We had an easy motor of about 6 miles from RobinHood to Boothbay but it involved navigating a small cut just 50 yards wide or so. At one point we had a red marker on our left and rocks 10 feet to our right and we were in 35 feet of water! We spent a couple of days in Boothbay Harbor enjoying the tourist attractions then we headed for Xmas Cove and somje peace and quiet but Janet noticed that we were gettingn more smoke and less water from our exhaust than usual so we pulled into a marina instead. We got a diagnosis of scaling in our heat exchanger so we had an acidic solution pumped in to clear it and it seemed to help so we headed to Xmas Cove again. Our "AuntieAnna" had recommended we visit this cove as she remembered it was beautiful from past travels and indeed it is snug and beautiful still. We had a nice walk on shore and slept soundly after a nice dinner.

The next day we planned to head 40 miles to the Penobscot Bay but as we pulled out of Xmas Cove Janet again noticed smaoke and less water from our exhaust so I headed back to Boothbay where there was a Yanmar dealer that would be competent to work on the engine...I hoped!

The first diagnosis was that it was grayish smoke and that indicated a fuel burning problem plus perhaps a water cooling problem. We waited two days for new injectors to arrive and by 6PM on Friday evening our mechanic "Andy" had them installed to we motored back into Boothbay harbor...but the problem was still not cured...the longer we ran and the harder we pushed her, the more smoke and less water we got out of the exhaust. Since we had already changed the impeller, Andy suggested I might want to jump overboard and check to see if anything was wrapped around the propeller. I tried using my mask from the dinghy but it was impossible to see and leaning too far over, I slipped into the water....WHOA...was that COLD!!! My leg immediately cramped up and it exhausted me just to get back in the dinghy....BUT I did think I saw something by the prop so we decided to haul out the boat. When she came out of the water, I was disappointed to see nothing around the prop so we still did not know what was causing my engine problem. I spotted a bunch of seaweed hanging down from my water intake and Andy went aboard to dis-assemble the hose and fitting. Lo and behold there was a totally hard packed lump of seaweed in the intake elbow and THAT was what had been restricting my water flow. Andy said he'd only seen such a thing once before in his career....just our luck. In any event, that small clump of seaweed cost us a week of cruising time and more boat bucks than I want to think about! Andy machined a new part for our alternator mount while we were there that put an end to our belt squeaking and wearing due to an unstable mounting. All in all, everything that was done was needed and we were once again able to get underway for Penobscot Bay with more confidence that Camaraderie was in great working order.

Before leaving Boothbay, our friends Mike and Nancy (from the Bahamas) surprised us by showing up at our slip. They had driven from their home about an hour away to come visit. It was so great to see them and talk again. We had a nice seafood lucnch on the pier and then went for a scenic drive around the peninsula. They were headed for Florida to check up on "Zoelyn" and we hope to be able to get together with them as we head back south again.

All of this repair stuff let us spend more time in Boothbay Harbor which we came to enjoy despite the crowds. They have a free trolley that takes you everywhere and we were able to provision at a Hannnafords and enjoy the use of the library internet access and try some good seafood places during our stay.

Speaking of seafood...Jan has been getting her fill of lobsters from the local lobstermen. On the way to the Penobscot...we hailed one guy for a couple of lobsters and as we pulled close he said..."Take 'em, I don't want anything for them!".... We forced him to take a few bucks but that was a pretty incredible example of how nice the Maine lobster guys are!

We arrived uneventfully in Rockland after some interesting navigation and were surprised to find we were just in time for the annual Maine Lobster Festival. Jan was in heaven! Rockland is a very nice town that looks to be much less "touristy" than Boothbay but of course with the festival it was a bit hard to tell! The next day we pushed on to Camden which is the MOST tourist driven town we've been to with traffic jams several miles long on the weekends. On the other hand....it is simply lovely and we enjoyed our stay and even saw a foreign language movie. (Son of the Bride - Highly Recommended!!) At the dock was a huge power yacht and who should appear to wave to the crowd but Johnny Carson...neat!

With the repair problems costing us so much time, I wanted to press on to Mt. Desert Island and Acadia National Park/Bar Harbor so we would have plenty of time to explore. The weather was cooperative and we flew down Eggmoggin Reach and across to the Bass Harbor Channel which is quite narrow and shallow. As we passed an older wooden gaff-rigged sloop in the channel Jan turned to snap a picture of the Bass Harbor lighthouse and exclaimed, "That's Ted Kennedy!" Sure enough it was the paunchy hero of Chappaquiddick at the wheel and Jan snapped a picture. It was our week for celebrities!

We rounded Bass Harbor light at the southern tip of Mt. Desert Island and went up into SW Harbor where we picked up a mooring at Hinckley Marine, home of the world famous Hinckley Yacht Builders. We were surrounded by more Hinckleys than we'd ever seen in one place as this is also the home of Hinckley Yacht Charters. ( One week aboard will set you back $4750! - A little rich for our blood.) We took the dinghy into the town of SW Harbor which is very much like "old Maine" and enjoyed a meal at the lobster pound and visited the northernmost West Marine store. We also discovered that the National Park Service runs free buses all over Mt. Desert Island and decided to use those to explore rather than move the boat to Bar Harbor. This proved to be a good decision as we had a couple of days of dense fog in the AM followed by thunderstorms in the PM so we got our exploring done in comfort without worrying about anything.

Janet had wanted to visit Ellsworth and Graham Lake where she had spent many summer vacations as a child and so we hopped a bus to the airport and rented a car for the day. Jan was happy to see her old haunts and to discover that the log cabins she had stayed in 30 years ago were still there as if time had stood still...except for the satellite dish on the roof! We had a most enjoyable day and got to explore some of the beauty of Acadia Nat'l Park as well.

We also visited Bar Harbor which was the busiest Maine town we'd yet been to as it serves as the entrance to Acadia and serve 3+ million visitors a year. The traffic was incredible but the town is still nice to walk around.

On our 3rd day in Acadia we rented Mountain Bikes and explored some of the carriage trails through forests and ponds. We were exhausted by the end of the ride and returned via bus to the boat and slept very soundly that night! The following morning we ended our stay with a trip up Somes Sound which is the East Coasts only fjord. Having seen some of the Norwegian ones, it was a bit of a disappointment as it is neither as long, deep or high as most of those but it was lovely nevertheless and we exited to begin to re-trace our path and head on back down the coast.

We'll take 5 or 6 days to work our way back to Freeport (and LL Bean), then we plan to pretty much push hard daily as we make our way back towards Long Island.

Cruising Maine is a solitary experience unlike the Bahamas. The people of Maine generally keep to themselves and there is no real cruising community. Rarely did we see a boat from south of Massachusetts. The scenery is beautiful, the navigation challenging and the weather has been generally lovely and benign. We've had no winds over 25 knots and only a couple of days of fog so far which has been surprising given what the cruising guides prepare you for! All in all it has been nice to see and a good adventure but there is nothing that would draw me back again. I think if you lived here and had a boat, it would be a wonderful cruising ground with countless secluded anchorages and beautiful sailing weather (for a few months!) so it is easy to see why some people love it. Nevertheless, it has little that would draw me back for a second time. Give me warm water, and good cruising companions over scenery any day of the week! .....GB