Their home port is Safe Harbor Onset. Since it’s our first time in Maine, they had some good suggestions for anchorage or moorings: Somes Sound north of SW Harbor, Biddeford Poole, just north of Cape Porpoise, and Linekin Bay, near Boothbay. In Boothbay, Hodgson Marine service has good mechanics. Otherwise there isn’t much up this way.

It started to spritz a bit, luckily not til after the laundry was done. Saw a schooner in the big wind having fun. We heard that the last seating is at 2000 and we were cutting it close as the laundry was done at 1920. We had a great window table where we could see baji-naji right in front of us. Their fried artichokes were fantastic. They are known for their blueberry muffins, which they serve instead of another bread. I had a wedge salad and a bowl of fish chowder. Portions were generous, so 1/2 of the soup and salad came home. Laz had scallops and lobster over pasta. Laz had this amazing orange and chocolate mousse for dessert, that I helped myself to. I got the lemon cheesecake, which was pretty dense, so that also ended up being takeout.

I missed the sunset while we were having dinner, but there was some beautiful sky as we walked back to baji-naji. We will be here tomorrow as well, as there is predicted bad weather.

Tuesday July 8th

Stayed another day due to anticipated high winds and thunder storm. The dock crew brings blueberry muffins and coffee at 0800 which is very sweet.

It was quite foggy when we looked out. At one point we could barely see Adagio on her mooring. As the fog cleared, the Sabre powerboat behind us was making it’s way out. I noticed that the home port was Branford, CT and asked if they were from Branford. Turns out, the couple handling the lines are from New Zealand, and visiting their friends who are from CT. Had a nice quick chat before they left. We then moved baji-naji back into the space the Sabre was at, so as to make room for other boats if needed. It is much less windy this morning.

We got lunch up at the restaurant with Adagio’s owners, Bert and Louise. I had a really great fried chicken sandwich and Laz had a burger. By the time we headed back out to the docks, we could see Adagio and the harbor with the fog lifting. As far as I can tell the predicted 25-30 kt storm did not come through us, although there was rain for a little bit.

Dinner was back to Dolphin Cove restaurant, where Laz had the swordfish and I had a quinoa bowl with shrimp and artichokes and feta. It tasted a little off, and it turns out they deglaze the pan with wine, and it had not cooked off all the way. They quickly remade me another one, using broth to deglaze the pan. It was much tastier without the alcohol to give me a headache and nausea.

Lovely view as we left dinner. Too many clouds for a proper sunset picture, but it is still lovely nonetheless.

Wednesday July 9th

Motored to Safe Harbor Great Island, in Orrs Cove up Quahog Sound. We saw a seal just leaving the channel into Potts Harbor. It popped its head up for a short look, then popped back down. We’re guessing it’s a harbor seal, as it was a little more brown than grey. It was not a long trip to Quahog Sound and it is quite pretty.

Radioed in, and there was space at the fuel dock. Got there at 1315 and was able to fuel up and fill ourwater tanks. We were assigned to mooring 28. As we motored back to the mooring, we were hailed from Realm, the Nordhavn we saw in Gloucester. We had shared a launch ride with their owners and with Adagio’s owners. We promised to stop by when we were back with the dinghy. Found our mooring without difficulty, then took Boji back to the docks to check out the provisions and grab lunch at Iris Eats. We bought a beef and sweet potato chili and egg salad sandwiches for tomorrow. Lunch was an excellent Waldoboro which is Iris’s version of a Reuben. We split one and it was awesome. We also got a pineapple coconut pop tart for me and a large CCC for Laz. After lunch, we walked the docks and noticed our friends from Adagio were there. Bert was working on the foot switch for his windlass and when he thought he was all done, he found a spring. Hmmm. Walked over to Realm, and found out that the guests aboard, Pat and Brad, are from Pasadena and at Maryland Yacht Club. We asked if they knew our friends Lee and Jon B-D and of course they did! So the photo above is of Pat and I, which I immediately texted to Lee. Rosemary and Bill are the owners of Realm, and they were previous sail boaters, but with age, moved to an energy efficient power boat. After a nice chat with everyone, we took Boji back to our mooring and sat to enjoy the rest of the afternoon and evening.

