Muscongus Bay: Boothbay to Penobscot Bay via PUFFINS!

As we left Casco Bay with big smiles on our faces, we pointed for Boothbay Harbor to refill our fridge and pantry via a mooring at a marina that generously loaned us a car. On the way, our smiles got even bigger as we again crossed paths with my friend Sean and his family. And they got a nice shot of us just before we gybed!

As we left Boothbay we headed for Eastern Egg Rock. Sean had told us there was a puffin colony there and as the Captain loves birds and we had never seen them, to Eastern Egg we went! And we saw PUFFINS! You can’t land on the island, but we saw them through the binos and saw them flying. So stinking cute!

Now where to? After passing the puffins, we could have just gone to Penobscot Bay, but my dear friend Beth’s hometown of Round Pond was tempting us...we turned northeast and headed there! The path had us sailing on a closer reach than I like (I know, it’s a sailboat, but I don’t love heeling a ton!), through a sea of lobster pots, between ledges and islands. I was totally cool with it.

But it was worth it! Round Pond is so cute! We got a mooring from the local boatyard and headed ashore for ice cream, penny candy, and delicious lobster. While we were in the boat, several folks chatted with us about our travels—it was almost like pre-COVID days, but without the beach social. We really liked this area and would certainly return.

With a forecast for heat and little wind, we went a whopping three miles up the sound to a sweet anchorage in Greenland Cove. This put us a short dinghy ride from Hog Island, an Audubon Society site, for a hot afternoon of hiking. We hiked the perimeter of the whole island, which was a mix of forest trails and trudging through ferns. Our reward? Swimming in the cool waters of the cove and watching a Hereshoff 12 1/2 sail by—love those classic boats!

Today we will make our way to Penobscot Bay, but first we checked out the puffins again! The swells were brutal getting down there, but it was worth it!