Love USACOE Sites

Morgantown, West Virginia


We spent two night in a row at campgrounds run by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACOE).
The first was at a place called Ives Run, in Pennsylvania close to the New York Border.  The second was a place called Outflow Camping close the West Virginia Border.  They were both very nice, but very different.

At Ives Run, we camped next to a lake.  At night is was very still and we were treated to the loudest insect cacophony we have heard in many years.  Perhaps the circadas?

At Outflow, we camped near the outflow of a hydro dam and power plant.  The region has had an excess amount of rain this summer.  We noticed the beauty in the hills coming in because they were exceptionally lush and green.  Very pretty.  Anyhow, the lake behind the dam is normally empty at this time of year, but right not it was filled to capacity and they were spilling water.   There was a tremendous roar from the spilling water.   It was the kind of roar you hear, for example, at Niagara Falls.  Part of the sound you hear, part you feel in your chest and stomach, and part through your feet as the ground shakes.  It is an awesome display of raw power.

We also had (welcome) noise from a nearby railroad.   We also had (unwelcome) noise from a hiss as our air mattress spring a leak.   We had a comical night trying to stay balanced on top of the deflating air mattress.  Compare it to sleeping on a beach ball, but not alone but with two people.  We kept falling off.  I hope we can repair it for tonight.

Youghiogheny Dam Power Plant, Spillway spilling at the left.  ROAR!

Ives Run Campground in the morning

Splendid Day

Mansfield, Pennsylvania

41 48.632 N 077 04.728 W

Yesterday turned out to be lots of fun. We left Booneville after breakfast. Thanks much to Cheryl and Vicky for a fun evening! We drove on the scenic route to Rome, Cazenovia, Deruyter, Homer, Cortland, Seneca, and Watkins Glen to Corning. We saw parts of New York that we have never been to. It was very pretty.

Our goal was the Corning Glass Museum. That was great fun. The artistic glass was beyond imagination in beauty and creativity. The demonstrations were great. We even got to watch a glass blowing course in progress. The teacher is said to be the worlds best glass blower from Venice. We didn't want to leave, there was more stuff to see the we had time for. (P.s. even though we lived in that region, I've never been to Corning before.)

I think that glass blowing would be a marvelous hobby. I (we) could even get training at Corning Glass Works. Alas, we made our choice to live on a sailboat. No way to put a kiln on board!!! Oh well, next life.

We ended the day at Ives Run Campground in Pennsylvania. It is located on a lake surrounded by lovely mountains. Never of us have been in this part of Pennsylvania before. It is beautiful.

Lots of pictures from Corning --- later.

By the way, on this trip we managed to drive by the house in Medford, Mass where I lived at the age of 5. We also drove past, or near, the house in Homer, NY where Libby lived at the age of 3. Very cool.

Labor Day Weekend

Booneville, NY
43 28.468 N 075 19.901 W

We had a great family day and night here in Boonville.   Now it is time to move on.

Labor Day weekend is coming up, and I noticed an article in the news about the big crowds expected to be on the roads.  Uh oh.  We normally hide out on big holiday weekends.   Therefore, I broke our usual rule against advanced planning and reserved a camp,site for Friday, Saturday, Sunday, in Sutton West Virginia.  

That leaves us tonight to camp in northern Pennsylvania and tomorrow night to find a place in southern Pennsylvania.

Federal camping facilities are much more affordable than state or local camps because we have a senior pass that gives us a 50% discount.   State campgrounds in the northeast have been charging us nearly $30 per night.   The federal camp site in West Virginia was $24 for three nights.

The Social Whirl

Old Forge, New York
43 42.676 N 074 58.415 W

We have been doing so many things, I did't have time to blog.  

On Sunday we had a wonderful day on Scandaga Lake with our friends Pete and Mary Ellen.  They have a seasonal trailer up there, and a party barge.   That was the ideal vessel to take us on a tour of the lake.   We saw the north end of the lake, including parts north of the Bachelorville Bridge which Libby and I have never seen before because of a low bridge blocking our way.

You see, from around 1975 through 2005, Sacandaga Lake was our home waters.  We started with an O'Day Mariner, 19', then a Clipper 26, and finally a Tanzer 27.  It is a lovely place to sail with clean water, and surrounded by the Adirondack Mountains.   During those years on our Clipper 26, after hauling the boat out for the winter, I got into the habit of trailering the boat to Champlain in early October for a week's vacation.  That was how our attachment to Lakc Champlain and to Vermont began.

