Nicole was here for the launch. We had plans for kayaking, sailing, and camping on the coast of Maine with a stop at the Wooden Boat show at some point. The weather had other plans. After spending 2 nights at a very wet campsite in Acadia Maine we cruised back to Rockland to dry out and make new plans. We ended up going to Salisbury Beach in MA, the Wooden Boat Show in Mystic, CT, Jamestown and Bristol RI, Boston and then back to Rockland where we ended up doing a overnight sail to Greens Island and where we are now planning to finally do some backpacking in the Bigelows to round out the trip.
Got all that? Here it is again slower, with more pictures.
The kayaks are loaded, and we are ready to go.
Acadia was wet, but we had a great "rock and roll and rescue" kayak class before we gave up. Since we spent most of the time in the water, we didn't notice it was raining. Until we tried to cook dinner in the rain. When it was still raining on the 3rd day, we went home. But the class was invaluable. We can now self rescue with a paddle float and rescue each other if we get knocked out of our kayaks. And I'm very close to being able to roll. Later on in the trip I had my first accidental kayak flip and Nicole rescued me. . . I didn't even have to get out of the boat! I just waited upside down for her to come next to me and then I used her boat to help myself up.After a break in Rockland we attempted a kayak near Kennebunkport ME but wisely gave up when the conditions and tide were against us. We were going to camp just a 1/4 mile offshore but it was pretty nuts. So we headed further South to Salisbury Beach. And we found sun! And a vintage arcade! And Ozzie's fried dough!
We found out that day that there was a boating accident right next to the beach the night before (the night we turned back from our kayak trip). 3 people were rescued by the coast gaurd after a crazy night on the breakwater. One was still missing when we left. The next day was beautiful. The beach is right next to the Merrimac river. We kayaked across for lunch in Newburyport, a cute New England City with big old houses.
Since the weather was so much better we continued South. This time to Mystic CT for the wooden boat show. I could post a dozen beautiful pictures, but I'll limit myself to 1. Check out this homemade beauty. . .
Next stop, Long Island! The easy way though. We left our car at the ferry dock and went to the tip of northern Long Island. It was a nice crossing and Ashley and Ramses met us on the other side for lunch.After the boat show we headed towards Rhode Island. Turns out Rhode Island is really beautiful. We went to Concanticut Island in the middle of Narrangaset Bay and camped at this interesting RV site. It is ideally located right on the water and the locals seem to know it. Most of the sites are sold out for the season, and some of the sites have been passed down generation to generation. But the tent sites were all available and they were quite nice. We spent 2 days there kayaking and biking the island.
Finally a break from camping. We went to Bristol RI and stayed at a B&B for a couple nights. This is the first time we've ever been in a real B&B stateside. While it is quite common in Europe to find a B&B that is just a room in someone's house, in the US it is usually just another name for and Inn. But our hosts welcomed us into their house, gave us a map of the city and good recommendations on what to do and eat. Of course, I knew what I wanted to do. The Herreshof Measum! Now I will have to bore you with some boat pictures.
The sheer line on the Buzzards Bay 25 is the definition of boat sexiness.
Not only are the boats shapely, but the cockpits were nice to look at too. Here is the cockpit of Clara, Nat Herreshoff's own Cat-Ketch.
And finally, my new front runner for the boat-I-want-to-build. . . a Herreshoff 15.
After the measum we had another kayak lesson. . . this time a strokes class. We also did a little more kayaking in the bay before heading to Boston to spend the night with our friends Jeff and Manjeree.When we got back to Rockland, the weather had finally turned a corner. We talked our way onto Sarah's pretty friendship sloop (shame on me for not getting a picture of her boat in the harbor) Anna R for a trip across the bay to Greens Island, where the Atlantic Challenge founder, Lance Lee, owns property. The sailing was perfect and the island was just a little bit magical.
This beauty crossed our path on the way home.
