Maine has some memorable place names. None is better than what one can find along this part of the coast. There's Great Wass Island, Mud Hole, Head Island Island and Mistake Island. What is the etymology of these names? Brio shrugs her shoulders. She comes up blank. Mud Hole is self-explanatory, perhaps. But these others invite conjecture.
We are anchored in Mistake Island Harbor. This is a skeletal harbor at best. It is a small body of water surrounded by granite islands. Just beyond these slivers of islands stands the Atlantic Ocean. Reportedly, experiencing storms here can be very dramatic. Great waves come crashing over these thin barriers to the ocean. Meanwhile, the little harbor remains a refuge.
Below, you can see the granite rimmed islands that surround us. The little house on the right in the first photo is associated with the lighthouse at the tip of the island. To the left of the house is a small gap through which you can see the Atlantic. To the left of the gap is Knight Island.
Here is the same view the next morning. Overnight, a storm has been moving in from the south and west. It will soon overspread the region and bring wind and waves.
Looking southwest, you can see the cloud bank offshore that will bring lower clouds and rain. In the forefront is seaweed. Just below the water's surface are rocks that hold the seaweed. We don't go over here on Brio, lest we hit a rocky bottom!
The view to the west last night, when it was sunnier, shows more granite "slivers." The ocean is just beyond the protective slivers.
The chart of the area shows Mistake, Mud Hole and other wonderful places to explore. You can find Mistake Island Harbor in the southeastern part of these islands, next to Main Channel Way. Moosabec Reach is at the top of this group of islands and Jonesport is civilization's "last stand."
We pulled up the anchor and Steve found a mass of kelp.
Steve had to strip the kelp off the anchor with a boat hook, peeling the mass away bit by bit. Finally, it was clear and then we could go explore the area.
First up was a shoreside estate we saw on our way to last night's anchorage. You can see that it is a mansion with little landscaping expense.
And the back of the lot is just as attractive.
Just down "the street" from this charmer were "fish pens."
We could see fish jumping inside the pens. We don't know what type of fish were penned. Salmon? And then how would these fish be sold in the market? Wild? Farm-raised? Interesting. Certainly, though, the fish were swimming in the clean ocean waters that flushed through this area. We guessed the fish in the nearest pen were a foot to two feet long, judging by the size of fish we could see jumping and the splash they made.
Our next stop was to poke our nose into Mudhole. The tide was about half high, so there were a few feet of water above dead low. That made things a little more comfortable. But there are enough ledges going into Mudhole that we were moving very slowly.
Looking forward on the port side:
And astern of us:
Here, you can see how the entrance is partially blocked by ledges. We had to squeeze over to one side of the harbor mouth to get by these rocks.
On the way in, we hooked a lobster pot line. We shifted into neutral and let the buoy and the pot line pop free of the propeller. No snag! Whew!
This is the view from Brio looking forward on the starboard side towards another sailboat. The sailboat was anchored about where Pamina had anchored 20 years before.
Now it was time to slowly turn around and motor carefully out of Mudhole. That was exciting!
On our way out of the area, we said hello to our seal neighbors.
We motored past Moose Peak Light, the lighthouse on Mistake Island on our way out into the ocean and then northeast to Roque.
Since a storm was coming up the coast (it had rained hard in Portsmouth last night), we headed to a little cove off of Roque Harbor called Lakeman Harbor. We knew this would be a safe place to be in case we had a blow!
Until tomorrow!
Cheers,
Brio
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