Morning fog wisped in and out as we headed out of Damariscove Island. lobster boats grumbling, fish flapping, and not a sound from the kids who clambered about the previous day in dinghies. Paradise for two young girls to do whatever they want, fish, swim, row up and down the cove fifty times a day... whatever. The perfect COVID hideaway for a family staying at the light saving station at the entrance to the long cove. The ideal place to disappear from civilization and experience a normal summer vacation.

Our first plan as we headed Downeast was to visit Monhegan for a day or two but the weather forecast called for a chance of severe thunder storms and rain that night and all day Wednesday. Monhegan has limited moorings and the ones they have are thick heavy chain with a small pickup buoy attached. The harbor channel can be rolly and loud so instead we decided to head for the beautiful protected anchorage of Pulpit Harbor on North Haven Island.

Our sail from Damariscove was iffy at best. We got some wind early but it died around noon so we motor sailed a bit until it picked back up. We stayed on a starboard tack the whole way which was fantastic but we really wanted to heal over on a port tack just to see if the caulking goo fixed the gushing leak we experienced the day before. Several years ago we had a similar issue where we saw gallon after gallon rushing through the cabinet in the head as it made its way to the bilge. The pump chugging every few seconds to keep up with the flow. When we arrived at Damariscove, I crawled in the tiny aft locker to check for leaks and caulked what I suspected to be the culprit. Some day we’ll see if it worked...

As we approached West Penobscot Bay (off Owls Head & Rockland) we were amazed at the lack of boat activity. Typically you’d see ferries, tankers headed up to Searsport, lots of sailboats, schooners, lobster boats, a real feel of the bustling Bay we’ve seen in the past. This time things were eerily quiet. What would the scene be at Pulpit? We arrived by 7:30ish to a quiet open harbor with four or five other cruisers and about thirty vacant moorings, very odd for the week after July 4th!!

The weather was a little icky but not too bad until Wednesday night when the sky let loose! Thunder, lightning and a whole lot of rain. Water running down the mast inside the cabin, frantically wrapping towels around the mast to stop the flow. little drips here and there from windows but given the deluge I think we faired quite well.