Sunday night we camped at Northhampton Beach, right on the lake.

On Monday we visited with our friends and former neighbors John and Mari.   Then the four of us visited other neighbors, Bud and Nan.   All six of us had a great time, and Libby and I got to catch up on years worth of local gossip.  (Best was the story of a former fellow fireman who is now in jail.  It seems that he was trying to design a ray gun to zap Muslims until the FBI heard about it.  Tsk. Tsk.)   That too was great fun.  We're so glad that we could do it.

This morning we picked up my sister Marilyn and took her for a half day outing.  Poor Marilyn misses us and she doesn't really grasp the idea of us cruising and where we go.

Right now we are in the heart of the Adirondacks en-route to visit our daughter in law, Cheryl and our granddaughter Vicky in Booneville.  We used the most scenic route through this region from Warrensburg, to Blue Mountain Lake, to Old Forge, and Inlet.  On weekends this area is thick with tourists, but today it wasn't bad.

Tomorrow, we start heading south.  We'll probably wind up somewhere in Pennsylvania.

A little historic note:  Northhampton Beach was the site of one of our most memorable sailing moments ever.   Libby and I had just sailed out of a pea soup fog bank on the lake.   We emerged into bright sunlight and blue sky.  We were just ghosting.  The wind and water were entirely calm.   As we approached the camp site at Northampton, someone was playing the song Amazing Grace loudly.  The music set the perfect moment for this idyllic scene and the image burned itself into my brain and Libby's too.  We both remember it vividly.  (Good topic for a future blog -- most memorable moments.  Many of them were not on Tarwathie.)

On The Move Again

Chesterton, New York

 

Well, it's official.we left Vermont and we are heading south. In a bit more than two weeks, we'll be back on Tarwathie.

Before leaving seas an extra nice last day. Jennifer took us up to Richmond, Vermont. There, we put two kayaks into The Winnoski River, one for Jenny and one for me. Libby took Jenny's truck and left us. Then, Jenny and I had a delightful trip down river toward Essex Junction.

It was fun for several reasons. First, me spending time with Jenny. Second, because I've been longing to get back on the water somehow. Third, because all the years that we lived in Essex Junction, I always wanted to paddle the Winnoski but never did. Fourth, because it was a splendid day. The sky was blue. The river was cold, clear, and swift. We didn't have any real white water, but there were a few places swift enough to say "whee."

Today, we are going to have another day on the water. We are visiting Pete and Mary Ellen at their camp on Sacandaga Lake. Pete will take us out on his boat. Oh boy. Oh boy.

But it was sad to leave Jenny and Pete this morning. We will miss them.

 

 

Lake Champlain Maratime Museum

South Burlington, Vermont

I also spent a nice day at The Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in Basin Harbor, Vermont. That is a very interesting place with tons of information and artifacts relating to local history. Especially rich is the history and artifacts centering on The American Revolution, and on the area's greatest hero (Benedict Arnold). At least he was a hero before he became a traitor.  Below are some pictures.

A museum guest brought these Newfoundland dogs.  He said modern breeds of newfies are not necessarily black.

A horse treadmill that once powered a ferry boat before the age of steam.

The replica of the USS Philadelphia, one of Arnold's ships in The Battle of Valcour, 1776

A few tools int he museum's blacksmith shop.

A painting of the Lois Maclure sailing into Burlington.  The boat is a canal schooner replica built by the museum.  Libby and I encountered the Lois Macure often in our travels.

Shelburne Farms

South Burlington, VT

Note: I've been taking advantage of spare time to do tourist things in Vermont that I never did when I lived here. (Typical huh?) Button Bay Park, Shelburne Museum, tomorrow The Maritime Museum.

Shelburne Farms was created in 1886 by Dr. William Seward Webb and Eliza Osgood Vanderbilt Webb as a model agricultural estate.  There is a familial relationship to Electra Havemeyer Webb who was the collectress behind neighboring Shelburne Museum.   Needless to say there was a lot of family money around.  Today, Shelburne Farms is a nonprofit education center for sustainability, and a 1,400 acre working farm.   It included the Inn at Shelburne that we blogged about before.   

This time I toured the "farm barn."   Some barn.  Look at the picture below.   It is hard to imagine a structure as elegant as this.   I did not visit the coach barn, the dairy barn and the breeding barn, each of which is comparably elegant.   

