Belfast to Cradle Cove on Islesboro Island

Racing rowboat

Day 22: July 20, 2015

We went to bed in a rocking boat but sleeping came easily and by morning, the bay was again calm.  Pancakes for our first meal.  I had left my soap dish in the shower last evening so I took Dink back to the dock to retrieve it.

On the way, I was passed by a racing rowing boat manned by 4 oarsmen and one coxswain.  These are long narrow boats with seats and oar locks for 6 to row.  I got some pictures of the boat tied to the dock. 

Marilee under sail  photo from website

At the dock was tied a beautiful classic sloop called Marilee. I talked to one of the guys and he said that it was a NY40 class boat designed by N.G. Hereshoff.  It was launched in 1926 and was one of a number these boats that were raced in the New York Yacht Club.  This one is in marvelous shape.  It is one of only 4 that are still around. “Seventy-five years after the last true season of NY40 class racing, two forties, MARILEE and RUGOSA, tied for first overall at the Americas Cup

Jubilee Regatta in Cowes, England.”  I borrowed several photos from the Marilee website:  http://www.ny40marilee.com/

Janine has commented a number times that it is amazing how many beautiful vintage boats we see up here.  We have yet to see one cigarette boat!

The fog finally lifted after we ate lunch.  Janine just ran out of her Smucker’s “Uncrustables” so she is now into her

emergency tuna packs.  I do have enough Spam to insure that I will make it to the end of the trip.  We started out of the harbor and ran into more fog with a visibility of about ¼ mile, so with our GPS, I felt confident that I could find our course and we could see oncoming boats. We motored for about a mile before we broke out of this last bank of fog.

At the same time, we also picked up a nice breeze, but it was coming directly

at our bow.  Our destination was only about 10 miles away so we began beating up wind.  Obviously this is a slow way to get from point A to point B but we had the time and the sailing was exhilarating.  The Penobscot River here is 2 to 3 miles wide here so we were able to take long tacks. 

We arrived at our destination, a quiet cove, Cradle Cove, on Seven Hundred Acres Island.  There were already several boats anchored and a number of smaller boats on mooring

balls, but we were able to sneak past them to the shallow waters near the back and drop our hook.  As virtually every other place we had anchored, this is a beautiful place.

We buttoned up the boat, prepared a macaroni and cheese with hamburger dinner and read until bed time.  

This piece of art disappears when the tide comes in.