PORTLAND, ME

Friday, August 2, 2024

Well, we made it to Portland on August 1^st.  Months ago, we set up a dinner date with our new friends Lauren and Jack, and we managed to get here on time, despite all the challenges!

Lauren manages the social media component of DOCKWA, the industry-leading marina reservations app.  She’s very young, very bright, and very capable.  Jack is a service manager at DiMillo’s – the big dealership and marina here in Portland.  They are both avid boaters, and Jack is a competitive paddleboard racer!  Great fun!

The standout feature of DiMillo’s is the gigantic (206’ long) ferry boat that Tony DiMillo converted into a floating restaurant.  The dining rooms are charming, and the food is excellent.

But let’s pause and catch up…

Our previous post was from Salem, MA, on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, we set out for Portsmouth, NH, for a stay at the Safe Harbor – Wentworth Marina.  Portsmouth is New Hampshire’s only ocean port!

We had a great trip… big swells that passed under the boat from the starboard quarter.  Pretty comfortable.  Lucky again!

The Wentworth Marina is named for the huge, venerable Wentworth Hotel, which sits high above the harbor.  This stop has everything you could ask for: a picturesque harbor, a well-managed marina, and great restaurants on site.  And free courtesy cars!  Lynn got to top off the groceries!

We had a delicious meal at Latitude – it’s the sister to the restaurant of the same name on Sunset Key in Key West!

Thursday morning, we headed for Portland, Maine…our first Maine port of call.  To reach Portland, you must travel around or through Cape Ann.  We chose to go through it – via the Blynman Canal.  You enter the canal at Gloucester Harbor, via a tiny drawbridge that opens on command.  It’s only wide enough for a single boat to pass!

The Blynman Canal is a lovely, quiet, 6 MPH break from the ocean swells.  It features lovely homes, quiet waters, and whimsical floating cabins!

Then back in the ocean for another 1-1/2 hours.  Again, big rollers, but no breaking seas.

And we finally saw a whale, but ALAS, it was dead!  So sad. We couldn’t get a good photo, but we sure could smell it!

A quintessential Maine lighthouse – we saw six coming into the harbor

A piece of the Berlin wall on our dock

And a hungry gull enjoying a crab for lunch

We’ve had a nice R&R day here today (Friday) in Portland.  Tomorrow, we’re off to lovely Boothbay Harbor.  It should be just a 3-hour trip, and the sea conditions look manageable: 3.5 foot rollers on the stern.

TTFN