14 August 2022
Depart: Southwest Harbor - Mill Dam anchorage 10:45
Arrive: Bar Harbor anchorage 12:45
Distance: 14 nm
Our Connecticut crew decided to focus energies on Bar Harbor for the remainder of their time with us. The reasons were two-fold. One - there is a lot to do here, and two - moving around meant moving the boat and the car. For the move from Southwest Harbor to Bar Harbor, Heather drove the car and the rest of us took the boat to meet her. Unlike with Jeff and crew where we docked at the municipal dock, this time we dropped anchor and did our touring via double dinghy rides to and from the docks.
Heather had to circle the parking lot with several other cars going round and round until finally she got lucky as the others all abandoned the lot to look for other places to park. That meant the car was handy should we need to use it though most everything in Bar Harbor was a walk or bus ride away.
I am convinced that Jack's favorite part of the entire vacation was playing on the cannons at the park near the Bar Harbor municipal docks. Lillian and Jack did not believe me when I said they were real cannons that had been in use in 1898 until I showed them the plaque to prove it. Then they really were in awe of being able to climb all over them.
Our first day in Bar Harbor we walked around town. Heather, Chris and kids visited here on vacation last year and rented an Airbnb for their stay. They were well familiar with the lay of the land and knew where they wanted to go. Heather said the weather last year was dismal. The weather this year was as good as it gets.
At the Village Green Lillian and Jack found the same piano Sierra and Violet had enjoyed a few days earlier.
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| Of course Lillian and Jack went climbing |
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| Chris might be a little large for that ride |
We ate dinner in town, and by then the sun was getting low in the sky and the tide was mostly out. In Bar Harbor, the height of the tide is significant because at low tide the bar appears. At high tide it is way under water. When the bar was exposed, or close to it, Clark had to dinghy around the long way to drop us off in town. Given high tide was mid-day when we visited, most of our trips were the long way. The kids loved it because that meant Clark would take the dinghy up on plane to get there faster - the kids love the fast ride!
After dinner, I had seen enough for one day and my feet hurt. Jack, too, was ready to call it quits. We asked if he wanted to go walk on the bar to look for sea critters or take a fast dinghy ride back to the boat with Nana. Nana and fast boat won that toss up question, and Clark took us back to "Sunset Delight" to hang out. After dropping us off, Clark left to not only get the rest of the crew but to catch up and walk the bar as well.
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| Heading back to the boat at sunset |
I never did get to walk on the bar. That is something for me to look forward to on another visit should that happen in our future. Clark told me that there is a sign warning folks not to get trapped on the island when the tide comes in. They provide contact information for a service that, for a large fee, will come "rescue" those not smart enough to get off the island in time.
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| Park Fountain lit up at night |
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| Lillian got chocolate ice cream --- can you tell?! |
As Jack and I waited on the boat for their return, it got darker and darker as the night progressed. Having not taken a bearing earlier in the day, all I could see looking off the boat was lights in the various directions mostly coming from some other boats anchored around the area. That meant that I did not even know which direction to look to see if the dinghy was on its way back. Yes, I could have looked at a chart and the compass, but that seemed like too much work.
When Sierra and Violet were on the boat, Clark gave them jobs to do. When Lillian and Jack came on board, they too received work assignments as crew. Lillian was given the same job as Sierra - put out the flag, prepare the upper helm for departure in the morning, and put the upper helm "to bed" after travels for the day. Jack had the job of turning on / off courtesy lights on the boat and opening curtains in the salon.
As it was sunset when Jack and I returned to "Sunset Delight" and I knew Lillian would be back much later, I asked Jack, in a conspiracy-type voice, if he wanted to do Lillian's job. Oh boy, did he! I guess there is nothing so naughty and tempting as taking your sister's job away from her. We snuck upstairs like criminals and put everything where it belonged - how naughty was that!?
Eventually, it got so dark out I wondered if Clark would be able to find us. He showed me his track on his chart plotter later. Apparently when he did come back finally, he did go a bit out of his way but the important part was he did find us! Since he knew we would be using it again the next day, he tied the dinghy "on the hip" to "Sunset Delight". That saved him the trouble of hauling it back on board.
15 August 2022
Since we planned to once again go in to Bar Harbor for the day, we did not need to move "Sunset Delight" to a new spot. The goal for today was to hike the Gorham Mountain Trail. Clark had seen some of this hike (Sandy Beach and Thunder Hole) with Jeff and those grandkids when they hiked the Beehive Trail (the one not recommended for children).
