Rockland was an important stop - we wanted to visit a marina there because we're leaving Latitudes in Maine for the winter!!!!! We LOVE sailing the Maine coastline. Talked to a lot of cruisers down south who leave their boat here for the winter and decided it was a good idea. No more 4 week trek up and down the Atlantic coast from the Chesapeake to Maine. Just 3-4 months of sailing up here. So, we made the commitment, the arrangements, and will have her pulled and put on the hard for the winter in Rockland on the day after Labor Day.
Preparing to leave Rockland for Belfast, Smokey was no where to be found. She does wander....Finally we spotted her on the far side of the dinghy (which was hanging 8 feet up from the water at the time..). Oh, OK, I'll mosey over back to the boat.
WHAT? You have a problem with this?? I AM the Princess.
Befast was a nice town when we visited about 7 years ago. But, boy, it's a nicer town now! A large marina/ marine services facility has taken up residence there along the waterfront. As of this year, they are building Building #6. A harbor walk has been put in through town along the waterfront. New shops have popped up, new restaurants, etc. We heard horror stories of the 1960's when the primary waterfront enterprise was processing chickens. Tales of the shore filled with chicken bits and pieces, greasy rocks, smelly water, you can imagine!
A bit of Belfast history - the first long-wave radio broadcast from London to the US was relayed through the experimental Radio Corporation of America in Belfast in March 1925. The live broadcast was a band who played "Alabama Bound".
The old buildings still line the downtown.
Modern benches line the streets.
Old, LARGE homes still fill the neighborhood. We asked about these long, large homes. The dock master explained to us that there are several reasons. The severe winters (-20 is normal) made it smart to attach all of your buildings - the house, the outhouse, the woodshed, the garage/carriage shed, the work shed. etc. No freezing going from building to building. Also the families were large and extended family members all lived together. Grandparents, parents, 12-18 children...you get the picture. And some of them are simply Ship Captain's grand homes. Some of these homes seemed to have at least 5 or 6 "separate" buildings all attached. Many are apartments now.
Our favorite pizza shop is still there - Alexia's. Love the wall mural..
Look carefully - the Pizza God is hurling pepperoni or something down onto our hero's pizza.
From Belfast we sailed 9 miles across the Penobscot to Castine. And boy, did we sail. Winds picked up from the forecast 10-15 to 20-25! We flew, unfortunately heeled at a significant angle and with a bit of pounding. Unfortunately, too, our destination lay a bit too far to windward, so the last 2 miles we motored straight into 25 kts and 4 to 5 foot seas. Poor Smokey took it as long as she could and then had a total (and unusual) melt-down. I finally put her in her carrier on the cockpit floor and she settled down. Slept for hours after we arrived! We were all thankful to sail into the protected Holbrook Harbor and drop anchor. Even the large schooners were taking refuge there for the night.
Castine is the home of the Maine Maritime Academy, home to 1100 students this year. The school training ship, The "State of Maine", is here at the Academy.
Unlike a lot of waterfront towns, Belfast and Castine are not flat. They have hills. This is a couple of blocks up from the docks - Post Office on the left, waterfront in front.
Castine is proud of the fact that the town was able to successfully save their majestic elm trees after a terrible bout of Dutch Elm disease years ago. These trees are beautiful. This is one example in the historic town square.
Elms in the summer, snow in the winter. Here is one of the snow sticks on a fire hydrant. No, I think we'll return to VA for the winter!
Castine has a larger role in history than it's apparent remote location would indicate. It was a relatively large and deep harbor, had a large supply of tall pines for ship spars. In the eyes of the British navy, Castine ranked with Halifax, Boston and New York as an important harbor, worth holding, taking or defending as the situation might dictate. There were a number of battles and skirmishes. This history was highlighted last year with the visit of the French Frigate (reproduction) Hermione to Castine. The original Hermione carried Marquis de Lafayette from France to America in 1780 bringing news of French support of the American Revolution. Just another part of France's endless strife with England in the late 1700s. The visit was nicely presented in the Castine Historical Museum on their historical Town square. http://www.ellsworthamerican.com/featured/french-frigate-hermionei-to-visit-castine
The years between the end of the War of 1812 and the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 marked Castine's greatest prosperity. This was largely from fishing, the salt needed to preserve those fish, and building the ships to catch them. In the springtime, nearly 500 fishing vessels could be found in the small harbor. It is NOT a large harbor. Over 100 commercial sailing vessels were built here. In fact, per one source, in 1850 Castine had the second highest per capita wealth in any city or town in the States.
We had hoped to pick up a few groceries in Castine - remembered they had a small local grocery store. Unfortunately for us (and probably fortunately for the students) it is now mostly a beer/wine/snack store. A few essentials, but not quite what we needed. SO. Back across the now calm 9 miles to Belfast today.
The grocery store in Belfast is a big, modern Hannaford's. But it is 1.1 miles up those hills from the waterfront. I remembered swearing I'd never walk there again, but, hey, it probably wasn't really that bad, right? Wrong. I'll never walk up there again. The dockmaster has big collapsible carts that they lend you to take to the grocery store so you can get all of your groceries home. It was a blessing. But I'll never need them again because I'm taking a cab if I ever go there again!!! really!!!
By 3 we were back on Latitudes. Gentle winds gave us a nice 2 hour ride to our current destination, Warren Island at Isleford. Dinner, the blog, and bed shortly. We'll hike some of the island trails tomorrow.
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