Meandering Through Maine – Northern Penobscot Bay

We are off to Castine, a pretty little town with lots of history dating back to before the Revolutionary War.   

View along the shore of Castine with the Camden Hills in the background

We find Dorade docked along the shore.  This beautiful boat was designed and built by Sparkman and Stevens and was responsible for their emergence as one of America's premier boat designers

We pull in just after The State of Maine arrives.  This is the freighter that belongs to Maine Maritime Academy, based in Castine. The ship, with her student crew, has been on a three month cruise to Europe and back.  The docks are packed with the welcoming parents and students, but an hour or so later, the town is empty as everyone leaves for summer break. We walk the streets and find a few shops open but nowhere to buy a soda or ice cream cone.  We have apparently arrived on the day everything closes.  Exuberant is anchored across the river from Castine in Smith Cove, a quiet bay where the only disturbance is from squawking birds and barking seals.  

A windless evening in Smith Cove

We have a serene night, and the next day as we sail off we are treated to an eagle flying just above the top of our mast.

We head over to Belfast, another town on the northern shore.  We had been here five years ago and were not terribly impressed, but Belfast has changed dramatically with the relocation of Bank of America’s credit card processing center to the town.  Prosperity is everywhere with a new harbor walk the length of the waterfront, a first rate boatyard that hopes to rival Newport Shipyard, 

The Front Street Shipyard is prepared to handle the biggies

and higher end restaurants and galleries where previously there had been second hand stores, junky bars, and empty store fronts.   

Looking down the refurbished Main St.

 

The steeple on the Congregational Church on the village green - so typical of New England towns.

It is nice to see the town make such a dramatic comeback.

A dramatic sunset at Belfast harbor.

Our ultimate destination is Camden on the west coast of the bay. We have a mooring reserved along with two hours of usage of the marina’s courtesy car.  I do a quick restocking of the boat and then spend the rest of the day enjoying this lovely community in the shadow of high hills.  

House and flower garden in charming Camden

 

This wind vane reflects the sailing heritage of Camden.

A flower bedecked footbridge over the old mill stream.

We have been invited to a picnic dinner at the Camden Yacht Club to be followed by a talk from Gary Jobson, currently a commentator for ESPN on sailing and previously a crew in multiple America’s Cup Races.  It makes for a delightful evening, enjoying dinner on the lawn perched above the active harbor 

The packed inner harbor - home to the Camden Schooner fleet along with all the visiting yachts.

and hearing Gary’s personal insights on the history and current state of sailboat racing.  The next day he leaves for Rio to do the commentary on the Olympic sailboat races.

Our primary reason for coming to Camden is to be here for the Eggemoggin Reach Races. Late Thursday afternoon the fleet of wooden sailboats enters the harbor after a feeder race from Castine.

The boats scoot into Camden with a building afternoon breeze.  I had never seen a gaff rigged boat flying a spinnaker before.

America crosses the line as the first place gun sounds.

From our mooring we have an excellent view of the finish line.  As far as we can discern, the fleet is broken into four classes: sloops, gaff rigged boats, ketches and yawls, and “Spirit of Tradition” which are newly built boats with modern materials and underbodies but with traditional lines and topsides.  Many of the “Spirit” boats have been built in the nearby Brookline Boat Yard. 

That evening we enjoy exploring the harbor and admiring all the beautiful boats.  

And behind all the docked yachts, junior sailors are practicing in their Optimist Dinghies - maybe the next generation?

The gleam of varnish is amazing; the lines of the boats, breath-taking.  

I particularly liked the butterfly hatches on this yacht.

People spend most of the year maintaining these yachts, only using them for a month or so in the summer.

The next leg of the Eggemoggin Race is the following morning.  The boats will race from Camden to Centre Harbor on the Eggemoggin Reach, home to the Wooden Boat School.  

The fleet assembles in the shadow of the Camden Hills as we take off in advance of the race.  And yes, that is a square topped sail on a very modern racing boat - we never could figure out why it was included in the race.

We take off about an hour before the start and sail what we believe to be the course with the intention of stay clear of the competitors.  But, they fool us and take a short cut, bearing down on us just as we reach a narrow passage between islands.  

We are dodging boats and lobster pots, but Burt gets a few great pictures

It is all we can do to stay out of the way before we can change course and sail away from the fleet. We take the long way back to Eggemoggin Reach and find a nice anchorage in Gray’s Cove across the water from the packed harbor at The Wooden Boat School.

Our anchorage in Gray's Cove

 

The next morning a spectator fleet appears out of nowhere as we dinghy over to the pin end of the starting line for the final race of the series.  Being the smallest boat there gives us ring side seats as we watch a fleet of historic wooden boats position themselves for the start.  

Boats milling around before the start

 

And here is Dorade again just before the start

We estimate around a hundred boats participating, each one more beautiful than the next.  Even the starting pin is classier than the typical inflated orange pyramid. 

The pin end of the starting line - a very attractive wooden rowing dinghy.

The wind dies just before the first start and things get a bit interesting.  The current is opposed to the starting direction and at times some boats are drifting backwards. At other times, one fleet doesn’t entirely cleared the starting area before the next fleet starts. 

It is total chaos - boats missing the mark, boats drifting backwards, and some genius decides to start with a spinnaker up.  Too bad the wind fills in on the nose.

Finally moving with full sails up

One of the "Spirit of Tradition" boats - carbon jib, boom furling main - not something that was built almost 100 years ago.  This one was built at Brookline Boat yard as their wooden wheels (not obvious in this picture) are very distinctive and close to being works of art.

But, less than a mile into the course, the wind fills in and then these old girls begin to fly.  

No spinnakers now - just meat on the rail.

America finally gets moving after drifting backwards through most of the fleet.

Hours later, the boats finish somewhere outside the Eggemoggin Reach and all we see is a procession of yachts motoring back for a final celebration at the Wooden Boat School.  This is a world famous sailing event with world famous boats including the schooner America, Ticonderoga, Whitehawk, Dorade, and so many more.  We are privileged to watch on the sidelines. 

Sunset on the Eggemoggin Reach