July 14 -- Boothbay Harbor to Rockport, Maine

41.6 miles, and we had favorable tide the whole way, 8:30 to 3:30, but no wind. So we motored, trying and getting a half knot extra speed from the genoa for about an hour. The days will come when we will want less wind but there has been too little of it for quite a while. With too much wind we can reef; with no wind we have to motor. We entered Penobscot Bay when we passed White Head Light (presumably the white rocks at this head land gave it its name), and after passing through Muscle Ridge Channel (between the mainland and a series of off shore islands and shoals) we passed

Owls head Light when exiting Owls Head Sound, five miles from Rockport, Maine, which we crossed slowly using genoa again.

Here is the harbor, a crevice, open to the south, from the town which is high above, at its narrow end.

 

After using the Dock Master's shower ($ 1.00) we walked up the hill to look over the town and pick a dinner place. The land part of the day was more interesting than the passage. We had expected nothing and found a small crowd. What's going on? 

A modern dance performance (eighth annual) by Women's Works at the quaint Rockport Opera House.  A five PM curtain, only $15 per ticket. And it was a terrific performance by thirteen women, some young and some much older than most dancers; some with great bodies and some not having the typical dancer's lithe body. Nineteen pieces, a few of them poetry readings. (Lene introduced me to the modern dance back in the late 90's and we used to subscribe to the Joyce Theater in Chelsea until they were rude to us and refused to even respond to my polite letter offering to work with them to help them craft policies that would eliminate such unpleasantness. I go to several performances each year at the Judson Memorial Church at Washington Square Park where experimental work is performed for donations.) One great thing about today's program was the variety of dances. They ranged from the comic to the tragic, and from dances with harsh mechanical moves to lyric flowing graceful ones.  One had a great singer and two male instrumentalists. (If your politics are right wing, you would either have learned something or hated the show.) What a pleasant surprise for us; we had expected nothing.

Then came dinner at Shepherd's Pie. Fine innovative dining at moderate prices. As appetizers we shared the most delicious side orders of spinach with green curry and coconut milk, and of broccoli rabe with tomatoes, olives feta and mint. These dishes blew us away we told Nick, our friendly server, who manages the place. The chef is not afraid to use spices and we each had a chicken dish. I even had desert, a rare occasion, so we could prolong our pleasure. Ilene joked that we should take a lay day here so we could go back for another dinner.

While dinking back to the boat we saw many beauties in this harbor, not the least of which is this wooden gem. 

The book says this harbor is rolly when the wind is from the south, but tonight the sea was glassy.

WARNING: please do not be alarmed if I fail to post for a few days; it does not mean that we are in trouble, but only that we have entered an area where internet may be less available.