Four Nations

Castine, at the northern end of Penobscot Bay, is a gold mine for anyone interested in US colonial history. Just go on the Internet and you'll see. Look at the coastal maps of New England and then of Maine. Penobscot Bay provided access to northern New England's wilderness heartland for timber and animal pelts. Of course, it doesn't hurt that today Penobscot Bay is legendary among cruisers of all stripes for week-long and month-long explorations of the many coves and harbors. The wide-open watery expanse invites the skipper to put up sail and beat down the Bay on a strong sou'westerly breeze with the leeward rail under (the water).

Here's the regional chart with the pencil pointing to Penobscot Bay. Look to the right on the chart and you can see the purple dogleg. That's the traffic pattern for the Bay of Fundy. Grand Manan is inside the dogleg.

Zeroing in on the eastern Maine coast, here's the chart that shows how significant Penobscot Bay is for the region. The Bay is labeled on the chart.

So, why "Four Nations?"

Because explorers recognized the value of these areas due to timber supplies (think sources of timber for masts and sawn logs for shipbuilding) and animal pelts for dressing well back in London, Paris and Amsterdam.

And those are the four nations. Champlain explored and started settlements for the French. Much of that activity was for fishing and furs. That was in the early 1600s. The Dutch attacked the French and established outposts in the mid-1600s. Finally, the British exerted dominance in the area starting in the early 1700s. The US is the fourth nation.

Near the head of the Bay lie Castine to the east and Belfast in the northwestern corner.

Today, Castine is home to Maine Maritime Academy, which trains young people to join the merchant marine and assume leadership positions on ocean-going vessels as well as near-shore pilotage.

Here is the Academy's training ship, lying at dock on the Castine waterfront.

There is also an active sailing community and thriving Castine Yacht Club.

We stayed at Eaton's Boat Yard, a bit of a time capsule of a yard, just like the town of Castine is a time capsule. Castine has the blessing of lying away from US Route 1, just like its sister towns of Salem and Newburyport, Massachusetts, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and other coastal towns of Maine. All of these communities (mostly) avoided the scars of urban renewal in the 20th century. Castine's history awaits your discovery, for it is there for the viewing.

Across Penobscot Bay is Belfast, a town that has successfully remade itself from the industrial warehouses along the waterfront to now a series of yacht services and a town dock together with a thriving downtown.

We could get to a laundromat, Co-op food store and hardware store all within a few blocks of each other. There are many, many restaurants and coffee shops. Life seems to be blooming in Belfast.

Humor is also grinning in Belfast. Here are the famous ducks that come and go without warning. Some mysterious souls move them around, to the delight and wonder of townspeople and visitors alike. They are indeed a source of joy.

Cheers,

Brio