New England – Week: 11 (Trolls and Puffins)

August 10th to 16th, 2026

Day 69 – Monday, August 10th, 2026 – To: Kennebunk, ME
DiMillo’s Kennebunk Marina

After a busy 6 days in Portsmouth, it’s time to head toward our 14th and final state, Maine! We only had 30 miles to travel and wanted to wait for slack tide in Portsmouth, so we didn’t leave until 10:00. The tide was still coming in, but it was almost high, so it wasn’t moving that fast, making it easy to get off the dock. We crossed the river toward the Navy Yard. Brenda noticed that the submarine nose cone we had seen in the yard was moving! They had a large tugboat pulling a barge with the nose cone on it toward the drydock area. I guess it is getting close to time to put it on!

We cruised down the Piscataqua River toward the entrance. Yesterday, while I was loading our routes into our chartplotter, a software update was installed. As we were pulling out, I noticed that my rudder position sensor was not working. It’s not critical, but it’s handy to have, especially when docking. I was busy dodging boats and lobster pots, so I decided to wait until we got offshore to deal with it. I figured it was either related to the software update or to hitting a connector while I was stowing our extra fenders.

When we exited the river into the ocean, it was flat calm! There weren’t even the regular rollers we have had since coming out of the Cape Cod Canal. There was also a haze over the water. Visibility was still several miles, but with the flat water and haze, the line between the water and the horizon was hard to distinguish. We couldn’t be in until after 1:00, so we just cruised along at a comfortable 9 mph (1.3 miles per gallon).

I plotted our course to be a bit farther offshore and in deeper water. There seem to be fewer lobster pots as the water gets deeper. We did pretty well, still having to dodge pots now and then, but by and large, it was pretty straight cruising.

We went past some of the famous southern Maine seaside towns we’ve visited before. York Beach, Ogunquit Beach, and Wells Beach. We passed several lighthouses, but were too far offshore for photos. The two we did see were the Nubble Lighthouse on Cape Neddick, just off York, Maine, and the Boon Island Lighthouse, which sits 7 miles offshore of Cape Neddick.

It was a straight run from Cape Neddick to the entrance to Kennebunkport. The Kennebunk River has a nice protected jetty. Once through the jetty, the river narrows quite a bit with old fishing wharves and newer marinas lining the banks.

We went slowly up the river. The marina is about 1 mile up on the western, Kennebunk side. The east side of the river is the town of Kennebunkport. The crew from DiMillo’s was waiting for us at the dock, and it was an easy straight-in on a face dock. We were tied up within a few minutes, and the dock staff gave us a quick rundown of the best places to eat.

One of them was the Pilot House, a local favorite. Behind the restaurant is a 125-ft schooner, The Spirit of Massachusetts, that was brought onshore in 2023 and converted into a bar for the restaurant! We decided it was the most appropriate place for our “docking beer”.

After our snack, we walked along Route 1A that crosses the bridge over the river and checked out the shops on the Kennebunk side of the river. Next to the marina is Federal Jack’s restaurant, the birthplace of the Shipyard Brewing Company, the maker of my favorite seasonal beer, Pumpkinhead Ale. It was low tide, and the tide here is 10 feet, so we took a few photos of low tide to compare with high tide tomorrow.

After our walk around, we came back to the boat for a bit to relax before dinner. We waited until around 6:00 and went to Federal Jack’s. I had the Shipyard Pumpkin Ale, which we were told is piped up directly from the brewery downstairs. It was as good as I remember it! After dinner, we walked next door to the Rococo Dessert Bar and had an ice cream before going back to the boat for the night. We are in a very sheltered area, and boats passing are limited to no-wake speed, plus the channel pretty much ends about 500ft upstream from us at the bridge, so we were expecting a good night’s sleep!

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Day 70 – Tuesday, August 11th, 2026 – In: Kennebunkport, ME

We did get a good night’s sleep! Around 12:30, we were woken up by what sounded like water running under the boat. I thought a boat might have gone past, but Brenda thought it was in the boat. I got up and checked. There was no water in the boat (phew!), and I didn’t see any boats out on the river. I think it was a seal or a large fish swimming under the boat. We fell right back to sleep.

