Day 175 - Fri 18 Sep 2015
Moored – South Freeport, ME

[photo: Diane might be shrinking]

The hectic, but successful, events of yesterday were behind us, and after a great night’s sleep, I awoke at first light about 0600. The tidal current was ripping southward already and it would have been good to leave about 0700, but I still had to return the rental car. I got there just before they opened and they drove me back by 0815; I was impressed.

We cast off at 0820 and with a power setting for 8 kts were soon doing almost 11 kts for quite a ways down the Kennebec River with the strong current giving us a boost. We had to stay clear of the Bath Iron Works where some very modern, stealthy Navy cruisers were being built. It was a gorgeous day to be on the water and we had the river all to ourselves.

As we approached the mouth, the ocean swell was fighting the strong ebbing tidal current and kicked up some waves that got our attention, but weren’t bad at all compared to some we have encountered. Before long we were heading down the coast, avoiding not only numerous little islets, but many lobster pot buoys. It was one of those wonderful days where we had the ebbing current pushing us down the river, and then the flooding current boosted us up the channel to the harbor at South Freeport. Good stuff!

We took a mooring at Brewer’s South Freeport Marine, got the dinghy down and went ashore. I took my shaving and shower stuff and was very impressed with the new and immaculate lounge and shower facilities. The dockmaster called us a taxi (no longer a free shuttle from LL Bean) and $11 later we were in the throngs of shoppers at the LL Bean Campus in nearby Freeport.

I am not a shopper, but I was impressed with the “campus” they have. It is a shopper’s dream, I am sure. Diane browsed a lot, but when it came to buying a yellow lightweight rain jacket, she loved the one at North Face the best. She got shoes at a different store, and a beautiful oriental-style jacket at a boutique, so LL Bean got nothing from us today. We have not been eating much ice cream, but had to sample the Ben and Jerry’s here and it was good.

Back at the boat by 1700, we relaxed for a while with the sun still blazing hot, but with a promise of cooler temperatures at sunset. I had some great phone conversations with some buddies from back home, including one (Jack) who used to live right here in South Freeport up on the hill. I have a list of people to say hello to for him. I know it brings back a lot of good memories for him and it is nice to be able to share our new adventures.

For supper, I made pizza loaded with veggies on whole wheat tortilla shells. It wasn’t conventional, but had a lot less carbs and sure was tasty. I tried to enjoy the flybridge with Clyde after supper but the mosquitos were coming out in force, so back inside we went.

In the past 15 days, we have only spent 2 at a marina dock plugged into shore power. All the rest of the time, our electrical needs have been furnished by the generator. Fortunately, we are not needing heat or air conditioning to at this point, so 40 minutes in the morning and evening is plenty. I miss the massive amount of solar energy we got with the solar panels on the sailboat. I still have to decide if adding that is the right move for this boat.

Tomorrow, our friends, Gwen and Norma, from PA are driving up an hour from where they are visiting Maine and will spend a few hours with us. It will be good to see them again after a number of years. We still have to decide where we are going over the next week. That will be a task for tomorrow.