4 August, Saturday
06 August 2018 | Frenchboro to McClathery Island, Merchants Row
Foggy again, so we took our time getting going. We were off to check out Markeral Cove and Buckle Cove on Swan Island. If neither of those looked great, we were going to go on to McClathery Island behind Isle of Haut along what's called "Merchants Row."
Mostly fog for the trip, with about 1/4 to 1/2 a mile visibility, so not too terrible. There was no sunshine above, so the day was a little dreary. We ended up passing on both anchorages in Swan Island, they both had quite a few boats in them already and it was before noon. It could be they were all there for the Swan Island Music Festival. Someone told us tickets are pretty $$ and they sell out several months in advance, so we decided a last minute decision to go wouldn't work.
We started with the jib out, which worked well, but as we entered Jericho Bay, the wind was right in our face, and we weren't all that excited to tack through the fog in a bay that was jam packed with lobster pots, so we pulled in the sail and motored 7 miles across the bay. We wiggled in between a couple small islands and anchored behind McClathery. As we tucked into the cove, protection from the large fir trees cut the wind speed from 16+ to almost nothing. There was plenty of room to anchor and we settled in for a quiet evening. The huge bonus for the day was Lesley, bored motoring through the fog, made fresh corn chowder during our trip. It tasted wonderful with a steak sandwich, and warmed us up after a cool damp day.