Day trip to Bucksport and back

Today Sheila and I (and of course Katie & Riggs) took a picnic lunch out to Spray at about 10:30, untied from the mooring in Hatch Cove, and headed out of Castine Harbor. As we passed the town dock we saw the crowd remaining from the just-completed Memorial Day ceremonies. We headed out into Penobscot Bay and turned north into a cool breeze. We attacked our picnic lunch almost immediately once underway.

With a rising tide, it was an easy 2-hour run up the bay, which narrowed to become the Penobscot River. We passed under the new and old bridges that connect Verona Island to Prospect ME (photo above), and tied up to the spacious Bucksport town dock. Bucksport has done wonderful things in the past 10 years or so in opening up its waterfront, including a 1+ mile long brick shore path. We walked half the path, stopped to have ice cream, and then finished the shore path.

When we were back aboard Spray, the wind had totally died down, and we moved to Spray's flying bridge to bask in the sun. After about a half hour traveling south, the southerly sea breeze started up as if someone had thrown a switch. The breeze and resulting waves built quickly so we were soon back down in the warm salon. As we continued towards Castine, the waves on our bow increased to 1 foot, to 2 ft, and by the time we reached Castine harbor, we were bashing through 3-4 ft waves. This made Katie nervous while Riggs just slept through it all. We turned into the harbor and surfed back to Hatch Cove and tied back to the mooring at 5 pm, where we finished our picnic food.

So it was a good trip and a nice break from the work I've been doing on Spray, which has included exterior varnish and paint work plus a new floor for the forward stateroom. Lots of summer left for more cruising and more chores.

This is Bucksport from the water: