I’m embarrassed to say that I have not written a blog post since early September! How could it be that that much time has passed! I guess we were just busy having too much fun! 
Following our trip to Boston, we made a one night stop in Onset Bay, just south of the Cape Cod Canal. John decided at Onset that the water was warm enough to do some waterline cleaning! The next day it was on to Osterville on Cape Code where we made the boat available for an in-depth boat review by the team of professionals at BoatTest.com. A friend provided and drove the “chase boat” for the photographer which turned out to be a real hoot for our friend. This review and video will be coming soon to our website.
After 2 days in Osterville, we reversed our course and went slighty west to Falmouth where we docked for 3 days. That turned out to be a great stop……grocery store, Walmart, and other retail within a 20 minute walk; and we met some very nice people there at the marina. Then we made our way back to Edgartown on Martha’s Vineyard for one night before going on to another few days in Nantucket with our family. 
Our “few days” turned into more than a week, as winds from a southern tropical storm prohibited us – and many others – from leaving. (Note the high water at the dock!!)
However, what seemed like a negative turned into a positive, as we were able to meet and talk with several people who wanted to know more about the boat. Nothing like an opportunity to brag about and show off your product!
Winds settled and good-byes cast to our friends and family in Nantucket, we headed to Point Judith, Rhode Island for fuel, and then to Block Island for the night. This particular visit to Block we decided to take the dogs to a little beach on Great Salt Pond. From there we could cross the street and walk on the Atlantic Ocean beach on the north side of the island. It was a gorgeous 75 degree day and it was great to get out and stretch our 2 and 4 legged legs! The water at Block is so clear you can see the bottom which means sand and not muck, and that’s a huge plus when you’re pulling up the anchor! It came up clean! YAY!!
Our next stop was Shelter Island where we once again anchored. We passed this Coast Guard beauty on the way in, the Barque Eagle. She’s a 295 foot training cutter for future officers. “She is one of only two active commissioned sailing vessels in the United States military today, along with the USS Constitution in Boston Harbor.” (Thank you, Mr. Wikipedia!) We’d never been there, and had heard a lot about it. It was a very nice spot with a good place to take the dogs; but honestly, after all the chatter about Shelter Island, we were a tad disappointed. It was a nice spot, but nothing special.
The winds were to pick up again over the next few days so we set out for one of our favorite – and very protected – spots…..Mattituck on Long Island where we spent 3 nights. Then we continued west along Long Island Sound to Port Jefferson for one night. Mattituck and Port Jeff were also anchoring spots, so it was up and down with the dinghy as well as setting, raising and spraying down the anchor…….all in a day’s cruising!
We always love seeing our good friends each fall who live in Wilton Connecticut, so we met up with them at the Brewer Marina in Stamford. This is a really nice marina with good accommodations; but not near anything walkable. That was ok, actually, since our friends came to us……….and brought Chinese food, something we’d had a hankering for! We had a wonderful time hanging out and catching up with them.
We also always love seeing our daughter! So our next stop was Port Washington on Long Island where she and her boyfriend came out on the train from Manhattan where they live. The 4 of us cruised down the East River, through New York Harbor and into Staten Island. We dropped them off and continued down the Jersey coast. Yes, we “did the Jersey coast” at night! We determined that the seas and winds for the trek would be best at that time, so off we went. The dogs slept most of the night, John and I traded off 3 hour watches. We dropped the hook off the Coast Guard station there in Cape May, and when Utch’s Marina opened up we were able to get into our slip there. John hosed off the boat while I organized the inside, cleaned up dishes, etc. Then we took a long nap! In the afternoon we walked over to the Lobster Pot and got ourselves 4 quarts of delicious clam chowder to freeze and take home.
Rested up and glad to have that part of the trip behind us, we left the next morning for Chesapeake City on the C&D canal. Unlike our trip on the canal last spring, this time our visibility was 100%!
