Away

 8/31- Port Clyde, ME

   I just couldn’t wait any longer and it came back to bite me. I was so anxious to get going this morning that I ignored the wind forecast. We managed to, barely, sail out of the harbor giving the folks at the lighthouse a photo opportunity. We put on the motor as the wind was coming on the nose to get us through the narrow part of Owls Head passage. I ran the sails out again and we sailed for about 20 minutes before the wind gave up. Back to Mr Perkins again. This time we motored through the Muscle Ridge passage. There was wind in here but I was not to be fooled again so we kept motoring until we cleared the last buoy near Whitehead. Out came the sails for another try. This time we actually sailed for about 40 minutes before it looked like we were headed backwards as the tide was against us. I gave up and dropped all the sails. Of course just then the wind picked up. If I had just waited another hour or so before leaving we would probably have had wind the whole day. Arrghh!

   Meanwhile we made it to Port Clyde whose waterfront had been devastated by fire a couple of years ago. The sounds of steam drills, jack hammers and saws filled the air as the rebuilding is slowly happening. The old general store is no longer there but it looks like they are replacing the restaurant and hopefully some marina facilities. 

  We took a hike to the Marshall Point lighthouse ( run Forrest run) and on the way back we stopped at the Herring Gut research facility. We got a lovely tour from the director as it was closing and she didn’t want to rush us. The facility has received a boost in funding and has added several new water tanks. They had several blue lobsters and other specimens of seafood that wouldn’t be quite as tasty. 

   The harbor was quite bouncy tonight as the wind stayed up from the SE. It calmed down nicely once the sun set though. 

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