August 20 — Day 43 — Frenchboro to Benjamin River — 19 NM

 We left Frenchboro with the Ferry taking people off the island.  After he passed us we put up main and small jib with wind in the teens from our side. Well a bit too much wind so I put a reef in the Main. We sailed almost the whole way without the engine, except when passing through Casco Passage which took us from Blue Hill Bay west into Jericho Bay. We put in two tacks to get close to Casco Passage but we could not be tacking through that passage so furled the jib and used the diesel until we were through it. After crossing Jericho, we entered Eggemoggin Reach, the northernmost internal E-W passage in the area. It is wide and straight and divides the islands to its south, mainly Deer Island, from the US mainland to its north. John Steinbeck in his last book, “Travels with Charley”, about a road trip around the US in a pickup converted into a camper with his standard French Poodle, Charley, described his visit to Deer Island, crossing the suspension bridge that we sail under each time. In the Reach the wind dropped to less than ten knots and our speed was no longer more than seven knots, but half that. Lene likes to go that speed. Serenity. The Reach is a favorite with us because of Bucks Harbor at its western end, but a main attraction there is its restaurant, which was closed on Sunday. But the Cruising Guide mentioned Benjamin River, a big fifty foot deep hole cut into the north side of The Reach, guarded by a significant shoal that blocks off most of the entrance, except at the extreme right in this photo.

It is rimmed by moorings near its edges, where the water is less deep. With our 300 feet of chain, we could have anchored with 150 feet of chain in the vacant center with plenty of swing room. But I did not think of that (nor did the Cruising Guide suggest it) until the morning. We took a rental mooring. The only attraction ashore is a market 2.6 miles away and we did not relish a round trip hike of that duration so we did not even lower the dink.

Our neighbor was Grayling, a beautifully restored former sardine transporter. In the morning the mooring rental operator came by to collect his fee. We had been unable to raise him on Sunday.