21 Jul 16

The day dawned bright and clear, warm and nearly calm. We got away from the skow about 09:30 and headed down Head Harbour Passage to Eastport, arriving there at 09:33 EDT. Officer Jamieson was at the Customs House to clear us into the USA, after which we walked up to the local IPA for a few groceries. Back to the boat to unload groceries and collect our laptops, then up to the Moose Island Bakery for a cup of joe and use of their WiFi. We were back on the boat and away from the dock by 12:15, with lunch underway as we headed back up Head Harbour Passage and around East Quoddy Head at Head Harbour Lighthouse. As we turned SW to run down Grand Manan Passage, of course the prevailing southwesterly was smack on the nose - SW 10 - 15. The ebb tide helped us along to the tune of 1.5 - 2.0 knots, but the wind over tide made for a somewhat unpleasant ride. We were pounding pretty heavily there for a while as the wind gusted up to 22 knots, to the extent that I hand-steered for the last hour and a half to dodge the worst of the steep waves, not to mention the numerous lobster pots (yes, we are back in Maine again). Originally, we had planned to stop for the night at Cutler Harbor, but as we got to the turn in to the bight just outside Cutler, the seas calmed down a bit, so we decided to push on another 5 miles to Mink Island anchorage. As we passed Old Man Island, we noticed some big animals up on the rocks sun-bathing, so we deviated for a closer look. I had thought they might be walruses, but they were “just” huge sea-lions. The Admiral dropped the hook at 17:20 in about 24 ft of water (with a 6 foot drop to low water and a 14 foot rise to high water); I let out all 165 ft of chain and was really glad once again to have all that chain. We hooked on the first try and sat back to enjoy the scenery of our lonely anchorage. Chicken and corn-on-the cob for dinner. We are still the best part of 55 N-miles from NE Harbor, so we will probably not push that far tomorrow. The tide is not fair until after 13:00 and the wind is supposed to get up in the SW (of course) by early afternoon, so we will probably only try for 20 or 25 miles, but that puts Mudhole within reach; this is a bullet-proof anchorage in which to sit out Saturday’s predicted nasty weather. But, I’m getting ahead of myself.  

44-36.951’N, 067-17.129’W