After four days in Northeast Harbor and enjoying much that Mount Desert has to offer (including a lot of lobster!) we cast off from our town mooring with no particular destination in mind, other than to begin to nudge west again.  We were still a little nervous about Pepper’s health so wanted to keep ourselves within reasonable access to a vet.

Because it was calm, early, and we didn’t have plans to go too far, we decided to make the run up Somes Sound, which we haven’t done for about 10 years.  It was a lovely, lazy ride, and very different from our last visit when we had an exhausting trip short-tacking north in a gusty 30-knot northwesterly, followed by a screecher of a reach back down, ending with catching a lobster buoy on the rudder (“Bruce, the steering feels a bit strange”), confirmed when we scanned the water in our wake and spotted a lobster trap surfing along behind us at, oh, nine knots, about 100 feet back, throwing spray into the air.  If there were any lobsters in the trap, I’m certain they were confused.

After doing a quiet loop through Somes Harbor, and spotting the AT-34 Edith B for a second time, we slipped back down the sound, nosed into Southwest Harbor, then continued out Western Way and across Bass Harbor Bar.  At some point, we needed to decide on a destination.

Ultimately we headed up Blue Hill Bay and into Eggemoggin reach, always a fun ride, both by sail and power.  We have had some terrific sails through the Reach, both lazy and hair-raising.  Here’s a little video from one of our happy rides on our previous boat, the Sabre 386.  We did pretty much the same trip that day, from Northeast Harbour, out Western Way, past Bass Harbor and up the Reach.

We ended up heading into another favorite spot, Buck’s Harbor.  Bucks Harbor Marine had a mooring for us, and we settled in after taking the pups ashore.  New owners took over Bucks Harbor Marine a few years ago.  They are very nice and are doing a good job, but it’s not the same for us because the previous owners always had a few Scottish Terriers running around (which you meet at the end of the video above), and we miss their enthusiastic welcome.

Bucks Harbor, or the town of Brooksville, is a delightful, sleepy, and protected little spot.  There’s room to anchor if you wish, but the anchorage is open to the south and can get uncomfortable.  The moorings offered by Bucks Harbor Marine, and I believe also by Bucks Harbor Yacht Club, are in a more sheltered part of the harbor and closer to shore access.

The Bucks Harbor store is a small but reasonably well-stocked general store, complete with some good meats, a deli, and wine and beer.  It’s definitely the local breakfast hangout and offers hot breakfast sandwiches and assorted baked goods.  The Brooksville Farmers’ Market just up the road every Tuesday morning is excellent.  If you’re into Farmers’ Markets (like I am!), this Maine Farmers’ Market Directory is a useful resource.

We stocked up at the store and had a simple, pleasant grilled dinner on board with fresh local veggies, and a bottle of wine we had purchased in Napa during our Airstream trip around the country to pick up the new boat.  Perfect Maine evening.