Along the way north, while talking to fellow cruisers we were told, in fact warned of the nuisance of lobster pots. Some even said they wouldn't go back to Maine because of them.

Owing to the colder waters, the further north you get the better the lobstering. Consequently, the ocean is simply littered with pots. To make a bad situation worse, for whatever reason, up here the fishermen tie a "toggle" to the pot buoy on a length of maybe 12 ft of line. So, not only do you have to weave around the pots but you have to work out whether the pot buoy is tied to the float a few feet away.

We got it wrong yesterday and with a light thud our rope cutter made short work of it. Thankfully as we've sat this afternoon in North Haven watching some poor bloke diving on his prop while clunking off the adjacent moored boat.

Maine is an interesting place. In the 1800's the state built more ships than anywhere else in the US to ship lumber, ice and granite to the southern states. Maine granite was shipped ready cut and polished to build New York's libraries, cathedral and railway station.

The last of these Windjammers gather in Camden for the long weekend so we are heading back there tomorrow for the festivities.