Today was a “jokes on you” day. The sky was blue from the southwest to the northwest from what we could see behind Trafton Island. We pulled anchor ready to sail, then we came around the southwest corner of island and ran straight into a mountain of fog. So, we kept the sails down, cranked up the radar and headed into the mist.
We decided to take another shot at Petit Manan Island to see some Puffins even though the fog was pretty thick. The wind dropped to just a couple knots, so we almost drifted by the lighthouse on Petit Manan, visibility was just 100 yards or so. The puffins must of been on break, the terns were in full swing, but we didn’t see any Puffins until we got about a mile west and one flew by. There’s plenty on the web though, http://projectpuffin.audubon.org has a bunch of info.
Our 100 yards of visibility stuck with us all the way into Winter Harbor. We were slowly motoring by the yacht club there when their launch operator caught up to us and said she’d be happy to point out a mooring for us if we wanted one. So that’s where we ended up. The club was really nice (think late 60s, need to wear a jacket and tie to dinner, keep up with the Jones’ kind of place). Winter Harbor was just a mile walk, there used to be a Naval Station here that operated a communications station to talk with submarines, but that left several decades ago, the town population is now under 500, it gets busier in the summer. The former Navy facilities and property now are used for senior housing, a wildlife museum and some parks and wildlife areas. We had a great lunch at one of the four restaurants in town (just two serve lunch),and were able to reprovision at the IGA.
On the way back, Lesley spotted some wild huckleberry bushes next to the road, so we spent some time picking huckleberries.... not enough for a pie though.... too bad. They tasted better than we remembered. The fog actually lifted around seven to an overcast sky. Weather reports have the heavier wind increasing through the night into tomorrow, so we may head up Frenchman’s Bay to Flanders Cove, rather than heading out to Frenchboro on Long Island.