Pots of Trouble

Monday was a grey day but with a nice wind and no fog we decided to sail the 15 miles to Frenchboro where we had heard great things about the lobster rolls at their dockside deli.

Grey sails on a grey day

We were having a lovely time and really enjoying our first sail in what felt like ages and then the sails backed.... at first we thought it was a wind shift but luckily before we did anything else we noticed a line trailing from behind Askari to a lobster pot float that was underwater- arghhhhh! In Maine there are about three million lobster pots and we are diligent about trying to dodge them.  Its complicated because some pots have a float which is attached to a second float with a trailing loop that hangs just beneath the surface.  Sometimes these floats are colour matched to help identify which are pairs, and sometimes not. The floats also end up submerged in the strong currents so in reality if you sail here long enough you are going to pick one up.

We quickly furled the sails and Andrew managed to hook the connecting line with the boat hook, we tried to follow it but could not see the pick up buoy anywhere - it must be under the boat. Andrew hauled it with all his might and I took up the slack and managed to secure it on a cleat hoping that by making it slack the buoy might pop up but it didn't. At this point we had two choices - cut the line and sail on or get in the water. Either way someone was getting in the water at some point. We both volunteered but the captain didn't take to long to consider my offer and I was in the water before i had time to reconsider.  It was actually the safer option and after the initial shock it wasn't dangerously cold so long as I could free us in a few minutes.  If it had been more complicated then a wet suit would have been required for sure.  The pickup float had a ring on it which had caught on our rope cutter- that's ironic and an absolute fluke.  Five minutes later I was in a hot shower and we were on our way again.

We arrived at Lunt Harbour in Frenchboro  - population just 60!!! The harbour is rocky and a mooring is essential and lucky for us one of the 5 moorings belonging to the Dockside Deli were free so we grabbed it and zoomed ashore for a lobster roll - no hard feelings to the lobstermen and their pots as the lobster was delicious.

Dockside Deli

Lobster Roll tour continue

Shack at the Deli

Beautiful Frenchboro

Love this sign

We visited the museum and met a lovely lady who was born on the island - she had never had an Australian sign the guest book so was very excited. She gave us a map of hiking routes on the island. Everyone here knows everyone and everything, I love these small communities.

Our hike turned out to be amazing, through forest, over marsh land, cliff walks and rugged ocean views all without a single other hiker - wowser!

Artwork from pots washed ashore

Rocks and trees

Rugged coast

Sunset at Frenchboro

This spot made what could have been a very bad day a highlight of our time in Maine to date.

Action in Acadia

The weather was just awful on Saturday at Mount Desert Island - I think it rained all day and we did not leave the boat! It was really frustrating as we had bought our pass for Acadia National Park and planned two days of hiking but it just wasn't to be. Sunday however was just glorious and we hopped on the bus and head straight to Acadia Mountain - along with everyone else! Acadia is one of the most visited National Parks in the US and boasts rocky shorelines, mountains, forests, huge ponds, etc. We did a fantastic loop trial that took in Mount Acadia and Saint Sauveur then dropped down to see Echo Lake - the views were just stunning and the crowds thinned right out after Acadia Summit, we saw bald eagles swooping over Sommes Sound and red squirrels running all over the place.

South West Harbor

Sommes Sound

Views out the Cranberry Islands

Red Squirrel

Anchorage in Sommes Sound from Acadia Mountain

Echo Lake from up high

After a long day we treated ourselves to what is reported to be one of the best Blueberry Pies in Maine from the Quietside Cafe - it was heavenly - rich, cinnanmony with perfect crispy buttery pastry........

Blueberry pie - yuuuuuuum!

Puffin Soup on our way to MDI

The trip from mistake harbour to Mount Desert Island was just glorious, again no wind but the skies were beautifully clear and the ocean gently rolled. As we approached Petite Manan Island where we saw one puffin before we spotted another and then another and then oh my goodness they were just everywhere. When we saw our first puffin we were elated but then to keep seeing them was just incredible. It was one of the best days - just a few glimpses of our puffins!!

My best Puffin pic

Heading into Sommes Sound

We approached Mount Desert Island, passing the Cranberry Islands and motored up Sommes Sound - this incredible inlet runs right up the centre of MDI, it's the most Fjord like waterway on the East Coast of the US. It was absolutely beautiful..... 

On the way in we past by a few other harbours, amazing waterfront homes and had dolphins swim by too. The sound is very deep and the harbour at the end was, according to our guide book tight and full of moorings (not actually true), so we took a mooring at JB Williams.

Dolphins don't play much in the USA but there's lots of them!

Askari in Sommes Sound

 I went ashore to see if we could buy milk n bread and met the really friendly people at the yard including Jamie and Jock - before we knew it we were given the 'yard truck' for the evening. This thing was huge and there was no way I was driving it but Andrew took on the challenge and we explored MDI and picked up some provisions. We were super excited to spot our friends on 'Mac' in the harbour so arranged a catch up. We hadn't seen them since the BVIs even though we were in Bermuda at the same time.

A man and his truck!

Sommes Harbour

Sommes Village

We spent a night in Sommes Sound and then moved down to South West Harbour. We quickly found this was a great spot to get on the bus route, found the fabulous lobster shack called Beales and got a national park pass to go walking in the Acadia National Park.

Lobster Bait in South West Harbour

Beales Lobster - South West Harbour, MDI

Many dark hulled yachts in Maine

Mistake Island - No Mistakes in the nav coming here!

Foggy but cool exploring Mistake Island

We spent two glorious days relaxing and exploring at Roque Island and then decided we should move on for a bit more adventure. Heading out slowly through the thorofare between the islands was quite exciting; we had been through in the dinghy and were on a rising mid tide and had nothing to worry about - the lobster pots seem to mark the route through the rocks....

Doesn't look like we can get out to the ocean here!

Looking through a shallow gap - not for us

 Then we dodged our way through rocks and pots into Mistake Harbour and anchored off the island - this was a wild spot with big boulders and small outcrops protecting us from the Ocean but at high tide it looked like we were open - the tide was springs because of the full moon and around 4m range (12 feet). At first we weren't sure we'd stay but it was just so beautiful and we became comfortable with it, then the fog came down and the tide went down to expose the rocks we had managed to avoid with Andrew's very careful navigation.

Our route to Mistake Harbour - just a few rocks

Our anchorage spot

The way out to the ocean

Mouse Peak Lighthouse - Mistake Island

Mistake Island

Wild Blueberries - Yum

I bought lobstah's from the fishermen- they hadn't seen many Aussie boats round 'ere

We got 5 lobstah's for $20 - the best deal yet!

Eagle perched on the tree above our spot

The rocks in the fog - hmmm!

Sun Rise at Mistake Harbour - just wow!

Ocean breaking over the rocks

As much as we wanted to stay the fog had lifted to a beautiful day and we decided to head to Mount Desert Island for some hiking.