It was a non-descript kind of night, but one step further in our journey to Maryland. The next stop on the agenda was Baltimore where we stayed a week at Anchorage Marina. It was nice to be in one place for awhile; and this is a great spot to do that. A good grocery store was right across the street, West Marine about two blocks away, a Target and mini-shopping area a mile away, restaurants, hardware, and a great walk-way which lines the harbor for runners, bikers…. and dog walkers like us! Some good friends from home spend the summer in Baltimore so we had a couple of get togethers with them which was really fun. A restaurant we visited had this festive fall display outside their front door. Living in Florida, I miss this kind of thing!
We wanted to see some other of our good friends who live aboard their boat during the summer in Pleasure Cove Marina which is between Baltimore and Annapolis, so upon departing Baltimore off we went. We anchored just outside of their marina and had a fun dinner with them, again catching up on each other’s lives.
Continuing south through the Chesapeake Bay we made a planned stopped for a couple of days at the dock of some fellow boaters that we have cruised with from time to time. They live on the Magothy River just north of Annapolis. We’re always so appreciative of their hospitality and friendship in welcoming us. We all always glean a lot of boating and cruising knowledge from each other. After a couple of days at their dock, we took a mini-cruise together – they on their trawler, we on ours – to a nice anchorage south of town, uniting aboard Daystar for dinner. 
It was a chilly night, tho, the coldest so far. When we awoke the next morning it was 43 degrees. And then we had to take the dogs ashore to the little beach at the anchorage. With the water at balmy 65 degrees, it was warmer to keep my feet in the water than on the sand!!
After one last anchorage near St. Michaels, we headed to Oxford, our final destination where we will leave Daystar, and her companion Twinkle the dinghy, for the winter.
A humble thank you to all of you who have followed our trip to Maine this past summer. All in all we traveled 2,025 nautical miles, spent 48 nights at anchor, 37 on a mooring, and 61 at a dock. We ran the Genset 163 hours, bought 1300 gallons of diesel. I did not count how many lighthouses we saw (my record keeping is not nearly as good as Johns – wink wink!) but it was a lot!
In the end it was a perfect combination of solitude (John’s preference) and low-key socialization (my preference). We had a number of days where we hardly spoke to another human being for more than 5 minutes (well, other than each other, of course!!) and then days with meals and fun get-togethers with family and good friends.
dinner in downtown. Portland is a very fun city. There’s a lot going on there. They have restored old brick warehouses that now house shops, restaurants, and 
galleries. We stayed at a marina on the south of Portland Harbor. That was fine for us; but it’s not near the happening section of the city, so an in-town marina would be preferable for any cruiser wanting to be where the action is.
4 legged ones!). If you’ve cruised long enough, as we have, days like this are bound to happen. You get through it and move on.
Monday the wind had died down and the seas were calm, thank goodness! What a difference a day makes! We dropped the mooring line and set off for Boston. This was the view as we pulled into Boston Harbor, near Logan Airport. We stayed a week at Constitution Marina just across the Charles River from Boston. I wasn’t sure what it was going to be like, but it’s a great setup! It’s in a super safe area, lots of bikers/walkers/joggers/dog walkers. We were able to easily 
walk into town, walk to the subway (the “T’ as they call it), Whole Foods, and a multitude of shops and restaurants (including “the North End” where we got ourselves subs at Monica’s Mercado which has the highest rated Italian sub in Boston).
pm. On the other side of this work 
site is TD Garden (aka Boston Garden), home of the Celtics and the Bruins.
different apps that we use. John likes “Fish Weather”. We can select the location closest to where we are, get winds, gusts, temperature, rain, wave height/direction/duration. It also gives the NOAA forecast, tide charts, and sunrise/sunset. While we were in Rockland, and even before, he was studying up on the forecast for the days ahead. Winds were coming, and wanting to be as protected as possible, we chose to return to the marina in Boothbay Harbor. A mooring there would protect us from the north and west winds. And indeed it did. We stayed two nights. Much to our delight we discovered another lobster dive that we hadn’t known about!