In the morning, we waited until the town woke up around 10:00 and then went for a walk. We started in Kennebunk, visiting a couple of art galleries, one of which featured some amazing wind sculptures. It’s a good thing we don’t have a yard at home, or we’d be packing a large kinetic wind sculpture! Being on a boat with limited space and having a condo with no yard saves us bunches of money, since we don’t have room for “stuff,” even though it looks cool!

We finished the Kennebunk side and crossed the bridge to the Kennebunkport side. We stopped to take an updated photo of the boats that were sitting in the mud at low tide yesterday and are floating high at high tide today.

We must have visited 20 shops along the Market Square. We crossed the main street and stopped at a signpost to grab a Geocache #557!

We finished our loop of the Kennebunkport side of the river around 12:30. We crossed the bridge past the famous “The Clam Shack” clam shack, with a line across the parking lot of people waiting for fried, full-bellied clams. While I love fried full-bellied clams, I wasn’t prepared to wait an hour in the hot sun for some. Regardless of how good they were supposed to be!

Instead, we went back to The Pilot House. We didn’t go on the Schooner, but stayed inside where it was air-conditioned and cool. We had another order of their corned beef ribs. We had them yesterday, and they were amazing. It’s beef ribs that have been corned (like corned beef from St. Patrick’s Day) and then smoked. They fall off the bone and are amazing!

After our snack, we went back to the boat for the afternoon. I ended up taking a nap! (I must be getting old)

Brenda woke me up around 5:30, and we went for dinner. We walked into town to Batson River Fish Camp, which operates both a brewery and a distillery. After dinner, we went back to the boat and sat on the back deck for a while.

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Day 71 – Wednesday, August 12th, 2026 – To: Portland, ME
DiMillo’s Portland

We waited for the tide to come in before leaving Kennybunkport to get some water and wait for the current to subside some. I didn’t wait QUITE long enough. I had a plan to back out into the current and turn in the basin behind us. The current had a different idea. I got about halfway turned, and we were back up against the dockside. We still had the fenders out, so no damage aside from pride, as we had an audience. I was able to thrust off the dock and get turned back upstream. There is a large turning basin above the marina, so I headed up there and made our turn with no more drama.

The rest of the trip down the Kennebunk River was uneventful, and we cleared the jetty. As we turned to head out to sea, we heard the whale-watching boats say they had a minke whale and some dolphins just off shore. We could see the boats in the distance, but by the time we got there, the whales had headed farther out to sea.

As we rounded Cape Arundel just outside of Kennebunkport, we had to swing wide around the “Presidential Security Zone”. This is where the Bush Family Compound is located. We got a great view of his house. And next door is the summer home of Jim Masiello, one of my old website customers!

We continued north and went around the point at Biddeford Pool, home to another of my old website customers, Bill Hunscher, who used to invite me up for business meetings and lobster and steamer lunches! I was sad to see that his old house, right on the point, has been replaced by a McMansion.

As we approached Portland, we got closer to shore, and Brenda took some great photos of the many lighthouses marking the entrance to Portland Harbor. The harbor itself was quite busy with ferries, other pleasure boats coming and going, and lots of fishing boats. We went by the three forts that guard the entrance, Fort Scammel, Fort Preble, and Fort Gorges. We entered the Old Port and went to Long Wharf, home of DiMillo’s Restaurant, Marina, and Yacht Sales. The Restaurant is on a converted car ferry, just behind our slip.

We backed in without drama or shouting. No current, and only a light wind, so it almost looked like we knew what we were doing. The dock crew at DiMillo’s in Kennebunkport (same marina group), where we left this morning, must have called ahead, because they had a bunch of dock hands waiting for us. 😳

We got tied up and settled in, then walked up to the office to pick up an Amazon package I had delivered. On our way back to the boat, we stopped into DiMillo’s Restaurant on the old Car Ferry to check it out (and have a snack). It was very opulent! The car ferry had been rebuilt and converted into a restaurant in 1982. Like many “older, established’ restaurants we’ve visited, they are such a landmark in the community that they get complacent. The service was okay, and the staff acted like they were doing us a favor by eating there. We had a snack of their “Crisp Happens” – deep-fried marinated artichoke hearts & mini mozzarella balls with hot honey marinara. The marinara was excellent.

