Boothbay, Tenants Harbor, & Rockland

This is the fourth summer we have spent in Maine. Each seems to have a unique character. This year we have generally had rather warm weather with fast moving weather systems giving us some great sailing days as well as some impressive storms.

One of the best days sailing has been from Snow Island past Cape Small to Boothbay Harbor. We had a broad reach all the way with about 10-15 kits of wind and bright sunny skies. Those of you who are cruisers will recognize how unusual it was since we had the engine turned off almost all the way and still made the 25 miles in 5 hours.

Boothbay Harbor (Photo 1, to left) is a classic Maine "tourist attraction" and many local sailors avoid it. But, it does have a certain charm, as well as a nice marina with reasonably priced moorings, laundry and shower facilities. We also have two amateur radio friends who live there that make the visits especially enjoyable.





We made a short run to East Boothbay on the Damariscotta River, and then another very pleasant long run past Pemaquid Point, across Muscongus Bay, past Port Clyde to Tenants Harbor.

(Photo 2, Fisherman's Island Light on passage between Boothbay and East Boothbay.)








(Photo 3, Marshall Point Light at Port Clyde.)












A highlight of this trip was a visit to Eastern Egg Rock (a small rocky island). This is a preserve in Muscongus Bay where many seabirds nest especially the Atlantic Puffins. These were extirpated in the US many years ago, but have been reintroduced at Eastern Egg Rock. We found large numbers of them. The closest were swimming only a 20-30 feet from the boat.
(Photo 4, Puffins at Eastern Egg Rock.)






I think Tenants is one of the prettier harbors in Maine. The South island Light at the entrance is especially picturesque (Photo 5). It is the subject of paintings by Jamie Wyeth and is now owned by him.









The harbor is small with many lobster boats as well as yachts. White clapboard houses and inns overlook the harbor (Photo 6).
The second night we were there a very strong storm system came through, probably the most intense we have seen in Maine. Over 6" of rain were reported, winds were over 30kts and the thunder and lightning were virtually continuous from about 6:30 to 9:30 pm. We were glad to be on a good mooring in a well protected harbor.


But, the next day was mostly sunny with a NW breeze as we sailed up the Muscle Ridge Channel and around Owls Head into Rockland Harbor (Photo 7, Owls Head Light).









As we approached Rockland we found ourselves among a fleet of Friendship sloops racing to a rendezvous in Rockland (Photo 8). These are classic gaff rigged sloops originally developed around Friendship, ME. The wind was 20-25 kits so they were not carrying topsails but were still beautiful to see sailing.












Photo 9, Racing a squall into the harbor past the Rockland Breakwater Light.













Later in the afternoon the Friendship sloops were all moored at the Rockland Public Landing, for the 50th annual "Friendship Sloop Days" (Photo 10).

(Tropicbird is out on one of the moorings in the harbor beyond, but there is also a dinghy dock here where we come in.)