Week's Cruise Highlights
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The 2009 Rockland Yacht Club week-long cruise kicked off Friday evening with a cocktail party at the beautiful new home of Aleta Kilborn and Mike Sodano on the water at South Thomaston. Folks caught up on the latest news with old friends and also met some new friends.
The plan for the cruise was to gather by the Breakwater Lighthouse at 10AM Saturday and head towards Eggemoggin Reach. There was already a good breeze at 8AM, so Webfoot (Maryjane and Dave Shiverick with guests John and Ann) left around 9AM. Spirits (Jennie and Steve Pierce with guests Bill and Shan) followed around 9:30AM. Queequeg (Marcia and Larry Lapson) left Rockport Harbor around 8AM. The rest of the boats, Sea Monkey (Judy Turner and Alan MacDonald), UNC IV (Kay and Tom McKenna), Feisty (Billie and Doug Hall) and Sybarita (Alan Reed – Linda was back in Mass. working), gathered around the lighthouse at 10AM and left at the agreed upon time. The captain of Spirits was reprimanded and abused on the VHF for jumping the start.
It was a beautiful day with light to moderate winds. The flotilla was able to sail all the way to the Wooden Boat School. Webfoot and Queequeg stopped at Buck Harbor for lunch. Sybarits peeled off to go to Pulpit Harbor. Spirits was overtaken by UNC IV despite having gotten a hefty head-start. The moorings were full at the Wooden Boat School so we anchored at the edge of the moorings. Cocktails were aboard Spirits.
Sunday morning the boats headed back out to The Reach and around Naskeag and Flye Points to head up Blue Hill Bay to the Kollegewidgwok Yacht Club. We had to motor in the still water around the points, but then the wind started to fill in and we were able to sail to Blue Hill. Most of the crews dinghied into town after getting settled onto moorings, but the crew of Spirits walked to town. We all met up serendipitously at the ice cream shop! Cocktails were aboard UNC IV.
Monday we left Blue Hill for Northeast Harbor. The winds were very light and variable and there was fog to the south. Every once in a while it would appear that the wind was going to pick up and our sails would be unfurled, only to have the wind die back and cause us to furl the sails again. We never caught up to the fog, so the visibility was good. Webfoot went around the backside of Bartlett Island for a more scenic route. After we rounded Bass Harbor Bar the wind was more consistent and we were able to sail most of the rest of the way to Northeast Harbor. We arrived at the harbor in time to find a place for all of the boats at either a float or a mooring. Cocktails were on Feisty and on their float which they shared with Webfoot.
Tuesday, most crews took advantage of the free buses to go to Bar Harbor for some shopping, lunch at the Thirsty Whale and ice cream at the Rexall. On our return to Northeast Harbor we were pleasantly surprised to find Altair (Julie and Rick Palm) on the float with Spirits. Larry and Marcia of Queequeg attended a concert Tuesday evening while the sixteen others went to the newly rebuilt (after last summer’s fire) Colonel’s Restaurant for some great pizza and other goodies. Tom and Kay of UNC IV left a little early to also attend a concert.
Wednesday morning Spirits, Sea Monkey and Webfoot left for Frenchboro. Webfoot actually left early because they had to make a stop at Southwest Harbor to pick up a part for their malfunctioning head. Unfortunately for them and their guests, they discovered on their arrival at Southwest Harbor that the part there was the wrong one. Feisty and UNC IV stayed in Northeast Harbor and Queequeg left early to head back. Altair accompanied Spirits and Sea Monkey out of Northeast Harbor and through Western Way. They then made a turn to the west to head to Blue Hill while the other two boats continued on their way to Frenchboro with Webfoot just a short way behind.
Spirits, Sea Monkey and Webfoot grabbed moorings at Frenchboro for a couple of hours and went to shore for a walk and a stop at Lunt’s Dockside Deli. Several people tried out the famous lobster rolls at the deli. The crew of Spirits visited the Frenchboro Museum which is in the same building as the library. There are a wide variety of antiquities in the museum, as well as some nice gifts. Amongst the items on display at the museum was a huge, four million year old whale bone that was dredged out of the harbor.
The general concensus was that we would have liked to stay overnight at Frenchboro and explore some of the trails, but we had already made plans to go on to Burnt Coat Harbor at Swan’s Island and we had other boats that thought they might catch up to us there. Therefore, we continued on to Swan’s Island and anchored at the edge of the mooring field. It was another beautiful day, so some chose to go swimming at the quarry on Swan’s Island. Cocktails were on Webfoot.
Thursday was still with patchy fog. Webfoot left early to head to Perry Creek so that they could get back to Rockland Friday. Sea Monkey and Spirits motored all the way to Laundry Cove at Isle au Haut in light fog. Kemo Sabe (Helen and John Kuhl) were already there when we arrived. The three crews went to shore and stopped at the store for ice cream. We also hiked up the trail to Mt. Champlain and got a view of the multitude of islands in Merchant’s Row. Cocktails were on Sea Monkey.
Friday morning we dinghied over to Flake Island for some exploring. We got a closer look at the many and varied wild flowers on the small island. We then had a wonderful sail across East Penobscot Bay and motored up the circuitous route into Seal Bay. We timed it just right – the previous night’s visitors were just leaving and we were the first of the new bunch. We were joined a short time later by Sybarita (Linda and Alan Reed) who had come over from Perry Creek where they spent the previous evening with Webfoot. We all went over to Hay Island for some more exploring. Cocktails were aboard Sybarita.
Saturday morning brought out the Muffn Flag on Spirits. Jennie made fresh muffins and Syrian farina and folks brought their coffees over for a nice morning get-together with lots of laughs due to the very funny stories from various crews. After brunch, we headed out and motored through the thoroughfare. Once out of the thoroughfare, we were able to have another wonderful sail on yet another beautiful day. Spirits and Sea Monkey headed for Rockland, Kemo Sabe for Rockport and Sybarita for Camden (to celebrate their 22nd anniversary with a fine dinner out).
The 2009 Rockland Yacht Club cruise was fabulous, with extraordinarily good weather and an ever-changing bunch of wonderful people. We’d like to thank Mike and Aleta for hosting the kick-off party and also all the folks who joined the cruise and made it a week to remember.
Steve and Jennie Pierce