After our snack, we went back to the boat for a while, then headed into town for a walkaround before dinner. The marina is on “Long Wharf” in Portland’s Old Port district. We are on docks that extend out from the end of the wharf, so it’s about a 1/4 mile from the boat to the main street. We walked around checking out some of the art galleries and shops. At one gallery, we found a perfume bottle made from a sea urchin shell! Very unique! The artist who created it was in the gallery, so Brenda had him sign it for her.

For dinner, we went to Gritty McDuffs, touted as the Oldest Brew Pub in Portland (Opened in 1988). They specialize in British-style ales. I ordered their Best Bitter, and the bartender asked if I was familiar with British Ales? I said, “Yes, flat, warm, beer.” She chuckled and pulled me a pint. I took a few photos of their “Member Mugs,” several hundred mugs hanging from the ceiling and walls. Frequent visitors purchase a mug, which is stored in the pub, for $75 a year. When you visit, you give the number, and your beer is served in your mug, plus you get a discount. After 5 years of membership, you get a custom mug that holds 26oz of beer! I then popped outside, took a photo of the front of the building, and felt raindrops. We had left the windows and hatches on the boat open because the rain wasn’t supposed to start until 7 or 8 pm. We had just ordered dinner, so I ran (okay, walked fast; I only run when chased) back to the boat, closed the windows, and grabbed our umbrellas. I made it back just before our dinner arrived. I got in my 1/2 mile power walk!

After dinner, we went back to the boat. It was still drizzling, not enough to even use umbrellas, but enough to feel. We sat out on the back deck for a while until it got cold, then called it a night.

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Day 72 – Thursday, August 13th, 2026 – In: Portland, ME

On Thursday, we had tickets for a 3-mile ride on the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad that follows the northern edge of the harbor. Our reservation was for 10:00, at 9:00 we got an email that they had canceled the trips for the day. We decided to just walk around. Brenda’s knee is continuing to improve, and it seems that exercising it in moderation helps.

On our way up Long Wharf, we stopped at the bit of the Berlin Wall that they have on display. This is a virtual Geocache, which means there is no container; you have to answer some questions based on the location and email the owner to claim it. On this one, you had to count the Nuts on the back of the wall. We came up with 7, but the owner said it was only 4, so we stopped to double-check. We found 6 on our second count. We had mistaken a bolt head for a nut. Humm… Who’s correct?

We walked north down the waterfront looking for a breakfast place. We wandered down Customs House Wharf, which is where most of the commercial fish buyers and sellers are located. We found “The Porthole,” a restaurant popular with locals, right on the wharf. It was warming up nicely from 65° when we woke up, so we sat out on the deck. Just as we were sitting down, we saw a fishing boat unload a large tuna to one of the fish buyers. We kept watching to see if they had another, but it was just the one. A few minutes later, they pulled away with big smiles. It must have been a lucrative catch!

While we were waiting for our order, we watched some workmen on a crane barge cutting through an old concrete dock with a huge saw. It looked like they were renovating a warehouse, cutting and lifting the old floor. At the fish buyer, they were cutting up the tuna, tossing bits to the seagulls. At one point, they left part of it unattended, and the seagulls flew in and started helping themselves to some fresh sushi! As we were finishing breakfast, a lobster boat loaded with new lobster traps pulled in, and they started unloading them and attaching lines and buoys. It’s a very busy pier!

As we walked back up the wharf, we stopped at the Harbor Fish Market. They do retail and wholesale fish sales. The fish comes in off the dock in the back, is processed in the cutting room, then either packaged in ice for wholesale or put in the cases out front for retail sale. They had a huge selection! Lobster, shellfish, whole fish, and dressed. It was interesting to watch them cut the fish, then pass the pieces to inspectors who placed them on lighted tables to check for and pick out bones.

After the fishmonger, we walked up toward the narrow-gauge railroad. We couldn’t go for a ride, but we wanted to check out the trains. They are very well maintained and cared for. They even had a whole steam train with several cars shrink-wrapped on a siding. We might stop back in Portland on our way back south and see if we can take a ride. From there, we walked up the hill to Shipyard Brewing’s Portland brewery and tasting house. It was a bit early for beer, but I wanted to see if they had a particular T-shirt in XL. When we were in Kennebunk, they didn’t have my size, so we hoped that at the larger facility they might. No luck. I guess XL is the most popular size because several of their styles were out of stock in XL. I guess I’ll either have to order an XL online or stop drinking beer so that I fit into a Large. (Not!)