The Farm Barn, built Circa 1866

The Breeding Barn

The Old Dairy Barn

The Coach Barn

The only thing one can say is, "hats off to 19th century billionaires."   The Vanderbilts, Flaglers, Rockerfellers, Carnegies, Morgans and more.  They left wonderful legacies that all of us enjoy still today.

Neverwet

South Burlington, Vermont

Wow, This is certainly a new and very different product than anything I've seen. I wonder what cruisers can think of to apply it onboard. I found the following here.

Rust-Oleum NeverWet is a new superhydrophobic spray that makes everyday materials incredibly moisture- and stain-resistant. NeverWet contains nano-particles that create a coating on which water beads in near perfect spheres, causing it to glide off the surface with almost no friction. The coating can be applied to a variety of materials, including metal, wood, fabric, leather, and cardboard. It can even be used to waterproof an iPhone. The two-spray system was produced by Rust-Oleum in partnership with the nano-technology’s developer, NeverWet. For more on the coating, see this article by Lancaster Online.

The idea is best explained by the video below I know Libby will light up at the idea of making my shirts repel the stuff that dribbles off my chin.

Think of racing and of offshore cruising. What would happen to the hull drag if it were coated with Neverwet? How much would it improve performance and safety if sails remained dry during storms?

Canadian Excursion III

South Burlington, Vermont

Yesterday Libby and I took off for yet another excursion into Canada.  This time is was to the nearby Richelieu River region.   For the benefit of those who don't know, we refer to the river that runs north from Lake Champlain, intersecting the Saint Lawrence River at Sorel Quebec.  It goes near, but avoids the Montreal area.

It is a great day trip, and it appears to be an open secret.  As far as we can see, most Vermonters and most upstate New Yorkers, are not aware of this possibility.

Montreal has its charms; urban charms.  But there is a constant tension of hostility towards English speaking people, plus the brusk or even rude behavior of urban residents.   The rural nature of the Richelieu region is much nicer to our tastes.  As an added bonus, although English is almost never spoken here, the people are warm and friendly and welcoming; very different than Montreal's population.

The first time we saw this region was in 2007 on board Tarwathie.   We had sailed up the Saint Lawrence.  We took the mast down in Sorel, and motored down the river to Chambly, and then to Lake Champlain the next day.  We loved it.

By car, the first thing one sees after crossing the Canadian Border is the intense large scale agriculture.  The farms there rival those in the American plain states or in California's Imperial Valley.  It seems strange, because on the New York and Vermont side of the border one sees mostly forests.

The prettiest part of the trip is north of Iberville, to Sorel.  We drove along the river using route 133 on the East bank going North and route 223 on the West bank going south.    There are numerous small villages along the way.  Our favorite was Saint Denis sur Richelieu.  There is a grand cathedral there (it appeared that all the towns in Quebec competed with each other to have the grandest cathederal).  The streets are narrow, and the houses charming.   There is a little cable ferry to carry cars across the river.  We surmised that it was probably an insular society because street signs noted the names of the families who settled there, (and who may still live there).  The cemetary was right next to the school, thus allowing people to be born, raised, work and die within the same block.    But it was really charming.

Saint Denis sur Richelieu Cathederal, (huge for a population of 2285 people)

Saint Denis sur Richelieu Ferry

The prettiest part of the trip was to see the beautiful homes along the way.   The architecture was hugely varied and interesting, and the homes elegant without being ostentatious in the sense of American MacMansions.  We wondered about the reason.  Could it be that the services of architectural help in house design in more affordable in Canada?  Could it be the right brains on seteroids of these French speaking people who value the aesthetic more and are talented at making it?  We don't know.

Do Zombies Poop

South Burlington, Vermont

I came upon something very fun. Go to google.com and type the word "do " into the search box. Then type a space and e letter "a" or "b" or any other letter, phrase or word. Then, watch what suggestions Google's autocomplete has for you to complete the search. These suggestions are based on today's most popular search terms, so they reflect what is truly the most probable completions of your query.

For example, I typed "do men" and Google suggested "DO MEN HAVE PERIODS"

Here are a few more gems that I turned up.

