Boothbay, Maine

Monday, July 15th, Southern Style headed from our mooring at Chebeague Island to Boothbay Harbor, Maine.  It was a pretty day with clear skies and light wind.  There are 1,200 islands along the coast of Maine that are at least 1 acre or more.  If you count those that are less than 1 acre that number rises to 3,166 islands.  This makes for endless exploring.  Many are quite beautiful with trees and grass.  Some have homes and or lighthouses and some are uninhabited.

Lobster boat along one of the islands as we cruised to Boothbay

More lighthouses

We also saw seals again, but they are hard to capture on film as they seem shy.  I am determined to get a good picture of one before we leave Maine.

We arrived into Boothbay Harbor about 10:45 AM.  There were several packages waiting for us.  One of the packages was my new bike.  I am excited to have something with a basket and saddlebags like my old West Marine "port runner".

My new bike.  Shnazzy isn't it?

Boothbay Harbor Marina

A lobster boat on a mooring in the harbor

Bait house

Lobster traps stacked on floating platforms attached to mooring balls in the harbor

This is the historic, old footbridge in Boothbay Harbor built in 1901 by Luther Maddocks.  It links the east and west sides of the harbor.  There is a small house in the middle that has been several businesses over the decades.  

This picture is from the front of Southern Style at low tide.

This picture is at high tide.  The tides here in Boothbay Harbor can be 8-9 feet.

Boothbay footbridge

Another view of the harbor

This is part of downtown Boothbay (notice the whoopie pie store).  

The whoopie pie is the Maine state desert.

 Tuesday 16th was just a "chamber of commerce" day, so Keith and I put the dinghy in the water and took a ride over to Burnt Island Lighthouse.  This is the second oldest lighthouse in Maine and is located on a small island at the entrance to Boothbay Harbor.  Built in 1821, it was manned until 1988.   While we were there, we met a gentleman (Steve) who's father was the light keeper from 1959-1962.  He and his family lived on the island (in the keeper's house) during that time.  What an experience!

Burnt Island and Lighthouse

Pengi climbing the ramp from the dinghy dock onto Burnt Island

Burnt Island Lighthouse

View from the base of the lighthouse out to Squirrel Island and the Atlantic Ocean

View from the lower side of the island back toward Boothbay Harbor

Keith decided to see how the water felt... he said it was cold!

I decided it was way cooler than I wanted at about 62 degrees

Looking out from the forest on the island

The boat rails used to launch the island's transportation back in the day.

Pengi on the dinghy ride back to the harbor and Southern Style

Boothbay was a very nice stop.  There are plenty of things to see and do for a few days here, but the nomadic life calls and we are continuing north and east for more adventures.