I chose a good cruise. One of the passengers on the trolley said that I should make sure to sit on the right side (starboard side) facing the bow if I wanted to get good shots of the lighthouses. I kept that in mind as we boarded. Guess what the ship is called…The Islander! That’s the same name of the boat that I was on for the Puffin Cruise in Bar Harbor!
I climbed to the upper deck seating myself about mid-way back. (Is that called mid-ship?) It was tricky because the benches were not bolted to the deck. Everyone had a tendency to put their hand on the seat back for balance and were caught off guard when the bench moved!
I didn’t miss any lighthouses by taking the afternoon cruise. We saw plenty including Portland Head Light, Spring Point Ledge Light, Portland Breakwater Light and Ram Island Ledge Light.
They told us the history of the forts that line the bay and the breakwater that was built to protect the pipeline to Canada.
History and folk-lore was sprinkled throughout the cruise. The day was beautiful. One of our last places to visit was a tiny rocky island ( I use the term island loosely) where the harbor seals like to haul out and sun themselves.
The island was loaded with seals, seals on the land, seals in the water and then something I’ve never seen before, a seal jumped in a graceful arc looking so much like a dolphin that there was a collective gasp. Then every one of us began to bemoan the fact that none of us had the camera ready,( and there were lots of cameras) it was so unexpected.
Too soon we were heading back to the dock. It was a great time. But I still had more of the afternoon and I knew just what I wanted to do.