Survived Irene

Well, since I'm writing this, I must have survived Hurricane Irene. Actually it turned out to be much less than a hurricane for us. We got little rain, and the wind didn't seem to blow much over 35 kts. We enjoyed two nights at the Nebo Lodge on North Haven. We were well cared for and enjoyed our time there. The day before the storm hit, we went for a walk and kayaked some around Seal Cove. What a beautiful spot. We ended up moving the boat twice before leaving it. The first time was because two large barges with tugs anchored too near us for our comfort. Then as we prepared to leave the boat, a local summer resident offered his mooring for our use. He assured us it had been used for a 40 foot sailboat in the past. We took him up on his offer but added our anchor for insurance. Then we took down our canvas and secured the boat as best we could before leaving for the lodge.

Fortunately, the Lodge had Internet service, so we could keep up with the latest reports on the storm,s movements. We were encouraged when it weakened sooner than expected and moved a bit west. Our ability to use our phones was seriously limited. There was a spot on the town pier where we could predictably get service, but everywhere else on the island we tried was pretty iffy. Sometimes we'd get a text message but were unable to respond.

On Monday, we gathered our belongings and filled up the dinghy for the trip back to our home/boat. All was in fine shape. It just took some time to put everything back up for normal use. The next day we headed for Rockland. It's a short trip of just over two hours that got us to a place where we could get fuel and water, dump our trash and get a few staples before heading back down the coast.

Our original plan was to take our time with day trips down along the coast stopping for a day in Boothbay Harbor and Freeport. The weather was supposed to be really calm. However, we've more recently learned that a cold front is due by the weekend and may stall here for a day or two, creating problems for our travel. Hence we make another change in plans. We leave Linekin Bay near Boothbay for Casco Bay today and then head out overnight down to the Cape Cod Canal to arrive in Onset on Saturday morning.

The Maine coast is beautiful, and we aren't anxious to leave so soon, but the season is changing. We can already feel a bit of fall in the air. We head south to new adventures along with a bit of family visiting. Life is good.

Captain Bob
Carpe Diem