Penobscot Bay, Maine, Part II: In which I Lament the Lack of Cannon

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Wednesday June 21, 2017

Once again, I was up early, so I chopped up some melon for Tyler. It was a beautiful morning as we set sail from Pulpit Harbor – and I got to help raise the anchor! If I stayed on this ship long enough, my arm muscles would be awesome. I could definitely feel when the anchor went straight up and down and then again when we had to pull it out from the bottom – yikes!

It was so nice, I took off my shoes and ditched my layers. It was a nice sail to Camden, and I found out the daughter of two of the other passengers just finished spending a year in Kosovo! How random. So we had a good chat about Kosovo and Eastern Europe. Sometimes I am reminded just how small the world can be sometimes. It is also important to note, I think, that everyone was super interested and supportive of my book writing – crew and passengers – and that is just so great to have people be excited for what I am trying to do. So, if any of you happen to read this – thank you.

We put into Camden for passenger exchange, which was sad because everyone had been so great and we were really just getting to know one another. However, I gained a sleeping bag and pad from one of the disembarking passengers. I am quite excited about this because I was hoping to sleep on deck, but no matter how I tried, my sleeping bag just wouldn’t fit in my hiking backpack. So, I will be trying that tonight. Our new passengers boarded and we set off once more. As the anchor came up this time, I flaked the chain – laid it nicely in the box. The only problem with this is that the chain is both rusty and muddy. Easier than hauling up the anchor, though.

Though it stayed sunny, the wind picked up and the water got rough. When we were doing dishes (done on deck as a collective effort) things got really rough, and I decided to spend the rest of the afternoon curled up on the aft cabin top (the set that my cabin is in) to try and avoid being ill. Perhaps I should take some of that Dramamine and stop being stubborn...

We arrived in Stonington Harbor and anchored near another sailing ship, Victory Chimes. As the sun set, she fired a cannon. Though I knew this was simply a signal to lower the flag, I looked at it as a declaration of war. However, we have no cannon. Though I have no clue where on deck we would put them, I do regret the lack of cannon as there are so many ships that we could pretend to attack J

For as windy as it was earlier, the evening/night has been still and beautiful. Totally ready to sleep under the stars.



Thursday June 22, 2017

The stars were beautiful last night, even more so after I put on bug spray. I could see the whole Milky Way and just so, so many stars. I wish I didn’t need sleep so I could have stayed up longer. As it was, the lobster boat men woke all of us up at sunrise as they headed out to work. One nice boat went passed slowly, but the rest were in a hurry to get out.

Last night, the crew took the yawl boat out and something happened to the engine, so today we spent the day in Stonington – ashore – while it was fixed. First, we had to haul up the anchor. I flaked chain once more, and then Victory Chimes’ yawl boat pushed us into Stonington’s actual harbor, to anchor next to a lobster boat named Weak Moment. Their yawl boat also brought us to shore. Those of us who had been on since Sunday were very excited for modern toilets and a bit of running water. The find of the day was discovered by one of the other passengers – a hair salon where the proprietor was willing to wash our hair. Now, there is a shower aboard the Mercantile that works perfectly fine, but it is very much a camping-type shower, though there is no problem with hot water because the shower is just off the galley with that monster of a stove. But, to have a real wash and get all the shampoo or condition out... Note: if going again, bring leave in shampoo/conditioner. Anyway, Susie – the proprietor – was great and gave us a whole history of the town and some information about lobster fishing – both her husband and one of her sons are lobster men. She is also super involved in the town, especially organizing some of the 4^th of July celebrations – they are having a pirate ship this year!

We had a picnic lunch on shore and a bit later were ferried back out to Mercantile. We spent a relaxing evening aboard. Tomorrow – with our repaired yawl boat – we set sail once more.



Friday June 23, 2017

The lobster boat men woke us once more. Since we were in the actual harbor, there were so many more of them. It is only after spending days on a motor-less ship that you realize how loud other boats are. So, so loud.

There was very little wind this morning and it was quite overcast and rained off and on, but by the time we reached the island we were doing our lobster bake on, the weather was improving. A fire was started and we roasted hot dogs and s’mores while the lobster steamed (boiled? baked?). Lunch finished, we packed up and headed back onto the <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mercantile, raised anchor, and set sail once more. There was enough wind to sail, though not very fast. We were in no hurry, though, and the sun came out, so it was a lovely afternoon.

When we reached North Haven Village, Captain sent out the yawl boat with a few passengers to take pictures of the Mercantile under sail. As you can see, the pictures turned out wonderfully. The coolest thing about the village was one of the houses looked as though the front had been made from an old merchant or naval sail ship – so cool. Someday, I would like to go back and look at the house or business or whatever – it was rather big to just be a house.

Almost as soon as we left North Haven Village, fog started to creep in and, at first, the wind picked up so we moved along. Then, the wind began to die away. In the distance, we could see Owl’s Head Lighthouse – one of the few lighthouses we’d seen that was actually lit. We crawled our way toward the light. Now, I had no clock, but I bet it took us about an hour and a half to reach the light and then turn around the point. By this point, we were getting a bit silly. We have obviously been on this ship too long, but we were having great fun. When we did finally round the point, we saw two ships – American Eagle and Isaac H. Evans – already at anchor. We continued to inch forward into the thickening for to the (I am sure) entertainment of the other ships, as we were still under full sail. We had to look like a pirate ship coming out of the fog, ready to attack. Once again, I was very sad that we didn’t have any cannon. With our stealthy entry, we could have taken them both.

We managed to eat and wash all the dishes before we dropped anchor – that is how slow we were moving. After dropping anchor and stowing the sails, I got to help Becky stow the foresails – which meant climbing out on the bowsprit, something I had been dying to do. By this time, it was getting dark (American Eagle fired her cannon to signal sunset – once more: cannon needed!) and the fog was still thickening. After stowing the sails, I climbed back out on the bowsprit to sit for a bit. Thank you, Kellie for liking to climb trees so much when we were younger! I still might not like heights, but my balance is top notch when inching out on things like tight cables and narrow ship parts. Getting back from the bowsprit to the ship was a bit more difficult, but I managed to do so without falling in. Next time: take off shoes first.

Too foggy and dark to take pictures, I go to try and put my berth in some semblance of order since we disembark tomorrow.



Saturday June 24, 2017



A beautiful, clear morning – at least in our little cove. Fog closed around once more as we set out, but the closer we got to Camden, the brighter it became. Looking back, I could see one of the other ships sailing in the fog – it looked so awesome. I wish we had been closer so pictures would have turned out. Off our starboard side, the Angelique was also coming in out of fog, and she was a bit closer. We reached Camden just before 11:00. Then it was goodbyes and loading off. Hitching up my pack, I headed up to the inn I’m staying at, which is conveniently just across from a laundry mat. Clean clothes and a shower – a great end to this portion of the trip. But I will be back as soon as possible – more sailing is definitely in my future.

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Photos

Lobster Bake
Swampy is not sure about more lobster...

Ships in the Fog
American Eagle and Isaac H. Evans as the fog closes in

So that's what they look like!
American Eagle and Isaac H. Evans the next morning when we can actually see them.