Bad Rap

A common occurrence when fellow cruisers find out that our homeport is in Maine is some comment like, "I hear it's so beautiful up there but I'm afraid to go because..." followed by one or more of the same complaints.

Complaint: The bottom is rock, not sand or mud, so if I run aground...

This is true but I point out that the depths are ridiculously deep, the rocks are all charted as they've been there for about a million years, and they never shoal. If you're running aground in Maine, you're doing something seriously wrong. Here in Florida running aground is simply part of the experience.

Complaint: There are too many lobster buoys.

There are alot of them but these same folks never seem to complained when sitting down to their lobster roll lunch or full fledged lobster pound feast. In reality, actually grabbing a buoy is harder to do than you think - we've done talks on just this topic. Besides, Maine is a place that needs to be savored, so slow down and enjoy.

Complaint: It's always foggy.

Well, that's actually not true and much can be avoided by picking the right time to come. Hint, September is the absolutely best time to visit Maine. But knowing how to use your radar is really an important skill so think of it as practice. Fog is actually quite beautiful. And even if you don't think so, it typically burns off within a couple of hours.

For the record, the picture above is not of a lovely anchorage in Maine. This has been the view for the past two mornings in the anchorage here in Melbourne, FL where we are attending the SSCA Gam. So you see that practice you get with your radar up in Maine can really come in handy.