Out And About...

 Waterfront Tenants Harbor

 Boat Ramp .. Looks a little tricky..

 Some vessels in and around the harbor...

 Lobster impoundment...

Atwood's Quarry...

We decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather that we've been having here on the coast of Maine and head down (my apologies to "Downeast" ) the shoreline, ending up in Tenant's Harbor.

Located in St. George , on a peninsula, TH is a small, tucked away harbor that still has a good mix of fishermen intermingled with pleasure boaters.  It's a bit off the Rt. 1 beaten path and therefore still has the old time Maine flavor to it.

The boat ramp looked a little tricky to me so if we were going to do some cruising in that area we would probably opt for launching in Rockland which is just "up" the coast. With it's fjord-like geography that part of the Maine coast would lend itself to lots of exploring and rubber-necking.

There's lots of history to discover in and around TH including taking a peek at Atwood's Quarry and a lobster impoundment nearby.

It's so nice to have such beautiful Maine spots in our backyard..

truly a pleasure..

Monhegan Island Part II

As I was saying...

It was a beautiful Columbus Day..day.. and my intrepid hiking companions and I were at last disembarking The Elizabeth Ann at the Monhegan town pier.

For those of you who have never been to the island, it is a throwback to a Maine of long ago, most of which has been lost on the mainland. Although only 12 miles away from modern Maine, Monhegan is an insulated time capsule of Maine.... 
Maine back in the day.

A place of dirt roads like the main thoroughfare leading us away from the town landing..

To quiet country lanes barely wide enough for one of the few vehicles on the island,  beat up lobstermen pickups that travel these paths at a breakneck speed of 5 MPH.

 

It's a place of hand painted signs...

 

and one of the loveliest lighthouse settings on the Maine coast (which is not really located on the coast at all) 
but rather on top of a rocky bluff in the middle of Monhegan.
 

And from which unfolds a majestic view of the Atlantic and the village, which is nestled beneath that rocky bluff,  offering it much needed protection from, what I can assume, are some pretty nasty winter storms blowing in off the sea.  We followed the path leading down to the village cemetery to browse the headstones and monuments, pausing to have lunch which consisted of my regular hiking standby..a PB&J. 
As we were sitting in the warm sun, sheltered by that rocky bluff, I couldn't help but think....what a fine spot to spend eternity, looking out over the village and on, toward the sea.

 

 


After eating however we were at a quandary about which trail to follow.  And having forgotten our our trail maps at home (that would be me) , we ended up back in the village near the town library..

 

almost opposite of the one room (?) schoolhouse.

 

Having gotten our bearings back, and with the assistance of a kind but somewhat bemused native islander, we headed back up that same rocky bluff, following one of the trails to the outer edge of the island,  the highest ocean cliffs on the Maine coastline.

 


That was the "the"  moment.. on that calm and fine fall day.. looking out over the sea..in the company of close friends...well, frankly I'm at a loss for words, now and then.

But as they say, "all good things must end" OR " time and tide (and The Elizabeth Ann) wait for no man".  it was time to move on for there was lots more to see on the "out to sea island" before we re-boarded. 

To be continued...................

Making It To Monhegan Part 1

Monhegan Island, the "out to sea island"...aptly named...

It was a lovely Columbus Day. Converging on The Monhegan Boat Line wharf in Port Clyde, my traveling companions and I were excited to board The Elizabeth Ann for the approximately 1 hour, 12 mile trip.


 
This was the inviting scene that presented itself to us...a beautiful, calm morning in Port Clyde with not a person to be seen on the wharf. Of course that would soon change with an assortment of passengers ranging from dogs, to day hikers, to residents, to banged up lobster fisherman returning to the island after some mainland treatment.

After a last cup of coffee from the general store we impatiently waited for our ride to pick us up for the lovely ride out to the island.  But in the time that we had we were able to sit and enjoy our surroundings on a lovely Maine coast morning. Port Clyde is much different in the warm weather than in winter but still hasn't lost it's old time Maine feeling. We would experience much more of that when we at last got to our destination.

Finally..

 Years ago on my only other trip to Monhegan our ride was The Laura B which has always looked to me to be a converted sardine carrier.  But The Elizabeth Ann was our ride this morning.

Leaving the inner harbor behind us we churned past Marshall Point Lighthouse. This 24 foot, "new" tower was built in 1858 and had a keeper until 1971 when it was automated.

 After about an hour's ride over slightly choppy seas and through a maze of lobster buoys, we were closing in on Manana ( or "Hermit" ) Island where goats still graze its weathered surface.

   

And off to our port side lay our destination.
 Soon we would be tied up to the town dock and ready to start our day of discovery on the
dusty lanes lanes and trails of Monhegan Island. We were ready!