July 29, 2017 – Saturday
When we went to bed last night, the NOAA forecast had strong northeast winds predicted for today. If the wind is from the northeast, the cove is not usually a pleasant place to be for a small boat, however, the east coast storm must have gone farther off shore than predicted because the winds ended up being very light from the north and the wave action was minimal. We knew the ferry would not be bringing a group today because it doesn’t run on Saturday’s but we had no idea what hardy souls would come out today in the cooler temps.
With a north wind, the air is very dry and the scenery is at its finest when looking from the tower. Mount Washington (90 miles away) was in view all day as too was Monhegan Island (22 miles away). Rarely do we get both spots to point out to visitors! My morning pictures of Mt. Washington are dim compared to the beautiful shots Brian took at sunset, so check out the end of the post for the perfect Mt. Washington photo.
The first group of visitors were a multi-generational family who arrived by power boat from Georgetown. Turns out one of the ladies in the crowd has been visiting for almost 40 years, her first visit was in-utero, the only year she has missed was when she was pregnant herself. Even though the entire group has been here many times before, they still had the “oh, wow” moment up on the tower platform when seeing Mt. Washington!
As this group was hiking and hanging out on the benches, an airshow of sorts started off the east side of the island. The sailing yacht Marie, which visited the island last week, was having a private airshow while sailing around Sheepscot Bay. We may have had the best seats in the house to watch this show, I have never been to an airshow before but now I know why so many people are drawn to them.
The day continued with a few visitors throughout the afternoon. We had most of the cottage closed because with the north wind, it was cold on island, staying around 60 degrees for most of the day. Long pants and heavy fleece weather again! I am beginning to really doubt if it ever gets warm in the summer in mid coast Maine. In the late afternoon, we had 4 visitors, one of which was a member of the Carpenter Boat Shop in Bristol, ME. He explained to us how people who need guidance because of some poor choices are sent to the Boat Shop to learn a trade, marine carpentry, and are given some life guidance. The organization also teaches classes on boat building. He is a fascinating man and one this country could use more of.
A lot of visitors ask us if we are bothered by the fog horn. The truth is it only goes off occasionally since the USCG has switched fog horns in Maine to mariner request. The horn doesn’t signal any more just because it is foggy saving on the wear and tear of older equipment. However, there are 2 times we can guarantee the horn going off, on Friday afternoon when the MS Independence leaves Boothbay and heads up the Kennebec and Saturday afternoon when the American Constellation heads into Portland. It seems that the captains of these ships want the guests to experience a true Maine experience and sets the fog horn off as they pass us. The cruise ships do pass the island fairly close.
After dinner tonight, I saw a few more guests wandering the plateau and went out to great them. They had arrived into the cove and were hoping for a trip up the tower. Brian took this trip and I headed down to the cove to check on things down there. Turns out we had almost a full mooring field for the night, which will give us an early start tomorrow for visits.
Guests today – 29
Guests total – 907
USCG – 6
