73 Pictures from the Margaret Todd

One of the Four Masts

31 October 2021

Our last day on Mount Desert Island was September 23. We decided to walk over to the Margaret Todd ticket window after breakfast to find out of there were any open seats for the evening sail. There were, so we shelled out a wad of credit card for two places.

Now that it was officially autumn, the evening sails were starting earlier. During the summer it's 6:00. During this week it had been 5:30. Tonight's was set for 5:00, which meant queuing up at 4:15 for some reason.

The trip would be an hour and a half, more or less. Sunset would be at 6:15 (Downeast Maine is, remember, well east of New Jersey, and a fair distance north, too.)

There were clouds moving in from the west; I didn't figure we'd see much of a sunset.

We ended up seated next to a friendly handful of people and a beautiful young dog of a breed I no longer remember, who pretty much laid flat on the deck and waited for the occasional treat to be presented.

Also onboard was a folk musician with his guitar and a spread of CDs spanning decades. This made Jack happy, because he could quietly sing along while I puttered about with my camera.

There is much untying of sails to be done as the boat leaves the harbor. 

The captain asked for volunteers to help hoist the sails. I volunteered again because muscles need work even on vacation.

Cadillac Mountain (right) loomed large.

Egg Rock Lighthouse loomed not at all.

More sails went up:

Bald Porcupine's snout, with the breakwater in the foreground

and Egg Rock Lighthouse in the background:

One of the Porcupines:

The musician:

Frenchman Bay and a lobster trap float:

Each trap has two floats, creating a foam obstacle course for boats and a speckled ocean surface:

Burnt Porcupine Island's little island off the snout:

Burnt Porcupine Island:

To the north, the clouds looked painted:

So much for sunset:

As crowded as it looks, not every seat was taken. People were good about keeping themselves apart from strangers.

Another view to the north:

And to the south, of Cadillac Mountain again:

Zooming in, I found the cell tower at Cadillac's summit:

We were behind Bar Island now:

Champlain Mountain:

Yeah, we were rocking a little, apparently, but I didn't notice:

Champlain Mountain again:

The tip of Bald Porcupine and Egg Rock Lighthouse again:

Margaret Todd's little sister, the Bailey Louise Todd:

The harbor at sunset from a rocking boat:

We got back to the docks with plenty of time to make our dinner reservation at the other end of town.
 

This being our last night, it was imperative that we have ice cream. Sitting in the light of a closed shop's doorway next to Ben and Bill's Chocolate Emporium (home of lobster ice cream, one is always reminded), was the folk singer, guitar in hand, case open for spare change. He looked up and said to Jack, who has a head of hair that's hard to forget, "Nice sailing with you!"