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| We followed the blue trail markers. |
We had a choice as we hiked the trail - the hard way or the easier way. I won't say the "easy way" as that did not exist. Chris, Clark and Lillian took the hard way. Heather (with Jack on her back) and I took the easier route. When we rejoined at the other end of the split, I said to Chris, "If that was the easy way, I would not want to see the hard way!" Every step felt like a potential for a twisted ankle.
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| Part of the harder-portion of the trail |
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| Rungs in rocks on the harder portion of the trail. |
We met up at a false summit in time to see the ocean view together and take a much-needed rest sitting on the rocks.
We finally made it to the true summit,
and then it was time to keep going (mostly) down on the other side.
Shortly thereafter we passed by the turn off for the Beehive trail. Clark said he wanted to look at something and split off from the rest of us to rejoin further along. I hoped he wouldn't have an accident off on his own as I did not know if our cell phones would work up there! I am used to him running off, so I did not worry overly much. He was looking for the signs that we found later on our walk, so this particular detour was not fruitful.
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| Lillian in her swimsuit ready to play |
We caught a late bus back to town. As soon as the bus pulled up, we jumped on to grab seats. I ended up sitting with Jack who was by the window and did not like the sun in his eyes. I had a hat. He did not.
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| Chocolate again! |
16 August 2022
Chris and crew would be leaving tomorrow, so this was our last day to explore together. Chris and Heather wanted to drive up Cadillac Mountain which is supposed to have fabulous views. When they visited last year, all they could see was fog.
Cadillac Mountain requires reservations for a car as they have limited parking space. His concern for the excursion, besides what time to make the reservation for, was who would have to stay behind since their car only seats 5. I suggested that Chris and Heather escape by themselves for the afternoon and leave the kids with us. I was sure we could find things to do on the boat.
Before their drive up Cadillac Mountain, however, they wanted to eat brunch at "Cafe This Way" near the Village Green, so we did the dual-trip dinghy rides to the docks to get breakfast / lunch. Clark dropped off Lillian, Jack, and me first and then brought over Chris and Heather after. When I asked what they wanted to do while we waited for the rest of the crew, they immediately said "Cannons!" After the cannon visit, we walked along the rocky beach by the town docks.
After our brunch together at "Cafe This Way", we said goodbye to Mom and Dad and went back to the dinghy dock. There, Jack found quite a few ducks to observe. The ducks expected food, I think; we had none!
Lillian had wanted to go for a kayak ride, so we pulled out the two kayaks. I thought Lillian would go on her own as she had in Rumson, but Clark thought her steering was too ineffectual for her to go alone. Lillian and I ended up in a one-person kayak together. Lillian was not happy. She was getting wet from the water dripping from the oars. She declared herself done and got back on the boat.
So, then Jack got in with me. Clark had the other kayak. We had fun as Jack and I chased Papa Clark around "Sunset Delight". We could not catch him though we tried! Later, Clark decided to kayak over to the Bar Island to check it out.
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| Off in the kayak together |
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| Landed on Bar island |
I stayed at the boat with Lillian. Jack went with Clark to the island. Clark did not realize until they got there that Jack did not have any shoes on, so Clark ended up carrying him around.
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| "If stranded call ..." |
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| Papa Clark and Jack Island Selfie |
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| View of "Sunset Delight" at anchor from Bar island |
Late in the afternoon, we were contacted by Chris to ask if we all wanted to come into town for dinner. We declined as I had food already thawed out to cook. I sent Clark to pick them up. We learned that after their trip up Cadillac Mountain, they walked around town exploring the shops. They said they had a good time and great views from the mountain.
Pictures taken on the way back to the boat ...
17 August 2022
Chris and crew had a long drive ahead of them. To avoid paying parking for today, they wanted to be on their way by 9:00. We were told the day before that we would be able to pull up to the pump-out dock to drop off our passengers as no one would be there. However, when Clark called to say we were coming in with "Sunset Delight", the dockmaster said that the dock was occupied and the tenant was not moving. That meant that not only could we not drop off passengers there, we also could not get the much-needed pump out of the waste holding tank.
On the bright side, the dockmaster said that, if we were only dropping off passengers, we could pull up to the commercial dock as long as no one was there. When we arrived, he was there to help with our lines. We quickly off-loaded passengers and luggage.
It was a tearful farewell for Lillian. However, I do not believe she was sad to be leaving Nana and Papa Clark. Instead, she was disappointed to be leaving Maine without having seen a seal. On the way to the dock I did see a seal frolicking in the water and tried to get Lillian over in time to see it. She just missed it. Well, I tried!
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