DO NEANDERTHALS GO TO HEAVEN

DO NEGATIVE NUMBERS EXIST

DO WOMEN LIKE BALD MEN

DO BAIL BONDSMEN TAKE CHECKS

DO BALL PYTHON BITES HURT

DO BAPTISTS DRINK

DO VULTURES HURT

DO CANADIANS LIKE AMERICANS

DO SAILORS CURSE

DO SATANISTS BELIEVE IN SATAN

DO HERPES HURT

DO LLAMAS SPIT

DO LEECHES HURT

DO MAGIC MUSHROOMS GO BAD

DO GUYS LIKE VIRGINS

DO HICKEYS HURT

DO IRS AGENTS CARRY GUNS

DO KEGELS WORK

DO ZOMBIES POOP

I think I have too much time on my hands. 

Our Fundy Visit

South Burlington, Vermont

Our visit to the Bay of Fundy was brief but vivid. Here are a few pictures.

When tides approach 10 meters, the length of floating docks become big.  Above is Cobscook Bay at low tide.

Not all attractions were of the sea.  This is Lepreau Falls

We found this delightful picnic table at Lepreau Falls to stop for lunch.

The working Dennys Harbor.  Charming

Click on this picture, then zoom in on the tree top.  It has a lovely soft blanket of moss.

The signs at Leperau Falls also told a fun story. This place was the jumping off point for rum runners during prohibition. They loaded up their boats with booze, then they had to go only 5 miles out to meet American boats to transfer the cargo to in return they earned fat profits. How fun is that? It makes one wonder how much fun the citizenry might have if we prohibited tobacco, sex, and non-healthy food. Heck, we could have so much fun dodging those laws that we our might even forget out political differences. Right? Nah.

Yearning

South Burlington, Vermont

It hit Libby first while we were up in Maine.  This morning was my turn.  I was listening to local radio when I heard the wind report for Lake Champlain.  I was overcome by a wave of yearning to be back on our boat.  On Lake Champlain, on the canals, on The Hudson River, The Neuse River, the ICW, at sea; anywhere but on the boat.

We have roughly one month to go before we return to Tarwathie.  I hope is passes swiftly.

Reversing Waterfalls

South Burlington, Vermont

At first thought, the idea of a reversing waterfall sounds preposterous.  That is because we think first of water falling over the edge of a cliff as at Niagara.  Instead think of a cliff think of a wall, or an obstruction in a place were tidal currents reverse directions.  See my sketch below.  It's pretty simple; no magic is required.

In places like the Bay of Fundy or Maine's Downeast, there is not just one but many reversing waterfalls.   Libby and I visited one in Cobscook Bay.  It was great fun to watch.  Part of the fun was because a dozen or so harbor seals were frolicking on the downstream side.  Presumably they find fishing easy there.

We visited this place twice.  The first time, we arrived just before high tide and we saw the waterfall disappear and the tidal flow stop and reverse.  The second time, the outgoing tide was in full force.

As sailing cruisers, Libby and I were freaked out by the speed of the currents.  We imagine ourselves in Tarwathie at this place.   We would be in grave danger if we were because the currents were much too swift to handle.   Watch the video below, that I took on the second visit.

Perseids Tonight

South Burlington, Vermont

We are back at Jenny's house once again.  Tonight however, we're camping out for a special event -- the peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower.   You may think that we get to watch meteors often while living on a boat.  Wrong.   We only sleep up on deck on rare occasions.  The reason for that is mosquitoes.   Here in the Northeast however, the mosquitoes are voracious only around dawn and dusk.  They are only pesty mid-night.

We'll go to Button Bay State Park and camp on the shores of Lake Champlain.  That alone should make it worthwhile.  We'll pitch our tent as usual, and go to bed at dusk as usual, but I'll set an alarm for 1 o'clock.  Then we'll pull our sleeping bag out onto the lawn and gaze at the sky for a while.   Probably, we'll move back in the tent before dawn.

Here are some recent pictures.

Friends Frolicking, Cobscook Bay, Maine

A shop in Eastport, Maine, sells candle holders made out of pure rock salt. Very cool.

We love the scenery around Cobscook Bay, Downeast Maine.  Look at the two chairs this couple have in their front yard.

We came upon kids picking blueberries in a rest stop.  The kids offered to show me all the geocaches hidden in the area.  I congratulated them, "How did you kids find those things.  They were very well hidden."  The kids said, "We're smart."  They are indeed smart, but it is unbecoming for kids that age to be so puffed up.

We came upon two lovers on the beach on the Bay of Fundy.