We then continued southwest to a mooring at Great Island Boatyard (near Little Snow island where we’d anchored earlier in the trip). This too would provide us with good wind protection from the north and west. While underway the seas were rougher than we’ve been used to on this trip. (We got spoiled, we’ll admit!) Certainly not uncomfortable, and no where near what we have experienced on some of our Jersey-coast trips; but we had a 2′ chop with some 3-4′ waves thrown in. Zoey decided that she’d cozy up under my vest and await arrival at our destination!
the hope of not offending anyone, I would like to ask that, if you are a boater, please do not this!! Thank you!
Tomorrow we go into Portland where we’ll meet up with some friends and former Krogen Express owners who summer near Kennebunkport. Sadly it’s going to be a very rainy day. Looks like I’ll be pulling out my rain gear for handling lines when we dock.
with the added bonus of a dock. The island has several trails that we all enjoyed immensely, some through open fields, some through dense forest. The afternoon of our arrival (around 1) a school of fish was “boiling” the water not too far from our stern, and then we noticed some seals in the vicinity. The seals were “herding” the fish! This went on for a couple of hours. As the tide went down and area rocks were revealed, we could see the seals sunning, fat and happy, after chowing down fish for most of the day! I wish I had a picture to share; but our camera’s lens was not powerful enough nor did we want to get to close in the dinghy for fear of scaring them away. But I counted 12 or 14 seals.
The next day we decided to try the local “lobster dive” in Castine a few miles away, so we ventured out in the dinghy for lunch at “Captains Catch”. Most people are probably familiar with the Food Network star, Guy Fieri, and his show “Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives”. At the beginning of the show Guy drives up in his red Corvette. Here on Daystar, we drive up in our dinghy “Twinkle”! This is the 5th dive-like lobster/fish place we have tried so far; and on our rating sheet of lobster rolls and fish baskets, these were some of the best we’ve had. In fact, we went again the next day! The village of Castine is tiny, but quaint. It is rich in history and is home to the Maine Maritime Academy, a four year institution that graduates officers and engineers for the United States Merchant Marine and marine related industries. 
Their training ship, the 499 foot “State of Maine”, is docked right in town.
We enjoyed this area so much that we spent 3 nights and 2-1/2 days there. The walking trails provided some good exercise and were enjoyed by all; and the availability of the dock made it easy to get ashore. One of the trails started with 
field and meadow, went through dense woods, and then ended on a beach on the other side of the island.
beach. I found their shapes so fascinating. But these flat, smooth stones – some large, some small – are pretty typical of what we have seen along the way.
bucket. Not exactly the kind I’m used to – with the big loungey chair, bubbling warm water, and a foot massage – but it would have to do. I was desperate!
ourselves to as much as our patience would allow us to pick……about a cup!
taken care of on the boat. I was able to drop off about 10 books at the library and purchase 5 new ones. We made two trips to the grocery in the marina loaner car. I supported the Saturday farmer’s market, purchasing corn and blueberries. Yum. We dined out at, yup you guessed it, a local dive! Our favorite offering was the Southwest Fish Taco! Delicious!
But being the gypsies we have turned into, we were ready to leave after a week and continue with our exploration of coastal Maine! On we went to Warren State Park, off of the island of Isleboro. Warren is a 70 acre island developed exclusively for boaters (ie. there are no bridges or cars) and offers numerous camping sites. We anchored nearby and dinghy’d in to the dock there where we were greeted by a park ranger. We had read that the trails are lined with wild raspberry bushes so we brought a baggie with us. There were lots of bushes all right, but most of the berries were gone. We managed to find about ½ a cup of berries but the picking was laborious and the berries were minute! Nonetheless, John enjoyed some on his ice cream the next couple of nights!
I just don’t think I could have handled it. I know it looks like fun, and it probably is; but my idea of camping is the queen sized bed, refrigerator/freezer, heads, shower, and 370 gallon water tank on the Krogen Express! Although, I might be willing to spend a night outside for smores. On second thought, nahhhh…….
on my list personally, the town does have some fun casual restaurants and interesting shops. It’s also the home of a huge shipyard with the largest travel lift we have ever seen. (It had 16 wheels on it, and could lift 440 tons!) As we walked around I was actually quite surprised by this place because, having grown up in New England and traveled to Maine several times by car, I’d never even heard of Belfast, Maine!
