Saturday morning (8/18), we motored out of Harbor Island in a light drizzle, headed for Penobscot Bay. Our route took us ESE between Barter and Thompson Islands, south of Hupper Island, Hart Island, and tiny Black Rock, and ENE past Mosquito Island (didn't stop in!) toward Muscle Ridge Channel. Early on, we did raise the main and genoa briefly, but the NW wind was light and fluky, so we gave up on sailing and just motored, charging our batteries.
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| Entering Muscle Ridge Channel; why are all those boats headed the other way? |
Muscle Ridge Channel is a well-marked and popular passage that wends its way northeast-southwest among many small islands and shoals. Big ships use the much larger and deeper Two Bush Channel to the east, leaving Muscle Ridge for cruisers, pleasure boats, and fishing boats. We entered Muscle Ridge on an ebbing tide, which turned out to be a mistake. The southwest-trending current was fierce against us, to the tune of 1.5 knots – almost a third of our cruising speed. No wonder most of the sailboats we saw were headed in the opposite direction! We cranked up the engine rpms and soldiered on, doing our part for the economy by blasting through extra diesel. Double-crested cormorants outpaced us, and even migrating monarch butterflies matched our speed (although they, too, were smart enough to go the other way). Sigh.
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| Whitehead Island Light near the entrance to Muscle Ridge |
We had thought of heading farther north through Owls Head Bay and into busy Rockland Harbor, for a variety of reasons, but after grinding past island after beautiful island in Muscle Ridge, we decided we weren't that interested in commerce and crowds and didn't need groceries or water yet. (Or diesel, our channel-chugging notwithstanding.) So after a quick re-read of the cruising guides and charts and a quick re-check of the wind and weather forecasts, we turned SE out of the channel into the anchorage between Dix and High Islands.
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| At anchor by Dix and High Island; view of Birch Island to the south |
The anchorage is really just a shaped space created by three small islands (Dix, High, and Birch), and both the guide and the chart show it to be rather tight, but it gets high marks for aesthetics and protection from prevailing southwesterly winds. There were four sailboats already anchored when we arrived, so we anchored out at the edge of the space. Curtis wasn't happy with this spot, however, since this location left us more exposed to the main channel's current and boat wakes than we would like. While we looked around and discussed our options, three of the anchored boats suddenly departed as a group, leaving the inner harbor space open. Bingo! We pulled anchor – actually, Sue did, to try her hand at using the manual windlass – and motored farther in to reset it. Done. Or at least we thought so, until we swung on the wind a bit later and found ourselves right on top of several lobster pot buoys. Not good. Sue worked the windlass again, bringing the anchor up to just below the water's surface, and we motored forward another 30 feet. Down she went a third time (the anchor, not Sue), setting nicely.
(In the middle of all this anchoring, Curtis had to do some impromptu windlass wrestling to get the gypsy – the turning piece that holds and feeds the links of chain – to work properly. It had suddenly decided it would raise but not lower the anchor. Sue found a helpful post on Bella Star's blog [www.svbellastar.com] about the same issue, with the same Hercules windlass; she also opened the owner's manual to the exploded parts diagram to identify the “O-cone” that was probably stuck between the gypsy and the clutch nut. Curtis remembered having read that same post a few months back, but at the time he hadn't needed the specifics.)
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| Stacked granite blocks from the old quarry on High Island |
What a great spot! After straightening up the cockpit, putting away PFDs, and entering engine hours and lat/long coordinates in the logbook, we took hot showers with our six gallons of engine-heated water and relaxed in the cockpit with adult beverages. Quiet water, birds all around, beaches and granite boulders and deep green conifers everywhere we looked. High Island to our east is the site of a 19th-century granite quarry; we'll probably explore it on Sunday by dinghy. Curtis picked out the top of Owls Head Light far to the north and east. Sue spotted an osprey nest with three birds on it and a fourth nearby. A first summer common loon preened just off our starboard side, and another loon called in the distance. Black guillemots dove and surfaced, eating what looked like clams or mussels. A passing bald eagle rolled and shook its talons at the osprey that was hassling it.
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| Mainstay Provision Co. making the rounds of the anchorage |
A small wooden boat motored up alongside us, driven by a woman from nearby Andrews Island. She was the sole proprietor of Mainstay Provisions (207-691-9227), a service delivering fresh produce, baked goods, salads, and entire lobster dinners to visiting boaters and cruisers. Curtis marveled at the big cookpots and gas burners set up in the stern of the boat. We chatted with her for a bit, bought two ears of corn and a three-bean salad, and wished her success as she wended her way through the anchorage.
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| Working on the blog at sunset |
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| Dinner of grilled turkey tenderloin over couscous, with corn and fresh tomatoes |
Two days of cruising, and Sue is already ready for a day off – or rather, a day on the boat, but stationary. Curtis isn't arguing one iota. On Sunday morning, a brisk NNE wind has started up, as forecast, but by midday it's supposed to calm back down. We plan to stay here until Monday, exploring nearby islands and working on small projects. Curtis spies a big seal haul-out on a nearby islet; Sue looks at all those lolling mammals and thinks, “Great idea.”