I heard wings flapping close by and saw a great blue heron fly quite close to us and then land on a boat close by, right on their radar. I wish I had their contact information because I would love to send them some of these pictures. The heron was there for quite some time, watching for tasty fish, I suppose.

The rest of the view from the cockpit was as beautiful as the heron. We heard osprey calling and saw one catch a fish and fly off. They are fun to watch.

We had the chili from Iris Eats, which was amazingly tasty with great spices and only a little heat. I heated some cornbread to go with it, and split the rest of my wedge salad for dinner. Yum.

Not quite a sunset photo, but it was quite beautiful. We are headed to Boothbay Harbor tomorrow.

Thursday July 10th

I stayed up too late again reading, which is a hazard of good books. Up at 0920, and off the mooring at 0930. I then went below to make coffee. I warmed up the ricotta and scallion scone from Kohi in P-town, the rest of the cinnamon scone from Scratch Baking in Milford, and made the usual yogurt with berries and Stacie’s granola.

As we motored down Quahog Sound, the tree on one of the Elm Islands looked like a sea monster. Scotland has Nessie, the Chesapeake has Chessie, what is this one? We had to motor all the way as there wasn’t much wind and there was a lot of dense fog. We had our radar on and were getting familiar with how to use it. We heard a horn in the distance, but could not see the boat. From AIS, we saw the boat name No Surrender. Laz radioed to see if there was something we were missing. Well, yes, apparently Coast Guard regs state that in heavy fog you are supposed to sound the horn every 60-90 seconds or something like that. We ‘saw’, on radar, another large motor yacht who was using their fog horn as well. We got our air horn out and started to use it, although not every 90 seconds, but certainly if we heard another engine nearby. At one point a lobster boat, which was not on AIS, that we somehow missed on the radar (did I mention there is a learning curve?) emerged from the fog, quite close to us. Laz was at the helm at that time and I yelled "car!" to let him know to watch out. We both laughed hard at that. Sigh. The best part was that as the fog lifted somewhat, as we passed Sequin Island, we saw dolphin! They didn’t look like the bottlenose, and with further online investigation, found they are Atlantic white sided dolphin, who reside in colder waters. Our first sighting was a mama and baby pair. Apparently calves are born in June and July. When we turned the corner at the Cuckolds there were more!! The pictures a bit fuzzy because they were moving faster than I could capture and focus on. My phone decided to focus on the backstay lines and not the dolphin in the clip. The photos are pulled from the short video I managed to get. They do look an awful lot like lobster pots, but I promise you, they are Atlantic white sided dolphin.

Between the fog clearing and the wind freshening, we were able to put up sails and sail the rest of the way in. Lots of boats in Boothbay Harbor!

The top photos are of the lighthouse at the Cuckolds, near where we saw the dolphin. The sailboat in the next photo is the Emily with Mary Louisa the working boat next to her.

Passed Burnt Island light. It looks a little like Deadpool light. Hmmm.

We noticed a giant cruise ship here in the harbor. It looked like one of the ones we saw in Provincetown from American Cruise lines. We decided to go past it and then find the way into the harbor. It’s a busy crowded place. We got to Boothbay Harbor Marina at 1400 or so. There is a large motor yacht named EBIDTA here. We wondered if it was a banker or something to do with finance since EBIDTA often stands for earnings before interest, depreciation, taxes and amortization. Met the captain, who is from South Africa. He said the name is a family joke, and their home port of North Carolina was not related to the Bank of America or other banks. We chatted briefly about South Africa, then off to walk around town.

