Cruising Maine September 2011 VII Sunday, September 11, 2011 - 4 PM Tom Cod Cove (near Castine) Penobscot Bay, Maine Water temperature 60 F

Yesterday was a perfect Fall day for onshore sightseeing in Camden, Maine. We dinghied into the Town float which is located right down town at the water front. The shoreline there is lined with benches and on a day like yesterday, every seat was taken. The tourists have been watching Windjammers going out and coming in, Megayachts going by, glistening sailboats maintained in better than new condition tied to floats; and here we come, two kinda salty looking, not spring chicken looking, people in a scruffy, strange looking Porta-Bote. You can see their faces as we crawl up onto the dock, "Who are these people?" "Where did they come from?" The more astute ones will notice the Illinois registration on the dink and wonder, "Did they come all the way from Illinois in that?" Once we go up the ramp to street level we can blend in with the other tourists and become lookers instead of lookees.

We wondered around town, went to the Farmers Market and bought some stuff, stopped in a Gallery and bought some stuff (ouch!), stopped in a used book store and bought some and then stopped at The Marriner's, a breakfast/lunch type restaurant that advertised in the front window, "Good local food - No ferns and no quiche". After lunch we walked around some more and then returned to the dinghy for our return trip home. Thankfully the outboard started right up. I hate it when it won't start and there is a crowd watching.

This morning we dropped our mooring and headed back out into Penobscot Bay where we turned north. We motor sailed up the bay to the Castine area where we picked up a (free!) Holbrook Island Sanctuary mooring at Tom Cod Cove. We're hanging out on the boat this afternoon enjoying the sunshine.