We left Southwest Harbor on a clear, but windy day and made our way to Stonington, which is at the southern tip of Deer Island. The trip was fine despite the wind and we made it in good time. We took a mooring at Billings Diesel and Marine, a working boatyard. Stonington Harbor is reserved for lobster boats and there were thousands of them. They say the loudest and fastest lobster boats can be found here and they were not kidding. The guidebooks said that they can be a bit rude to pleasure boaters, but I have found just the opposite. This is the only place that the men on the lobster boats actually wave to me, that usually does not happen.

We went into town in search of a lobster dinner, but the best restaurant in town was closed today, what a bummer. After walking through the little quaint town, we took the dinghy through the mooring field admiring all the lobster boats. The evening at Billings was pleasant and Troy took advantage and stayed out on the deck for most of the evening. Stonington was named for its many quarries and its proudest moment was when First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy chose Deer Island pink granite for her late husband's headstone.

The lobster boats started leaving around 4:00 am breezing by us at a pretty good clip. We were all up early and decided not to stay a second day and headed to Pulpit Harbor in North Haven. It was a calm day and it only took us under two hours to get there. Pulpit is a nice place to through out an anchor, very secluded and surrounded by elegant homes. We had no issue finding a nice spot, but once we were situated, boats just kept coming in and it got pretty crowded. There was even a large schooner that anchored here for the night. We just sat up on the fly bridge and watched them all come in and drop anchor, some had an easier time than others. It was entertaining. After dinner I found that we actually had TV reception here, the first time in a few weeks. I finally got to watch some news and even the Big Bang Theory. Troy was enjoying the nice evening so much I had to bring him in when it got dark, he would have stayed out all night.

We picked up the anchor around 10:00 and headed across the bay to Rockport. Rockport is situated between Camden and Rockland. It is here that Andre the seal befriended the harbormaster back in the 1960's and was featured in a book. A granite statue located in the waterfront park now memorializes Andre. We had a delicious lunch at the Salt Water Farm, which boasts farm and sea to table fare. Once back on board Wildflower, the dark clouds began to move in quickly and before we knew it, it became pitch black and we had quite the thunderstorm and torrential downpours. Troy hid behind my legs under his blanket during the storm. The rain cleaned the boat, but filled the dinghy. George thinks we got about 3 inches of rain. It is now very calm and beautiful, with the sun trying to peak out. We are one of the few powerboats in this harbor; most are sailboats and a few lobster boats.

We will stay here two nights and head to Rockland on Sunday. We will head home on Monday for a few days.