Here’s a picture of us in Belfast tied up to a “float”. Many harbors here in Maine have floats that two boats can tie up to. The purpose of a float is to allow for a higher density of boats because there is no swing, versus with mooring balls there has to be an allowance for boats to swing. In a harbor with shallow areas or that is narrow, for instance, moorings would be almost impossible. We’d never been on a float before and it was interesting. The dogs could run up and down the dock but they couldn’t wander away, even though we were on a dock we still had to take the
dinghy ashore, the boat stayed in one place so our view was always the same, we had no connection to power so we still had to run our generator! It all just felt new and different.
it was, would allow us to safely anchor outside of Northeast Harbor. That turned out to be a seamless endeavor. We dinghy’d into the town and had a nice walk with the dogs. The town itself is pretty small, but it has an absolutely fantastic donut shop! As one review said, “You haven’t had donuts until you’ve been to Colonels!” We treated ourselves to a couple of take-out donuts and headed back to Daystar.
researching the options for a protected anchorage, we selected one called “Inner Harbor” which would provide good shelter (altho it was a terrible spot for taking the dogs ashore). We set the anchor and, in anticipation of the high winds, let out more rode than usual in order to reduce the anchor line scope (ensuring better anchor holding). The winds kicked up around 9 pm and peaked about 1 am. John slept in the salon so he could keep an eye on things. When the sun came up at 4:30 am things were pretty calm. As we live in Florida and are always boating in the late summer and fall, when these storms occur, Mr. Weatherman provides us with the “opportunity” (haha!) to first monitor the safety of our house in Florida, and then tend the boat in the north! For us it’s a double whammy!
through them using binoculars! It’s especially difficult if there is any sort of water movement or if the morning sun is shining on them. Up here in Penobscot Bay we have found that many of the traps are toggled, meaning that for each trap there are two floats tied to each other. But the distance between them can be as long as 25 feet, so you have to figure out which floats are 
connected and which are safe to drive through…….all before you actually snag a line! It can be really exhausting! Best we can figure out, the purpose of the toggle is to keep excess rope off a potentially rough sea bottom and to provide some slack rope in areas with a lot of tide making it easier for the lobstermen to haul the trap.
said…. “no!”).
When we arrive at an anchorage John sometimes likes to go out in the dinghy and check the depths in the area. While he was gone, Zoey sat at the side gate and watched for his return. It reminded me of one of my very favorite paintings by American artist Winslow Homer, “Waiting for Dad to Return.” I just love this picture of Zoey waiting for her dad “to return!” I’ll leave it to your imagination to picture how vigorously her tail was wagging as he approached!
changes eventually halted the glaciers’ progress around 18,000 years ago. As the ice sheet receded, the ocean advanced, flooding the valleys and cutting the island of Mt. Desert off from the mainland. It is the 6th largest island off the east coast of the United States. It is 108 square miles. The area has a rich history of Indian tribes, French and Italian explorers Verrazano and Champlain, 19th century artists Thomas Cole and Frederic Church, and America’s most 
socially prominent families – the Rockefellers, Morgans, Fords (whose house is now owned by Martha Stewart), Vanderbilts, and Pulitzers. This latter group built magnificant summer “cottages”, changing the rustic character of the island; but they also helped preserve the area by donating land to form Acadia National Park. John Rockefeller’s house was built in 1914 and demolished in 1962.
the park would be overrun by the ever increasing popularity of the automobile, Rockefeller financed the construction – over a period of 25 years – 45 miles of stone “carriage” roads and bridges that today are enjoyed by hikers, walkers, bicyclists, and cross-country skiers. The area was designated as a park in 1919, the first national park east of the Mississippi. It now encompasses about 49,000 acres in three main areas…..Mt. Desert Island, part of the Schoodic Peninsula northeast of the mainland, and some smaller adjacent islands.
