A Whale of a Tale

While in Maine I really wanted to check off one of my bucket list items and go on a whale watch. The husband had been, years ago, off Cape Cod, but the boys and I never before had the opportunity and to see such great and beautiful creatures in their natural habitat. The North Atlantic is home to several different species, including fin back, humpback, minke, pilot, sei, northern right and sperm whales. I knew that the chance of seeing a northern right whale was slim, as there are only about 300 of them left in the wild, but we were hopeful that we would see some others.

We headed up north to Bar Harbor on Sunday, hoping to catch the 8:30 a.m. boat. Sadly, we were plagued with fog once again and that tour ended up canceled. We decided to hang around and try for the 1 p.m. tour. Bar Harbor's not a bad town to spend some time in if you happen to be in the area. We had some delicious blueberry muffins and wandered around some of the shops. The boys had fun watching the fog roll in and out of the harbor and the few boats that were working come and go. We also ate more lobster!! Unfortunately, the fog never cleared and the 1 p.m. tour was also canceled. We headed back to the campground pretty bummed and afraid a whale watch just wasn't in the cards for this trip.

The drive up to Belfast had been a marathon one, so we were already thinking of spreading out the drive home over a couple of days. When we returned to the campground I began searching for whale watches that left from ports south of Belfast in the hopes of hitting one on our way home. I found one called Cap'n Fish's Whale Watch out of Boothbay Harbor, about an hour and a half south of Belfast and on our way home, so we decided to give it one more try on Tuesday morning and purchased tickets for the 9:30 tour aboard the Pink Lady II:

Tuesday turned out to be a beautiful morning, with not a drop of fog in sight! We boarded the boat and found some great seats right up front. We were on our way!

The trip out of Boothbay Harbor was really interesting. The lobster men were out checking their traps and we saw lots of different birds out looking for snacks. We also saw several pods of harbor porpoise and harbor seals. The first mate Daniella pointed out interesting landmarks including the Burnt Island Lighthouse:

And also the summer home of the Wicked Witch of the West, Margaret Hamilton, on Cape Island:

Once out of the harbor we began the search for whales. Daniella told everyone to keep their eyes peeled for the plume of water from the whale's blowhole as they surface to take a breath, usually the first thing you see. We watched, and we watched, then we watched some more. For more than an hour nearly every person on the ship watched the horizon hoping to see something. We had been instructed by Daniella to yell out if we saw anything so that Captain Mark could pilot the ship closer to investigate. We had sailed through two of the whale's feeding grounds and no one had seen anything. The captain had announced that we were going to have to turn back, and that a whale sighting was not likely to be in the cards for today. As the ship was turning, the teen suddenly shouted that he had seen something on the horizon. I didn't believe him at first, but then the man next to me said he saw it too, so Daniella came over with the binoculars and Captain Mark started to steer the ship in that direction. We watched and watched, then all of a sudden 2 fin back whales surfaced to take a breath right in front of us! It was an absolutely amazing sight! After taking a couple breaths they dove down to feed and luckily surfaced again about 7 minutes later and we got to enjoy a couple more fleeting glances of these magnificent creatures! We discovered that capturing a picture of these wondrous moments is really tough, and basically a matter of luck. The husband snapped this one at just the right moment:

We were fortunate to see a couple of minke whales and some pilot whales on our trip back to the harbor. It was a great way to end our trip, and I guess the 170 bucks we shelled out for the teens glasses paid off!!

Here's a picture of the whale spotter himself with first mate Daniella:

And all 3 boys with Captain Mark:

One more item checked off the bucket list! Many, many more to go...

Camden, Maine

While planning this trip we talked to several friends who make regular trips to Maine or are actually from Maine and asked for their “must sees.”  A number of them recommended Camden, Maine as a quaint little town with lots to see and do.  Camden has a lovely little Main Street shopping area with shops filled with local artisans and restaurants.  There is also a harbor with a wharf full of schooners offering all kinds of day sails and cruises.  We decided to head down and check it out a few days ago, and Camden didn’t disappoint!

We checked on the internet and decided to take the 1 p.m. Lobster Fishing and Wildlife Encounter aboard the Lively Lady Too.  Unfortunately, Camden’s Harbor was completely fogged in and all the morning excursions had been cancelled.  As the fog was not lifting, the 1 p.m. excursion had to be cancelled as well.  We rescheduled for the 3:15 trip and headed out to explore Camden.  Since we were a bit hungry our first stop was the Bayview Restaurant, where the husband and I ordered and shared a lobster roll: 

It was delicious!!  A little bit of buttery, creamy lobster goodness on a lightly toasted roll.  Yum…these may just be my new favorite thing to eat.  We wandered around town, did a bit of window shopping, and then headed back down to the wharf.  It must have been our lucky day, because by mid afternoon the fog had moved out and we were good to go!

The Lively Lady Too is piloted by a salty Maine lobsterman named Captain Philbrick, a fascinating guy with extensive knowledge of the surrounding coastline and sea life.  He’s also a wonderful story teller with about a million fish tales and anecdotes to share along the way.  Here he is piloting his ship. 

