I awoke Saturday morning to Otis telling me with a great sense of urgency, that he needed me on deck right away, we were dragging anchor. So I jumped out of bed, put on my foul weather jacket and ran out on deck. Otis had started the engines and was keeping Indy from dragging back any further. It was gusting up to 30 kts with sheets of cold hard rain and it was about 49 degrees. Otis moved up on the anchor while I started pulling. We had about 160 ft out which is a little more time consuming to get up as it is rope at that length so has to be manually fed into the anchor locker. Once we got it up and reanchored further in, I was soaked and cold to the bone.
It is hard to find a place to anchor in Camden as it seems every inch of Camden harbor and the surrounding area is covered with mooring balls. There is a small area to anchor which is great when there is no wind but a little precarious when there's a blow because there are quite a few rocks around. The funniest thing was that it was not expected to blow or rain until Sat night so this, obviously, took us by surprise. Thankfully, O had heard it raining and the wind generator spinning wildly so decided to check it out.
Last time I wrote we were in Rockland, my mother was coming for an overnight and we were going to have the starboard engine looked at.
The time with my mom was fantastic, as always. We spent the day in Camden. We had lunch at the Waterfront and then took the kids to the amphitheater where they ran around with other kids while we chatted.
Ben and my mom have an extremely close relationship, so when she left the next day he did not take it well. He pouted for almost the entire day, just kind of slumping around saying he was sad because he missed Banya(which is what he calls mom). I swear it just broke my heart. A visit to McD's didn't even cheer him up so i knew it was serious!
We had numerous calls into the boatyard in Rockland and they kept assuring us we were next on the list. It was kind of an odd process. The mechanics were going to take a launch out to the boat to check out the engine but assured us we didn't have to be there and they gave us no indication of when they would arrive. I was surprised that they didn't want us here to explain the problem in further detail etc. Either way it made no difference as they never showed.....shocking, I know. So after waiting three days, with numerous assurances, we decided to go to Camden and have Wayfarer check it out. On a whim, Otis decided to have one more look. He pulled out the heat exchanger, cleaned it up and PRESTO!!!! We had no white smoke at all on the way to Camden. WOOOHOOO !!!
Other than the anchor dragging, we have had uneventful, fun filled family time. Camden is and always has been, one of our favorite places. As a cruiser it's an easy town because everything you need is within walking distance and there is a lot to do here, especially with kids. We have had raucous games of chase in the amphitheater,(where O almost blew out his knee trying to escape from me when I was 'it' ). Hung out in the library which has the best children's area we have seen thus far! They have really cool things like a lighthouse with a real light, a puppet theater, where Ben and I put on a show, brightly painted murals, train tables, loads of toys etc. It is such a fun place to go. Oh yeah, we also went to the beach where Ben and I rolled down a huge hill. I swear I hadn't done that since I was a kid, it was great.
Today we climbed Mt Batty. O and I thought there was a path near his Grandfathers, but it wasn't there anymore so we bushwhacked our way up. It felt great once we reached the top. I was surprised Ben pioneered through but he wanted to see the "pirate looking" castle on top so that was a big motivator. It took us about three hours round trip which isn't too bad considering.
All in all we have really just been enjoying our family time.
On a side note: the weather has been great but chilly. The high lately has been in the low seventies and forties at night! This is a little chilly for us considering the boat does not have heat. This week is suppose to be sunny but actually cooler with highs in the sixties with low/mid forties at night. It feels and smells like autumn....but this is early even for Maine. I keep having to remind myself that it's mid August!
We are leaving tomorrow to make our way to Southwest harbor, taking our time, making lots of stops along the way.
Let's hope it warms up a little!
I am trying to post a new photo gallery so be on the lookout!