Our first stop at Mt. Desert was Southwest Harbor, home of Hinckley Yachts. We rented a mooring there (one of 5 available) for a couple of nights, providing us with a gorgeous view of Acadia. Here is a picture looking into the harbor. But we had absolutely no cell coverage or wifi! Eeek, that is so frustrating! On a walk in to the village we discovered that the information/visitors center had great wifi, so we helped ourselves and downloaded like crazy! The Coast Guard has a station right there at the mooring field, so we
had the honor of hearing “Colors” played each day at 8 am and 8 pm.
After leaving Southwest Harbor we motored east about 15 miles to Winter Harbor. There is a modest yacht club there that rents mooring balls. It was a rather inconsequential stop, but it was nice to see another spot, and it had a dock (always a bonus!) for going ashore. We had a beautiful sunset and almost full moon. But our good weather streak broke, however, because the next morning we awoke to super thick fog! Maine fog does not just “burn off” with the rising/warming sun, as I’m used to. It takes several hours, at least until 11 or 11:30 am for it to partially dissipate. This is the view we had of the coastline as we 
cruised west. We were about half a mile from the shoreline and if you look really, really hard you can just barely see a green “can” in the middle left of the picture! The fog came and went and finally totally disappeared a little before noon. Phew! It’s tough running through the fog; and it’s always nice to be able to see the lobster traps before you are almost on top of them!
We tried to get in to popular Northeast Harbor which has mooring balls or dockage only; but we were unlucky. Desirable it is! The moorings there are first come, first served and are almost twice as expensive as those in Southwest. There were no moorings available and the dock space was booked through August! So we went to Plan B………anchoring in Somes Sound. The Somes Sound runs deep into Mount Desert Island. It is often described as the only fjord on the East Coast. However, in truth, it does not have the extreme vertical height and sea bed componentry 
associated with Norwegian fjords. It is in actuality a “fjard” – “a glacial depression or valley that has much lower relief than a fjord”. Still it felt a little bit like we were cruising in 
Switzerland, not Maine! The little white dots in the picture are boats and give you some perspective on the height of the hills.
at a local marine store there which was very nearby. Missions accomplished, we pulled up the anchor around 11 and headed out to Isle au Haut.
that the weather has been absolutely gorgeous……. sunny, puffy clouds, clear skies…..perfect, I’d say! We were the only ones at this particular anchorage, just the way John likes it! (He could live in a cabin for the rest of his life, never see anyone, and be perfectly happy! I, on the other
hand, am more of a social animal. He has a good buddy at home who’s just like he is, so when we all go to parties, he and Jeff sit in a corner and talk boats and other guy stuff, while Jeff’s wife and I work the crowd!) We walked a lovely trail there to the other side of the island. They put paint marks on the trees, so walkers can find their way on the trails.
just have low lying bushes. But they are all surrounded by rock ledges and there are a lot of them! Often, too, there are spits of sandy beaches dotted along them. We are especially appreciative of those, as they provide a great spot to get ashore with the dogs.
particularly chatty amongst themselves, with a bit of “colorful” language thrown in! On this particular boat the 1st mate was the captain’s adorable son who looked to be 7 or 8 years old. I watched them for a few minutes, 
and that kid was really conscientious! No doubt his dad is grooming him to run the boat himself someday.
My neighbors place at least one, if not two, bins out each time filled with trash. They laugh at me because I put out just a half-filled “tall kitchen” sized bag. But on Mondays when the recycling bins go out, ours is over-flowing! So it absolutely breaks my heart to fill my trash bag with recyclables and put it in the marina dumpster. While Nantucket – being a small island – is especially conscious of their waste management, this is how they do it there. Bins like that are on almost every corner, especially near the marina. Sigh. How I wish every town and marina did it like that! (I know, some of you may be saying, “recycling is just a myth”! But that’s discussion for another day!)