We headed out of the harbor and within 10 minutes he was pulling up the first lobster trap.  Captain Philbrick took the time to explain what the different colors on the buoys mean (nothing, really.  Each fisherman chooses their own), what each of the tags on the trap mean (they are the fishing and trap licenses for the fisherman, color coded for each year) and how the traps work (lobsters simply are not very bright.  They follow the bait in, then forget how they got there and are unable to get back out).  He explained the difference between soft shelled and hard shelled lobsters (none, really, but only hard shelled lobsters can be shipped) and what makes a legal lobster.  There are 4 characteristics of a legal lobster: The distance from the eye socket to the end of the body must be greater than 3 inches and less than 5 inches.  Female lobsters carrying eggs may not be kept.  Notched female lobsters must also be put back.  A lobsterman must cut a small notch in the back right fin of any female lobster carrying eggs before putting her back in the water.  It will take 2 years for the notch to grow out and during that time any lobsterman who catches her must put her back.  Captain Philbrick caught 3 lobsters in the 2 traps he pulled up, and 2 of them were legal.  One was too big, but he returned all of them to the ocean at the end of our trip.  The highlight was when he passed them around for the kids to hold!

Captain Philbrick also took us out to an island with a very rocky shoreline which is home to a pretty sizeable colony of harbor seals.  They blend in very well with the rocks, and a few of them were in the water swimming.  I think I’ll be looking for a better camera before next summer, as they are hard to see in the pictures I took.

Next we headed over to another island with a bald eagle nest.  It must have been our lucky day because as we were rounding the tip of the island the eaglet soared out overhead!  What a beautiful bird!  He was all dark brown as he won’t grow white feathers until he’s an adult, but with a 7 foot wingspan was an impressive sight soaring around that island.  All through the whole trip Captain Philbrick shared his stories and knowledge and answered questions and before we knew it a 2 hour tour had turned into 3.  And it was worth every penny!       

Addiction

My husband needs help. Serious help. In the form of a support group or 12 step program or an intervention. He has a “problem.” A “problem”, so I am told, many men his age struggle with. Surely there are other wives out there who will sympathize with my predicament when I say his “problem” is affecting our lifestyle. It is taking over our home and making it difficult to carry out certain tasks. You see, my husband is a boat-a-holic.

The basic problem, as my husband sees it, is merely one of space. Currently, the motor home occupies ½ of our driveway. We park my van and his truck next to the motor home on the other ½ of the driveway. The motor boat, a 1971 MFG Westfield, sits on its trailer in the grass next to the vehicles on the other side of the basketball pole. At the moment, you truly cannot even see the front of my house. If you could, you would notice that there is in fact a fully attached 2-car garage, and you would perhaps suggest that we park the vehicles or the boat in there. A fine solution if the garage was not already home to 2 canoes and 3 kayaks, all of which he has built himself. For those of you counting that's 6 boats. But that's not all. There is a seventh boat, in the backyard, under a tarp. A late 1950's Sailfish that he garbage picked from the neighbor of a colleague about a year ago.

As you can imagine, the congestion in the driveway has made garbage night a blast and a half. Our municipality provides homeowners with totes that fit on the back of the truck to decrease the manpower needed on garbage day. The tote is just a smidge too wide to fit in between the vehicles and the motor home. So, we have to scoot it out the corner of the garage and drag it carefully around a flower bed and across the front lawn. Each morning begins with a game of motor vehicle roulette.  I have to admit a few times I have just given up and taken off in the husband's truck just so I wouldn't have to figure out how to back my van around the motor home.  The boys have also added several new scrapes and dings to both vehicles while navigating their bikes and scooters through the maze. Here is the view of my front yard:

In his defense, the husband is a fabulous woodworker. The boats he has built are beautiful and we have used and enjoyed every one of them. The Westfield is a very nice little motorboat, perfect for fishing, tubing and water skiing. He's cleaned it up and restored the top and even found a classic Johnson engine to tinker with. The boys love it:

Two of the kayaks he built for the boys when they were smaller. They are called “Kid-yaks” and are designed for children up to 100 pounds. One of them has a mount for a fishing pole on the front. Our youngest is a mad paddler and loves tooling around Saranac Lake in his but sadly, the two older boys have outgrown them, so we really only need one:

This canoe is the husbands pride and joy, and it really is quite beautiful. He keeps the wood rails varnished and caned the seats himself. It is a gorgeous boat to paddle:

The sailboat still needs a lot of work. Since it was free I didn't mind buying a new sail for it. He has sanded it off and sealed it up and we did take it up to Saranac Lake last summer to test it out. Although not yet fully restored it does float and our oldest son had a great time whipping back and forth out on the lake in it last summer:

Finally, we have the “works in progress.” The husband is in the process of building me my very own cedar strip kayak. It's planked and he is now applying the fiberglass. He hopes to finish it up this summer. And this week he started another canoe with and for our oldest son. So far that one is just some oddly shaped pieces of marine plywood laying on the garage floor. They tell me it will start to look like a boat in a few days:

If you happen to be reading this and are in the market, he may just be willing to part with one or two to ease the congestion in the driveway...give him a buzz at 1-800-edhastoomanyboats.