28 Jul 16

We were awakened by the 08:00 cannon (seems to be a tradition in a number of Maine coast towns) to a lovely, clear morning, although a thick fog in Penobscot Bay started to work into the harbor at about 09:00. After an al-fresco breakfast in the cockpit, we just sat around soaking up the atmosphere. The Camden Classic Boat Show starts later today, so we have to give up this most excellent float. The CYC has another float that we can move to, but we have decided to move on down the coast to get closer to Portland. The town pump-out boat came round about 11:00 and we got away from the dock about 11:30. It was still foggy out in Penobscot Bay, but not so thick as to be scary, at least most of the time. The wind was, of course on the nose, so we motored south down the bay, passing by Rockport and Rockland, transiting Owls Head Bay and Muscle Ridge Channel. We were originally headed for Long Cove, right beside Tenants Harbor, but the weather was fine, except for the fog, which actually, generally lightened up as we progressed south, so we decided to head on a bit further, passing by Port Clyde and turning right up the St. George River to Maple Juice Cove. For you art aficionados, Maple Juice Cove is the site of the Olson farm, Andrew Wyeth painted “Wind from the Sea” among other famous paintings. We got anchored by 16:00 and called up the Olson House, which is only open from 12:00 to 17:00; we will go over tomorrow for a tour. I rowed over to the shore to find a place to land the dinghy to facilitate our planned tour. I picked a lobster fisherman’s dock, more or less at random, tied up the dinghy and walked ashore. Just as I got to the land, an elderly gentleman came out of a nearby house and I enquired if it was OK to tie up here to go for a walk up to the Olson house. He smiled and said I could just walk right up the road to the house and was welcome to tie up to his dock; he then introduced himself as John Olson, age 94 and spry as a teenager, and along with telling me a bunch of war stories (literally: destroyer duty during WWII, including 17 trans-Atlantic trips on convoy duty, fire support for landing troops during the Tunisia, Sicily and Normandy campaigns (including getting torpedoed off Normandy a couple of days after D-Day), followed by a transfer to an aircraft carrier in the Pacific in time to be in Tokyo for the Japanese surrender), he advised that he was the last child born in the Olson house. Turns out, he is the nephew of Christina Olson, Wyeth’s friend and muse. What an interesting chap. Back to the boat for a quick, refreshing swim in Maple Juice Cove (68 deg F), followed by happy hour and dinner aboard.

43-58.591’N, 069-16.829’W