August 3 and 4 -- Camden to Rockport and then to North Haven, 5 and 11 Miles

In Camden, I had to wait after flooding the dinghy engine and did so with the cover off. I put my wallet in the upside down engine cover and in reattaching the cover, threw the wallet in the water. Amazingly, in floated for the minute it took me to realize my idiocy and retrieve the wallet.
Then to the dock for water, gas for the dink, garbage and engine oil and filters.
The five miles to Rockport were retrogression: heretofore we have zigged and zagged but never went backwards. We set the Genoa inside Camden Harbor, enjoying a port close reach in SW wind. But once out of the harbor the winds abated and came from the south so we motored almost all of the five miles. We even towed the dink instead of lifting her for the five miles.
Rockport is a center for wooden boat fans and was rather empty because so many of them were out of town, engaged in a three day destination regatta in Eggermogin Reach.
For dinner we went to the same place we always go in Rockport: 18 Central Oyster Bar and Grill. The food, is always different and was up to their high standards. Expensive except by NYC standards. The restaurant was actually the reason we went to Rockport. The mooring fee will be mailed to Rockport Marine by check, because the man on duty there Sunday morning did not know the price!
In Rockport we were hailed by the crew of s/v "Twig," another Saga 43, this one formerly named "Nottus" (Sutton spelled backwards) and two years younger than ILENE. We had blueberry sweet potato pancakes again, but for the rest of the cruise, the sweet potato type will be off the menu because we are out of it. This was the first batch with the more delicious tiny wild Maine blueberries.
The crew of Twig are Kai, Emily and Reverie, and no, Reverie is not a cat, but their daughter, who was celebrating her seventh birthday. She will be home schooled for the first grade this year, their third of living aboard without a home base, which was in Minneapolis.

After breakfast we did lift the dink for the sail to North Haven, a tiny town on North Haven Island on th "Fox Island Thoroughfare".  North Haven Island, with Vinal Haven Island to its south, comprise the Fox Islands. Why not the Haven Islands, one might ask. The Fox Islands, collectively, comprise one of the big land masses that separate Eastern  and Western Penobscot Bays.
We finally got a chance to use the new weight in the keel. We sailed half of the distance, ESE across western Penobscot Bay in up to 24 knots of apparent wind about 60 degrees of the starboard bow under reefed main and small jib. ILENE stood up well, averaging 6.5 knots. Then heavy fog caused us to furl the headsail and eventually the reefed main as well. Here we are passing rocks called Bears Ears after most of the fog had lifted.

We took a mooring at J.O. Brown's boatyard, though we could easily have anchored in one of the many nearby sheltered bays. We did so to pick up some cat things that had been shipped to Brown's for us. Brown's has an old fashioned musty authentic wooden feel. We did not know that the hot showers, in a rather decrepit shower house, were $5 per person. Our boat is center right off from the local boat club which somehow is called the Casino, and with the four round trips a day ferry to Rockland at its dock.
 And we discovered that the community theater was putting on a play called "On Island"--  its world premier in fact. It was a sort of "Our Town" of three generations of life on a Maine Island -- a specific island, North Haven. We got on the wait list and when it was exhaused, I got to see the show sitting on the steps. Lots of songs, local talent, and a ton of humor. I understood some of the humor, the rest of it too local, but sellout crowd roared. A large and enthusiastic cast. And the sets were slides of scenes of the town, which I recognized because we had walked around before. The action involved the Brown family and their yard, though it was renamed the Snow family. A very sweet performance.