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Dear Cruisers,
Thank all of you for your support of the new, fourth edition of A Cruising Guide to the Maine Coast. It is hard to believe it has already been five years since the publication of the third edition. They are right: time flies when you are having fun.
It is also hard to believe I'm publishing a Notices to Maine Cruisers even before this edition's first summer sailing season has begun. Yet, much to my dismay, a couple of errors have already been discovered by a sharp reader. Please let me know if you find more, and check back here frequently.
Also, please check on the progress of my Maine Coast Guide on the web. This will be a work-in-progress for some time to come. I'm hoping to post as many harbors and gunkholes as time permits. Changes posted on Notices to Maine Cruisers will also be noted on the individual harbors.
Once again, thank you to all those cruisers who have taken the time to inform the rest of us what they have discovered.
Happy cruising!
Curtis Rindlaub
INTRODUCTION
Where to Go, p. 6
This spring we received the somewhat frightening news the Maine Department of Tourism has used our number of 5,500 miles for the length of the Maine coast in all of their materials. Somebody must have asked them about where the figure came from, and the fellow who relied on A Cruising Guide to the Maine Coast was in hot water for not really knowing the source. I remembered it coming from one of the publications of the Island Institute. Though I haven't taken the time to track it down in my six-years worth of files, David Platt of the Island Institute confirmed that they had indeed published the results of GIS surveys, and that he believed the latest figure was now closer to 7,000 miles! The source of these studies is someone at the College of the Atlantic. David couldn't offhand remember his name, but he can be contacted by calling and asking for the "GIS guy." The point, of course, is that it while the numbers keep growing, the actual length remains the same.
It's also nice to know that when the Department of Tourism needs to know something about the Maine coast, they turn to the Guide.
Buoy, Oh Buoy, p. 26
Comments such as the following from Jane Cave prompted our new sidebar on lobster buoys:
"There's one change we'd love to see all up the coast: float-free channels into every harbor, just wide enough to motor through. Could you start a campaign? The lobster pots are a nightmare...."
SOUTHERN COAST
York Harbor, p. 42
Approaches: Nun "10" is renumbered as nun "8." While we managed to fix the chart and most of the approaches description, one of the references to nun "10" still survives. Mark Czerwinski was sharp enough to see it on p. 42, col. 2, para. 2, line 4. The sentence should read "On a flood, the current will try to sweep you first toward Stage Neck and onto the ledge at nun "8" (not nun "10") and then..."
CASCO BAY
Potts Harbor, p. 87
For the crew. Even though we don't actually say Dolphin Marine serves breakfasts, Mark Czerwinski reports that they (the breakfasts, not the Dolphin Marine) are a thing of the past. One year, on my first overnight of the season, I awoke to discover I had no stove fuel for my morning coffee. Undaunted, I tried to brew a pot over a few year-old briquettes of charcoal, nearly asphyxiating myself in the process. Not willing to do without a morning mug-up, I steamed over to Potts Harbor, grabbed a mooring, rowed ashore, walked into Dolphin Marine, and ordered a cup. Only when the heavenly aroma was wafting in my nostrils and I had taken enough sips to wake up did I discover that I didn't have a cent in my pocket or a bill in my wallet. I surprised the waitress when I explained that all I had to pay for my 50-cent cup of coffee was my Visa card. She surprised me even more when she took it.
MIDCOAST
Christmas Cove, p. 144
For the crew. I have egg on my face. Mark Czerwinski reports that Coveside Marina no serves breakfasts. Ditto for Dolphin Marina in Potts Harbor, Casco Bay (see above).
PENOBSCOT BAY
Camden Harbor, p. 206
Stan Pearson of Wayfarer Marine has kindly updated our description of Camden Harbor services and things to do.
Pulpit Harbor, p. 212
waypoint error:
Roland Burns gets the credit for discovering this embarrassing mistake. The waypoints for Pulpit Harbor (of all places!) and Cabot Cove are incorrect. They should be as follows:
The 66-foot sounding NE of Pulpit Rock: 44 degrees, 09.62 minutes north; 068 degrees, 53.38 minutes west
Pulpit Harbor anchorage: 44 degrees, 09.28 north; 068 degrees, 53.16 minutes west
Cabot Cove anchorage, on the 23' sounding: 44 degrees, 09.32 minutes north; 068 degrees, 53.50 west
Fortunately, the published waypoints are off by a lot, not a little, a fact that should be apparent to anyone plugging them into a GPS or plotter. They reference Dix and High Island off the Muscle Ridge Channel. The reason they appear on Pulpit is that in order to format the waypoint type, I was pasting an existing waypoint into the heading and then changing it to the correct waypoint. I missed that last step on this one, and missed the fact that I missed it in proofing the book. This is an explanation, not an excuse. My apologies, and thank you again, Mr. Burns, for your keen observation.
Holbrook Island Harbor (Cape Rosier), 251
Trump Bradley reports that the moorings to the east of Ram Island
look like they haven't been attended to recently. This is not
surprising. I have heard that there has been a recent death in
the family of Kenny Eaton. Our sympathies go out to Ken, along
with our thanks for so many years of the use of these moorings.
MOUNT DESERT
Northeast Harbor (MDI), p. 314
Jane Cave writes to inform us that Northeast Harbor has lost two of the restaurants we mention. Redfields and the Outback Cafe have disappeared, but a new restaurant, 151 Main has filled in the gap. She also bears the news that Stanley's Fish Market, a true, old-world establishment, is no longer.
DOWN EAST
PASSAMAQUODDY BAY
FUNDY AND SAINT JOHN
APPENDIX
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