We walked around town. I thought of my high school classmate, Lori (Lenore) Skenazy with this sign, as she started the free range children movement. We needed to mail something, so wandered past the library, which has a great sculpture of a child reading. We also found the Tugboat Inn and Marina with a large red tugboat outside. Bought Laz a beanie since he was so cold he wore mine today while sailing. We found a lovely store, Eventide Specialties, recommended by Louise of Adagio. We bought a stuffed cherry scone and a slice of peach pie. Got stuffed potato popcorn at Coastal Marine Poocorn. It's OK just a little too salty and the flavors don't work for me. Looking for another throw pillow for the cabin. Sea Bags will recycle your used sale and make you one! Maybe we will do that with our main sail, we will likely need a replacement next year.

Dinner at the Thistle. We had a delicious bread and garlic herb butter to share. I had a tuna and seaweed tower and a mushroom tart which turned out to be a lot of wild mushrooms in a cream sauce topped with puff pastry. Could not finish it all! Laz had steak tips over mashed potatoes. The Thistle was recommended by Charles Thayer, our boat neighbor. He’s an author. Will have to check out his books. He stays at Boothbay Harbor Marina every year and this year is here for a month. We walked back to the marina a different way, sewing some of the pieces of the map together in our heads. We are staying another night in Boothbay Harbor.

Friday July 11th

Lay day in Boothbay Harbor.

Up late, 0930, it’s a chilly morning so Laz had on his down vest. Thank goodness we brought it! We walked up the hill to Red Cup for breakfast. I got a bagel with lox, of course, and Laz had a sausage egg and cheese breakfast sandwich. We both enjoyed a mocha, a little too sweet. The bagel was decent, but not a NY bagel despite the claim to be. Off for errands; we went to Eventide for cheddar chive scones, apricot scone strawberry rhubarb pie, small Italian loaf, and multiple cheeses: classic Beemster, Double Gloucester with chive, Havarti. And a soppresatta stick. Wow huh?

Then off to Mung Bean which has artisan handcrafted things. Picked up a gift for my chosen sister Stacie; the beautiful multiple shellbracelet reminded me of her.  Over to Hannaford another 1/2 mile or so, with the fold up cart that Kim, the owner of the marina, loaned us. Everyone is so nice here. Delightful! While walking to Hannaford, we saw the beautiful Congregational church founded in 1766. There were some unusual (for me) colored day lilies and some cheerful daisies. At Hannaford we picked up milk, OJ, diet Coke, trail mix (Hannaford has Nature's Promise products) dippers, some chips and Pepperidge Farm cookies. Someday we will actually eat our provisions.

Laz with a full grocery load. Kim’s cart was quite useful going up hill! As Laz went back to unload the groceries, I got a lobster roll from Footbridge Fishery, only $25 for the smaller of the two, which is just perfect. Provisions were put away!

Dinner at Ports of Italy, another recommendation by Charles. We made reservations yesterday when wandering the town. I had the ossobuco, Laz had the pappardelle special which was excellent. Only one cannoli for me and cheesecake for Laz. I

Tomorrow we are heading to Tenants Harbor or Long Cove, just behind it

Saturday July 12th

Fog fog fog. Filled the forward water tank and had a nice conversation with Connie Graham on the phone. She was going to drive down from Augusta but has too many things planned so is not able to do it at 90! We chatted with some of the folks at the marina, Charles who's dog is named Scupper. Steve with a red powerboat and two women who's dog is Benny. They have a house in Rockland and somewhere else and like to wander on their powerboat. Benny loves to wander the dock; he's 13 or 14 now.

Kim has a beautiful planting on the dock, her anemone is gorgeous. She also has an herb garden closer to the ramp to shore that we are all welcome to snip and use for cooking.

