A 2-week trip to the States to do some boating and visit Mario and Elizabeth, the first time since the Pandemic, was in order so on the last week of July with Phil and family following, we headed into Maine, pulling the boat through the hilly countryside along highway 27 to the coast. We stopped to camp the first night at Sagadahoc Bay campground, just south of Bath. Mosquitoes were abundant at night and in the morning but the kids enjoyed themselves and we were surprisingly able to build a campfire, even though it was hot and dry in the woods, the temperatures hovering around 30. Little did we know that was the coolest we were going to be for a while. The next day we put the boat in the water in Falmouth, just outside Portland, amazed at the amount of boats moored in the harbor, and said goodbye to Phil and Fer till we met up with them again in Wells. Marie and I returned to the now lonely campground, deciding to have an early supper at one of our favourite lobster shacks in Five Islands, twenty minutes away. After a quiet night at the campground we packed up and pulled the now empty trailer to meet up with the family who had called us from Wells. We arrived at the Webhannet River boat yard the next afternoon to meet the tired and exhausted sailors after a long day on the water of Casco Bay. Heavy waves and wind had made it a very unpleasant voyage and they were glad to see us pull up! After a lunch at the nearby restaurant, Hobbs Harborside, and in a sudden downpour we headed to Rowley, Massachusetts, the new home of Marie's brother, an hour away by road on highway 1.
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| Sagadahoc Bay Campground, Maine |
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| Falmouth Town Landing boat ramp, Maine |
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| Five Islands, Maine |
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| At Mario's dock, Rowley river, Maine |
Rowley, Massachusetts is a small town north of Cape Ann, along the Rowley river, a muddy and slow moving tidal river surrounded by marshland we got to know quite well the week we stayed there. Mario and Elizabeth's home is at the end of the river, accessible by a well weathered boardwalk at the bottom of their yard. We put the boat in at the local marina, Perley's, just a few hundred feet from Mario's dock where we tied up with it and the tender and were greeted by the ever present greenhead horseflies (tabanus nigrovittatus) very common to the area. It was hot and humid with temperatures in the low 30s when we arrived and perfect weather for these ornery creatures that were worse than any plague of mosquitoes. All along the river we could see the numerous black box traps that had been put up by the communities to control them but they pursued us till we got to the river mouth and the welcoming and refreshing breezes from the ocean. From here Boston was only a short trip on the MBTA commuter rail. We often waved as it went by on the bridge just beyond our mooring and had a chance to go aboard when we went into the city. We all enjoyed the hour long cruise from Mario's to the entrance of the river, going into Plum Island Sound and anchoring off Crane Beach, part of the town of Ipswich. This was a bird protected area of dunes an pine forests and we spent two pleasant times here, motoring in with the tender which we had towed behind us..
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| Crane Beach, Ipswich, Massachusetts |
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| Village Pancake House, Rowley, Massachusetts |
The day we took the train into Boston was probably the hottest during our stay (35 degrees C or 95 F) so we walked about as little as possible. Phil and family had left earlier and we had promised to meet up with them at the Boston Museum. The air conditioned building was a welcome from the unaccustomed heat and we spent most of the day there exploring. A great place for kids and adults alike. We even took in a show at the planetarium. It was the first time we had been to Boston since Phil was a kid, decades ago. We ate out a lot with Mario and Elizabeth while we were in Rowley and the surrounding area and they were glad to share some of their favorite restaurants with us like the Clam Box and the Ipswich Ale Brewery. We also took a half hour drive to what they said was the best ice cream place in Massachusetts in Boxford called Benson's Homemade Ice Cream. Hmm, I guess that's a personal preference....
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| train station, Rowley, MA |
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| #4 Bobby Orr, Boston Gardens |
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| Boston Museum |
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| The Clam Box, Rowley, MA |
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| Ipswich Ale Brewery, Ipswich, MA |
After leaving Mario and Elizabeth's home in Rowley (we could no longer stay at the mooring) we headed to Gloucester, on Cape Ann, the smaller version of Cape Cod, with it's lovely Atlantic vistas, sandy beaches, seaside eateries and lots of colonial history. We really liked Gloucester, the oldest fishing city in the US where we eventually got permission from the very friendly and accommodating Harbor Master to tie up to a buoy for three days in the inner harbor. We were able to use their own tender service to get back and forth to the boat which ran from early morning to usually 9PM. Marie and I found a place to camp (Cape Ann campground), the only place actually, within 15 minutes of the town and we were able to get together with the kids for breakfast each morning. From there each day with all aboard we sailed past the famous Fisherman's Memorial, under the drawbridge into Blynman Canal, past the Dunfudgin Public Boat Ramp where we would eventually leave from, and under the towering Annisquam River Bridge to our destination - Wingaersheek Beach. Amy and William loved it here, the water was like a bath and there was a wonderful outcropping of huge boulders called the Barn Rocks to wade out to at high tide.
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| Gloucester City tender for the inner harbour |
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| Gloucester Fishermen's Memorial |
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| Gloucester Harbor |
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| approaching Blynman Canal drawbridge |
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| Amy at Wingaersheek Beach, Cape Ann, Massachusetts |
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| Wingaersheek Beach |
It was yet another sunny day when we left Gloucester, putting the boat on the trailer at the high school boat ramp and began our drive back home. Phil and his van went on ahead of us as we could not possibly keep up with him pulling the boat. They had planned to stop off at Old Orchard Beach and take in all the summer fun places for the kids, staying overnight there while Marie and I, after having no luck finding a motel, and just as well as they were all over $250 for the night, decided to pull into the Walmart parking lot in Farmington. It was quiet and free so we didn't mind. Pulling the boat up again through the Carrabasset Valley, past Sugar Loaf and we were soon crossing the border back into Quebec. It was a fairly uneventful drive considering the narrow, tight spots I had to maneuver around in places like Gloucester, missing parked cars by mere inches and hitting the top of low hanging trees on the back roads. I was pleased how well the truck ran, even up the steep mountainous roads in Maine. Perhaps we will do it again should we hang onto the boat but that will be another adventure. gws
