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2017-07 Belfast, ME

July 14, 2017

What ARE you guys doing??? Perhaps you’ve been wanting to ask us that question. Are we or aren’t we selling the boat? What are we doing this summer? Well, it’s all evolving. It’s true that we listed the boat for sale late last year. We know that at some point in the future, we will be done with cruising and will likely return to a home base somewhere on land. But we’re not in a huge hurry to do that. It will happen when the time is right.

A peaceful day

In the meantime, the boat needed a bit of maintenance, so we headed here to Front Street Shipyard in Belfast, Maine. Since we were planning to do a fair amount of work, we decided we wanted to get a chance to enjoy it and planned a summer cruise north back to the Artic. But we ultimately decided that was too ambitious for this year. So the current plan is to cruise around Maine this summer, take a few months off the boat again in winter to ski in Colorado, and plan the Artic cruise for next summer. But, the old saying remains – cruisers plans are written in the sand at low tide. That is, they are always subject to change!

We did bid a fond farewell to Neil, our Aussie/Kiwi friend who had come to help us out while we were in the yard. Neil was a great help and we were fortunate to have gotten so much of his time! We have now welcomed our new deckhand Nolen, who will be with us for the next few months.

Neil ready to party!

We’ve really enjoyed Belfast and spending a couple months here has really allowed us to get a great taste of Maine living. People here are incredibly friendly and welcoming and there is plenty to see and do. Some of the highlights include:

Parades! We LOVE Belfast parades. First was Memorial Day with a parade down Main St. It was not long – the entire parade passed by in less than 10 minutes! But the streets were lined with people and it was charming and somehow more heartfelt than some of the huge parades we’ve seen elsewhere. Then there was the Belfast Pride parade, similar in size and scope, with everyone just out to enjoy themselves on a great day. Each parade was led by a police car. We almost missed the third one – we heard a police siren coming down Main St and looked out to see a single police car followed by a yellow school bus. They came down Main St, turned around and went back up, with a small crowd cheering them on! Turns out it was the local middle school baseball team that had just won the state championship! So now whenever we hear a police siren, we think “oh, a parade must be coming”. That’s the kind of town Belfast is! The final parade was this past weekend as part of the Celtic Festival which featured a Dog Parade. Dozens of dogs were led around the waterfront by a bagpiper and drummer. Fun for everyone!

Memorial Day parade

Freeport – we drove to Freeport, home of LL Bean and a bunch of outlets. Great shopping and lots of great restaurants.

Camden – another lovely town just south of us. We took our tender down, stopping at Dark Harbor and Isleboro on the way and returned by car to spend the 4th of July with old Landmark friend Beth, her son Jared, and her parents and other family.

4th of July in Camden with Landmark friend Beth

Celtic Festival – A weekend long celebration including great music, food, and various competitions and demonstrations. The weekend also featured a sailboat race from Rockport to Belfast on Saturday and a return to Rockport on Sunday. I volunteered to be the official race photographer and we were able to get some great shots from our tender of the finish on Saturday and the start on Sunday. There was also an awesome fireworks show on Saturday night.

Fighting demo at Celtic Festival

Hiking – there are plenty of great places to walk. The Belfast Harbor walk passes right through the boatyard, meaning you meet lots of people and dogs every day. This walk connects to the local Rail Trail, a 2.5 mile trail ending at a local railroad museum. This then connects to the Hills to Sea Trail, a 47-mile trail covering a variety of terrain between Belfast and Unity.

Hiking on the Hills to Sea trail

Golf – I did get out for a round of golf at the local course. Greens fees, a pull cart, a bottle of Gatorade, and a pack of crackers came to a total of $33. And that’s only because the peak summer rates had gone into effect! It was a great 9-hole course in excellent condition.

Community Events – there are always fun things going on. There is a new Saturday Farmer’s Market with lots of great vendors selling produce, meats, eggs, crafts, and lots more. Plenty of free samples too. There was the Chalk Walk where the Harbor walk was full of artists drawing on the sidewalk with chalk. Some amazing works! And there was a day when people came to paint lobster buoys (the small floats used to mark lobster pots). The 4th of July featured a local groups singing patriotic songs in the park.

Young artists on the Chalk Walk

We’re just wrapping up all the maintenance work and will report more on that in a future post. Now we are getting ready to do some exploring of the Maine Coast for the rest of the summer.

