Skirting the Penobscot BAY

Skirting the Penobscot BAY

Our next stop was Belfast, ME. This narrow harbor gives access to a lovely town.  As the lady in the tourist office said, this is a “real” town – that is one populated all year – not just a tourist summer destination.  We enjoyed a visit to the weekly Farmer’s Market and a walking tour of the town – cleverly designed around posted history of key events.  It didn’t hurt that fresh lobster was readily available from the lobster pound across the harbor from our mooring.

From Belfast we made a short hop to Camden – a much larger city center and full of activity on this holiday weekend.  The Windjammer Fest was underway with booths on the harbor to educate us about all things nautical.  Their Farmer’s Market was also in full swing with music and fresh produce to fill our lockers.  We even managed some time to do laundry!

After less than two hours we were in Rockland for some culture and exercise.  The culture came at the Farnsworth Museum – with heavy emphasis on the Wyeth family and their connections to Maine.  The variety of art work was amazing – all with a connection to Maine – either the artist or the subject matter.  The dramatic scenery here and solid folk have inspired artists of all mediums for several centuries.

While relaxing in Rockland we also took a stroll out to the breakwater lighthouse and were lucky enough to find it open for a view from the top.  This is an interesting structure.  The mile long breakwater across the harbor took almost 20 years to construct  (1881-1899) – bridging depths up to 70 feet.  Today it provides a flat walkway to the lighthouse that originally protected the entrance.  

The Maine Lighthouse Museum exhibits educated us on the many, many lighthouses that were essential to guide mariners through these complex waters before the days of GPS and Radar.  The museum pays tribute to the lighthouse service – before it was turned over to the Coast Guard.  The exploits and heroism of several women keepers caught the admiral’s eye.  It is nice to know that names like Abbie Burgess Grant and Ida Lewis still live on and are as respected as many of their male counterparts in the early lighthouse service. The collection of Fresnel lenses was impressive from small #5s to a massive #2.  In the harbor we saw current Coast Guard vessels – The Thunder Bay is an icebreaker and the Burgess maintains aids to navigation – for which we are appreciative.

In the Rockland harbor we also met seals that were not shy – finally some that seemed to pose for the camera after months of photographing water ripples – we got some seal shots, sort of.  Sadly our good camera took a swim this week so the close ups are limited – but they really are seals!

Rockland was a successful stop if only for the Hamilton Marine store – conveniently located steps from the dinghy dock – a man store extraordinaire. Made up for all those décor shops that Steve has had to endure….. off to Boothbay