There you see it, my cousins Tom & Judy Carter from Wapakoneta OH boarding Magnolia in NE Harbor Maine. What a treat we were able to meet up in such a beautiful location.

NE Harbor mooring field

First stop was short dinghy ride across the harbor to Asticou Gardens.

A funny view of Magnolia on our friends mooring flanked by a couple of mega yachts.

Asticou Gardens

No Magnolia visit (or any other cruising boat) is complete without a cockpit Happy Hour

Before Tom & Judy finished their visit we HAF to make it to the tip of Cadillac Mountain. This is the same Cadillac that founded Detroit (don’t tell the Indians).

Overlooking Bar Harbor

It was time for Magnolia to get on the move south as well. As the Admiral took in one more garden I did some shopping at the excellent farmers market in NE Harbor

Magnolia brought us 12 miles down to Frenchboro Long Island to stage for a long passage to Cape Cod. We were rewarded with a spectacular anchorage, weather and of course barbque bread!

The passage to Cape Cod is just about 200 miles.

Just as we arrived in Cape Cod Bay but who should we see but Exuberant!

You might recall we visited out friends Frank & Elaine on our way north. They were kind enough to come out to the Cape Cod Canal and welcome us back! (Magnolia making her way through the Cape Cod Canal)

We enjoyed a lovely evening of Pizza and Ice Cream and catching up on summer activities and fall plans! Always enjoy spending time with them!!! Tomorrow off to Cutty Hunk and a mid week visit with more cousins in Newport!

Wow is about all we can say about Acadia. It is very beautiful and the persons who settled this area were A LOT tougher than we!

Our visit overlapped for a day with our friends Bert & Pru from Exuberant. I like to call them out Ohio friends since they lived in Mansfield and sailed Lake Erie before cruising.

After being in Acadia for a bit I see that it is not unusual for a tree to grow on top of a rock but this being the fist I call the photo “commitment”.

Acadia Nation Park has a rich history. Part of that history are the carriage roads and bridges that the Rockefeller family had built in the early 1900s. There are 16 bridges and 57 miles of paths. We went on a short Parke Ranger organized tour of some of the bridges. Very cool and recommended. 

See how the bridge frames the waterfall beyond?

I have gotten asked a number of times the recipe for my barbeque bread and I have always said “there is no recipe.” Today I actually tried to write down what I did. Before departing Dix Island for Seal Bay on Vinalhaven Island I put one heaping tablespoon of sugar into a Lock-N-Lock along with a 1 pouch of yeast and 1 can of beer. I use a Lock-N-Lock because when you put beer, sugar and yeast together things are going to “cook” with potentially explosive results.

(My crack photographer thought some candid action shots might be good“)

The crew got Magnolia underway while my “concoction” cooked for a couple of hours. While underway and the Admiral was at the helm I poured  “the concoction” into a mixing bowl along with 5 cups of all purpose flour, 3 table spoons of salt, 2 table spoons of dried dill and today I added 1 table spoons of dried garlic. (Its never the same spices, well usually dill is always included)

I stir those ingredients together and and then knead the dough for 10-15 min or until I get bored. Give it at least 10 min though. After getting the dough in good shape I give the bowl a good spray on non-stick stuff.

I cover the bowl with a wet dish towel and place it in the engine room to rise. (Nice and warm in there)

Special Note: Never place the bowl on top of a RUNNING engine. This is on the generator, the main engine 24 inches aft is running. If you do not have an engine room, first, that’s sad and second  find a warm place to let the dough rise for a couple hours.  The dough is actually rising right now and I need to go and relieve the Admiral at the helm. More later…

We set the anchor in Seal Bay on the island of Vinalhaven

As you can see we got anchored in Vinalhavem in a lovely anchorage. The bread is still happy in the engine room. This picture makes the space look a lot more complicated than it actually is.

After letting the dough rise and beating it down once the dough is split into 2 loaves.

Spray a piece of foil with some non stick spray.

Place on the grill and then flip when the underside firms up.

Eat before Bunny gets a hold of it!

No this is not the light house but it is a pretty cool obelisk we encountered soon after our departure from Freeport, ME.

Now this is the light as we approach the island from the west. The harbor entrance is around on the north end of the island.

Yes this is a small harbor and yes it looked full to us as well until one of the boats said they were departing so we orbited until they departed and a smaller boat raced in and cut us off taking the vacated mooring….for a couple of minutes but that’s another story.

The harbor edge from anchor.

The harbor edge from anchor.

