Day 164 - Mon 7 Sep 2015
Moored - Ellsworth, ME

[photo: Bass harbor lighthouse on the way to Ellsworth, ME]

Happy Labor Day! Once you are retired, a holiday like that doesn't mean so much anymore, it seems. My sleepless middle of the night session at least allowed me to stay in bed until just before 0700 and get up with Diane. It was not cool in the boat at all, especially after I made a pot of coffee and a hot breakfast. Once the sun started streaming in our large windows (you really can't call them hatches, ports, deadlights, or anything nautical - they are windows), it got even warmer.

We had to bide time to await the tide and we enjoyed the peace and quiet, plus sunshine and comfortable temperatures. We could have traveled S down the sound at any time, but heading N into the bay and river was best on a flooding tide for reasons I described yesterday. The ride down the sound was wonderful, but as we got into the less protected waters to the SW of MDI, the building wind created quite a nasty chop with the ebbing tide. I actually turned off course by 40 degrees to take the waves at a more comfortable angle. It added distance and time to the run, but was worth it to keep from rocking side to side rather sharply.

Once we could turn with the wind and waves somewhat off the stern, everything got much better. The only thing that was stressful was dodging many hundreds of lobster trap buoys (there were thousands around us, but 'only' hundreds in my path that I had to avoid). It made it a little harder that I was running on just one engine. That wasn't because the other wouldn't work, but because we really only wanted to go about 7 kts to time the tide and one engine will do that with ease. It does make it a little harder to steer sharply, however.

There were quite a few lobstermen out on the holiday, but I guess in season they don't take too many holidays. There were perhaps 20 pleasure boats out moving within our view, which is not many at all for the number of boats that are based here. It was just 1 hour after low tide at Ellsworth when we got to the mouth of the Union River.

The good news about traveling at low tide is that you can see all the rocks that will be covered with water when the tide is up. Since the water here in the river is quite brown and murky, you really can't see the submerged rocks unless they are extremely close to the surface. Sure enough, the shallow spot we were warned about occurred and I slowed way down, but saw nothing less than 4.6 feet (about 2 feet between the boat and the river bottom).

Coming into the narrow Union River, it was a whole new experience as it was pretty narrow and you could see many places where rocky spits jutted out towards the center of the river. I was especially careful (and happy) to note that all the spots I could see were reflected on the electronic chart, as well. That might be very important on the way out when the tide is not so low.
We tied up at the Ellsworth Town Dock, took on water, met the harbormaster, and took our assigned mooring. He didn't worry about payment today; we can do that tomorrow he said. The mooring pennant was rather slimy, but Diane handled it well and we were secure. I don't see how you could anchor here since it is too narrow for you to swing in a circle on a proper scope, so the moorings are necessary.

It was after 1500 by then, so we just felt like relaxing until supper time. Except for that one stretch of bad chop, it was a good day. We saw a number of dolphins in Somes Sound and along the way. I also saw several solitary seals at various points. We continue to be impressed with the beauty up here.

Supper was some really tasty fresh green beans and chicken chili. We are getting a bit creative to use up provisions as we near the end of the trip. Besides, if we run out of food, we just have to eat more lobster. The early evening was still warm (it hit 82F today in town) as we read on the flybridge and got ready for another very peaceful night.