Another Maine lighthouse
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This is where the flotilla started. Susie and Gene Bartley have been terrific guests and crew, and today they departed, leaving Larry and Susan to have a nice slow trip home to Edgecomb. We should be there by Saturday.
The photo is of one of the wonderful lighthouses we have seen on this trip--I am thinking of doing a calendar of Maine lighthouses as Christmas presents!
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Now it was time to return to the US, and we planned to clear customs at Eastport, Maine--about 2 hours from Saint Andrews and then head for Roque Island archipelago. The gorgeous sunrise, about 6 am, made the early morning departure delightful. Naturally, the crowd of flotilla people descended on Eastport within a short period, but we were near the front of the line and were off on our way at 9am. Susan was particularly hopeful that we would get to Roque. First of all, the archipelago is a collection of marvelously named islands (Double Shot, Shag, Pulpit) owned by one family (with some of the islands donated to the Nature Conservancy). Most importantly, on Roque Island itself there is the only long, white sand beach in Maine (think tropical island, but replace the palms with pines). We made Roque by 5pm, and Susan was able to add the sand of Roque to her collection of sand from all over the globe!
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08/22/2008
Today was a day spent ashore in Saint Andrews, New Brunswick. The picture shows the harbor when the tide is out--a difference of probably 25 feet from when the tide is in. We spent most of the morning in spectacular Kingsbrae Gardens-a 26 acre site that ranks as one of Canada's top ten public gardens. There are rose gardens and succulent gardens and labyrinths and mazes and vegetable gardens and pine gardens and on and on. One could easily spend a day there in each season and find something new and wonderful each time. After lunch in the garden's cafe, a bit more walkabout and then back to the boat. Dress-up dinner tonight ashore at the Fairmont Algonquin, a historic majestic hotel that commands a spectacular view of the harbor, and then we're off early tomorrow to clear United States customs at Eastport, Maine and head back down the coast. We're hoping to make Roque Island, but we'll see how long the Eastport procedure takes.
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One thing about reversing falls--you have to go over/through them on their time schedule, not yours. And to go through/over those on the Saint John River at an hour that allows a sailboat to get down to Saint Andrews Harbor through the turbulent narrow passage into Passamaquody Bay (64 miles), it became necessary to get moving down toward the Falls by 4am.
And it is DARK at that hour. Thank heavens for radar and GPS, especially when there are 14 boats milling around just above the Falls waiting for slack water and the chance to go over/through. Eventually all the boats got through/over, and off we went--through Saint John Harbor and down the coast. It was a lovely day, great sailing, and into Saint Andrews on a mooring. And this mooring was easy, as the wharfinger (look it up--like a harbormaster, but different) sent out a skiff with helpers to hand us the mooring line. Later we took the dinghy into the town dock and rambled through town--it is charming. Saint Andrews has the distinction of having become the hometown of the largest number of "loyalists" from the American Revolution--those "loyal" British who decided not to stay in the American colonies when they were no longer colonies. These folks took everything they owned (and was movable--including dismantled houses) and floated them all by barge to Saint Andrews where they could continue to live as British citizens.
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