First, a sad note. I received a call from Nick's niece that he
had passed away. Gone to "Fiddler's Green" as we sailors say. Several
of us Harlemites and former Harlemites have taken him out from his nursing home
for a day of fall sailing the past few years. When I visited him this spring
the deterioration caused by his dementia was materially advanced. I notified
his friends and the Club of the death. Pat has volunteered his "Panacea" to honor Nick's wish to have his ashes scattered in Long Island Sound. RIP old salt, you
will be missed.
Lots of indecision about where to go today. First thought had
been Islesford on Little Cranberry Island. Next to its ferry dock is a good
restaurant where we dined one year in total fog. They let us stay overnight at
their dock, for free with very little business that night. On the other hand, those
lobsters back at Lunt's Deli in Frenchboro on Long Island also beckoned, until
we learned that they are closed on Sundays. But Lene learned that the Acadia
Repertory Theater in Somesville had a matinee at two and that did it.
After showering ashore in North East Harbor (very clean shower
room, strong stream of nice hot water, what more can one ask for) we departed
at 11, the marina's deadline (though it can be extended a bit with notice). For
such a short and low wind day we towed the dink and raised no sails. We motored
through very thick fields of lobster floats (inland, out of the ocean currents,
the lobster men usually use only one float per trap, making it easier to dodge the
floats than when they are paired) but trying to dodge through this is ridiculous!
We passed Valley Cove, where we love to anchor
and hike to the top of the hill.
Somes Harbor is a long Cove extending further north at the north
end of the fjord called Somes Sound. It is close to the geographic center of
Mt. Desert Island and extremely protected: you have to go through the Western
Way, which will block off most ocean waves, around an island, through the fjord
and finally through a relatively narrow but well marked and deep channel. No
wonder Mr. Somes chose this lovely protected spot for the first settlement on MDI back in
the 1600s, according to the bronze plaque at the dinghy dock.
You can see the chanel from the Harbor to the Sound - the gap just to the left of the four sailboats.
Here is another view of it when we were headed out.
The cruising guides say that you can take a vacant private
mooring, and we did so after an uneventful hour underway. The thespian offering
was Inge's "Bus Stop", which we had never seen. One could call it a
trite honeyed story, but it was sweet, with lots of humor and very well acted.
About passengers on a bus in the midwest in the 1950s who get trapped in a diner by a
blizzard. It occurred to me that the banter between its two cowboy characters may have
been the inspiration for Garrison Keilor's recurring bit on Prarie Home
Companion, "The Lives of the Cowboys." We overshot the walk back along the main
road and had to back track to find the unpaved lane leading to the dinghy dock.
Many empty mooring balls.
Once aboard, while I was hauling up our dink, two men rowed a
dink nearby, politely hailed me and advised that while we were welcome to stay
on vacant moorings, the one we had chosen, numbered 305, was designed for 30
foot boats and we might be more comfortable, with the assurance that we would
not swing into a neighbor, if we moved to a nearby mooring with a 400 number on
it, which we did.
Delicious simple home cooked dinner and an early bedtime.
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