Penobscot Bay and Mt. Desert

Written lying Northeast Harbor, Mt. Desert Is.

It's been a week since the last post and this one is probably not going out today as Internet service is really weak to non-existant.

Geology geeks will note the subtle curves of this formation.

Anyway, we have put on some miles and are now at the mid-point in our journey.  We will go into Bar Harbor later this week and leave the boat for a week to attend to family and business.

The tides are now over 11 feet but soon they will be 20 and 30.

Merchant Island...our private anchorage.

By far the most secluded cove so far was the one on Merchant Island which is uninhabited.  There is a tiny cove that at low tide is no more than 125 yards across.  Our anchor found a sweet spot and we stayed two wonderful nights.  Beaches and granite gave Bella a lot of space and I later realized nobody had previously reported on this cove to ACTIVECAPTAIN" which is like the ZAGAT of boating.  Gave it four stars as there was no Starbucks.

We treated ourselves to a slip for one night in Southwest Harbor and it was well worth it for the boat really needed to be cleaned up and so did the crew.  This is the home of many old and successful boat builders and as such the joint is loaded with floating eye-candy.  A Hinckley here and a Hinckley there.  We fueled, watered, laundered and shopped.  Then we dashed up Somes Sound which is a very favorite place for us.  It is not unlike a fjord about 6 miles long with the heights of Mt Desert Island on both sides and depths over 300 feet.

Somesville street scene and a granite flower box.

The Somesville Museum and memorial bridge.

Did I mention Somesville.  So sweet.  I have no clue how few people live here, but those that do have some wonderful 18^th and 19^th century homes, gardens and landscapes.  We tried to capture them here.  The pics here are of the Furniture Gallery (a cabinet for $60k, a pool table for $25k and so on. ) So while this place is isolated it is obviously well populated with deep pockets and the gallery gave us some insight to the culture as did the Arcadia Repertory down the road.  This is rural folks, and yet not.  The homes on the shores of the Sound are McMansions of the first order.  

Need a bench for the hallway?  $17,000!  We considered but it was sold.

Then we moved on to Northeast Harbor on Mt Desert and our last stop will be at the Woodenboat School where we have always had a great time.

When we return from the break we will turn east and leave most communication and settled shoreline behind.   There is very little until the Canadian line.  We must fuel for the leg in both directions as there is no fuel available along the way up or back.  I've crunched the numbers many times.

The blog just passed a milestone in that there have been 1,023 pageviews.  So my sister is doing her job of hitting the link 50 times a day.  

Thanks for tuning in.