Sailing into Portland was another bucket list experience – we’d vacationed here almost 20 years ago and I remember talking way back then about how cool it would be to arrive on our own boat someday. For a lighthouse nerd (me), it was so incredibly cool to pass so many (I promise you’re going to be sick of lighthouse photos by the time we’re done with Maine). We were greeted by the lights at Cape Elizabeth, sailed past the famous Portland Head Light and Ram’s Island Light, then Spring Point and Bug lights on our way in.
Once we were settled in our slip, we dropped Williwaw in the water and cruised over to check out Fort Gorges. While the fort is in definite need of restoration, it was kind of neat to wander around the overgrown parade grounds and through the old gun emplacements. They were setting up for some kind of event while we were there, but most of the time you’re likely to have the place to yourself.
I’m so glad we’ve been able to catch up with family on this trip – leaving family was one of the hardest things for me when we first started cruising. So we were excited when Chris’s brother brought his daughter and twin sons to visit. While I’m not a kids person, it’s important to me to spend time with our nieces and nephews. We took them on a dinghy ride out to Mackworth Island State Park to spend some time at the beach (the dinghy ride was definitely more of a highlight than the beach for our niece) and then over to Beal’s Ice Cream… because there’s nothing like loading three kids up on sugar before sending them off for a 2 hour car ride with dad, right?
After they left, we had planned to go out for a nice dinner, but we couldn’t get a reservation anywhere. So slight change in plans – lobster! We went to Luke’s Lobster, which oddly enough originated in New York. I got a lobster roll (just as good as I remember) and Chris had the twin lobsters. We get our fill of Caribbean spiny lobster in The Bahamas, but nothing quite beats northern lobsters, and I intend to eat my fill while we’re cruising Maine.
We’re staying at Maine Yacht Center, as some cruising friends recommended it to us when we were discussing our refit plans. So far, we’ve been really impressed with the marina and staff, and from the examples of their work that we’ve seen, we’re impressed with that too. We met with the service manager and electronics manager to discuss the refit, and I felt like it was a good conversation. I’ll be curious to see the quote we get back.
Our slip neighbor told us about Halfway Rock, a seal rookery in Casco Bay just off Mackworth Island State Park. We took Williwaw out there twice but it was past half rising tide, and we didn’t see any seals on the rocks. However when we turned off the engine and just floated for a few, little heads started popping up all around us, equally curious about us as we were about them.
We also visited Mackworth Island for a morning walk along the ring trail and were met with beautiful views in every direction. The smell of pine mixed with the briny salt air, and I had to peel myself away to make sure I got back to be on time for work.
We didn’t get to spend as much time in Portland proper as I’d hoped, but I enjoyed being just outside the city and getting to take in more of Portland’s natural beauty.
