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One Week in Maine: Day 4

The Wooden Boat Magazine harbor was really a pretty cool place to wake up in the morning. As could be expected, I'd been a little leery of tying up near so many other boats. But once again, Fred was right. This classic cat-rigged sailing dinghy (?), in the early morning fog, was a sight to behold.

Just a view of my humble accommodations, forward of the Master Stateroom/Galley/Saloon/etc.

Heading north-west along the famous Eggemoggin Reach. Unfortunately, no wind combined with considerable fog prevented us from doing any "reaching" (sailing perpendicular to the wind, the fastest and most exciting direction), despite the prevailing 0 MPH south-west wind. The bridge pictured connects Deer Isle to Maine proper. Right near here I took a little swim. The water temperature (57 degrees?) can best be described as "extremely refreshing". Actually, it just wasn't that bad. There's an interesting phenomenon that occurs when you jump off a boat, far from shore. Surprisingly enough, temperature becomes only the second most important thing in your life, after the more pressing matter of continuing to breath. And I noticed this a week later, back in Vermont: Wading into the waters of Lake Champlain was a cold challenge. But jumping from the boat in the middle of the lake, into deeper colder water, felt much warmer.

Here we are, tied up at the town dock in Castine. Every coastal town seems to have a town dock, for visitors like us. And there's usually a harbor master not far away, ready to give help and make sure the rules are obeyed. In this case, the harbor master told us about the giant vessel berthed near us, and suggested places to moor for the night. Very cool. The huge ship above, the State of Maine, is actually a training ship, operated by the Maine Maritime Academy. Apparently the ship sails once a year for a months-long journey around the world, training merchant seamen.

We provisioned at the local store, then left our groceries with the clerk and walked the town. The store was great, and a nice compromise between the old and the new. In a modern building (unlike the tiny package store/cafe in this picture, occupying the corner of a great old building with only one side restored), and serving gasoline as well as groceries, it was still nonetheless a country store. This is a passion of mine, visiting general stores, which still thrive in areas too small for ravenous Wal-Marts and chain supermarkets. History abounds here. Maine seems to have been a stronghold of the loyalists during the Revolutionary War, and when the revolutionaries won, several buildings in town were actually picked up and moved farther north-east along the coast to Canada. It's interesting to think how similar the coast of Maine must be to those of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and even Newfoundland. Though I've never really been to that part of Canada, I'll bet that they've more in common with Maine than with Ontario or Quebec.

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