A Seal Bay Circle Loop, then to Castine

Monday-Tuesday, 10-11 August, 2015

I love Seal Bay!  We are anchored where we watch the seals on the nearby rocks.  At low tide, none are on the rocks, but, as the tide comes in, the rocks, begin filling up. 

As it keeps coming in, and the land mass disappears, the seals start crowding together.  

Eventually, the rocks disappear, and you just see seals poised above the water!

We left Seal Bay and headed south to Brimstone Island, where there is said to be interesting round black rocks on the beach.  The island is pretty to look at (as they all are in Maine) but, there was enough of an ocean swell wrapping around the island that I was uncomfortable anchoring and going ashore.  The rocks are safe!

There wasn't any wind, so no chop, but, the swells were rolling in from the Atlantic.

We headed to the east, past Saddleback Ledge Light.  

We cruised up the craggy coastline of the western side of Isle Au Haut, but didn't go through the Thorofare as the tide was low, and the current would have been pushing us in.  We went around Kimball Island instead, and looked at the area where the Thorofare came out.

We went around Merchant Island, and booked at the anchorage behind Harbor Island.  Though the weather was forecast to be good, I just had that funny feeling... so we went back to Seal Bay for the night.  Good thing, because it blew during the night for hours, and I was glad to be there.

In the morning, looking at weather forecast to arrive later in the day, we headed for Castine.  Although the anchorage was great for the approaching blow, we were almost out of water.  That, coupled with a friend's mooring in Smith Cove looked like a good thing to do with a rainy, blowing, foggy forecast.

We went up the eastern side of Vinalhaven Island, and North Haven Island.  The "fingers" of islands sticking up to the east were magnificent in the morning sun.

We wandered between the Great Spruce Head Island and the Barred Islands, and peek into an anchorage there.  It looked great for a couple of boats.  We passed to the east of Beach Island, and west of Westerm Island, back towards Castine.

As we were pulling into Castine, a Nordic tug 32 was pulling out.  We waved to the Calypso, and later talked to them on the radio.  They were headed for Seal Bay!

We pulled into the town dock at Castine, to pump out, dispose of trash and take on water.  Ellen and the dogs went ashore for a walk while I was doing the boat stuff.

We eased into Smith Cove as the wind hit.  The cove is protected by the high hills surrounding it, making it almost like a lake!  What a great place to spend a day of inclement weather!