Cradle Cove to Camden

Day 23:  July 21, 2015

We again awoke to fog.  It is amazing, when it is foggy, everything feels and is damp.  Even inside of the cabin, the clothes we took off last night feel moist if we wear them a second day.  Sausage gravy on toast started our day.  I made sure that I had enough of those staples before we left home.

The fog lifted a bit by about 9:00 so we pulled the anchor and motored on glassy

Our neighbor in Cradle Cove anchorage

waters out of Cradle Cove.  We traveled south through Gilkey Harbor which really is a passage between Seven Hundred Acre Island and Islesboro.  It is a really neat area with huge homes lining the shore on both sides. 

We had no wind so we motored all of the way into Camden Harbor.  The harbor is packed with boats of all shapes and sizes.  We headed for a small shallow cove located on the north end of Camden Harbor.  

An old beauty in Gilkey Harbor

In the cove, Sherman Cove, they were holding a sailing school for little kids.  The kids were handling the Optimist Dinghy with amazing skill.  This little 8 foot pram was designed for children and the racing classes allow kids up to 15 years of age.  The number of Optimist Dinghies around the world is huge.  In fact, it is the largest class of children’s boats in the world.  Later in the afternoon, an older group of kids came out to sail and, although they were more accomplished, they were

Kids in Optimist Dinghies.  Note the high sail number

also less disciplined and were having a lot more fun that I assume the instructors were hoping for.

After our Spam and Tuna lunch, we crawled into Dink and headed for the town of Camden.  We were amazed by the number of boats that are packed into the narrow inner harbor.  The boats ranged in size from small fishing boats to 6 schooners and at least one motor yacht that had to be 125 feet in length.

Megunticook waterfall.  The photo doesn't do it justice

The dinghy dock was located at the very head of the cove.  And pouring into the harbor at that point is a beautiful waterfall.  The Megunticook River cascades out from under what looked like a hotel.  The local literature explains that it is the only waterfall on the coast of Maine close enough to the sea that salt water does not flow up the river with the tide; the only river that contains fresh water all the way to the sea.

Schooner Heritage on which we sailed in 1996

We stopped at the Chamber of Commerce to get some maps and started our walking tour.  We realized that we had forgotten to take enough money for dinner so after a brief stop

The schooner Mary Day moored in Camden

at an interesting grocery store described in the tour guide book as an “upscale market,” we headed back to the dinghy and back to the boat.  On the way, it began to drizzle so we decided to postpone our tour of Camden until tomorrow.

We spent the rest of the dreary afternoon reading and napping.  In our shopping experience today, we purchased a steak so I broke out the grill and we enjoyed steak and garlic mashed potatoes as our main entrée.  Our hors d’oeuvres for the evening was a new brand of Kipper Snacks on crackers and our beverage was a red zinfandel. 

It has been a dreary day and the warm down comforter on our bed was welcoming.