Robinhood Cove to Harbor Island

Day 4: July 2, 2015

It was cold last night.  We slept fairly well, but I will need to adjust my sleepwear to handle the cool air that we will be having if the forecast is spot on.  Anyway, we were up at around 5:00 and prepared a fried egg and toast breakfast.  We had brought along bacon but it is packed in a nook that I was unable to locate.

It's morning in Robinhood Cove

The water in Robinhood Cove was perfectly calm this morning.  The fog had cleared and the weather forecast was for bright sun and mild breezes so it should be a good day for sailing.  So far, we have been traveling through narrow passages between small bays so sailing is not a realistic option.  We will have more of the same this morning for the most part.

We motored over to the Robinhood Marina and took a few pictures before we cut loose from the mooring ball and headed out through Goose Rock Passage and into the Sheepscot River.  We ran into some more of the turbulent tidal waters.  At one point, we passed an area where there were huge boiling

Harbor master's shack at Robinhood Marina

whirlpools that gave the boat some jostling but not real problem.  

Once across the River, we entered another very narrow passage that at one place as probably less than 100 feet wide.  That course also has a swing bridge that opened on command.  I called them on the radio using three different channels all to no apparent avail.  As we were making a circle trying to figure out to get through, a fairly large fishing boat approached and the bridge magically began to open.  We cranked on full throttle and headed through.

We motored on to the city of Bar Harbor which is one of the favored destinations

Coming into Bar Harbor

for those coming to Maine.  Being a couple of days before the 4^th of July holiday, we opted to circle through the harbor and head back out into open water. 

We have not been particularly successful in locating places to drop an anchor.  Most lovely coves have be filled with mooring balls both private and those available for a fee.  We read somewhere that there is one cove that has mooring balls that folks tie up on and when the owner comes and demands an exorbitant fee the visitor is so stunned he pays without realizing what has hit him.  We did locate a nice cove that is available to drop the anchor located about 20 miles or so from Bar Harbor.  

Bar Harbor Waterfront

As we left Bar Harbor, we encountered a nice breeze so we set sail and headed for the open ocean.  Once out there, the swells and chop on top of the swells made it both uncomfortable and impractical to sail so we fired up the motor, dropped the sails and headed for Harbor Island.  Another challenge to sailing/motoring in these waters is the unbelievable number of lobster pots/buoys that cover these waters.  One must always be on the lookout for these potholes of the sea.  

During all of our trips, neither Janine nor I have experienced sea sickness, however, in this choppy rolley sea, neither of us was interested in eating lunch. So, my spam sandwich and Janine’s PBJ had to

Bar Harbor

wait until we dropped anchor.

We wove our way through the lobster pots in a little cove between Hall Island and Harbor Island.  We dropped anchor in an area that appeared to allow us to let out enough anchor rode (rope) to afford a good secure anchorage.  We pulled in at low tide and placed our anchor in about 4 feet of water.  And knowing that the tides in this bay would rise about 10 feet in the 6 hours or so, we needed to compensate. I let out 95 feet of rode and that allowed us to float back into a small nests of anchor floats.  One float immediately wrapped itself around our rudder.  With this boat one can raise the keel and rudder so that they project only a very short distance below the boat and as such the floats became dislodged.  But, throughout the evening and night, the boat kept swing at the end of her long line thereby kissing the floats but not

Second Wind  and Damn Dink from Harbor Island

bonding with them.

After we had our lunch snack we took Damn Dink too over to Harbor Island for some beach and trail walking.  This is a privately owned island but the owners graciously all people to come on and traipse the trails that they maintain.  They even have a guest log that they encourage you to sign while there.  This was a lush Maine island with evergreens grasses and this an amazing large grove of some type of wild rose. 

Back on Second Wind, we both rested

Roses on Harbor Island

before I grilled a nice steak that we picked up back in Bath and Janine fixed a pot of massed potatoes.  We washed if down with a cold beer.  (This may be the last cold ones we will have because the block of ice that we brought from home is almost gone.)  We may pick up ice from time to time but it is not necessary.  Again this trip, we have canned most of our perishable foods so ice is not a necessity.

After dinner, we both read before turning in at around 9:00 (which we heard referred to as “cruisers midnight.)  We both climbed in bed with warmer night clothing this time.