Bar Harbor, Maine (Mooring Ball)

Sunday August 16, 2015
48 23 523 N
68 12 020 W

With some reluctance we retrieved the anchor for an 8 AM start. It was a beautiful morning and I was reluctant to leave such a great anchorage. Finding anchorages like this is why we had been looking forward to Maine. But we needed to check into the USA so we had to head for an entry port - in this case Bar Harbor was 44 NM away.

Sad to leave..........

The weather was good and the hop to Bar Harbor was uneventful. We needed to round a couple of minor capes and managed a couple of lighthouse photos. Most of our attention was focussed on dodging the millions of lobster trap floats.

Bar Harbor is located on the east coast of Mount Desert Island, and the approach up Frenchman Bay was particularly scenic. The harbor itself is created from the shelter of several small rugged islands. There was a cruise ship leaving as we arrived - the same ship we had seen in Halifax. This place is very touristy and the bay was busy with sightseeing vessels of all sorts. We had reserved a couple of mooring balls and Tide Hiker was secure in no time.

Cavara expertly picking up the mooring

Our immediate view

I immediately called Customs and Immigration, expecting to be cleared in over the phone. Not so. After two phone calls we were told to stay put, and "officer was on his way"! After dropping the dinghy, we settled down to wait on the aft deck taking in the sights. We were near the shore and had front seat view of the harbor facilities and the busy town was a lot of fun. The officer called from the dock and we headed in with all our documents. he had a quick look at our passports and that was that - "Welcome home".

Monday August 17, 2015

Easy morning, watching the tour boats leave on the aft deck in our pajamas, coffee in hand. Headed into town about 11 AM to pay our mooring fees and have a look around. Bar Harbor was really hopping with tourists and tee shirt shops - but in a classy way. We found a place for a late and newspaper before venturing too far. Then signed up for a one hour "Lolly the Trolley" tour including Cadillac Mountain. Compliments of the many 19th century millionaires, most of the island is National Park and the bus ride up the mountain was very pleasant. Lots of industrialists made bar harbor their summer home.  Stopped at a waterside bar for a beer before returning to Tide Hiker. Impressed with the prosperity of Bar Harbor.

ADAKY in the dinghy dock

Local resort. Still not as much fun as being on Tide Hiker.

View of Bar harbor from the mountain

Waterfront bar

The view from our table

Tide Hiker in the background.

Tourist boats