Seguin Island lighthouse and Booth Bay

We were in no hurry to leave 5 Islands, so we slept late and had a big breakfast in the cockpit.  As we watched the lobster boats, we realized that they were leaving, individually, each making a stop at the lobster house on the dock.  We had been told that it is very early in lobster season, and many of the lobstermen are only now putting out their traps.  Sure enough, the boats were loading their traps from the dock.  A worker on the dock used a crane to lower the pots onto the boat.  You can see the huge piles of cages on the dock, as the worker gets one ready to be lowered.  Note that steep drop from the dock?  There is a 9-10 foot tidal range here!  This is about low tide.

Another boat took on her floats (the bright little buoys that mark the location of a pot)

From 5 Islands, we sailed slightly southeastward, back the 8 miles to Seguin Island.  Seguin is a tricky place to anchor - deep water all the way up to the shore (sailboats like about 10 feet of water), underwater cable, etc.  Anchoring is not allowed, so there are a few mooring balls free for use while you visit the island.  We got the last available mooring ball - an island association volunteer in a nearby boat assured us that our 42 feet would fit on the ball and not hit the island rocks.  The depth was fine - 30 feet - but boy, were we close to shore!  But he was right - not a problem. We were not comfortable, though, being about 20 feet from those rocks!

A nearby Black Backed seagull screamed her indignation at our close approach to her rocks.  Black Backed seagulls are the most aggressive of the species (at least, that is our decision!)  One of them took a dive bomb at Luke as he apparently got too close to her chick.  We have had them chase us and threaten us with sticks in their mouths.  A ranger on Isles of Shoals told us that is the most obscene gesture that a gull can make to anyone, fowl or human.

Luke rowed the dinghy to shore.  The tide was low, so with a 9 foot tide, we pulled the dinghy up as far as we could from the waters edge.  That is our dinghy behind me.

Lighthouses typically are on high points of land and this one is no exception.

There is an old tram that was used until sometime in the 1950's to transport the keeper, his family, and the goods taken up and down the island.  A failure in the mechanical system critically injured a keepers wife in a downward trip and the tram has not been used since. You can see it snaking up the hill towards the lighthouse in the above picture.  The picture below is the end point of the tram, at the bottom of the island.

Flowers are all abloom!

Almost there!

The Seguin Island lighthouse is the second oldest in Maine, commissioned in 1795 by George Washington.  It is also the highest lighthouse on the Maine coast.

The view from the top is beautiful

Luke climbed to the top of the lighthouse, along with the keeper. I opted to stay below, on a bench overlooking the bay.

Coming back down (much easier!) we were treated to a goldfinch.  Much more polite than the seagull

Back to the dinghy to find it just beginning to float. She shouldn't have gone anywhere, as we always anchor her to the shore, but it did save Luke a wade in the very cold (56 degrees) waters.

Next, Boothbay for the next few days.  A day to get a few things caught up, a day to sightsee, do laundry, and take the bus to pick up a few groceries, and  a day or two to ride out forecasted high winds.  On the way into the harbor, we pass the first lighthouse.

And a second one!

We will take a mooring near to town tonight but the winds and water are calm, so we opted to anchor out last night.  Our first attempt was abysmal...we decided that we didn't have enough room around Latitudes, so opted to pull up the anchor and move to a better location.  When the anchor finally came up, she had a buddy - a derelict lobster pot.

I tried a variety of options to try to knock the pot off the anchor, to no avail.  Finally, Luke, My Hero, used his engineering expertise to free us.  He attached a line with hook to the pot, attached that line to a cleat, lowered the anchor from under the pot, and then cut the extra line to drop the pot.  We bought a wicked specialty knife that attaches to a long pole the first year we had Latitudes, after our only encounter with a crab pot in the Chesapeake.   Specifically designed to cut lines to crab pot or lobster pot floats if they get caught around your propeller, we have never needed this one until yesterday but pretty damned glad we have it!. It is sharper than sharp, a deep V shape, with serrated teeth on the outside and a blade on the inside.  Luke said it cut through the thick rope like butter.  Perfect!

Finally anchored in a different spot, we all 3 relaxed in the warm cockpit and watched the schooners plying Boothbay Harbor.

Luke has been doing computer work, I have made pea soup, finished my blog, and have a few bills to pay.  After that, we will move Latitudes to the mooring near town and be official tourists.