 

This entry was posted on July 19, 2017, 4:10 pm and is filed under Trips. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  1. #1 by Nora on July 24, 2017 - 4:14 pm

    Is N S still in the plan for this summer! Nora

    Sent from my iPhone

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  2. #2 by Anonymous on July 21, 2017 - 7:04 pm

    Great fun! Love it!

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  3. #3 by Philippe on July 21, 2017 - 7:57 am

    Happy to read your post again, I am a big fan of Nordhavn and cannot wait to read about the refit you just made. In fact as soon as my sailing yacht is sold and should you decide to list your boat again I will definitely contact you and make an offer. Keep going enjoying your lifestyle.
    Br, Phil

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  4. #4 by Caroleerx@aol.com on July 20, 2017 - 8:04 pm

    Ach ! Sorry to lose every thing every which way in old life on a few paragraphs to talk to you.. ‘Twas the most of magnificent going’s on in every which way. Hard for me to go backword to it. It was SOooooooooo great, the best. And while I dim your light is with me (still)> May I say Kathy was the best of all the stories you have told me. Hugs, best to your mom. I “yam” closing in on 81. Hope I get this few caring things you tell me. I talked a lot but lost the paragraphs.

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  5. #5 by Caroleerx@aol.com on July 20, 2017 - 7:51 pm

    I don’t know how I can return your fabulous (the best ever) showing of great travel – mostly Kathy with the words? I am going to be 81 in December and things are surely going down but your writing will be in my mind – and this was the best ever from you both – just beaming with vigor! . I loved all the things shown to me from both of you. It was a fairly tale, funny tunes, love of music etc from you. And pictures. And water! My computer is naughty and kicks out so I only dare to make a few pages or it runs off. How is your Mom, Bradley? I have bad ankles and afraid I could have a break there which could keep me worried, 3 months help, so they say, any day. NO-O-O! I keep Richard’s cane and walker in my nice 2 bedroom home. And of course as eyesight dims (with good care) I have lost book with tiredness., my biggest treasure, but truly I don’t mean much except to be quiet is A-OK. I stop ere I lose these few words but my heart is a joy to hear all your things, a lifetime of excellence to you both. If I don’t say much my mind reminds me, still, with ease of your life. And Bradley, you are my little boy still shining to me. With handsome vivacity sometimes to my thoughts! I am going to see Dunkirk tmw- a rare trip to the movies. Richard would have loved it, and I do too – to old wars. I would love to write more but I am not going to do any more with this ancient computer. Sigh! I care so much of your G-R-E-A-T life. Hugs! Please send any little words to anyone if you tag me along. Carolee

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  6. #6 by royane mosley on July 20, 2017 - 12:38 pm

    Hello! My husband and I live in Cutler Maine. New friends with Nancy and Luther Hampton, which is how I heard of your blog. Maybe we will see you up our way you are pretty close in Belfast.

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  7. #7 by Ellen Glover on July 20, 2017 - 8:47 am

    Great to see the picture of Beth. Look like she is doing well. Always appreciated you referring her to me many years ago.

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  8. #8 by Claire Martin on July 20, 2017 - 7:06 am

    I think I loved this update more than any other. Thanks for the patriotic, home town feeling and sharing the scenic beauty with such nice pictures.

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  9. #9 by Sandy B. on July 20, 2017 - 6:50 am

    Fun pics…..You guys are living the life. Thank you for the upate!!! XX, Sandy B.

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  10. #10 by Renate on July 20, 2017 - 2:08 am

    Hi Bradly and Kathy! You looked like you had lots of fun in Belfast ME not Ireland. I have Ireland on my mind, as I am heading to Europe and in September am traveling with my English Girlfriend to Ireland. Love Allan and Renate xoxoxo

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  11. #11 by Mary Irene on July 19, 2017 - 6:48 pm

    Hi There, Tap & I will be in Surry Maine August 12th to 16th. Tap will be playing golf (http://lucernegolf.com/) and I will be hiking Arcadia Natl Forest. Would be fun to cross paths? Where will you be? One other possibility is to meet up the 16th-17th before we head south. We are heading to NY & hosting Tap’s mother’s 90th bday celebration.

    So, I expect a long shot, but thought I would throw out the dates. Did you see any of the Quicken Loan tournament at TPC Potomac? Even the pros found it to be a challenge. Happy Summer!

    >

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  12. #12 by goforthhatteras53 on July 19, 2017 - 4:21 pm

    Kathy and Bradley,Are you

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