July 27-28                       Boothbay Harbor, Maine

Our scheduled seven o’clock departure was delayed by fog and light rain.  It was almost       eight-thirty before we determined visibility was adequate to leave.  Linda and Phil came over to wish us well and say good-bye.  With their help and that of Micah and Miller, we pulled away from the dock and bade farewell to Southwest Harbor.

After emerging from Western Way Passage into the open sea, the fog began to envelop us.  Our radar, which had seemed to be working perfectly when checked before our departure, failed to identify objects about us.  Visibility was very poor and we were forced to constantly visually monitor the sea to be sure we wouldn’t hit another boat.  We could rely on our GPS to keep us on course but it was disconcerting to cruise for miles and miles with very limited visibility.

Our journey to Boothbay Harbor took six hours; all but the final two hours were in fog.  We were greatly relieved when it lifted before we went through the narrow passage to Linkin Bay, leading to the charming small town of Boothbay Harbor.  BBH, the common acronym for this lovely site, is a popular summer resort with many inns, bed and breakfasts, shops, and galleries.  Much larger than Southwest Harbor, it focuses on tourism and there is little evidence of its past history of shipbuilding and fishing.

We chose Boothbay Harbor Marina because of its excellent downtown location.  We were docked immediately behind the decks of two popular restaurants.  After we took a short walk, we decided to return to the boat and watch the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics in London. The decks were filled with people and there was a cacophony of sound (some may call it music) diminished only when we shut all the doors and turned on the A/C.  Fortunately, we could not hear it when we retired but the bass vibrations were evident until after midnight.

Saturday was a good day to explore Boothbay Harbor and we took walks down its streets and visited many of the shops.  We found new pillows for the chairs on the aft deck, adding considerable color to our favorite dining area.  A brief trolley ride gave us an opportunity to visit the opposite shore of the harbor and see more of the inns and homes that line the main street.  The Catholic Church, a magnificent white wooden structure topped with a tall Gothic steeple, is prominently situated on a small hill and easily dominates the harbor scene.

Whale watching cruises are very popular at Boothbay Harbor.  We watched the large boats fill with tourists for three hour tours out to sea..  Since we had cruised more than three miles off-shore and had seen only porpoises, we were dubious that whales would be sighted.  We learned later that this is an excellent time for seeing whales but one must go more than twenty miles    off-shore to their feeding grounds.  It must be a thrilling sight to see them.