Rockland Maine

Before turning in on Saturday night, I contacted several marinas to see who could take us Sunday. Mrs. Horne really wanted to head north, so we ended up booking Safe Harbor in Rockland.

We left Boothbay just after 9:00 amid a glorious “Blue Bird Day.”

The seas were calm as we made our 45-mile run to Rockland. Our computer was reporting an 11:04 ETA.

At fifteen miles out, I noticed we were about ten miles away from Allen Island, but all I could see was an uninterrupted horizon – I knew this meant we were heading into a fog bank!

And I was thinkin’ to myself, “This could be heaven or this could be hell”

The Eagles, Hotel California

I’ve probably logged 100 hours running in the fog and have a very competent Garmin Array 54 setup. But virtually all my running in fog is well offshore and generally in shipping lanes, where everyone is a licensed Captain.

I’ve never been to Rockland, so I’m unsure about the approach. And we’re in coastal Maine, which means picking our way through a minefield of lobster pots. Speaking of lobsters, the narrow channels leading to Rockland are littered with lobster boats; most ignore the USCG Rules of the Road and don’t even monitor channel 16.

As we began round Allen Island in 100’ visibility, our VHF fired up: “Amazing Grace, Amazing Grace, come in.”

It was a consciousness skipper a mile in front of us who wanted to make sure we saw him. At this point, we’d slowed to 20 MPH, and I told him I had seen him and intended to pass him on his starboard side.

As we passed Whitehead Island, our visibility went zero – we couldn’t even see the water. I picked up another AIS-equipped boat in the middle of the channel. It was a sailboat – SHADOWFAX, going 7 MPH. We had a head current, and I had to go 12 MPH to maintain headway.

I hailed him on channel 16, told him I was monitoring him on radar, and intended to pass him to starboard.

He then started moving to starboard and squeezed me into something called LOWER GANGWAY LEDGE.

I hailed him again and noted that he was getting close to the ledge and that I planned to pass him on his port side.

Around this point, our visibility improved to 50,’ and Peter shot a fairly frightening short video off the Skydeck.

As we got closer to Owl’s Head Light, I dodged lobster pots, steering clear of the red dots on the radar that were likely slow-moving lobster boats, and struggled to maintain a heading amid the myriad of well-marked ledges in the channel.

At Owls Head, we were to make a left turn and head into Rockland. As we approached the turn, I got a “Securite, Securite” alert from a vessel named Lively Life off my starboard bow. It was going 30 MPH, which was likely a high-speed ferry.

As soon as it looked like I coukd steer toward Rockland and away from the oncoming high-speed ferry, I turned around Grn “7”. I was startled as I looked up in the fog and saw Owls Head Light a few hundred feet away.

I took a wider turn and saw a low-speed ferry heading in my direction. AIS indicated he was going 14 MPH, so I matched his speed and followed him into Rockland.

Fog is no fun. To make matters worse, there is no reliable way to forecast when and where it will appear accurately.

The good news is that Amazing Grace and her good crew managed the situation, and we were never in peril.

Rockland

Mrs. Horne and I visited Rockland in 2014 to attend the Maine and Home Boat Show. We were shopping for a Picnic Boat that was more go and less show than the Hinckley.

We discovered the Back Cove Downeast 37 and thus began our life of cruising in Tenacity.

The village is about the same size as Kennebunkport but far less touristy. The Safe Harbor Marina is ten minutes from Main Street; it has great views and the typically professional Safe Harbor dock staff.

The boat across the dock from us was named Grace. She’s a sixteen-year-old Back Cove 29 that looks brand new

Although Safe Harbor is ten minutes from downtown, there is a lovely riverwalk-style causeway leading there.

We realized how far north we were when Lulu told us: “It’s Sunday; most of the restaurants close on Sundays.”

Whaaaat?

What self-respecting seaside eatery closes on a Bluebird Sunday in July?”

Welcome to Downeast Maine!

We walked up to Main Street, and I opened Yelp. There were three or four well-rated restaurants near us, all open, so I suggested the one with no water view. I thought we’d get the best food at the best prices if we didn’t have to pay for a view!

Myrtle Street Tavern

It’s too clean and neat to be a dive bar, but definitely has a tavern vibe.

It has an extensive menu along with a sheet of specials. It does not have a website, so I’ll share the menus here.

Mrs. Horne noted that my food always comes out later than theirs. This was true for my wings and that’s my excuse for no photo; I was hungry, started eating, and simply forgot (it happens).

Anyway, they were good. They were plump and had a very light breading. I got the Buffalo Sauce and Blue Cheese on the side.

Myrtle Street serves up solid pub food. Their prices were reasonable, but that seems true everywhere north of the Massachusetts border.

After lunch, we wandered down Main Street to do a little shopping. The first store we found open was called Maine Sports Outfitters.

It’s kind of a little version of LL Bean. They offer a large variety of outdoor clothing and limited sports and camping gear. I bought a couple of games for the grandkids I’d never seen anywhere else.

Back at the boat, we discovered that Rockland has a 12’ tide!

We attempted to hang out on the Skydeck, but even in Rockland, Maine, it was too hot!

High Tide Rockland Bar & Grill

We decided to try another four restaurants on the corner of Main Street with 4+ Stars on Yelp.

The High Tide has a very inviting outside patio with views of Rockland Harbor.

Of course, we sat at the bar, which also had nice views.

Peter had the Chicken Liguinni.

It was well-executed and creamy enough to coat the pasta without being too thick.

Mrs. Horne opted for a simple shrimp cocktail.

She liked it, but I pointed out that the texture looked like they’d been cooked, cleaned, frozen, and thawed.

I went for a Lamb Gyro.

It was quite good. The lamb was well-seasoned and tender. The pita was fresh and homemade, and all the Greek sauces were spot-on.

As we walked home, we captured a lot of incredible Maine Coastal scenery.

The Skydeck was very comfortable, but without any wind, the mosquitos appeared, and we descended to the salon to watch Maine Cabin Masters.

Up Next – Biking to Camden