Under power at 5:50. Windless, slow rolling waves on Casco Bay. Head to Gooseberry Island. 6:30 anchored in the calm water behind the island, take a nap. 7:45 under power at idle speed, looking to the south there is a wall of fog.
8:00 round Bald Head. Rough water breaking along the shoreline. Islands are just dark shape in the fog. 8:35 the top of Seguin Island is visible above the fog, Heron Island to port and the smaller Fox Island beyond that. More fog moves in and the shoreline is obscured. 9:00 Pond Island Light barely visible off port bow.
9:50 clear skies to the north, following the shoreline into the Sheepscot River. Between no wind and the wall of fog, looking for a place to anchor. 10:10 approaching Harmon Harbor, a possible anchorage but it looks crowded with local boats. Keep going.
See a dark shape on the surface of the water going from starboard to port. A whale! It disappears before I can grab my phone. Then, with phone in hand, I see a spout.
The whale makes a shallow dive, surfaces again, then makes a deep rolling dive just yards for SPARTINA.
And with a wave of its tail, the whale is gone.
Next anchorage is Five Islands, and Navionics says there are free guests moorings available. Tied up at the General Store, I top off the gas can and buy some snacks. I ask the guy at the store about the free moorings. He shakes his head. "Those are our moorings," he says with a little anger in his voice, "and we charge for them. We get two or three people every week asking about free moorings!"
Lunch is next door at a lobster company, an excellent lobster roll at a reasonable price. I enjoy it at a picnic table in the shade. The table seats six, a woman asks if I am all by myself. I tell her I used to be popular, but now I am not, so yes I am by myself. "It's probably just a phase," she says, and sits down with me.
Afternoon brings wind. I look to the south and the fog is still there, but it is clear on the river and pleasant sailing. Making 2.3 with a helping flood tide. I sail across the river, round Dogfish head and pass two anchorages, turning into the third, Love Cove.
In Love Cove there are two guest moorings, each clearly marked "Guest, Winslow." But they are not free. There is a pink bottle attached to each mooring, and the family asks that visitors write something, anything really, and leave it in the bottle. Under the shade of the boom tent, I spend the afternoon writing a poem about a little yawl and a whale.
That evening a woman kayaks by and says hello. They are her guest moorings. She says she collects the notes each day. When they have family gatherings, they read the notes to each other, then tuck them in a scrap book. How nice!
17.89 NM
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