A day in Castine

Day 18: July 16, 2015

The wind died down after dark so our anchorage became glassy again which leads to a great night’s sleep.  It was cold in the cabin when we awoke.  Our thermometer said 54 degrees.  Survival in that frigid state demanded that the coffee be on the burner before we left the blankets.  That being impossible, I got up and lit the stove.

We had bacon, eggs and toast for our first meal of the day.  Our plan was to head over to the village of Castine and pick up a few supplies and tour this historic little town.

We headed out at about 9:00 and although the sun was shining brightly, the air

The Pentagoet Inn, where the Maritime Academy originated

was still cold so we were layered up with sweaters and windbreakers.  The trip was a bit over a mile and we were bumping along in a light chop in the Dink into which waves periodically splashed to remind us that the waters of northern Maine are still really cold.

We pulled up to the town dock where we were offered a 2 hour free stay.  Their dinghy dock is located just behind where the L’Hermione had been moored two days ago.  She was scheduled to leave Castine at 6:00am this morning, however, for some reason, she left at 9:00 last evening.  At that time, we heard 10 cannon blasts and I commented that maybe she was leaving but we discussed the fact that they would probably not leave in the dark.  Wrong!  

There was ample evidence that festivities had continued into late last night.  The cleanup crews were hard at work and the tent rental folks were disassembling their products.  We were amazed at the number of stands that were obviously established for this gala event. There were still some folks milling around many of whom appeared to be preparing to leave.

Janine picked up a map of the town that showed historic sites so we began walking.  At one point, I was taking a picture of a sign depicting some historic event when a lady came along and struck up a conversation.  She was a summer resident of the house behind the sign that I was photographing.  That

The boathouse summer residence

house was an old barn/stable for an estate that was located on the next property.  Her family was in the process of remodeling the stable into another home/cottage for her grown children. On the water’s edge was a really neat boat house that she and her husband had converted into their summer home.  We spent quite a bit of time talking about the history of the town and her home.

Many of the homes along the waterfront were restored old 17th and 18th century Georgian and Federal dwellings, all in perfect repair and painted white with beautiful flowers and landscaping.

As we continued our walk, we passed a number of historic signs that depicted military happenings on this peninsula.  It seems that Castine was first inhabited by Europeans in the early 1600s.  From then on, the area changed hands regularly between the French and English and once, for a few days the Dutch.  “Something like 16 different fortifications were built on the peninsula, of which Fort George and Fort Madison are still recognizable today.” (The quote from our tour guide

book.)

In 1779, there was an incident between the new American Republic and the British who had landed in Castine earlier that year.  According to our guide book, “… the republic suffered its worst defeat until Pearl Harbor, 162 years later.  … we lost 17 armed vessels, 24 transports, 474 men to a smaller British force”  An interesting discussion of this expedition can be found at http://penobscot1779.tripod.com/PE%20history.htm

Fort Madison, 1808

Castine is home of the Maine Maritime Academy, a prestigious training school for professional seamen.  This co-educational institution offers 18 different degrees ranging from associate, to master’s degrees in engineering, business, science and education.  Their student body is made up of approximately 950 students.  The have several training vessels including a decommissioned Naval fast Oceanographic Research Vessel.  The State of Maine is 450 feet long, 72 feet wide and draws 30 feet of water.  They also have the training vessel, Bowdoin, an 88

foot long schooner built back in 1921 in Boothbay Harbor.  She has a white oak hull and white pine deck.  Her masts are made of douglas fir.  We talked with a young man who was crewing on her.  He is a student at the Academy working toward a BS degree in small vessel operations which will prepare him for a career aboard tugs and barges, ferries, passenger vessels, tall ships, and mega-yachts.

 

And another shot of the boat house. 

Back at the town dock, we stopped at a little carryout for a lobster roll before returning to Dink and our trip back to Second Wind.  

We spent the remainder of the afternoon lounging around and reading on the boat.  It was another beautiful Maine day.  The sun is hot and burning. When in the shade, you feel the cool 70 degree temperatures.  

For dinner we prepared a chicken fettuccini dish.   We weren’t especially hungry so the only other item on our menu was the last two small pieces of carrot cake.

More reading and bed as per usual.