Friday 14th August.

The shortest way south from Eastport is by way of the Lubec  channel, 44 51.56N 66 58.79W, which saves 10 nm.  Unfortunately, the bridge clearance is 44 or 46 feet, dependent on which chart you’re reading and our mast is 45 feet high.  But the bridge clearances are given at high water, so with tidal ranges of 18 feet we should be able to clear the bridge at half tide or less.   But there are also currents that run up to 8 knots through this channel and our maximum speed is 6 knots!  So we did some calculations, and reckoned that we could get through at 6:30am today – low tide and small current.  That meant leaving Eastport at 5:30am.    We tried and it seems our calculations were correct!  We had hoped for slack tide, but we got 1-2 knts against us, (which is safer when passing under a bridge, since you can control your forward speed more easily when motoring into a foul current).  We passed under the bridge without problem, and had 1-2 knot current against us through the narrows.  As a bonus, our early departure meant we got to see the sun rise over the most eastern part of the USA – lovely and peaceful!

Once out into open ocean again, we had foul tides, and no wind for 5 hours, before the wind picked up and the tides turned fair, and we were able to sail the last part of the passage.  But we were in Maine again, with the proverbial lobster pots, so spent a lot of time dodging them.

We arrived at Rogue Island, 44 34.58N 067 31.21W, at 2:45pm and anchored.  It’s a beautiful bay, with a long sandy beach and pretty views out to the sea.  Judging by the other boats here it seems to be a popular anchorage.  

Brenda and Vin, who couldn’t fit under the bridge, set off way later than we did, and arrived at 5pm. We all dined aboard Quinita and had another pleasant evening. 

Ships Log: 5410.2, Todays Log: 46.7, Seasons Total: 962.3