SV Kiviuq

Based on past form today is an unusual day. We are sheltering in Kiviuq from some inclement weather. This is not something we have had a lot of in Maine to-date. The culprit is a front that is bringing pretty miserable conditions with gusts up to around 40kts, but we are tucked in on our anchor in Buckle Harbour on the NW corner of Swan's Island in Penobscot Bay. The 'harbour' part of the name is slightly misleading in that, apart from a few navigational aids visible to the north, there is no sign of human activity in the environs, either now or at any time since the last ice age. There are Bald Eagles though. It is a lovely spot, and this is in fact the second time we have been here to enjoy it.

We have been back in Maine for almost two weeks now. The principal purpose of our visit this time is to see Kiviuq safely settled for the winter in the Front Street Shipyard in Belfast. But before getting into that we wanted to do a little fall cruising to take advantage of the fact that most boats that were here in the summer have now laid-up or gone south, mostly from whence they came, leaving harbours and anchorages much quieter than they were a couple of months ago. The colours are also beginning to change and some of the maples particularly are spectacular.

We also wanted to do some hiking in the Acadia National Park, and for that reason we have spent most of the past week in Northeast Harbour (a real harbour) on Mount Desert Island. Northeast Harbour is a pleasant village that has good access to the island's free bus network and the park. From there we enjoyed some good hiking and also visited Bar Harbour, the main town of Mount Desert.

Two of our hikes were made especially memorable for me thanks to stops at the Asticou Inn in Northeast Harbour at the end of the day's exertions. Here we took tea. The tea infusion itself was acceptable in a country that does not put great effort into the beverage, but the 'popovers' that came with it were on an astral plane. For those that are not familiar with this food of the gods, and I wasn't, popovers are an American version of a Yorkshire pudding, but much puffier and less savoury than Yorkshires. They can in consequence be taken with lashings of butter and jam, which I did, or they can play a part in savoury courses like their English cousins: altogether totally divine. Popovers will be making a debut in the Teale-Kosseim residence before much longer.

If the weather plays to forecast we will press on back to Belfast tomorrow and there get down to the business of laying-up, with occasional visits to Chase's Daily for their excellent coffee and buttermilk pancakes, and perhaps to Tracy's Diner where the pancakes are on more of an industrial scale, but good nevertheless.

But now duty calls, and I must make some pancakes myself.