We walked back down to the main street and headed back toward the boat, checking out some stores and art galleries along the way. At 1:00, Brenda’s knee was starting to bother her, so we headed back to the boat to let her rest.

I’ve needed a haircut for over a month. The back was getting long enough to put an elastic around! I looked on Google for barbershops within walking distance. There was “The Electric Chair”, “The Blind Pig Barbershop”, “The Men’s Room Barber and Massage”, and “Momentum”. Momentum looked safe, so I booked an appointment for 3:00 and headed out. It was just up the street from Gritty McDuffs, so pretty close. Brenda stayed on the boat, and we arranged to meet at Gritty’s when I was done.

I got there just at 3:00, and Gavin, my barber, was waiting. I sat down, showed him what I looked like with a haircut, and let him get to work. He was about halfway through when we heard a whooshing sound outside the window. The skies had opened up. There were several flashes of lightning and claps of thunder, and the wind was blowing the rain sideways. I hoped that Brenda was still on the boat, not walking up!

It turns out Brenda was on the boat. And she got hail! Fortunately they hail was just small pellets, but there was enough to accumulate on the back deck. As the storm passed through, she noticed that the temperature dropped from 75° to 66° in just a few minutes. The wind gusted to 23 mph, and we got 1/2 inch of rain (and hail) in about 10 minutes. It was all over in less than 15 minutes, and it settled down to a light drizzle.

When my haircut was finished, I texted Brenda, who let me know that we had lost power on the boat. The marina staff was aware, so she switched over to battery mode and walked up to meet me. We wanted to try something other than Gritty’s for dinner, so we walked around in the rain for a bit. We stopped into a few shops and checked menus at the plethora of restaurants in downtown Portland. It seems that restaurants are either very busy or empty. A few with promising-looking menus looked like they were standing room only as it was raining hard enough that outdoor seating was not an option.

We eventually settled on Brickyard Hollow Brewing. As we were walking past, we saw some very good-looking and smelling pizzas, so we popped in. Brickyard is another microbrewery. We sat at the bar, and when I ordered, we noticed that the taps were pointed UP! The glasses have a hole in the bottom. They drop in a seal disk, then fill the glass from the bottom up! Very cool, and they say that because there is less air contact, the beer tastes better. It seemed to work! I tried a “flight” of their 5 oz samplers. The pizza was also very good. We got a half and half. Half meat lovers, and half ricotta and blueberry. Both halves were excellent!

By the time we had finished dinner, the rain had stopped, and we walked back to the boat. When we got back, the power was still off on the boat. I checked the breakers on the pedestal and moved the plug first to the other side, then to the next pedestal down. Still no power. I got out my tester, and there was power at both pedestals, which meant that the issue was on the boat. After a bit of investigation, we found that the ELCI Breaker that protects the boat from surges had tripped. One of the lightning hits must have done it. I reset the breaker, and everthing came back on. I’ll have to remember to check that if we don’t have power in the future.

We spent the rest of the evening sitting on the back of the boat. It never warmed back up after the storm, so it was a bit chilly!

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Day 73 – Friday, August 14th, 2026 – To: Boothbay Harbor, ME
Boothbay Harbor Marina

Our trip from Portland to Boothbay Harbor was about 40 miles. They asked us not to arrive until after 1:00, so we waited until 10:00 again to leave. We had the engines started and were just getting ready to drop our lines when we heard a call from a large yacht farther down Long Wharf announcing that they were backing out. We decided to wait until they were out before we pulled out. We saw them backing down the fairway. There were 5 crew: the captain, a spotter on the stern, one on each side, and one on the bow as they backed down between the boats. There was plenty of room and little wind behind the buildings, but they did a quick job of getting out into the harbor. Once they were clear, we checked again to make sure no one else was coming and pulled out ourselves.

It wasn’t quite as calm as it has been. We had 15 to 20 mph winds, but they were coming from onshore, so the waves were not bad, just a little lumpy. We went back out into the inner harbor, then took what is called the Diamond Island Pass, which offers a more protected route out of Portland Harbor by weaving between the islands that dot the coastline.

