Castine – Late Season

When we heard that temperatures would be in the 60’s on Saturday, we knew we’d want to be paddling. Some place calm, which wouldn’t test my limits. Our choice: Castine.
Launch 10AM, finish 12:30, low 10AM
In the fall, Maine Maritime Academy (MMA) dominates Castine. A home football game was scheduled, and half the streets seemed to be in the process of being repaved. The town was a maze of orange cones, a process which continued at the dock, where multiple spots were blocked off.
I looked for familiar signs which stated the dock allowed four hour parking after October, and wasn’t able to find any. Maybe that policy has been revoked and the three hour limit applies all year.
MMA weren’t the only boats on the water, but they were the majority, and on this weekend they all seemed to be still.

The State of Maine, tug Pentagoet, and polar schooner Bowdoin, and other MMA boats neatly berthed

I was surprised to see sea stars in the water, not just small sea stars but large ones, close to a foot across. If you’d asked me I would have thought that they headed to deeper water for the winter. But these were hanging out under the docks; I took a few shots, which came out as blurry pink blobs.

Seaweed on Holbrook Island displaying fall coloration

Our route took us down the town side, around the corner by the lighthouse on Dyce’s Head, then back to cross by can 1.
There were only a few boats out, however one was racing along testing its upper speed, so we wanted to minimize our crossing time.
A simple loop around Holbrook Island, admiring the blue green outcroppings which dominate the south west shores.

Castle Rock at the southern tip of Holbrook,  Isleboro is the low land, Camden hills in the distance

The blue green of the rocks seems muted here.

A longer stop on an outside beach to enjoy the day. A seal swam by, popping up just once.

An underwater shot, with no barnacles open

Then back into the harbor. A pod of harbor porpoises surfaced by the north edge of Holbrook. We waited to see them again, and even paddled along the north side of Nautilus in the hopes that they might have gone there, without any luck.
It was a gorgeous peaceful day. Off in the distance cannons and rowdy cheers indicated the MMA Mariners were having a successful game as well. (though they wound up losing in a last minute upset)

Coming back into a tidy harbor, the boat is the reasearch vessel, the Argo