Boothbay Harbor: Lobsters and the Pots They Come In

We left Portland on a beautiful day with some nice wind in our sails. We set off that morning thinking we were headed to a place called “The Basin.” That was until we realized that a) we were doing about 7 knots (that’s good), and b) we were actually sailing instead of having to motor sail or motor, something we haven’t gotten to do much of lately and we like it! So we decided to take advantage of the good conditions and keep on going to Boothbay Harbor area. And so we did. The great sailing didn’t last the whole day, but it lasted for more than half the trip which turned out to be about a 6 hour trip.

By early afternoon the wind wasn’t as favorable, so we turned the engine back on. And we became even more acquainted with our friends, the lobster pots. And we were reminded that when you’re traveling over 57 degree water, it’s rarely going to be really, really warm.

Don’t know if you can really tell from this picture, but pots are just littered throughout the bay. We are finding this to be the norm most everywhere up here. We have still successfully dodged them – so far. It is unlikely that I will ever complain about crab pots in the Chesapeake ever again. It is becoming more natural to us, but you can never let your guard down!

Because Boothbay can be very crowded in the summer, we opted for anchoring in a cove around the bend known to be a quiet anchorage. After the rocking and rolling in Portland, we were ready for a quiet anchorage! We found a beautiful spot in LInekin Bay. We had read about a park at the head of the bay where you could land your dinghy and then walk into Boothbay Harbor. Another thing that we had read about was the 10 foot difference between low tide and high tide . . . a swing that we are not so accustomed to. We considered that very carefully when we were anchoring, being sure to think about how much water we would be parked in six hours later.  But when we took the dinghy to shore for a walk, we didn’t give it quite as much thought. The following pictures tell the rest of the story.

A beautiful shot of the park where we tied up the dinghy.

And the dinghy is still looking good as we set off for Boothbay Harbor by foot.

And then we come back from our walk about three hours later . . . guess the tide was going out.

I swear there was water here when we left. It may not look like it from this picture, but we actually laughed really hard which did not make it easier to drag the dinghy through the rocks and mud to get it back to a floating position.

We enjoyed a nice walk into to town. Boothbay is a tourist destination, but a relatively laid back, civilized one. We found a place to have an incredibly cheap lobster dinner a little outside of town, and then walked back to the main harbor the next morning. (The next day we checked the tides and had a little better dinghy parking strategy!) It is hard not to feel for the lobstermen/women. There is a glut of lobster and they are getting less than 2.50/pound. We had a complete lobster dinner with two – that’s  TWO – 1 1/2 pound lobsters for about $18 per person. We will do our best to support the industry while we’re here.

Lobster that is less expensive than beef!

Sunset in Linekin Bay

Ducks hanging out in the cove. No doubt laughing at us after we dragged the dinghy.

Classic Maine – a seagull atop lobster pots.

Downtown Boothbay

And, of course, no matter how chilly or damp, we gotta hit the ice cream shop for Frank!

As you can see, the weather turned and the layers of clothes and jackets became necessary again.  A number of times before we started cruising, we told  people we were going to “sail to 80.” That wasn’t referring to our ages . . . it was referring to fahrenheit . I commented to Frank today that I think we sailed right through 80 and straight to 70!

Our assessment of Maine so far . . . it’s a beautiful, cool place (in more ways than one) . . . but you gotta work for it!