Ed. note: Don and JoAnne Perrine took delivery of their Nordhavn 47 #27 in early 2005.

September 2005

“I wish I were an Eagle….” Cadillac Mountain view of Cranberry Islands

Mount Desert Island, Maine, is an amazing place, at least in the nice weather. It is best known for its famous tourist town: Bar Harbor. Samuel de Champlain named it in 1604 L’isle des Monts Deserts, because of the 1500 foot mountains, their pink granite ridges and the cliffs. Interestingly, local folks pronounce Mt. Desert as “Mount Dessert”, Americanizing Champlain’s original French name. The French and British both fought over and otherwise laid claim to this land, but the Americans in the end got it. Ironically, post-revolutionary war claims by British and French descendants resulted in half of Mt. Desert being given to an English Baronet and the other half to the French granddaughter of Antoine Laumet, a.k.a. Cadillac.

Around the turn of the century, Mt. Desert Island was the playground of the Rockefellers, Fords, et al. Unfortunately, fires burned substantial parts of the island on at least two occasions, turning most of the beautiful “cottages” into charcoal. However, George Dorr, the Rockefellers and others thought so much of the area that they donated 47,000 acres to the government, forming Acadia National Park. In addition, John D. Rockefeller created 52 miles of Carriage Roads, with the stipulation that they never see a motor vehicle for 40 years. The Park Service evidently has wisely extended that to eternity.

JoAnne biking on the Carriage Roads

Earlier in Camden, ME, we had dinner with Joan and Bruce Kessler aboard Spirit of Zopilote. They suggested going to SW Harbor, and we liked it so much we spent 8 days there. Also, in SW Harbor, we met Don and Jan Mackintosh, who own a Hinckley 42 picnic boat called Sagamore. We had dinner with them on Jade Explorer, and then we spent a day touring the homes and other out-of-the-way sights topped off by lunch at the Jordan Pond House.

Returning to the subject of Camden, we spent 4 days there during the Windjammer and Music Festival. One other highlight was a visit by Nancy and Warner Gronemann’s Aunt Doris. She’s 82, feisty, independent, and a delight to visit. She came for lunch and left with our hearts.

Prior to Camden, we’d been in Newburyport, MA, for several days. What makes this town special for us is that they took a town that had burned to the ground years ago, rebuilt it using mainly brick, and then recently made the majority of the waterfront a town park. We were so impressed to see folks from town using the park from sunup to midnight, while boaters would “cruise the waterfront” all evening long. The highlight of the visit, however, was hooking up with Gary and Donna Verholek’s friends Judi and Jim Volkay. We spent the weekend with them dining, sightseeing and visiting their home.

Several two-masted schooners and part of Camden’s waterfront

Rockport, MA had been our prior stop with our long-time friends Jan and Bob Rodin. We had a wonderful trip from Boston with a stop in Salem to try to figure out the perennial Salem question: Which witch is which? We tied up at the only wharf available, which is the tourist attraction known as “Motif 1”. Rockport is next to the former home of my former colleague Scott Hunter, back when he was in his Westinghouse days. It was also the venue for dinner with former colleague David Smith and his wife Julie, who now lives in nearby Andover.

Jan and Bob Rodin in Rockport

 

What has made this last few months of serious cruising so enjoyable are both the friends we’ve had the pleasure of either cruising with or visiting and the new friends we’ve met in the wonderful places we’ve discovered. JoAnne and I look forward to our friends joining us when they are able, revisiting new friends made along the way, and meeting other folks as we continue to explore.

And then, there are all of the unexpected scenes, events and surprises….

Boys will be boys, Rockport, MA