Friday, August 18
11.8 Nautical Miles | Mackerel Cove, Swans Island
We had planned to head down to Frenchboro, Long Island from Northeast, but the weather forecast called for heavy rain all day on Sunday, the day we were going to return to Bucks Harbor. I told Heather that we could go back to Bucks Harbor on Sunday, but I was going to spend the trip down below. With this in mind, we decided that it might be better to head somewhere closer to Eggemoggin Reach so that we would have a reasonably short day on Saturday to return to Bucks.
A Lazy, Lazy Day
We had a low-key morning: Gavin colored, Heather finished a book, and I drank coffee. Around 0930 we went ashore so that Heather could get herself some coffee at the deli, then we returned to the boat to get ready to leave. Around 1030 we dropped the mooring and bid
We motored out the Western Way directly into the teeth of a 15 knot breeze, with Gavin down below playing with clothespins. Once we cleared the end of the Western Way, we made off for Bass Harbor Bar and enjoyed a nice sail, for about 15 minutes, in a steadily decreasing breeze. Eventually we were making less than 1 knot overground and Heather declared that it was time to start the engine. We motored across the bar, and made a course for Mackerel Cove on Swans Island, near the entrance to Casco Passage.
We motored most of the way, with a couple of brief but abortive attempts at sailing. At the mouth of the cove we dropped the main and motored in. Mackerel Cove is huge. We considered the current wind direction, and the forecast for the afternoon and evening, and chose to anchor in the little indent east of Roderick Head. The spot seemed nicely protected and we dropped the anchor in 12 feet at low.
It turned out that this was a great spot to anchor. Not only did we have really good protection from what turned into a stiff southwesterly that blew all night, only one other boat anchored there.
We didn't really do anything all afternoon. Heather worked on the computer and I read, while watching a steady parade of boats sail out of Casco Passage and across Blue Hill Bay with Mount Desert in the background. Gavin napped most of it away, then played aboard, as it was sort of unpleasantly cold and windy in the evening. We listened to jazz on MPR, played with Gavin, and read. Another day of cruising.
