Townsend Gut

Bath Maine, N 43 54.194 W 69 48.299

Well today we really had fun. We wanted to sail from Boothbay to Bath. The main route would be to sail out the bay to the open sea, then down to the mouth of the Kenebec River, then up the river to Bath.

Instead we took and inland route that wound around a very circuitous serpentine route among the islands and the rivers. The first thing we saw was Townsend Gut as a way to leave Boothbay Harbor. The Gut is like a little river about a mile long. It was absolutely charming with cute cottages lining the shores, thousands of brightly colored lobster pot buoys, and numerous lobster boats checking their pots. It would be hard to think of a more picturesque scene.

Around noon we stopped at Robinhood Marina to buy some fuel. We used 19 gallons since the last time we fueled 31 days ago.
The marina is described in the cruising guide as a place where sailors think they have died and gone to heaven. Sure enough it looked like a very pleasant place to stay. We were also treated by the sight of another Westsail 32 on one of Robinhood's moorings. The owner, Richard, was on board and we chatted a bit. Richard hauled his Westsail here from Alabama on a truck and he's been sailing Maine ever since. Richard is planning to live aboard his boat up here throughout the winter. Brrrrr. That's sure a different vision of adventure than we have.

The final leg of the the trip was up the Sasanona River. It was a lot more adventurous than our norm. When one is sailing on one's home, one tends to become somewhat risk adverse. The Sasanona River had three risks to it. First, there is a place called Hell's Gate (yes, the same name as the one in New York) where the chart says that it is only three feet deep. But the gas jockey at the marina said we could get through there. Second, the currents are reported to be fierce -- 6 knots or more. Third there is a bridge at the end of the river with a 51 foot clearance at high tide. Tarwathie needs about 53 feet clearance counting the Windex and the lightning rod on top. Never before have we tried to pass under a bridge less than 55 feet clearance.

I figured that we could clear under the bridge at low tide. The trouble with that was that we would have to fight the current and Hell's Gate against nearly peak current flowing against us. What the heck. It was a nice day and the beauty around us was too much to miss. All the way up the Sasanona River we kept passing a lobster boat with a father and two sons working the traps. We would pass him pulling up the traps, then they would pass us by, and we would pass them again. We got a good view of their catch and it was pretty good. They seemed to get one to three keeper size lobsters from each trap.

At Hell's Gate we found the depth to be OK (the chart was wrong), but the river was pinched between two rocks at one place to only about 30 foot width. For a while we were making zero net speed against the current. At the same time steering was precarious because we were buffeted by the currents. I put on a little bit more throttle and we finally passed the bottleneck at 0.25 knots net speed. Thirty minuted later we were at the bridge. I could see five feet of wet concrete sticking out at the bridge footings. That means that actual clearance should have been 56 feet. Nevertheless I crept up on it as slowly as we could possibly go. Looking up, it seemed that our mast was four feet higher than the bridge. I had my hand on the throttle prepared for instant reverse if we hit. But it went OK. When under the middle of the bridge I estimate that we had three feet clearance over the Windex. It is the illusion of false depth perception that is so terribly frightening passing under bridges.

Now we are at anchor across the river from Bath Iron Works. There are four or five Ageis class destroyers being worked on here. Just down the river is Main Maritime Museum which is our goal for tomorrow. Our fiend Pete Lemme said that it is a really great museum.

p.s. We had a hard time raising the anchor this morning in Boothbay. When it came up it brought a ball of ropes, two of which were really taught. We must have hooked a couple of lobster pots or else a big ball of lobster pot debris from the bottom. I worked for a long time trying to free the lines from the anchor but it was impossible. I had to cut the lines. That made me feel guilty because it could have cost some fisherman a lot of money. On the other hand, if they insist on planing pots in the middle of marked channels and designated anchorage areas what should they expect?

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