Category Archives: Maine

Do you know the Puffin Man?

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The Attendant in Pemaquid Lighthouse Park was full of suggestions for possible cruises so with her directions and brochures in hand I was off to locate New Harbor, Maine.

I wasn’t able to find out much about New Harbor, ME. Wikipedia has only a few lines. It’s home to Pemaquid Lighthouse and Fort William Henry. I saw that sign for Fort William Henry and wanted to detour to check it out. I grew up near a Fort William Henry but that was in New York. I guess if there can be 2 Fort Knox then there can be 2 Fort William Henry. Unfortunately I wouldn’t have time if I wanted to catch the lighthouse Cruise so I passed it by and continued on toward the little village.

Wikipedia goes on to say “The town’s lobster fisherman and “Back Cove” were featured on an episode of the Discovery Channel’s “Sunrise Earth”.

I love that show. It’s one hour of natural sounds and sights, no background music, no talking, just ambient noise. The photography is outstanding. I like to lower the lights and use it as “quiet time”. It’s hard to find the show. Even Rocky and Smokey like to watch it. It seems to move around in the schedule and I haven’t seen it for a while now so I don’t know if it’s still on, but nature lovers, if you can find it, definitely tune in.

As I rounded a corner I saw a big sign…Parking for Hardy Boat Cruises. There was a parking attendant kiosk and a port-a-potty and an open field. Parking was $3.00 and you had to walk the rest of the way to the docks. It seems there was a restaurant on the docks that had cars towed if you were not a patron of the restaurant.

When I arrived at the ticket booth another older woman was arguing that being forced to park so far away was a hardship for her but her arguments were futile. There was no bending the rules. I bet someone could run a golf cart back and forth and make a bunch of money.

Anyway, it was my turn at the window and Maine quirkiness was in evidence once again. I asked for tickets on the lighthouse cruise and was told it had been moved to 11:30am. Well it was after 11:30 now so I guess I missed it. I showed the girl the brochure and she shrugged and said “I guess they changed it”. It wasn’t an old brochure . I really had to laugh then. So since I was there I asked her what cruises were available. She suggested the “Puffin Tour”. Now that got my attention. I remember that on the Puffin Tour in Bar Harbor they said that was the southernmost part of the Puffin’s range. When I mentioned that she said “Be sure to tell the naturalist. He’d want to know that.”

So here I am on another Puffin Cruise and without my seasick meds. Here’s hoping it won’t be too rough.

I took a seat on the upper deck. And soon we were heading out into the harbor.

The naturalist said he “hoped” we’d see puffins but that he couldn’t promise. We were heading to a chunk of rock called Eastern Egg Rock. Seems like every harbor has an “Egg Rock” and the story as to how it got its name sounded really familiar too. Early settlers used to go out to the island to collect the eggs to eat. Yup heard that before.

When we reached the island we could see lots of birds on the island but they weren’t all Puffins.

There were laughing gulls, the only kind Puffins will co-exist with, and guillemots.

Guillemot colony at Egg Rock

There were more guillemots than puffins but according to the naturalist the guillemots were far more rare than the puffins.

No one was seasick on this trip and we saw puffins, not as many as on the Bar Harbor trip but there was still plenty to see.

As we turned back toward New Harbor the day was coming to an end giving us a front row seat for the setting sun.

Tomorrow my trip is done. I’ll be heading back to “real life” . I was pleased with quite a few of my pictures but still haven’t got the shot I envisioned for the Pemaquid Light. I may have to return.

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If you are in New Harbor, Maine and want to have a nice tour, check out the offerings from the Hardy Boats: www.hardyboat.com

Driving and Driving and Driving

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The road to Pemaquid seemed to go on forever. It was a good road, well paved and now that the rain had stopped and the sun was out it was easy to look for signs if there were any.

I followed the road through little villages and long stretches with nothing but trees and the occasional farm. I questioned if I had missed a turn somewhere. I didn’t see any ocean. Shouldn’t there be ocean if I’m looking for a lighthouse?

It was almost lunchtime and I wasn’t seeing too many places to stop when I came over a rise in the road and there was this enormous lobster.

The sign in front of the restaurant was “Taste of Maine”. Why not. This was as good a place as any.

I was seated on the deck that looked out over a marshy tributary.

A few boaters were traveling the channel but mostly it was populated by ducks and other water birds. It was so peaceful. I could have just stayed there. Of course I had their baked scallop casserole. It was really good. Service was friendly and pleasant. It was just a nice experience. But all good things come to an end and I wanted to find this lighthouse so back on the road I go.

The trip (without counting the lunch stop) was definitely an hour and a half, maybe more and I am very glad I didn’t attempt this drive at 4 AM. I would have been really lost.  Finally I saw a little lighthouse sign! I’m on the right track. A few more miles and the road splits in the middle of a little hamlet. I crossed my fingers and took the right fork. Sure enough there was a sign. Lighthouse Park ahead. I still didn’t see any ocean. Those Maine distances came into play here. “Ahead” was probably about 7 miles.

