A Charming Winter's Destination...Port Clyde

A Sunday morning drive was just the ticket for us a week ago. Agreeing that a ride along the coast would be a very nice way to spend some quality time, all that was left to decide was in which direction. The road we chose was U.S. Rt. 1 South, but only as far as Rockland, and which this time of year would not be cluttered up with copious amounts of flat-landers. 
Turning off Rt. 1 onto Rt. 73 and then to Rt. 131 we were mostly hugging the coast, running down the St. George Peninsula, with the Atlantic Ocean on our left. Passing through South Thomaston we came upon a street sign reading Waterman's Beach and we decided to explore.

 A pretty spot with the tools of the trade piled neatly waiting for next season. 

This was a fairly constant theme of our trip.

 Our next rolling stop was Tenant's Harbor which is a quaint little village just SE of Rockland. We checked out the public boat landing and then moved on.

In no time at all we found ourselves at our destination of Port Clyde and dropped into the general store for a few snacks and a cup of coffee. We had a chance to chat with the locals about last summer and their predictions about the next one coming up.

Port Clyde is probably most famous as the spot to take the mail boat, the Elizabeth Ann, out to Monhegan Island. And for anybody who hasn't done the island, it is highly recommended.  But be sure you don't overlook the charm of the village. You can get a real flavor of a working  Maine waterfront by spending a little time there.                               

As you can see, lobster is the theme, the heart and the soul of Port Clyde.  And, like all the other areas along our ride, traps were stacked neatly on the fishing wharves waiting for their call to duty. 

        
We were able to snoop around a bit among the nooks and crannies of the sleepy little village. Scenes like this, a weather worn shack with lobster buoys hanging off it are pretty typical but special just the same.

I'm sure we will be returning to Port Clyde this summer to take the Elizabeth Ann out to Monhegan and no doubt there will be lots of people from "away" accompanying us. But that's ok...who can blame them?

Mid Winter Dreaming Of Lakes Of Blue And Seas Of Green

Boating is our thing. We like it. No that's really not accurate. 

We love it! 

Add in a generous amount of fishing and, in my mind, you are as close to Paradise as you can get on this good green and blue planet. 

I say "in my mind" because the wife doesn't quite share my enthusiasm for the fishing part but she's a very good sport about it. And when she's along I try not to become too greedy about it. 

But dragging a Grey Ghost behind us from my fly rod and with Big Ray by my side,

....or drifting and casting a dry fly onto still evening waters,  is about as good as it gets. I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it....

Salt water or fresh...either or.

We are very fortunate because we live only two miles to the Belfast boat landing. On many occasions we have dropped everything we're doing, especially easy if what we're doing is mowing the lawns, packed a picnic basket, loaded up the Jeep with two excited dogs, and head out for Penobscot Bay. Perhaps our destination will be one of the deserted islands which on that day we call our own or maybe a drift down the Passagassawakeag River from the old Belfast and Moosehead Lake RR trestle to the head of Belfast Bay. We lovingly call it

 Riding The Passy.

Or maybe do some exploring around Islesboro, just to take in the ever changing sights on 

Penobscot Bay.

On those days when the salt water conditions aren't conducive to a 17' boat with only a 50HP motor, we'll strike out for the warm, friendly and close-by waters of 

Lake St. George 

 or Lake Megunticook 

or Swan Lake.

  On any of these fine bodies of water we'll do some swimming, floating, or tubing. And maybe a squeeze in a brief moment of bass fishing on the fly. Or perhaps we'll just shut down the motor and let the warm breeze push us around a bit.

So even now, during the middle of January, with winter barely month old, my thoughts are increasingly drawn to blue water and calm, green seas. 

More than likely, this coming May we will find ourselves exploring some place where we have never been before. Worrying about rocks laying just under the surface of some new lake or the shoals and tides around some new island. But for sure we will be returning to those special spots, fresh or salt. The places that we always return to year after year. And which, make us smile invigorating our bodies and lightening our spirits. 

Fishin' From The Ice

A  fellow blogger from Maine..down east way..nice 4 lb. brookie Tony!

2012..My Look Back..Ray & Zed

My review of 2012 begins with probably the most constantly, reoccurring pair of characters in my posts.. Ray and Zed...

Big Ray is especially fond of fly fishing and is very helpful when it comes to line management, usually taking up slack by finding a way to wrap himself up in his work. Notice how nicely the line blends into his golden coat. 

We had quite a number of fishing trips together in 2012 and on the occasions that he flushed out a fish to my fly, he is always very inquisitive about our catch. I look forward to many more fishing trips with my good boy Ray.

Zed, being a responsible Guiding Eyes For The Blind candidate, is our winner of The Rookie of the Year award. He's made a lot of progress from a somewhat unsure, tentative, worried pup

to the master of his domain..

We'll hopefully have Zed for another six months or so before he moves on to a higher calling. 

These two wonderful dogs fill our lives with joy and love and lots of yellow hair..everywhere!

Happy New Year..Ray and Zed