We had an early start today so we could catch the current going up the Kennebec River to Bath. The Kennebec is Maine’s longest river, 150 miles. While the entrance isn’t that broad, the river widens about a mile in, and is surrounded by tall wooded hills. There was one thing missing from the river, lobster pots! There were none... the river turns to fresh water about 8 miles up, the lobsters must not like it. It was nice not dodging pots on our way to Bath. The current helped us quite a bit. Our boat speed through the water was six knots, actual speed up the river got up to about 9.3.
The current may have helped us up the river, but made a mess of the painter on the mooring ball at the maritime museum. It was all wrapped around the mooring chain so we had a heck of a time getting it free to hook onto the boat (stories of the boat hook floating away and subsequent chase will be saved for beer time). The Maritime Museum was a great place to visit, the exhibits have gotten much more numerous since we were here 15 years ago, more on that tomorrow. We also were moored right next to Bath Iron Works (BIW) where the Navy’s newest Guided Missile Destroyers are built. There is one in the water and several others being built within BIW.
We met two different couples from NC, like us, they came north to escape the heat. It was warm during the day, so the shower I n the Yachtmen’s Center at the museum was much appreciated upon return from our three mile round trip hike into town for provisions. The temperature still cooled off at night, the river and all the work at BIW calmed down at dusk, so we had a nice night.