Our 90’ neighbor with the great name of EBIDTA (earnings before interest, depreciation, taxes and amortization) left the dock and quickly disappeared in the fog. Bye bye! The captain said he would radio back to Kim if the fog was too awful to proceed in. Kim felt terrible sending us out if we were not comfortable; she suggested we could anchor off of Burnt Island, or pick up a mooring. We had to leave by noon as a few large boats were coming in, a 60’ and a 75’. The fog remained dense. We decided to go ahead anyway.I didn’t take many pictures as there was nothing to see except lobster pots close up. We could barely see the marks. We motored using the radar.

We did get some sailing in, when it was 8kts from the S and it had cleared to 1 mile visibility. That was lovely. Then the fog socked in again with less than 1/4 mile visibility. As long as the wind held out we sailed. But then it was 6kts or less so we furled the jib and motor sailed with the main.

Boji picked up some seaweed. There were lots of lobster pots to dodge. One lobster pot turned out to be a seal!

We also saw dolphin out there, 2 or 3 once and another pair. Off in the mist they were hard to see at first, but easier as they came closer.

Made it to Tenants Harbor by 1700. The entrance is narrow. It's a bit eerie to see rock islands with trees come out of the mist somewhat suddenly. We were hoping for a mooring, otherwise we would anchor in Long Cove. No one answered any of the phones listed in the guidebook, so we asked people we saw on boats. One guy said pick up any ball that says rental; there were none.

Another gentleman who looked to be in his 80s and was working on his beautiful wooden cutter told us to take any ball with THBY and go to the office to see if anyone is there to pay. Um, no. Found Tenants Harbor Boatyard on Dockwa and paid for the mooring that way.

I made a cheese and salami board after we were safely on the mooring, around 1730.

Another beautiful wooden boat in the mist.

Dinner of leftovers: fried chicken sandwich and fries from Dolphin and my mushroom truffle tart from Thistle.

Shared the slice of peach pie from Eventide Specialties for dessert. Yum! Everything from there is wonderful. Tomorrow we are booked in Rockland. We'll see how it goes, it's supposed to be foggy again.

Sunday July 13th

Slept in til after 1000! Apparently navigating through the fog is more tiring than I realized.

I toasted the sesame bagel in the oven and made scrambled eggs with shallots, scallions, zucchini, grated Parmesan and Romano mix and cheddar with lots of fresh ground pepper and a dash of Worcestershire sauce. And a nice cup of fresh ground Ethiopian Worka Chele coffee. Yum is all I can say.

Ate in the cockpit and looked around Tenants Harbor. It's quite pretty, now that we can see it.

We can see Long Cove, which has moorings and some other sailboats anchored. We had a leisurely breakfast as we only had 12 miles to go.

Saw this bird, which Google tells me is a black guillemot. We've seen quite a few of these, in addition to loons and cormorants and black faced gulls.

The fog rolled back in, as you can tell from this photo towards Long Cove. First you see the trees and boats, then you don’t. There was decent wind, even if you couldn’t see anything.

It was wild to see this little sailboat come out of the fog sailing towards us. We can see Boji, but not much more. Nonetheless, we are a happy crew.

Despite the fog, we had a good wind and sail to Rockland. There were moments when it cleared up, then came back. We could barely see the Rockland lighthouse. We arrived at Landings Marina at 1710 and the owner was waiting for us. I apologized for getting there a little late. He was very gracious, and we were only 10 minutes late. We had a nice spot along a face dock.

Today is the last day of the North Atlantic Blues Festival, and the headliner ending the Festival is Canned Heat. We could hear them from the dock and walked over to see the end of the concert. If you turn up the sound on whatever device you are using to read this, you can hear a little bit of the concert. I vaguely remember them from back in the day and today they are quite good!

Walking back, we had dinner at Park Street, Tex Mex excellent food! There was a bit of a wait for a table as everyone started streaming in after the Blues Festival. We started with some chicken empanadas that were terrific. Laz had a great taco salad with steak and I had a delicious shrimp ceviche tostada. There is a live jam, post Festival, here. It was loud enough for me that I put my ear protection in. Ironic that I did not need it at the concert, but that was outdoors. Laz was blocked by the pillar so he didn’t hear it loudly. Walked back to baji-naji at the marina. No sunset photos as we were inside having dinner when it happened. Tomorrow we are staying in Rockland.

