A Lake and Three Harbors
72 Hours in Maine in the Nutshell Pram
Post 3 of 4
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| Putting In Rockport, Maine |
Camden
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| Camden Harbor; Sizing up a Put In Spot |
After a lunchtime sail in Belfast, Maine and a walk on the Harborwalk we decided to head south and find another place to put the Merry Rowe II in the water. We had been to Camden a number of times but never with the boat so we went there first.
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| Camden Harbor: Beautiful Annabelle Hydrangeas |
There are very few towns from which we cannot find a place to launch this boat and then a place to park. We've been to Gloucester, MA.during festivals and Rockland, ME. during boat shows and launched without issue or harm to our wallets. Sadly,we could not find a place to plop that boat in at Camden and when I think about it there have only been two other towns where we have had that issue - Marblehead, MA. and Newport, RI. What these towns have in common, in my opinion, is that almost every inch of land on their inner harbors has been claimed by someone or something and if that something is a park - it is not a boater friendly park. There is a great little park on the harbor in Camden and we thought about draggin' that boat over a wall (photo above) and into the harbor but the tide was out and in the end, tired from the salt and sun in other places, we settled ourselves into a nice restaurant on the water for a drink and a snack and came up with a plan for the evening and next day.
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| Camden Harbor Moon Rise |
We decided it was time to find a place to put our heads and get dinner so we could try putting the little boat in at Rockport in the morning. First though, I put a phone call in to the Oaklands Seashore Cabins to see if they had a room for the night. The Oaklands is a great place to stay if you like a rustic cabin on the water. We stayed there once before on recommendation from a friend and remembered there was a little beach down a not too steep incline to the water where we might be able to put the boat in. There was no room at that inn, unfortunately, but we have that plan stored away for another trip. We ended up staying at another place for the night - the name escapes me but I will add it after I figure it out. It was a very nice little place with a pool, a clean room and a great breakfast in the restaurant. Ahhh - I found it (Towne Motel http://camdenmotel.com/) After breakfast we got on the road to Rockport.
Rockport
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| Boat in Rockport Harbor |
Rockport is another of those towns we had been through many times but not with the Merry Rowe II. We headed down to the town dock and paid a nominal fee to put the sailing dinghy in the water off the town dock. The first mate will scramble over almost any wall or other impediment with that boat on his back so we can avoid paying to launch it (usually about $5) but in this case I just wanted to see the harbor from the harbor and so we paid our fee, took the boat off the car and put it in off the town dock. Rockport has the most beautiful collection of boats moored in the harbor. You can, and I did, spend hours looking at them and photographing them. Each one is different and quintessentially New England.
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| Osprey! |
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| Boats of Rockport |
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| Easy Access in Rockport Harbor |
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Rockport, Maine:
Sometimes Smaller is WAY Better |
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Rockport, Maine:
Run Back to the Harbor |
We had a great sail in Rockport with the wind against us on a very hot day going out and then a great, very quick run back to the harbor dock. We walked around a bit to see the statue of Andre the Seal (this is his home port) and to check out the abandoned lime kilns (a major industry in the 1800's) then decided to head out. Next stop and currently my favorite Maine coast town, Rockland!
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