{"id":673,"date":"2013-09-18T15:34:02","date_gmt":"2013-09-18T15:34:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.brickhousefabrics.com\/blog\/?p=673"},"modified":"2016-04-17T13:11:49","modified_gmt":"2016-04-17T13:11:49","slug":"muscongus-bay-an-evening-boat-ride","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brickhousefabrics.com\/blog\/muscongus-bay-an-evening-boat-ride\/","title":{"rendered":"Muscongus Bay- an Evening Boat Ride"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

A few weeks ago I opened the paper to see a notice of a boat trip, a sunset cruise around two of the islands off of Boothbay Harbor. The proceeds were to benefit the Pemaquid Watershed Association. For an end of summer event it seemed perfect!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Taber and Katie decided to join me, so we got the tickets, and on Sunday, September 8th, we headed down the peninsula to Hardy Boat, where we would board the boat.<\/p>\n

The weather had been iffy all day. Rain squalls and wind moved through, leaving one to wonder if we would be going. But, around 3 in the afternoon, the wind blew the rain out, and it cleared off. Grabbing winter jackets, we left Spot to guard the fabric!<\/p>\n

At Hardy boat our boat was still out on trip, so we waited on the Shaw’s Wharf, which is a combined dock\/restaurant\/bar.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

New Harbor is a small, narrow harbor, just up from Pemaquid Point.
\nIt is filled with boats of all kinds,
\nbut, most are working boats.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The harbor opens to the ocean due east, and is very protected from weather and sea.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Boats and docks are piled with lobster traps.
\nAnd boats come and go.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A man reaches down to get his mooring,
\nand then is seen leaving the harbor.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

While most boats are heading in,
\na few are leaving the harbor-
\nperhaps they dropped their lobsters,
\nand are heading home to their own dock and mooring.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Our boat is seen coming in.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

She rounds the can-
\nthe old “red right returning”
\ncomes to mind!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

She pulls up, passengers debark,
\nand we get aboard.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tide is still pulling out,
\nand from the boat one gets another perspective!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

On this side of the harbor there are old warehouses,
\nand summer rentals built on pilings<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We head out of the harbor, and turn north.
\nThe original plan was to head out around
\nPemaquid Point and head down to Damariscove Island and Fisherman’s.
\nBut it was blowing too hard around the point,
\nso we headed up the coast,
\ninto Muscongus Bay.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Our wake curved behind us,
\nthe land in shadow.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The sky was filled with clouds.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As we passed the can on our right, and entered Muscongus Bay,
\nthe sea flattened out.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Muscongus Bay runs from Pemaquid Point to Port Clyde, just south of Rockland. Muscongus is a Native American word that means “Fishing Place”. The St. George River empties into it in the north, the Medomak River in the south, as do several others in between. The waters of the rivers are warmer than the Gulf of Maine water. And the bay itself is fairly shallow, which also makes the bay warmer than the outer water. The bay, and Muscongus Sound, are filled with coves, islands, and sand bars. It is an ideal habitat for lobsters.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Today, the bay is filled with lobster traps on the bottom and on the top with buoys.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Each person’s pot buoys are painted with their own colors,
\nand or numbers, and these are registered,
\nso that one can not haul another’s traps.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We headed up the coast to Round Pond, away from the land.
\nThe water shimmered as the sun sank.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There was little traffic,
\njust one small day sailer heading home.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After about an hour we headed into Round Pond, which is about half way up the eastern side of the Damariscotta Peninsula. It is a small circular harbor, nearly totally enclosed by land. The village of Round Pond is actually part of the town of Bristol. It is built on a fairly steep hill, crowned with a church. It is the epitome of a New England village- old houses, painted white, with shutters of green or black. Quiet in the winter, the town and harbor bustle in the summer.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The harbor was filled with boats of all kinds.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lobster boats piled with traps lined up next to yachts built by Hinkley.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Every house or cottage seems to have a
\nboat of some kind moored in front of it!
\nThis is a sailing community!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After a slow circle in the harbor,
\nwe headed out again,
\nheading south toward New Harbor.
\nThis time we headed down Muscongus Sound, between islands and the mainland.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A bald eagle flew over head.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Islands were everywhere!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As we came to the end of the sound, Muscongus Bay opened up before us.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The tide was still out,
\nleaving seaweed covered rocks exposed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We passed a small beach,
\na rarity along this rocky shore.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There are many sandbars among the islands of the sound.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Nearly every point with deep water
\nseemed to have a house on it,
\nwith boats moored in front of it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In one protected cove was a small community.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In Maine, if one wants to be off of the grid,
\none can be!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The seascape along this coast is
\nincredibly lovely.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Looking back, the sun still was bright on the water.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But, the sky was changing,
\ntones of pink and lavender suffused the sky.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As we entered the harbor we were treated to an
\nabsolutely gorgeous sunset!<\/p>\n

A wonderful end to a wonderful trip on the water!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There truely is,
\nno place like home!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

________________________________<\/b><\/p>\n

We would like to thank the
\nPemaquid Watershed Association<\/b>
\nfor making the trip possible.<\/p>\n

For more about them see their webiste:
\nhttp:\/\/www.pemaquidwatershed.org\/<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A few weeks ago I opened the paper to see a notice of a boat trip, a sunset cruise around two of the islands off of Boothbay Harbor. The proceeds were to benefit the Pemaquid Watershed Association. For an end of summer event it seemed perfect!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brickhousefabrics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/673"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brickhousefabrics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brickhousefabrics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brickhousefabrics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brickhousefabrics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=673"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.brickhousefabrics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/673\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1196,"href":"https:\/\/www.brickhousefabrics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/673\/revisions\/1196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brickhousefabrics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brickhousefabrics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brickhousefabrics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}