Kennebunkport

The Kennebunk River opens easily from the Atlantic, flanked by the significant breakwaters on either side at its mouth.  This and the fact that the historic town of Kennebunkport, located just minutes further down river, made this location appealing to us for our next stop.  The approach off the sea is located right in the middle of a large rocky ledge called Fishing Rock which causes the wave action to be really nasty if one enters at the incorrect tide time.  The river’s tidal currents coupled with the huge ocean swells, urged inward by the prevailing south west winds, can increase the intensity of the ride in, should the approach be left to anything more than half tide. However, once past the breakwaters, around the bend to starboard and slightly further upstream there is an anchorage, that we were plotted to, that would provide us our corner of refuge for this night.  We rocked and rolled as we shifted Bridlewilde over the heavy swells, glided her beyond the jetties and came to rest past the nun buoys marking the way up the winding narrow channel.  With the hook dropped we were safely attached to earth again. 

The captain - at Kennebunk River anchorage

It takes a few moments I daresay,  once the process of navigation into a new harbour has been safely accomplished, the procedure of anchoring our heavy vessel has been administered and the deployment of the dinghy, our alternate means of transportation to shore, completed, before we are able to relax, expel that amassing breath of cautious air that has been slowly building within, don our packsack and shore gear, and step into the little inflatable boat that will inevitably steer us to our next destination.  The location is often unknown until our arrival.  It may be a beach, a local dock, a prearranged marina landing, a town wharf, a ramp, a bridge embankment, anywhere we can park and leave the vessel to head into whatever community we may have come to. 

The management of the dinghy is also a consideration. We must have space to secure it, so it does not float away as the tide around it does its thing, we need to engage some sort of locking mechanism to ensure that it or its outboard motor is not stolen, we need to protect the rubber to ensure it is not punctured by sharp rocks or shells beneath it or by a rugged item protruding from under a dock.  

Once we have this done we might unload our next means of transportation, our folding bicycles, from the dinghy, depending upon where we have arrived and what the circumstances of our shore trip are.

This vehicle is also another consideration.  If we are provisioning our boat with groceries and necessities, augmenting our packsacks we must have storage baskets mounted on the bikes to handle carrying these items back.  (I have carried a five foot roll of heavy sunbrella fabric on my bike while riding it.)  

We choose to remain as environmentally conscious as we were when we lived on land, try to keep our footprint as minimal as possible and refuse to harm the water any more than it already is. Extra space on a boat is limited and we do not have any for waste. So we leave all that on shore before we re-board.  We bring containers for food storage, plastic totes for items that may dampen, like paper towel, shrink wrap bags for items like batteries – anything that we can to reduce the space an item takes up.  Before we return to the boat, all cardboard packaging is removed and left ashore.  We purchase nothing in glass and if we must,  those items are placed in plastic containers for storage,  with the glass container left ashore. Hard plastic shells must be removed – for example: the plastic around a package of batteries—that stuff does not shrink easily; we cannot waste precious space to house it aboard. 

It takes a bit of “figuring out” but it does not take long before we come up with ingenious ideas for best practices.  We specifically have a charcoal briquette barbeque (as opposed to a propane unit) aboard.  It is attached to the pulpit rail on the stern of the boat. Besides using it for cooking, the captain also uses it to burn any waste paper products that we may accumulate aboard  - parchment or waxed or  paper towel for example.

We did not bike into Kennebunkport on this occasion.  It was a beautiful afternoon and the evening promised equally nice weather. Our decision to hike in to explore was met with memorable impressions.  The large manicured estate homes, recollective of Colonial and Federal age sea-captain’s homes, the meandering estuary to the east and the unique galleries along the route made for an interesting walk.  The downtown core, or Dock Square, is a hubbub of shops, restaurants, gourmet markets, and museums famously adorned by the 19^th century architecture depicting its maritime heritage.  Both presidents Bush have been long time summer residents in Kennebunkport on their family compound at Walker’s Point.  Keith and I had previously decided, much to our disappointment, should our invitation to have tea and crumpets with Laura and George be forthcoming, we must forgo in favour of our date at the beautiful Carnegie Library we were destined to visit, further along our stroll.

 The afternoon, the evening, the walk home, the entire day was notable.  Once back aboard the boat, with the anchor holding checked, the following day’s journey plotted on the electronics, and our bedtime snack ingested, we were ready for sleep and its rejuvenation for whatever adventure may arise of the next day.