John loves a quiet anchorage, and we found this perfect spot a couple of nights ago. 
Calderwood Island in North Haven near Vinalhaven. As we approached it, I 
spotted a swimming hole that looked very inviting. Once we were settled and the dinghy was down, we drove back to it to get a closer look. There was actually blue water and white sand! ALMOST like the like Bahamas, but with rocks and seaweed! On the backside of the hill was our anchorage; and in between was a wonderful grassy path. Now this area reminded me of Scotland with it’s rolling hillsides and highlands. This was the view from the hill.
was not a happy yachter! After a couple of hours the guy dinghy’ed over, apologized for being so close, and told us he’d move a little further away. It was very kind of him. By evening, there were 17 boats in the anchorage! One guy ceremoniously shot off a “gun” when the sun set (although it did make us jump a few feet!). As for the dogs, at low tide was a great spit of sandy beach connected by boulders where they could run and climb and explore. They were happy pups indeed. And many thanks to T-Mobile for arranging to have a cell tower right near the anchorage! Sweet!
Tenants Harbor Boat Yard for a 2 day stay. And……..they have recycling! I’m thrilled! Plus, a lobster wharf is just off our stern. The boats are coming in, one after another, dropping off their catch to the wholesaler. I’m headed over there in a minute to buy a couple for our dinner!
our fleece and sweats beckoned. One morning I watched the lobstermen right outside our window with great respect. They do this day after day, after day in sun, rain, fog, rough waters, and high winds. The day following it was still chilly, but sunny; so I decided to sit on the “trunk cabin,” just forward of the pilothouse, for direct access to warmth! I once was a lover of “sunning,” but no more. However, this is a good spot to do that, and this day it felt really good!
The morning we were to leave, the fog was super thick but the sun was shining brightly. I know, it doesn’t make sense to me either; but this is Maine! When the fog finally burned off around 11, we pulled up the anchor and off we went for Maple Juice
Cove, just about 6 miles away. The water was absolutely littered with lobster floats! We’re getting pretty good at driving through them. But as I mentioned in an earlier blog, at least they’re brightly colored and easy to identify. We easily set our anchor and lowered the dinghy to take a walk. A 
local lobster yard allows visiting boats to tie up their dinghies there which was most appreciated by us……no walking through the water to get to land! About a quarter mile away is the
The Olsen House and the setting for Andrew Wyeth’s famous painting “Christina’s World” painted in 1948. Christina Olsen and her husband lived in this house and were friendly with Mr. Wyeth. The house is open to the public and is now a National Historic Landmark. It has been restored to match its appearance in the painting. The field overlooks Maple 
Juice Cove.
would stop at their boat on the way back to Daystar. “We’d be happy to!” we said. While we were at the dock we decided to buy a couple of lobsters “right off the boat”! They were “soft shell” lobsters. We steamed them in salt water and covered them with seaweed, cooking them about 15 minutes. Neither of us had had a soft shell lobster, We decided they are sweeter and more tender than hard-shell lobsters. 
They were delicious, but truthfully it didn’t fill me up. I woke up hungry the next morning!
years. They asked a lot of good questions and we invited them to come over and see us, which they did! It’s always fun to show off the boat!
see hills in the distance of which Camden Hills State Park is a part. This is the view as we entered Camden Harbor.
We are in awe of coincidences we are encountering during this trip! We had a boat pass us when we were at a mooring saying that they were also from Vero Beach. A couple docked next to us in Boothbay told us that they had kept their former boat at a marina near our home. At a recent stop we were walking the dogs and a passed a house with a Jack Russell in the yard who looked just like M.E. The owner came out and started to chat with us. It turns out that had he lived in the same community that we did in Hilton Head! We of course shared a lot of mutual memories. At Oven’s Mouth Cove, a Sabre was anchored near us; and then he turned up again at Harbor Island! We dinghy’ed over to greet him and he told us that the wife of his former business partner (now deceased) and her current husband had owned a Krogen Express! “Yes, we know them!”, we said, and laughed to ourselves at another coincidence.