Monday July 14th

Lay day in Rockland.

Walked a mile or so for breakfast at Home Kitchen Cafe, which is a scratch kitchen with rave reviews. They had theses huge trays of sticky buns covered in pecans, or frosting. The huge chunk on my plate is 1/2 (Laz had the other half on his plate) and this is after I’d nibbled at it. I like them. Nothing is as good as the place in West Chester from when we first moved there. I think these had too much yeast for Laz, but I really enjoyed it. The piece was so big we took some home. I had their homemade corned beef hash with two over easy and rye toast, my usual. Quite good. Again, took 1/2 of this home. Big portions here. We then walked back and stopped at Hamilton Marine. We picked up bilge cleaner and found out about fog horns and Dyneema prices. 

Laundry day! Excellent washing machine, very big tubs top loading. I wish I’d taken pictures because the tops of the tubs were a clear blue, and you could see the machine working. Very cool. And the laundry is complimentary with dockage. Yay!

You can see the difference between high and low tide in these pictures, not quite at peak of each.

We saw Realm come into dock, owned by Rosemary and Bill, who we met on the Gloucesterman launch and saw again at Safe Harbor Great Island., Quahog Sound. I helped with their lines. We had said that we would have dinner together tonight in Rockland, so I’m glad they are here. We later got a tour of the boat after dinner.

Jena, one of my NRS nurses and her husband, Todd, came to visit. They live 40 minutes inland, and I had visited with her in Prosper, when she lived there. It was great to catch up in the cockpit, then we went to dinner with them and the realm crew.

We went to 13 Oak, one of the few places open on a Monday. We were seated outside as there was no room inside the restaurant for the 8 of us. I knew I would end up with a few mosquito bites, but it was worth it to have an enjoyable dinner with some great people. I ordered apps for the table, a hot feta dip with roasted peppers and tomatoes that was tasty and a trio of dips with hummus, baba ganoush and liutenitsa, a Bulgarian dip. I had a crabcake which was delicious. Maine crab tastes different than Maryland crab for sure, but is still good. A generous crabcake without much filler. I too, that and a side salad back to baji-naji as the side salad with the crabcake was quite enough. Laz had a lamb shank for dinner. Scrumptious! Too full for dessert, so I brought home a chocolate mousse for later tonight. It came in a heavy glass goblet, which Rosemary said she would return the next day for us, as we were taking off.

A brief conversation with John Malkovich! Rosemary insisted that the guy who came in with his family looking for a table and was seated next to us was John Malkovich. I thought, nah, what are the odds. Jena agreed with Rosemary and I thought, well, he really looks like him, but there are lookalikes in the world. Rosemary wanted to compliment him on his work, which she admires, but we decided to leave him in peace to enjoy dinner with his family. When his granddaughter decided she was bored with all the grownups, she went to play in the bricks of the terrace we were seated on. She was looking for more rocks, so I pointed out another big one right behind her. Mr. Malkovich (or his lookalike) turned to see who was talking to his granddaughter and I commented that Rosemary and I were missing our grandchildren. He asked how many we had, and how old they were, and we answered. He was very sweet. Later in the week Laz found an article showing that he was in Rockland that day. The picture from the barber shop shows him in the same outfit he wore at dinner. So it was him, after all! Our brush with fame was pretty cool.

Went back to the marina for a tour of Realm and baji-naji. Jena and Todd left after the tour and we said our goodnights to Pat, Brad, Rosemary and Bill. I still can’t believe that Pat is friends with Lee B-D! She told me Lee sent out an email for a meeting that night, and Pat’s reply was “I can’t attend, I’m having dinner with Laura”. So funny. Round Pond tomorrow!