(Seguin Light) Though the light has been automated volunteer keepers man the island from Memorial – Labor Day each year. Evidently it is quite competitive to get selected. Surprisingly the keepers selected retired from China Lake, CA where our group did some work. Small world  

Before automation the light required a great deal of supplies. This tramway was used to move supplies from the dock to the light house. Pretty cool.

Magnolia at anchor, she is one good looking girl, well and the Admiral too!

We hosted the keepers Cynthia and Fred aboard Magnolia for happy hour before our departure.

Soon after departing Sequin Island we of course crossed another lighthouse which I as not astute enough to record the name or location! Doh! Update: After seeing the island during todays walk on Harbour, I was able to determine that is actually Franklin Island.

These are the lobster pots outside the anchorage at Harbor Island. Each of those is connected to a 75 ft (depth) line and we are expected to traverse through the field. “Are kidding me?” No, no they are not, welcome to Maine.

The Davis Family own Harbor Island and are kind enough to allow visitors ashore to visit their beautiful island.

As we walked across the island we came across a beautiful raspberry patch.

We actually filled up eating raspberries which I though was impossible!

This is a great picture because in a couple of hours the water is gong to be deeper than Annette is high by about 3 feet! Now that is a tide!

After feasting on raspberries there was only one thing to do, procure some lobsters for dinner. Luckily there was a lobster boat working the pots.

A trip to the lobster boat solved the problem. I handed the man $30.00 and a 5 gallon bucket. We ate the knuckles for dinner and will be eating lobster for some time!

We are so enjoying out time in New England. We have reconnected with so many friends and just starting to experience our surroundings. More friends and experiences await! Be Safe, Be Well A**2

Magnolia had a pleasant passage from Cape Cod into South Freeport ME. As you can see it really was a straight shot! A bit too far for a day trip so me had a leisurely over-night’r getting a fair amount of sailing in.

We arrived Casco Bay in the very early morning hours. Thankfully the sun was coming up which made poking our away among, through the rocks/islands much easier. Did I mention the Lobster Pots? You can walk anywhere you want in Maine, hundreds of miles because there is a Lobster Pot to step on any where you want to go!!!

South Freeport is a completely protected anchorage surrounded by beautiful cozy little homes.

Our friends friends from Mandela (Nancy & Ron) came and picked us up and the first stop had to be the LL Bean store. This is “THE” LL Bean store. This one is open 24/7/365!

Back and Ron & Nancy’s we enjoyed hanging out on the deck and relaxing.

With this view it is a pretty easy thing to do. Note Ron’s Bee Hives on the right.

Of course we were “forced” to consume some fine Maine Lobsters!!

We ended the day at the Marina’s cruisers lounge catching an episode of “Next Network Food Star.” Our friends from Eleanor Q’s daughter is competing so we are heavily invested!

On Monday Ron & Nancy took us down to Portland to enjoy a walk around the historic waterfront and a visit to Art Museum which we really enjoyed. So many of the old waterfront buildings are still intact that it makes the area exceptionally inviting.

On the way back we made a quick stop at Delorme Map Company. They have the worlds largest rotating globe their lobby. Really cool.

After enjoying another lovely view from the deck and….

a “little” ice cream we said are farewells. We have no idea when we will cross paths again with Mandela but we are all VERY confident we will and that’s really all that matters.

After returning from Ohio we spent a day getting Magnolia resettled, received two pieces of good news from our Connecticut friends and set off. The morning of our departure we were provided with a spectacular sunrise.

After a wind less motor day we ducked into Aquidneck Island (Third Beach). As it happens my cousin and her partner live on near there but the best we were able to put together was a phone call. On the way south we will make a better plan for meeting up!

The next night we set anchor in Onset MA which was a lovely anchorage to set ourselves up for passage through the Cape Cod Canal. The canal not that complicated except for timing. You have to catch the right tide because the current runs through it at 4 knts!!

The Massachusetts Maritime Academy is at the western entrance.  

The Academy has its own ship…and not a little one either.

I nearly forgot we were within the hallow halls of Kennedy Country!

Here is a view from the drivers seat as we approach the first train bridge over the canal.

Canal Control HQ – we swear it where the boogie-man lives

As we always say, some days you watch the show, some days you are the show. Today it seems we are both!

8.7 knts on a sail boat, well its about time for seat belts at that point.

Hmmm….very interesting…….FYI that appears to be a VERY big radar array.

Our friends Frank and Elaine had previously sent a picture of their cottage. After arriving Sandwich, dang if we did not pick it out along a mile or so of cottages.

What a lovely evening! Thank you Frank & Elaine for a wonder full respect from the days items.