A black center cockpit go fast boat with three 350 HP mercury outboards planted on the stern coasted into Camden inner harbor. It had just begun to rain and the various boat drivers were sorting out their rain gear. The super yacht crews are the best dressed. They are young, fit, and agile. They smile reflectively; it must be quite a job to care for their passengers.
The above boat with “Enterprise” painted on its side was followed in by its equally black mother ship with “Enterprise” painted on its stern. Quite a parade of super yachts have come and gone in the six days we hung to Lyman-Morse’s floating dock. To the side of us along the wharf was a classic 120 foot Feadship. Its go fast boat is a 30 something foot Hinckley powerboat, easily three quarters of a million.
There seems to be more of these yachts here this year. Talk is that since Covid closed Europe they have chosen to stay in the USA. Most of the yachts, if not registered in a tax haven country, have a homeport in Florida, which is understandable. I can see them docked on a canal behind equally large homes.
People cruise in many types of boats. On Swans Island, one of Maine’s outermost, there was a couple on a tiny 16 foot cutty cabin sail boat. They were one step above camp cruisers. It was cold and rainy and I wanted to invite them into salon the warm up, but failed to.
I would say Carrie Rose at 32 feet is a small for the average cruising boat, that is if I ignore the super yacht footage. Most boats in Maine are larger sailboats from the lower New England states. Many look as if they could sail to England without too much trouble. They are the boats I coveted for most of my life. I love to inspect them and dream of voyages of that could have been.
The remnants of tropical storm FRED unleashed torrents of rain on us as we slept. That morning it was cloudy with dense fog out on the West Penobscot Bay. Charlotte and I took our time getting prepared to head for shore. We let the Lyman-Morse launch take us to the dock so we could take a shower.
While I waited for Charlotte to finish, I watch Lyman-Morse launch their sleek new sailboat. The day before I managed to get a tour of it by making a pest of myself asking an authoritative looking man all sorts of questions.
Though it looks like fiberglass, it is of wood composite construction like many of the boats I have built. He explained that it was designed to be as simple as possible. From the looks of it, I think they succeeded.
One thing that caught my eye was the wood on the cabin trunk. As I looked at it from some 10 feet below, something did not quite sync. Once on its perfect teak deck, the sides looked like my “wooden” Pergo floor in the kitchen. When I asked about it he looked sheepish and admitted it was a decal. “Brilliant”, I said, “better than varnish!” He responded, “It can look like anything you want”. Then he mentioned that they were waiting for the carbon fiber mast and I decided not to concern myself with the boat’s price.
The clouds cleared and the air warmed. We went back aboard, had an unhurried breakfast, and tidied up. After going through the usual pre cruise checklist, we cruised 10 miles to Warren Island State Park. Other than the Margaret Chase Smith, the Islesboro ferry, we had West Penobscot Bay to ourselves.
Carrie Rose has been to Warren many times. On the way in the two guardians of the island told us to pick up the mooring in front of the one boat that was in the cove. The mooring line had just been installed and was bright yellow with no slimy marine growth. It was an honor to be the first to use it.
It was a quiet day at Warren. We went for a walk along the rocky beach at low tide suitably prepared to fend off ticks and mosquitoes. Later as the sun set, we had as leisurely of a dinner as breakfast had been in Camden. The ferry kept plying the bay until it was time for us to sleep. Super yachts and their go fast boats will miss this idyllic spot . . . too small.
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