Holbrook's for Lobster Rolls

Underway from Birch Point at 4:30 PM with John, Betsey and Jane aboard.  We headed downriver for Holbrook's and some lobster rolls!  Summer is rolling to an end and this is the last weekend Holbrook's will be opened!  It doesn't seem possible.  When we got to Holbrook's, there were two boats on the float.  One at each end and not room enough for us in the middle.  We backed in to the inside of the float and were able to secure Whitecap there.  We went up and ordered our dinner and ate at one of the tables at the end of the pier.  When we finished, Jim Drake came along in his Hampton with Joan, his son and grandson and a cast of thousands.  We were about finished and left soon after they arrived.

We took a spin across the New Meadows and into the Basin to look at the boats.  There were some nice sailboats anchored for the night.

We then headed for home because it was getting dark.  We enjoyed a nice sunset too. 

We had to use the running lights and mast lights for the first time this summer.

They all worked just fine.  We arrived at Birch Point at 7:00 PM.

Portland

Underway from Birch Point with BZ and WD aboard at 9:30 AM.  We headed down river with BZ at the helm and headed out the New Meadows between Flag Island and Long Ledge.  Then we headed west between Ragged Island and the White Bull.  We had started a little later than we wanted to and were hoping to see some of the lobster boat races in Portland Harbor.  After that there were supposed to be Tugboat Races!  We were traveling along nicely with no wind to speak of so we decided since we were late anyway and in no real hurry, we'd go out to Half Way Rock.  We had never done that before.

We found Half Way Rock Light to be in a state of disrepair for the most part.  The light tower looked okay, but the boat house and access ramp were not in good shape at all.  However. there must have been 25 or 30 seals swimming around out there, so the fishing must have been good.  BZ had yielded the wheel to WD because she wanted to take photos.

From Half Way Rock, we headed for Ram Island ledge light.  That is in a state of disrepair also but it is privately owned, so perhaps there is some hope for that one.

Across the bay at the mouth of Portland Harbor is the poster child lighthouse for the State of Maine, Portland Head Light.  That one still stands tall and is in pristine condition.

I was concentrating on getting a photo of Portland Head Light with the light blinking when, BAM, we hit a pot bouy!  Pieces of Styrofoam came flying out the stern of the boat and we were slowed down by the weight of the trap at the end of the line, which was not cut by our cutters!  We finally got rid of the trap, but we still had line wound around our shaft and if we sped up, we got a severe shimmy in the boat.  What to do?  We decided we would head slowly for home at 6 knots!

I did take a photo of the Portland Breakwater Light before we turned around.

We turned eastward and came along between Mackwith Island and first Little Diamond Island and then Great Diamond Island.  We crossed Hussey Sound with Long Island to our right and passed between Long Island and Little Chebeague where there is a State Park and plenty of boats were anchored enjoying the beach on Little Chebeague.

We came through the passage between Great Chebeague and Long Island and went between Hope Island and Great Chebeague.  We passed between Hope Island and Sand Island and went out into Broad Sound.  We came across Broad Sound into Potts Harbor.  All of this at 6 knots so we had plenty of time to plan what we were going to do next!  We came out of Potts Harbor into Merriconeag Sound.  We headed north to the Cribstone Bridge.  We went under the bridge at pretty near low tide, but not quite.  The depth sounder alarm went off so it would not be a good idea to go under the Cribstone at dead low water!  From here, we headed east again across the bay and up the New Meadows River.  We stopped for gas at Watson's on the way home.  We arrived at Birch Point at 4:45 PM.  A good time was had by all in spite of the rope on the propeller shaft.


WD called Jimmy Kohling and had him dive down and get the rope untangled.

Bailey Beach #2

Underway from Birch Point at 1:30 PM with Megan, Alex, Ben, BZ and WD aboard.  We headed down river for a ride and to go to Bailey's Beach for a swim.  The first time we went to Bailey's Beach, Megan was off to summer camp in Limestone, so she didn't get to go.  We proceeded down river toward Small Point.  The wind was fresh and there were a lot of sailboats out on the river.  We saw Jeff and Margie Geiger out in their catboat so we waved hello.

We also saw "All Set" out on the river doing speed trials because the Lobster Boat races are in Portland tomorrow and "All Set" is sure to be one of the faster boats at the races.

 West Point was looking particularly nice with the sun on it so I took a photo of that village as we passed by.

When we got to Small Point, were plenty of Small Point class boats out enjoying some sailboat racing in the bay.  It was like I95 on a Friday night in the middle of a hot summer there for a while and you had to pick your way across to the beach!

Alex was in the water headed for the beach before anyone else got wet!  She did some running into the water with her raft several times before she came back to see where Megan was.  Megan got in the water and they both took rafts in to the beach.  This is a good swimming beach because it drops off fast and you can anchor a large boat like ours pretty close to the beach and still have 10 or 12 feet of water under you.

The girls played on the beach and finally their father joined them.  The water was only 64 degrees or so, so no one stayed in very long and Alex's lips were blue when she finally came out of the water!

We finally pulled up the anchor and headed back to Birch Point.  We made swings through West Point behind Burnt Island and then over to Sebasco.  We went through Sebasco Harbor but didn't go through the Basin because it was getting to be time to go home.  We arrived at Birch Point at 5:00 PM.  We left Ben and the girls off at the float and WD and BZ put Whitecap to bed.  A good time was had by all.

Middle Bay Swim Cruise

We arranged to meet Ben at Birch Point at 2:00 PM for a short swim cruise.  We were the first to arrive, so we launched the dinghy and went out to get Whitecap ready.  We picked up Ben, Megan and Alex at the float and were underway at 2:15 PM.  We decided to go up into Middle Bay and drop the hook so Megan and Alex could swim.  When we arrived, the water temp was 67.9 degrees!  Alex was the first in the water.  She had the raft, so we blew up the second raft foe Megan to use.

 They tied each raft to the stern lines and had a good time trying to stand up on them.

 Ben joined them and the three of them had a good time horsing around.

Toward the time to haul up the anchor, Megan decided she wanted to jump off the cabin roof.  She got up and did the jump.  It was so much fun, she did it again with Alex!  We finally hauled up the anchor and went back downriver to Birch Point.  We saw Peter Doran giving someone a tow!  He must wear a halo!  We arrived at Birch Point at 5:00 PM.  Ben helped WD put Whitecap away.  A good time was had by all!