Old buildings from the 1700's line the streets. We saw one beautiful, waterfront home for sale, built in 1695. Can you imagine keeping that warm in a Maine winter! A town square, a block or so away from the docks, boasts a small library, the original school house, church, and this town building, now serving as the home of the historical society.
The church is a simple building, but I really liked her wind vane.
Something else that is special about Castine is her Elm trees. Apparently many US cities were planted with Elm trees in the 1830s. The Dutch Elm Disease was imported from France in about 1930, and subsequently wiped out most of the Elm trees. Castine has about 300 of the only remaining elm trees in the entire state of ME. Threatened by the Dutch Elm Disease, these trees are cared for, marked with little silver tags, and an inventory taken each year. This lucky house has 3 Elm threes. They are truly large and majestic, as can be seen in comparison to this large three story house.
In addition to wandering about Castine, we hiked around Holbrook Island, a land and nature preserve. The island has been occupied in the past, but the one house is now used for educational programs. A few of the old farm implements remain.
Most of the island is trails through the dense forest
All trails on the island lead to water - of course!
We awoke to fog, again, the next morning. Apparently the local yacht club was having a regatta, fog or no fog! Who needs to see where they are going, anyway!
We waited out the fog (so we thought - again, it caught up with us mid trip) and sailed to Camden for a short visit. Camden is the home of many of Maine's schooners in the tourist trade.
And she has one VERY busy harbor!
With enough schooners to make it feel like old times - maybe
We knew the weather would be too bad to stay anchored in the rolley outer edges of this harbor, so we left once again, and went the 8 miles back into the fog to Rockland. There we got a secure anchorage, snuggled in the SW corner from the SW winds, and slept safely through the 30 knot winds and rain. When we awoke this morning, the sun was bright, the sky blue, the clouds white, and the waves...well...apparently ok. Off we left, sailing past Owls Head Lighthouse. You can see, a picture perfect Maine day!
Our plan had been to sail to Monhegan, the island artist colony about 25 miles southeast of Rockland. Once we cleared some of the small islands and got into the early sea swells, we knew we had better make different plans. With 5 foot swells, about 6 seconds apart, and 18 knot winds directly on our bow, it wasn't a hard decision. So, we are back in Tenents Harbor, again safely anchored out of the wind and swells, spending a nice afternoon of whatever. Smokey's "whatever" included a serious killing of mousie, a long romp with her tail, and now a nap of deep cat sleep. The weather, as of now, promises a nice sail to Monhegan tomorrow. We shall try again!
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