July - Maine

July 2019 - Maine

It was only one overnight from Onset, Massachusetts to Rockland, Maine. It barely felt like a passage at all. We had heard amazing things about Penobscot Bay, so we decided it is where we should start our cruise of the Vacation State.

Our first look at Maine

Lorelei and Rosy in the cockpit Lorelei and Rosy goofing around in the cockpit

We started out in Rockland, because of the free anchoring, but just a short hop up the bay is Camden, where they were celebrating 4th of July with fireworks over the harbor.

View of the Camden Lighthouse on the sail in

Me and Lorelei on 4th of July Me and Lorelei getting ready for the 4th of July

Fireworks 1 Fireworks over the Camden Harbor

Lorelei at Owl and Turtle Lorelei found the cutest book store and made herself completely at home.

Jacob working at the Owl and Turtle Jacob found a nice place to work too.

Camden is the birthplace of Edna St. Vincent Millay, a poet that we all love. It turns out that the hill she was writing about in Afternoon on a Hill was the hill directly behind our boat!

duck training collage Training ducks on the pier

There are so many places to explore, just in this bay alone. We are keeping a faster pace and spending weekends (when we don’t need great cell & internet) to check out the more remote locations.

Lorelei on Hurricane Island Hiking around Hurricane Island, in Penobscot bay

The rock quarry on Hurricane Island

Flowers and Cottage on Hurricane More Hurricane Island!

Lance's house on Green's Our new friends invited us to a kid-boat weekend on their private island. Our friends’ father built this house completely out of drift wood!

Revery and Lorelei on Green's Island Warming themselves by the fire before they ran off into the woods for more adventure

View from Green's We had such an amazing time. The whole place felt really magical.

Next stop was Northhaven.

touring the art gallery It was a real artists’ community.

shopping in Northhaven Checking out the cute shops on the island

Lorelei driving the dinghy Lorelei driving us around in the dinghy. It’s completely legal to be chauffered around in our ‘family car’ by our eight-year-old.

Even though school is out for summer for so many, we are attempting to stay on track. We find that sticking to a schedule makes our daily routine more fun. We school year round, but take breaks for sailing, and visiting when ever the situation presents itself.

Audrey with her pirate ship One of Audrey’s latest projects, a diagram of a pirate ship. She also did a lot of research on Blackbeard and the Queen Anne’s Revenge after we sailed by where it sank in North Carolina.

Audrey was due for a braces adjustment, and both girls had been dying to take my aunt and uncle up on their offer for a visit to Colorado, so they took off as unaccompanied minors first to Colorado, then to Chicago.

Dani Jim Zach Audrey and Lorelei Dani, Jim, Zack, Audrey and Lorelei living it up in the mountains of Colorado

While the girls were away, Jacob and I acted like it was our second honeymoon.

Jacob with blueberries Picking wild blueberries on Swans Island.

Lark in the Swans Island anchorage Lark in the anchorage on Swans Island.

Sunset on Swans

Me next to a cliff Hiking in Acadia National Park

Jacob putting on real shoes Jacob is a true warm water cruiser now. It takes some serious hiking conditions to make him put on real shoes.

Ladders up Canadian Cliffs We did an amazing hike complete with ladders drilled into the sides of cliffs and stairs carved into rock.

Jacob and I at the top of Canadian Cliffs Jacob and I had an amazing view from the top of the Canada Cliffs trail.

Jacob with the lobster float Oops! We hit a lobster pot. It brought our 30,000 pound boat going over 7 knots to a complete stop. Jacob had to jump out and cut the line around or prop. It was so cold! We are seriously thinking of investing in a wet suit after this experience.

My Dad brought the girls home to us, and we showed him around Mt. Desert Island and Acadia National Park for a couple of days.

Audrey and Gramps in the launch Riding the launch in Northeast Harbor. A service that comes with renting a float…along with showers, and laundry.

Lark on the float Lark on her float. Now we can describe lark as the one with the blue sail covers and the ENORMOUS orange kayak. It was like Christmas in July.

Playing mini golf

Lorelei making blueberry pancakes Lorelei making us some homemade wild blueberry pancakes

Audrey and Lorelei in Echo lake with Gramps Swimming in Echo Lake with Grampsy. The water temperature was slightly warmer here than in the ocean.

Mt. Desert Island and Acadia National Park is a dream for cruisers. It has protected anchorages, lots to do and a free bus that will pick you up almost anywhere and take you where you want to go. Perfect for those of us that are carless!

Riding the bus around Acadia