Once we got out into open water, the waves were a little bigger but still very tolerable. We kept to about 10 mph and weaved between the rocks and islands along Casco Bay, passing several lighthouses along the way. There was a fair amount of other boat traffic. Many sailboats, some other cruisers, and, of course, the always-present lobster boats tending their pots.

We made it to Boothbay Harbor just after 1:00. Entering the harbor was a bit confusing. There were lots of lobster buoys right in the main channel. Schooners giving tours of the harbor, a number of other boats coming and going, and lots of moored boats. Our instructions were to go to a specific marker at the main entrance to the harbor, look for the steeple of the Catholic church, and head toward it until we saw the footbridge that crosses the harbor. The marina was the dock with the little red building just before the footbridge (They noted in the instructions that there were several red buildings.) And they are across from the Boothbay Harbor Inn.

Well, the church you see as you enter is a big Methodist Church (we found out later), not the Catholic Church. (They don’t have big flashing neon signs on the steeples.) The footbridge is long; it goes all the way across the harbor. The little red house on the dock was hidden behind a boat. And the Boothbay Harbor Inn was on the opposite side of the harbor and had its own marina. Yes, they were technically across from it, but it was not the best landmark.

Fortunately, we had radioed when we came in and just headed toward the footbridge until we saw someone on a dock waving at us. We pulled in, and they tied us up quickly. As has been the case, the boat received a lot of attention for its unique design, and we had to answer lots of questions. Once we got settled, we rinsed the salt off the boat. With the wind and waves, it was covered. With that done, we walked into town to the Footbridge Brewery for our docking beer and snack.

The Footbridge Brewery was a nice little place with a unique selection of beer. With our snack out of the way, we walked around town checking out the shops. Then went back to the boat for a bit before dinner.

When we arrived, it was just after high tide. As we returned to the boat, it was just before low tide. The tide swing is just over 10 feet! When we arrived, we were even with the deck at the restaurant in front of the marina. When we returned, we were looking UNDER the restaurant, which is built on piers over the harbor. Check out the before-and-after photos below.

For dinner, we went next door to the marina to “Mine Oyster”. We could inspect the pilings from the boat before we left, and they looked fairly solid. Boothbay Harbor has become a wedding destination in recent years. The daughter of the marina owners was getting married this weekend, and we saw at least two other wedding rehearsal dinner groups at the restaurant.

After dinner, we went back to the boat and sat on the back deck to watch boats coming and going in the harbor. We didn’t last long, as once the sun went down, the wind picked up, and it got COLD! Brenda bundled up for a bit, but by 7:00 it was just 60°.

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Day 74 – Saturday, August 15th, 2026 – In: Boothbay Harbor, ME

Saturday morning, we had another first on the new boat. We had to turn on the heat! It was 54° outside, and only 64° in the boat.

In Boothbay, there is the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. We’ve heard from several people that it’s a great garden, and that they are currently having an exhibition of giant trolls! The day was predicted to be nice, warming up early, but not too hot, so we went online and bought tickets. I then pre-booked an Uber for 10:00, and we went for breakfast. Uber said they would send me the driver’s details by 9:30. 9:30 came and went, no details. At 10:00, we still didn’t have an update, and I started looking for other options. There were no Lyft drivers available, so I called the local cab company. The gardens are about 4 miles away, and they are all back roads, so we didn’t want to take the bikes.

The Cab driver called and said that he had a fare going out of town, but would check with them to see if they would mind us riding with them and being dropped off at the gardens, as it was pretty much on the way. He called back a few minutes later saying that he would be there in a few minutes and to be ready.

He pulled up with another couple in the car, and we jumped in, thanking the driver for arranging it and the other couple for allowing us to ride with them. It turns out they are also on a boat, just across the harbor from us! They had been to the gardens earlier, and when they heard that we were going there, they were happy to let us ride with them. We chatted with them on the short ride. They were just coming back from Bar Harbor and gave us a few tips on places to visit there. We told them about Brookgreen Gardens in South Carolina. We got dropped off at the gardens and arranged with the driver to pick us up around 3:00 when he got back into town.

Visiting gardens is one of the things we love to do while traveling. Each one is very different, and the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens was no different!