Our 2013 Sandbox

Rangely, Maine

44 57.022 N 070 34.499 W

Our friend, and blog reader, Don suggested that we should visit Rangely, Maine. He said, "That is as good as it gets in Maine." That was good enough for us, so here we are arriving in Rangely. It really is beautiful. The only problem is the weather. It is cold. It's going to rain for the next 36 hours. Libby and I have a conflict. She wants to camp here. I want to find a motel. I'll probably win. I usually do.

The other thing we missed today was Roosevelt's Campibella Cottage. We wanted to see that but we were close by at 0730. We figured it wouldn't open until 9 or 10 and we didn't want to wait. I guess it is a truism that when you visit a lot of places, you can't see everything interesting. Heck, we might still be in North Carolina if we did that.

Speaking of a lot of places, We sure covered a lot of territory this year. We went to Marathon, 24 42.40 N 081 05.68 W, almost to Key west. We went to San Diego Harbor, 32.42.85 117.10.51. We went to Denny's Harbor, New Brunswick. 45 8.065 N 066 27.142 W.

Therefore our sandbox went from 24 degrees N to 45 N and 27 W to 117 W. That box contains about 2.5 million square miles. Actually, our path was triangular, so it contains only 1.25 million square miles. That sounds like a lot but it is only 1% of The Earth's land surface. 1% makes it sound little. But we could probably find something interesting in each square mile of those 1.25 million. One day in each would have taken us 3424 years to complete this trip.

Interestingly, the north-south bounds of our sandbox are identical to our normal sandbox when we travel only via Tarwathie. It is the east-west component that is very much bigger.

 

Report From Downeast

Eastport, Maine, from Americas easternmost diner.

Reversing Falls Park turned out to be a really beautiful place. It is not only beautiful, by interesting with a reversing water fall, and very cool because dozens of harbor seals frolic on the downstream side, then eagles try to steal fish from the seals.

In fact, we are going back there today. But alas, there is no camping there. We found a camp site at Cobscook Bay instead.

Wow! What beautiful country. We expected Downeast to be a repeat of the rest of the Maine coast. Wrong. It is much nicer. What a pleasant surprise. In fact, we plan to research Cobscook Bay as a place it cruise on Tarwathie. We will have to deal with the tides which average 18 feet, but spring tides are up to 30 feet, but the bays and coves are beautiful and undeveloped.

This morning, we drove up into New Brunswick Canada and took the scenic Fundy Coast Road. It was very beautiful. As I said before, cruising the Bay of Fundy is on our list. We wanted to go up to the head of the bay to see the famous tidal surge. Too bad, our timing was wrong. High tide is at noon and it was an additional 250 miles away. To see the surge would have taken us an additional two days. Any how, it was the first time in New Brunswick for both Libby and me. We are very glad we did it. We got as far north as Denny's Harbor; a charming little place.

This afternoon we will return to the Reversing Falls to see it flowing the other way. Whew! It will make quite day.

 

Thinking Ahead

Ellsworth, Maine

 

We think we founds very agreeable solution to the high cost of a Canadian visit to The Bay Of Fundy. We are heading today to Reversing Falls Park campground. We will stay there 2 nights. Tomorrow, we will drive to Fundy National Park, and return the same day. Today and Wednesday will be sunny. After that the forecasts for four straight days of rain. Rain dampens our camping enthusiasm.

Twice, we've sailed Tarwathie to Maine,but we have seen only a tiny fraction of the neat places. The next time we sail to Maine,we have some things to add to the agenda.

1. Sail up the river all the way to Bangor. The Penobscot Narrows are beautiful. You should google Penobscot Narrows Bridge and look at the pictures. It is really beautiful.
2. Spend more time in and around Mount Desert Isle. The famous Northwest Southeast Harbors are too crowded, but there a lots of nice anchorages.
3. Sail up the Bay of Fundy. We always ought that too risky becasuse of the tides, but we met a New Brunswick Couple at the gam who assured us that with local knowledge, it is not only doable, but that there are 300 miles of lovely cruising.

.By the way, have you noticed how deeply the verb google has penetrated our language? I think Google has completely lost control of their trademark. I even heard of a web site that asks, "what search engine did you use to google us?" I'm going to stop using the capital G in the verb.

Arcadia: Not Like Expectations

Bar Harbor, Maine
44 23.211 N 068 12.326 W

Well after 48 years of trying, Libby and I finally got to Arcadia National Park.  Our first day's experiences however were not what we expected.  I'll explain.

