Day Two : Into Penobscot Bay

Off in the north, Stonington sparkled like a brightly painted city of the sea. Jennifer and I were easily able to stow our sleeping bags and tent into the front hold of the Wayfarer. The only other item is one emergency gallon of water that stays forward and out of the way. To launch Juliet, we simply rig the sails and rudder, and lightly step aboard, shoving off at the last second. Immediately, the wind takes over from momentum. We had a straight shot northwest to the Deer Isle Thoroughfare from Rock Island. There was one minor shoal along the route, which I could see beneath the waves, but it was no threat. We shared the coffee left in Thermos as we enjoyed the view. Nothing beats mornings in the boat. In the channel is an island with a house designed to look like a lighthouse. It is connected by a bar to Crotch, making the south passage unnavigable. However, it made a nice shortcut due to the north wind. Jennifer was at the ready for the centerboard and we slid over the bar with no draft to spare. Juliet (the Wayfarer) is good about finding her way through a tight squeeze. Jennifer looked around at all the industrial boats and equipment related to the Crotch Island Mine, which is still in operation. Billings Marine makes a handy stop for sailors and other boaters as one heads from Stonington toward Penobscot Bay. Shortly we left the protected Thoroughfare and headed into Penobscot Bay, intending to work our way up the west side of Deer Isle toward home waters.

Morning In Stonington Harbor

In the morning the boat was just fine, resting high on the sandy beach at the end of her anchor line.
Lucas' wife, Peg said that Lucas had to arise in the middle of the night to reset the tents and saw that my boat appeared to be riding her anchor just fine. He also reported being surprised that was the case because of the high winds and waves. Maybe he thought I was a landlubber, but I can set an anchor if need be. It was a beautiful morning and Jennifer slept in while I messed with the boat cleaning her out and schlepping gear around. Juliet had a few gallons of water in her; I don't know why. Breakfast was the coffee from the convenience store, yogurt and bananas. Lucas really slept in, because by the time we were ready to leave the beach, he was nowhere to be seen.

A night on Rock Island

We sat together with Lucas and Peg, chatting about the waters of Maine, and the darkness grew. Lucas owns one of the many workboats in the harbor, and even brought gear out to the island with the big boat, then moored it and returned in his motor skiff. His boat lay near the high tide line on a big Danforth. Eventually, while camping and in the dark, bed calls out. Jennifer and I set up the tent among spruce trees with sleeping pads and inexpensive sleeping bags, dragged our limited gear into the tent and fell asleep.
I never sleep all that well the first night of camping, but the wind in the trees persuaded me to stay in the tent, even though I should have been alarmed about the little anchor and Juliet. At four o'clock I finally ventured out for the usual reason, as well as to see whether my boat was even there.

Rock Island and Rest for the Weary

Before Departing Deer Isle and Fisherman's Friend, I walked to the Harbor Mart for a few things. Top of the list: a Thermos of hot coffee; next, yogurt and bananas, plus a bag of pretzels and my all-time favorite convenience store purchase: Munchos. The late afternoon in Stonington left us with a few choices from the MITA book. Rock Island seemed the most obvious. I felt no rush, but a view of the harbor proves the sun was dropping fast.



To the east of Crotch Island lay little Rock Island. I'm pretty sure the name is a common island name in Maine, like Sheep, Long, Mark, and Harbor Islands. But it was there for us with a broad, sandy beach on her north side. The sun got away so fast that we were a bit disappointed to see numerous tents on the grassy shoreline, but nevermind. We had brought along a tent and sleeping bags and were not plannng on sleeping in the boat, as we has in trips to Castine, Vinalhaven and Bass Harbor. Lucas, a local lobsterman, greeted us as we hit the beach and asked if we needed help, but the beach was sandy and wide and we easily disembarked with our gear, glad to have decided on a final stop. I had really thought we were on a daysail, so I had made a silly error of not bringing Juliet's big Danforth, I only had the tiny lunch grappling hook. After the boat was cleaned ourt and we had all the gear, I looked at the beach and guessed it was wide enough for Juliet to anchor there for high tide (around 12:30 AM) and be afloat overnight. The grappling hook was buried in a hole in the middle of the beach and covered with an extra eight inches of sand above the natural grade. I washed off my hands and pretty well hoped for the best overnight. The lights of Stonington sparkled in the water.

Stonington Harbor for Dinner

It wasn't a tough decision to sail to the beautiful harbor in Stonington. There is a fine seafood restaurant, Fisherman's Friend that is adjacent to the dinghy dock. Of course as we came around the southeast side of Deer Isle, the wind was from Stonington, but no matter. We ambled around the Stonington Archipelago to find better wind and encountered another small sailboat that was heading toward the north. As we neared Stonington, we saw the powerful workboats that the lobstermen use. On into the harbor, we saw the handy town dock, so we dropped sails and tied up. Many smaller rowing and motor dinghies also use the dock, but there is always room for one more.
Jennifer and I gratefully walked ashore and made a beeline to the restaurant, where we got a table and then took advantage of the head. I don't really want to talk about the head on the boat, but it obeys the maxim "less is more." The meal was good, I had excellent haddock with a baked potato and beer, Jennifer had alfredo pasta, which we both liked.

Juliet, our sailboat

Juliet is a sixteen-foot Wayfarer sailing dinghy. She has two large waterproof compartments and seats two very comfortably. We purchased her on a trailer for $1000 from Jean Wheeler of Deer Isle. Mostly fiberglass, she has a large marconi sloop rig, and draws only 8 inches with her centerboard up. One drawback is the lack of back support, but you can beach her on sand or gravel and get out to stretch and walk around. She is a breeze to launch and only slightly more trouble to recover. Her sail/hull number is W2414 which puts her in the '73-'74 range. I have grown to appreciate her sturdy construction and light weight. She obeys the adage "less is more".

Jericho Bay and Decisiontime

So we set off from Torrey not knowing our destination, but it seemed to me we could get out into Jericho Bay and look around for a while. Jennifer volunteered that she could eat a meal. Crackers and cheese, GORP, beer and screwdrivers were about our entire larder, so it had to be some kind of restaurant. Stonington would definitely put us out of range to get back to the old ferry landing, so decisiontime had come at 1:30 in the afternoon on Eggemoggin Reach. Above is the view across Jericho bay and Blue Hill Bay toward Mt. Desert Island.