On July 9, we leave Rockport for Portsmouth, NH. We believe Canto’s first owner kept her at the Portsmouth Yacht Club almost 40 years ago. We plan to spend a few days exploring Portsmouth before heading to Portland, ME. Happy to be on the move, and though we have light wind, Portsmouth is not far so we sail the entire way. We are pretty close to the islands that form the Isles of Shoals and fleetingly think of stopping there.
Although we don’t actually go ashore today, a few people swing by on their boats and welcome us to the Portsmouth Yacht Club. We are invited to use their kitchen and so on. The yacht club is situated on New Castle Island, and we ask about cycling to downtown, as our plan is to bring our bikes to shore in the morning and ride into Portsmouth.
However, the boat traffic does not slow down until late, and we are reminded of the wicked current running past the boat: at the peak ebb, we hear the waves sloshing around the hull as if we are running rapids. Yikes – while we plan to take the launch to shore, we also would get back late (after the launch stops for the night) and would need to row ourselves back to Canto; we just don’t see how we would manage against that current! Also, in the morning (July 10), well before dawn (and dawn here is around 0530), the boat traffic begins again. All the boats – locals, fishermen, and lobstermen – throw big wakes and, since we are on the outer edge of the mooring field, pass near Canto. Although we have already made arrangements with PYC to stay two nights, we decide there and then to drop the mooring and move on. We text PYC to inform them, and, acknowledging the “challenges” of their location, they are kind enough to refund the second night’s mooring fee without the requested 24-hour notice.
We have pretty good wind, so we are able to sail 90% of the way to Portland, ME. Lobster pots are ubiquitous – boaters with grappling hook keels, beware!! Despite our caution, we probably drive over one or two, but Canto’s full keel and well-protected propellor are forgiving of that, especially under sail.
Motoring the last mile or two into Portland, the engine RPM suddenly dips. This always causes consternation. Angie thinks I’ve throttled back, which as soon as the RPMs dropped, I did, and we have a moment where she’s asking why I throttled back and I tell her it wasn’t me, and she looks at me like I’m nuts because, obviously, I did – we’re idling. Anyway, we tentatively steam on, but now the engine temperature starts to rise. Canto’s engine had been running very well thus far, 180F temp at 2,000 RPM, but now the temperature is creeping up. Concerned, we reduce our RPMs to about 1,500 to limit the temperature increase, and spot-decide to pick up a mooring at Peak’s Island; these moorings are relatively expensive ($65/night; no services, i.e., launch, bathrooms, but access to land a dinghy). However, as we are in a hurry to shut the engine down and investigate our RPM drop, and since it’s already kind of late in the day and we don’t see obvious anchoring, we take it.
NOTE: The young dock hands at Peak’s Island Marina are friendly, and Peak’s Island itself is charming. It turns out these moorings are sheltered, secure, and rowing distance to Peak’s Island Marina. And cheaper than anything in Portland. There are no moorings available in Portland, and most marinas in Portland cost $5/ft/night. While anchoring is still possible, the anchorages are more open and far, far away from dinghy docks.
Anyway, Adrian immediately dons his snorkeling gear and dives into the water to examine the prop (prime suspect for the RPM drop and hot-running, so first to be investigated). The water is about 60 degrees – bracing, but not overly cold. Adrian finds a couple of fists full of kelp that have wound around the propellor boss right away, and it is only a minute’s work to clear the tangle. (Indeed this was the culprit as the engine runs fine afterwards.). Afterwards, a warm water rinse-down, hot tea and warm, dry clothes are just the thing.
We go ashore at Peak’s Island and walk to the northern end, where we find Picnic Point: beautiful views and lots of birds, and the gentle sound of waves breaking.
What a good night’s sleep we have! No rocking, no rolling, no current ripping past the hull. Just the sound of a distant whistle buoy.
In the morning we are up early to breakfast at Baba’s (delicious!) and walk around Peak’s Island and explore the abandoned battery. Afterwards we will move to Spring Point Marina in south Portland so we can get to shore and explore downtown Portland, and do the inevitable boat chores (fill water tanks, top off fuel, do laundry, get groceries.)
Being about 3 miles (or so) from South Portland, we deploy the folding bikes and ride into town. The thrift stores in Portland are superb: J.Crew, LL Bean, Columbia, all name brands you can find there. Adrian buys some nice slacks (in case we end up at dress-code yacht club) and Angie buys a super-nice merino wool/cashmere sweater (it is chilly here. She calls it her “hug”). Then, we cycle on to S. Portland. We ride around the Eastern Promenade Trail to Fort Allen Park, to I-295; the trails keep going but we turn around and head back. Dinner is at a lovely on-the-water spot with live, excellent Cuban music from Primo Cubano. Everyone dances!
One small issue, though: at low tide (at around 1am) we find ourselves aground at Spring Point. Adrian goes out to loosen the lines a little so we wouldn’t overstrain them. Canto just sits on her broad, full keel for a few hours. We only lack about 4 inches or so, so there is not really any danger beyond the straining of our cleats.
Also, our trip to get groceries at the nearby Hannafords is thwarted by a triathlon happening right there. While we had a courtesy car from the marina, we give up just outside the marina entrance and turn around. While it’s great watching all the runners – and we’d enjoy staying to spectate and cheer – we have to leave Spring Point in the next 1-2 hours before the tide drops. One more thing of note: Spring Point Marina is rolly during the day, and topping off fuel is complicated by the sloshing of fuel in the tanks. We take on a few gallons, but cannot put in as much as we usually do because fuel starts to slosh out of our inspection port. Keep that in mind.