At the visitor's info center, a large white board displayed the status of all area campgrounds.  Most had a big FULL placard.  My heart sank.  But just then the center's phone rang.  It was Quietside Campground phoning in with a cancellation.   I snapped it up instantly.  When we got there, the site was so appealing that I wanted to just stay there and relax with a good book instead of going to the park.  But that would have been stupid, so we went to the park.

Fear of crowds scared us away from Yosemite National Park.  Since Arcadia is the only national park in the the populous Northeast, I feared the same.  It was worse than I thought.  On the way in, we saw cars jockeying for a parking space at a mountain trail head.  A park ranger with a Glock on his hip played cop.   At the visitors center, everyone must stop to get a park pass.  The mob was so big that I almost pivoted on my heel to walk away; but I didn't and I'm glad.   We wanted to go to the sand beach.  The parking lots were all full and cars were parked illegally along the narrow road.  We had to cruise for a mile past the beach to find a vacant illegal spot for us.   There were long lines for the public restrooms and they were so rank we could smell them 50 feet away.  We tried to go to the Abbe Museum; no admittance for us -- too many people.

The big surprise came when we got to Acadia's most famous sight, Thunder Hole.  Instead of looking at the scenery, Libby's eyes were focused on our view of the open sea.   It was a lovely day for sailing; scattered clouds, winds S 15-20.   Libby really longs to get back to the open sea herself.  Me too.  (in 2 months we'll be there).

This view captured Libby's imagination.

A 100x zoom shot of a huge sailboat with a 150-200 foot mast.

Whining aside, the scenery really is spectacular.   I'm glad we went.  But the real lesson is that the next time we'll come with Tarwathie.   The seas, bays, and coves around the area are lovely and very much uncrowded; only a few sailboats were visible.

Where we belong, between the red and the green.

Cruisers Are Beautiful People

Penobscot Narrows, Maine

Yesterday we went to the Downeast SSCA Gam on the island of Ilsesboro. We are so glad that we did. A gam is a meeting between cruisers. This one was no exception. (A bonus is that it was held at the home of our dear friends Dick and Kathy. We haven't seen them in 1.5 years. ).

The experience refreshed our exposure to cruisers and their culture. As we have traveled the country I recent months, we met lots of nice people, but they are unlike cruisers. There was so much hugging and sights of people renewing old acquaintances that the sight was heart warming.

In recent months we talked with two,couples who switched from boat cruising to RV cruising. They both said that the culture was very different.

Cruisers establish lifelong friendships when they travel together, or anchor near each other. Then they scatter to all ends of the earth. However they frequent places where cruisers hang out, and thus reencounter old friends very often. Libby and I are no exception, we encountered a dozen or more past friends, and established 6 new ones.

I believe that cruisers also depend on each other for help and advice more than others do. That may help explain the depth of the relationships.

Anyone attending a gam can not help seeing that this group of people appear to be healthier, fitter, more trim, gregarious and stress free than others of the same age. One of the speakers remarked that cruisers who must learn to maintain balance on rolling decks seem to have found the most effective medicine for heart disease.

Libby and I feel privileged and honored to be a part of this admirable community. Hip hip hooray for cruisers.

Welcome to Maine

Bath, Maine

43 54.531 N 069 49.644 W

Maine has lots of charms. On our first day here we camped in The White Mountain National Forest. We got there on a delightful road, Maine Highway 133. It is barely wide enough for cars to pass. It winds up along the Maine/New Hampshire border, over and between those lovely mountains. Very cool.

Yesterday we made camp on the seashore near Georgetown, Maine. That promised to be spectacular. In reality, it was less nice. It was our first private campground of the trip. Is was very expensive and the facilities sucked. Worst was the access road to the camp site. It should have been restricted to high clearance off road vehicles. Our undercarriage scraped ground several times. Hope we didn't do any damage.

Between camping, we got to explore the city of Bath Maine. It is really charming. (Maine has nothing but charming cities along the coast.). We had been there once before on Tarwathie, but the only thing we saw then was the fantastic maritime museum. We didn't see the downtown or the city docks. Currents in the river are very swift, so we couldn't take our dinghy upstream. A low bridge prevented us from taking Tarwathie upstream. Sometimes when traveling by boat, one sees only a small sliver of the charms offered by a place.

TonightCamden, another lovely place. We are going to go to the SSCA gam on Islesboro Island on Saturday. That is a conference for cruisers. We will see many friends there.