The gardens cover 323 acres, with 17 acres of formal cultivated gardens. The gardens are centered on specific habitat types in Maine: woodland, seacoast, farming, hardwood, and pine forest. There is a combination of paved paths, manicured gravel paths, raised boardwalks, and woodland trails. Around the main manicured parts of the garden, they operate electric trams that will give you a lift between areas.

Currently, they are hosting an exhibition of giant troll sculptures made from reclaimed wood. The Guardians of the Seeds exhibit at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens features five enormous trolls created from recycled materials by Danish artist Thomas Dambo: Roskva, Birk, Gro, Lilja, and Søren. Hidden throughout the wooded trails, each troll represents a different part of a tree and helps tell a whimsical story about nature, conservation, and protecting the forest. To see all five, you need to walk around most of the gardens. It’s a great way to get people to visit areas that aren’t as popular, or where the displays, like rhododendrons in the summer, are not in bloom! The trolls were amazing. They were built in and around trees, some 20 feet tall, some stretched out as if sitting and resting, holding up trees.

We started at the visitor center and made pretty much a full round of the gardens. The displays were beautiful and well appointed. The gardens were started in 1999 and opened to the public in 2007. They started an expansion program in 2023 and are working on a 20-year master plan to expand the displays.

While we were making the rounds of the Trolls, we made a point of going to the Landing at the far end of the gardens, as that was the only Geocache in the garden. The brochure says that they have a deep-water dock, and that you can boat in. We considered this when looking for transportation options, but it’s almost 12 miles by water from the marina. Also, when we got to the dock, we saw a 10-foot-high bridge just before it, so we would not have made it in any way.

The cache had just been placed, with the gardens’ permission, a few days before, so we were among the first to find it. It was quite unique and one of the largest physical caches we’ve found. Hanging from the end of the dock was a rope that disappeared into the water. I pulled on the rope, and after taking up the slack, it got very hard to pull. I let it go, figuring it was just an old mooring or dock line. Brenda checked the description, and it sounded like you had to pull up the rope, so I gave it another go. At the end of the rope was a full-sized lobster trap! It was complete with a plastic lobster and a waterproof cache container! Fortunately, no one was around, so I hauled it up onto the dock. We opened it and signed the logbook. Then, we pushed it back into the water with a splash!

We walked through most of the displays, then at 1:30, went to the cafe to have a snack and review the map to see what we had missed. Our taxi driver reached out to say he would be there at 2:50 to pick us up. After our snack, we visited a few sections that we had missed, then walked back toward the welcome center and visited the gift shop, before relaxing for about 20 minutes before we got picked up.

When we got back to the boat, Brenda took advantage of the large washer and dryer at the marina, and I worked on sorting through the 200+ pictures we had taken at the gardens! While her last load was drying, we walked to the footbridge over the harbor to walk across and see the sights from the other side, then went to dinner at McSeagulls, which sits right above the boat!

After dinner, we sat on the back of the boat for a little while until it got cold. One of the wedding parties was in full swing at Mine Oyster next to the boat. The windows were open, and the super loud music was vibrating the boat! Fortunately, the boat is well insulated, because the party continued until 1:30!

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Day 75 – Sunday, August 16th, 2026 – To: Camden, ME
Camden Town Docks

Sunday, we had a longer run of 53 miles to Camden, Maine. Camden asked that we not arrive until after 3:00, so we didn’t depart Boothbay until 10:00. At 10:00, we dropped our lines and carefully backed out between a larger boat behind us and one of the tour schooners. Once out in the harbor, we picked our way through the floating docks, or a better word would be rafts in the harbor, and moored boats. The rafts are used either as double-sided moorings for boats or as storage platforms for lobster traps or fishing gear.

The American Cruise Lines, American Independence, was in port, and we passed its mooring as we exited the harbor. Aside from the lobster buoys, we had to watch out for seals! They pop their heads out, look around, and pop back underwater. We’ve tried to get a photo, but they are just too fast!

As we got out into the bay, one of the large tour boats passed us, headed out to Eastern Egg Rock Island, where the puffins are. The island is right on our route to Camden, so we planned a loop of it on our way. The weather was cloudy, and we had a heavy haze. The haze looked more like fog over the water than smoke. We only had a light breeze, and the water was pretty much flat calm, only the slightest hint of rollers.