With most boat chores done, we leave Spring Point Marina and head back to Peak’s for some live Reggae, a beer, and zome pizza. The music is not that good and the pizza runs out (we buy the very last one) but they still have beer. Can’t beat the view, the weather is perfect, and we are content to sip a beer and watch the sunset.
It’s time to move on, and we leave early the next morning for Boothbay. We spy an odd sight that looks like a cross between a sailboat and a lighthouse. It’s not on the chart, but it does show up on AIS. Turns out to be a sailing drone used for research! We didn’t come too close and our photo is grainy, but here it is.
We arrive in Boothbay about 1:30pm, after a delightful sail. The wind started light, but by the end we had 15-20 knots and sailed into Boothbay at over 6 knots. We took a mooring ball at Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club (BHYC). While we are a little further from the shore action in Boothbay, we are also more tucked away, which we are seeking as we expect a stronger blow that is predicted, along with chance of severe T-Storms.
Yet again, the folding bikes come in very handy. With these, it’s a 15 minute ride into Boothbay.
We go grocery shopping in Boothbay. We ride our bikes to the store, and buy lots of good stuff – two bags full – which is really too much to ride back with on our bikes. Our plan had been to take a ride share back to BHYC, and, checking the Uber app, we are assured that ride service is available for about $10. Nope. When we try to call the ride, none is ever found. Turns out, Uber does not serve Boothbay, and this has been a “gotcha” for many others. Fortunately, a woman (local) overhears us, and tells us about Bobo’s Taxi. (“When you want to go, call Bobo.”) Bobo (207-380-4182) has a minivan and easily takes us plus bikes and stuff back to the club for $15. He informs us people make the Uber mistake all the time, sometimes pre-allocating a ride days in advance, getting confirmations, etc., only to find 10 minutes before pickup that the ride has canceled. This is very problematic if you’re looking to get to the airport! So, if you’ve read this, consider yourself forewarned.
We enjoy weak drinks on the club’s back deck with Michael and Jenn (S/V Osprey, from Stingray) before retiring.
On Wednesday, we head to Matinicus Island – a 35 mile journey – planning to get out before Saturday, when a big blow is forecast. However, it was uncomfortably rolly enroute. There was a southern swell (on our beam) from the previous day’s blow and what little wind we had was on the stern, so no help to stabilize the boat. Also the sky was smoky from the Canadian wildfires; it was supposed to be sunny, but the sun could’t break through the smoke and gave everything an ominous gloom. Faced with another 20 miles of this, we opt to change course to see Eastern Egg Rock, which is an Audubon Bird Sanctuary and one of only three islands that have puffins. We were able to circumnavigate this small (7 acre) rocky outpost surrounded by waves breaking on ledges, but we didn’t get too close! – too dangerous and also we did not want to disturb any nesting birds. Our photos aren’t good enough to make out details, but we took turns looking through the binoculars to see puffins swimming and splashing in the water and a few higher up on the boulders. (Puffins are very cute.) The island is teeming with birds!
Our spirits lifted, we sail for Tenants Harbor. As we enter the the Tenants channel, we see “Dreadnought” a classic lobster-style boat in pristine condition headed out. We learned that this boat is owned by Jamie Wyeth, son of Andrew and Betsy Wyeth, and recognized as a painter in his own right. He also owns the Tenants Harbor Light, previously owned by his parents and one of eight privately held lighthouses in Maine. We spend a peaceful afternoon and night in Long Cove, around the corner from Tenants.
Next day we sail – a glorious 8 to 9 knot romp! – from Tenants Harbor to Burnt Coat Cove, Swan’s Island. (We wanted to check it out in advance of the music festival.) When we arrived, just ahead of a front, there were about 15 boats with the Eastern Yacht Club (EYC) from Marblehead, MA. The moorings being full, and with ominous dark roll clouds swiftly approaching, we plunked down the anchor in 33′ (about 20′ MLW) and swiftly stripped out 150′ of chain. No sooner was the snubber attached, the front was upon us with gusts of over 35 knots and 20-25 knots sustained. We got a little wet but the anchor held great. Sadly, however, there are news reports of several boats in nearby places who did not fare so well. See https://www.wabi.tv/2026/07/17/cruise-ship-rockland-breaks-free-four-people-thrown-into-water/
Friday morning is a more leisurely morning, as we don’t have far to go to Northeast Harbor, Mt. Desert. After a breakfast of pancakes topped with fresh berries, we bring up the anchor. The anchor and last 30′ of chain is covered in sticky mud, hence the excellent holding. Turns out that the EYC fleet is also moving on. The fleet captain’s boat, flying its colors, blasts a cannon and then all the EYC boats line up to leave the harbor. We join the parade as the caboose and proceed out of the anchorage. We turn the corner for Northeast Harbor with a stout quartering breeze, and again clocking 8 to 9 knots over ground. We’re starting to get dissatisfied when (behind an island) we drop to a mere 6 knots! (But we know we’ll have to get used to slower speeds again when we return south.) We plan to remain here through a strong front that’s predicted for the weekend, and potentially longer as it’s a “destination stop,” with hikes, biking, shopping, food, and more!