We packed our things, walked to the local car rental, loaded the car, and headed inland towards Brownville Junction and Schoodic Lake. We left the poor Song lonely on her mooring in Boothbay Harbor. The drive was only 2-1/2 hrs and it was good to show the boys rural inland Maine in contrast to the down-eastern Maine they have seen lately. We arrived at our rented cabin on Schoodic Lake and all the old memories of my previous visit here 12 years ago came flooding back. Nothing had changed much and this wild and beautiful place was just as I had last seen it. The water at Schoodic Lake is some of the clearest in Maine as the lake is large and spring fed. You can see every rock on the bottom in the clearest detail and the swimming is so refreshing.

Donald Martin (aka Pine Martin) is old friends with my dad from his Air Force days and he had offered to entertain us at Schoodic Lake for a few days. He was raised in this area and has known Schoodic Lake all his life. He has a camp at the lake at which he now lives. Pine took us on a boat tour of the lake and gave us all the history of the place. He later took us fishing for lake trout, although with the "heat wave" in full swing, we never could coax any of the large and tasty fish to bite. 15 years prior, my dad & I came to visit Pine and trout fished with him in Buttermilk Pond at a camp he kept in Barnard off the railroad tracks. During this previous trip, we visited Schoodic Lake and Pine showed us where he intended to live in his retirement.

We heartedly thank Pine and his family for taking time out of their lives to host us and show us around. We'll miss hearing Pine say, "Oh m'gosh" as he tells us another story. I regret that we did not get to meet Pine's son Donald. Last time I was here Pine could not stop talking about his son Donald who had enlisted in the Marine Corps. He was so proud of Donald that I thought he would burst. Donald later suffered injuries in Iraq that have left him 100% disabled and I would have liked to shake his hand, to thank him for his service and sacrifice for our country. By Pine's account he is quite a man.

We had dinner with Pine's family on our last night and we stopped by their camp to say good bye before we departed on Sunday morning. Don took us by a local hunt camp on our way out where we got to see a mounted state record lake trout which was caught there in Schoodic Lake. It was 28lbs and was quite an impressive fish. Seeing this fish helped Austin & I believe that there actually are lake trout in Schoodic Lake! We were soon back on the road and headed back towards Boothbay Harbor where the Song waited patiently for our return. We stopped for lunch in Wiscasset, about 10 miles from Boothbay Harbor. It was a cool little town with more antique stores than we've ever seen in one place. We were soon cruising into Boothbay Harbor where we saw our beloved barky waiting patiently there for us.

Cap'n Monty
s/v Song Of The South
Moored in Boothbay, ME