We passed a couple of lighthouses on the way to Eastern Egg Rock. A few of the lighthouses we are able to cruise close to and get a good look at. Many are either off our route or in locations that you are being warned away from, so we have to take long telephoto pictures. We were tracking the tour boat when we saw it begin circling the island. There are several shallow ledges in the area, so it was good to have its route on our chartplotter to follow. When we arrived, they were just finishing up, and we joined a couple of sailboats and a pontoon boat in the rotation around the island.

There were thousands of birds on the 7-acre island. Most were gulls and terns, but we did see a couple of puffins with their distinctive striped orange beaks, and a lone bald eagle standing watch over the island. We were told that the puffins started their migration in early August, so there aren’t that many to see right now.

The island is a bird sanctuary managed by the Audubon Society and the State of Maine. Landing on the island is not allowed except for scientific research. There are a couple of buildings on the island used by researchers and bird counters. On Google, one is marked as “The Eastern Egg Island Hilton”. If you look, you can see red-painted markers at the nesting sites.

Brenda sat on the bow taking pictures, while I navigated around the island, watching the depth, avoiding lobster buoys and other boats. After our round of the island, we continued north toward Camden, passing several lighthouses along the way.

We set our speed to reach Camden right at 3:00. As we approached, we called the Harbormaster to get directions to our dock. It’s a crowded little harbor with many dock rafts, mooring balls, a large boat builder, Lyman-Morse, and their boatyard, and 20-25 sailing schooners of various sizes. During the day, there is also a water taxi moving people from one side of the harbor to the other. Very busy!

We were given directions to our slip, which was on the dock where the water taxi drops off and picks up on the town side. We had to wait a moment while it did its stop, then we pulled in, and the dockhand tied us off. Once we were settled in, I went out and rinsed down the boat. It wasn’t very bad, as we only had light winds and waves, but we are front and center on the waterfront, and lots of people walk past going to the water taxi. I wanted it to look good! I had to be careful not to spray anyone walking by! The water taxi came in about every 10 minutes or so, and on a few runs, people had to wait for the next run because it was at capacity.

Once the boat was clean and Brenda had squeegeed off the windows, we walked up to Main Street and the Sea Dog Brewing Company. The brewery has a rooftop deck overlooking the harbor, and we thought it would be a good place to have our docking beer and a snack. By the time we’d finished our snack, it was almost 5:00, so we decided to just stay for dinner.

After dinner, we walked around the downtown area a bit, checking out a few of the shops and looking at the river and waterfall. The Megunticook River runs through Camden, then down a waterfall into the harbor. The waterfall is right in front of our dock and is very picturesque. On both sides of Main Street, the river runs beneath buildings that were once mills, which used the river’s water to power their equipment. As we crossed the Main Street bridge, we saw a footbridge just upstream with a big sign on it that read: “Ice Cream This Way.” We walked around the block to where the footbridge crossed and found the River Duck Ice Cream Stand, just in time for dessert! There was a bit of a line, so while Brenda held our place, I went and checked out the footbridge and the river below.

Once we got our ice cream, Maine Blueberry for Brenda and Black Cherry for me, we sat on the benches on the side of the footbridge and watched for the muskrats that a sign said frequent the river below in the evening. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any.

We walked back to the boat for the evening and watched the tour boat schooners coming in from their evening cruises, the water taxi going back and forth, and the dinghies from the moored boats coming and going. This is one of the busiest harbors we’ve been in! Tomorrow, rain and wind are predicted, so we are glad that we have a port day scheduled. It is supposed to clear up by afternoon, so we hope to be able to check out the rest of town.

The farther north you get in Maine, the less developed it is. There are miles and miles of rocky coast, spotted with islands. The only constant reminders of civilization are the lobster buoys, lobster boats, and ferries shuttling people and mail between the mainland and the islands.

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Weekly Recap

This week, we continued our cruise up the coast of Maine, port-hopping as we headed north. We started the week in Kennebunkport, stopped in Portland and Boothbay Harbor, and ended in Camden. In all, we cruised 124 miles this week. We’ve had great weather when traveling, rain and hail when in port! We visited Trolls in the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, and Puffins on Eastern Egg Island!

Next week, we make a stop in Castine, Maine, before we reach our goal of Bar Harbor!