I thought I might do a little photo essay for you of my trip, but I got derailed pretty quickly from that idea. I'm not great with a camera and you would have had a disappointing array of pictures of grey-blue expanses, with distant green piney hills and some tiny triangles of white that all looked alike. So I gave it up almost as soon as I got aboard my host's motorboat in Camden and headed across to the island.
But here are some pictures of Camden Harbor, for anyone who hasn't been there. I have complicated feelings about Camden, but one thing I really admire about the place is the variety and caliber of sailboats that come and go from there. That's because it's a beautiful protected harbor, and it's an easy jumping-off point to East Penobscot Bay, which lots of people find the most wonderful and interesting sailing anywhere, and it is serviced by Wayfarer Marine, a marina with the capacity and the skill for very big projects. And it's the seat of Maine's schooner fleet, which is a pretty interesting and special group of boats.
Islesboro, the Fox Island Thoroughfare, Merchant's Row, the Barred Islands, and Jericho Bay are so gorgeous, and I gave up trying to take pictures of them. Either I couldn't do it with my camera or I was busy sailing. The smooth pink Stonington granite appears in East Penobscot Bay and it makes for a shoreline that tugs on you. And there are so many islands and harbors, and something about the blue-green of the water and the way the sun hits the hills in the distance -- the Camden Hills and Blue Hill and Mount Desert Island -- and the way the fog rolls in, it's really the best place on earth. But I didn't catch it on camera for you. You'll have to come visit.
Although the set of pictures is captioned Islesboro, there's only one picture of Islesboro -- my hosts' dock. It's a special place. We had a bald eagle living right nearby, who flew right over our heads as we drank wine and grilled dinner on the beach one night.
Well you almost caught the charming old lady, that is, our 66 year old antique power boat, on your boat tour of Camden Harbor...but you missed her. Actually we were out on her Fri. thru Sun. up to the wooden boat race in Brooklyn so maybe it was our fault that she wasn't there for your camera to capture.
I can understand your mixed feelings about Camden. It is a magnet to a real cross-section of people. Many who live here find summer a hassle but I love watching people. So a walk downtown can be an evenings entertainment and sitting out on our boat sipping a glass of wine can be like watching TV with the harbor activity rolling by.
Glad that you make it back to visit by times. It is a great place to live. Perhaps your Prince Charming is some "yachty hottie", as my daughter has been known to call them, that will indeed find you at some boat race or another and sweep you off your feet and land you somewhere here in the Penobscot Bay region.
Posted by: bridgeovertroubledwater | August 09, 2006 at 08:55 PM
Sounds grand and lovely and we hope sometime to cruise Maine (my best man grew up in Kennebunk) and down east and continue on up to Nova Scotia ... though we couldn't think of leaving our boat behind, and the 2,412-mile drive with a thirty-foot-six-inch boat would be quite a project. Eventually, we have the crazy idea of visiting a bunch of Etchells fleets here and there across the country. Someday!
Posted by: Pat | August 10, 2006 at 02:16 PM
Sounds grand and lovely and we hope sometime to cruise Maine (my best man grew up in Kennebunk) and down east and continue on up to Nova Scotia ... though we couldn't think of leaving our boat behind, and the 2,412-mile drive with a thirty-foot-six-inch boat would be quite a project. Eventually, we have the crazy idea of visiting a bunch of Etchells fleets here and there across the country. Someday!
Posted by: Pat | August 10, 2006 at 02:17 PM
Sounds grand and lovely and we hope sometime to cruise Maine (my best man grew up in Kennebunk) and down east and continue on up to Nova Scotia ... though we couldn't think of leaving our boat behind, and the 2,412-mile drive with a thirty-foot-six-inch boat would be quite a project. Eventually, we have the crazy idea of visiting a bunch of Etchells fleets here and there across the country. Someday!
Posted by: Pat | August 10, 2006 at 02:18 PM