Once again we departed under a cloudy sky. The good news was the flat seas, the not-so-good was the overcast skies.
We passed by Kadey Krogen Unforgettable, heading northeast as were moving southwest. I had a nice chat with Melissa on the VHF. The photo does not do Unforgettable justice, but it does show how overcast the day was.
Whitehead Island Lighthouse at the southwestern end of Penobscot Bay. I do believe this is a repeat lighthouse for the blog. We passed it going from Five Islands to Camden a few weeks ago.
Coming from the east through Fisherman’s Island Passage to head up into Boothbay, we passed Ram Island Lighthouse, built in 1883 and automated in 1965. (Trivia fact – There are twenty-one Ram Islands in Maine.)
Ram Island Lighthouse, built in 1883. The island once served as a place to quarantine rams to control the sheep population.
Forty-one nautical miles, almost 6 hours from Pulpit Harbor to Boothbay Harbor. We haven’t done a day that long in 3 weeks.
Schooners are popular in Boothbay Harbor too. Just one of them with its push boat guiding it back to the home dock. I didn’t catch the name of this one.
We picked up a mooring from Tugboat Inn & Marina. Peter was very nice and helpful on the phone. It seems as though he is a “one-man show” for the marina side of the business. Once again, it was a random choice, selected primarily because of the proximity to town. (Side note – I had bashed my little toe on a dash from the pilot house to the aft cabin and it was bruised with a very sore ripped chunk of toe that required a bandage at all times. It hurts. Lesson learned, again – DO. NOT. RUN.) Anyway, Tugboat was adequate, but not special. We later saw 3-4 Krogens on the other side of the harbor at Carousel Marina.
Our mooring was close to the dinghy dock.Would a good push off the dock get us across to the Kindred Spirit? Fuel economy? Honestly, we were much closer than it appears in this photo.
The sign on the dock is worth pondering, briefly. One can only wonder- Is it an adjective to describe the dock or is it meant to be the d-i-n-g-h-y dock? In all fairness, most dinghy docks are on the dingy side, not bright and fresh. 😉
McFarland Island, with three buildings, was on our other side. It has been known successively over the years as John’s Island, McFarland’s Island, and Sawyer’s Island, for the owners of the point of land just to the right of it. We also heard a tour boat that passed by us, calling the island Harbor Island.
On our first walk up from the dock to see the town of Boothbay, we encountered this. Ahhhh, the name “Tugboat Inn and Marina” now makes sense.
We had our belated anniversary dinner at the Harborside Bar & Grill 1901 at one end of the footbridge – seafood linguine and lobster fettuccini.
The Footbridge is a landmark in Boothbay Harbor. The original span of the historic footbridge was built in 1901 by Luther Maddocks for $1500. At that time it was a hand-operated swing span to allow larger vessels to reach the head of the harbor. It was completely reconstructed in the 1970s and the pilings and swing span were reconstructed in 2017. The bridge is classified as a moveable bridge, but the swing doesn’t function. The town is in the planning process to save the footbridge from decay and sea level rise.
Looking along the footbridge. It makes it easier for people to cross from one side of the harbor to the other.
Flower beds adorn the entrance to the footbridge. Maine has more flower beds and gardens than any place I have ever been.
An overhead sign marks both sides of the footbridge. I’m not sure of the purpose for the “structure” that Al is not supposed to climb on.
Near the center of the footbridge was a section of chain link fencing with locks hanging on it. I had never seen this and couldn’t figure out the purpose. Curiosity led me to google it and it took a few attempts before I found search words that led to the answer. Who knew??
“A love lock is a padlock couples place on a bridge, fence, statue, or installation to commemorate their indestructible bond. Often the padlocks are engraved with the couple’s name and the date while others go further with ribbons and stickers.” It seems to be more of a European tradition.
A bridge tender built this little house in 1902. Over the years the structure has been a bridgetender home, art studio, boat excursions business, gift shop, and a summer home. Local legend says that the bridgehouse was used during prohibition for smuggling rum. There is a trap door in the floor of the kitchen to this day.
Low tide at head of harbor
It was low tide while we were on the footbridge as you can see froth muddy flats at the head of the harbor. I’m not sure why any boat would want to go through that bridge to the other side.
There is lots to see walking around Boothbay, definitely a lot of shops. As you may well expect, we found ice cream.
The Downeast Ice Cream Factory has been in business for 43 years and claims to have 65 flavors. Al chose their version of dark chocolate raspberry and I decided on chocolate lovers chocolate.
We also taste tested Finn McCool’s ice cream on another day. Finn McCool’s is a much smaller place that uses all-natural locally sourced ingredients. Al had the amaretto chocolate cherry and I tried the dark and stormy, a rum and ginger combination, just to try something different.
It might have been gloomy and overcast here in Boothbay Harbor, but a visit from Sam and Kayda brightened our stay!
Al ferries Sam and Kayda the long distance from the “dingy” dock to Kindred Spirit.
What a wonderful visit – the highlight of our stay in Boothbay Harbor! AND, they brought us delicious green beans from their garden and took us to the grocery store!!
That evening we had a FaceTime visit with Don and Cindy – from North Carolina to Maine! It was good to catch up on all of their recent news.
We are hoping for a change in the weather pattern for the next leg of our cruise.
Moe A.
We’re planning our fiftieth in B’Bay and came across your page, this came from our Google search… thanks so much, it was lovely reading!