South Bristol to Tenants Harbor, Maine

We finally set off from the mooring at S. Bristol around 12:30pm on Tuesday 7/28. A day later than we'd hoped and many, many dollars short due to all the various boat repairs and upgrades. Since the winds were somewhat light and southerly and we were leaving later than expected, we motored south to the gong of Pemaquid to save time. At the gong, we set the big genoa and main and sailed a very pleasant beam reach for about and hour or two in winds of about 10 kts. The seas were about 3 feet or so, so when the wind lightened up, it made for a very rolling ride as our speed declined from about 5.5 kts to 3 kts and lower. After putting up with the rolling seas and flapping sails, the iron jenny was deployed. Several other boats in the vicinity were also giving up on mother nature at that point. We continued to motor well across the southern end of Muscongus Bay and then rounded a buoy near Allen and Burnt Islands to head Northeast towards Tenants Harbor and Penobscot Bay.

A beautiful, restored lighthouse marks the entrance of Tenants Harbor. It looks like a private residence now, not a working light, however. Tenants Harbor was much quieter than we had expected and we found a rental mooring for $20 night fairly easily. Cod End restaurant delivers cooked lobsters to boats, which was a luxury not to be missed. We ordered up a couple softshells and biscuits, made our own green salads and drinks and settled in for the best waterfront lobster we've ever had! (Note the clever use of pliers for lobster crackers!) We'd certainly felt liked we'd deserved it after all the hard work and waiting!