The guide books all said that Pemaquid Light is best seen from the ocean but so many of my photographer friends and acquaintances raved about “shooting it” that I felt sure there must be a way to take it from land.

Entering the park I paid a small entrance fee and pulled into the dirt parking lot. The lighthouse was right in front of me.

The grounds were pretty busy. There were a few benches for people to sit and watch the ocean and you could climb up the tower to see the lens. It was hot and humid and as I stood inline I happened to notice a sign. It listed the usual restrictions and one extra one for  “Stout” people.

It really didn’t look like it would be that bad of a climb but I certainly qualify as “stout” so I wimped out. I didn’t want to get to the door and have them tell me no. I would have died of embarrassment so I wandered the grounds instead.

The rocks are amazing. I’ve heard them described as “waves frozen in stone”.

What a great description. I don’t think any of my pictures captured they way they truly looked. People were climbing down them out to a point that jutted into the ocean.

I wanted to head out there with the tripod. What a picture that would make! I actually started down but after nearly turning my ankle twice I decided to stop where I was. Whatever I managed to get from that vantage point would have to do. Old bones don’t mend easily.

After I wandered the lighthouse grounds I went next door to a little snack bar and souvenir shop. It was crammed. So many interesting things around.

Having satisfied myself with this visit I headed out to find a boat that could take me past the lighthouse.

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It’s 4 am! What am I doing up???

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This was the day I had planned to drive up to Pemaquid. Everyone tells me that the best time to photograph the lighthouse is at dawn. My research makes me think I will have an hour and a half drive from Portland. That means if sunrise is 5:30 am I have to be on my way by 4 am.

Beep Beep Beep my cell phone alarm let me know that it was time to rise and shine. Boy was it dark! I peeked out the window and the reason for the extreme darkness (besides being 4 am) was that it was raining, hard and from the looks of the halos around the street lights it was foggy too. The storm predicted  had finally arrived.

In that case there was only one thing to do….Go back to bed.

Nite….

Day is done, Gone the Sun

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On April 13, 1899, President McKinley named the one-time subpost of Fort Preble, Cape Elizabeth’s first military fortification, Fort Williams. Named after Brevet Major General Seth Williams, Fort Williams grew to be a tremendous military asset during World War II. Besides protecting the shoreline of Cape Elizabeth, the infantry and artillery units provided the Harbor Defense for    Portland. After the war, many of the forts in Casco Bay were closed, including Fort Williams, which traded in its defense of the coast for caretaker status    and Army Reserve accommodations. Fort Williams was officially closed and    deactivated on June 30, 1963. (from Cape Elizabeth’s web site)

Today, Fort Williams is still one of the most treasured sites of Cape Elizabeth. Home to the oldest lighthouse in Maine, Portland Head Light.

As I made my way back to Fort Williams and Portland Head Light the bright blue skies faded and the wind began to blow. There’s be no sunset shots tonight. The predicted storm was on its way.

While I was out chasing the other lighthouses the tide had gone out so there wasn’t much surf even with the wind. But I was there and intended to make the most of it. I would stay until one of 3 things happened

  • It got too dark to see what I was doing
  • It started to rain
  • or until I got a good shot of the lighthouse

I’m happy to report that I didn’t have to stay until full dark and I didn’t get rained on. Did I get the shot? Well I’ll let you be the judge.

Lighthouses by Land

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With the clock heading into the late afternoon it was time to see if I could find my way back to Portland Head Light. I wondered if I could get an evening picture. The weather report had said there was a storm coming but you’d never know it by looking at the blue sky and sunshine of late afternoon.

My path took me over “The Bridge” . The Bridge is a wide span that takes you over to Cape Elizabeth.

The view from the bridge of Casco Bay is great. I got a good look when I was on the trolley tour but driving was a different story.

Especially driving during “rush hour”. I admit Portland’s rush hour isn’t anything like Boston’s. Boston’s rush hour is more congested, stop and go, a  tough on the brakes kind of drive. On a bad night it can take hours to get from one end of the expressway (AKA distressway) to the other. On the other hand being on “The Bridge” in Portland during rush hour has earned the name “Rush”. I  felt like I was  driving in the Indie 500. Cars were flying by me like I was standing still!  I checked and I was doing the speed limit which was plenty fast for someone who doesn’t know the road.

Once off “The Bridge” I was doing pretty good from memory until I hit a large intersection that I didn’t remember from the trolley tour. I made my best guess and of course, it was wrong. After a few more tries I was hopelessly twisted around. Time to break out the trusty GPS. Back on track I finally pulled into Fort Williams Park and Portland Head Light. Even getting twisted around it was way too early for the photo I was trying to get. So I decided to back track and see if I could find the lighthouses I’d seen from the “Sea” part of the Land and Sea Tour.

Since I didn’t have an address I couldn’t use the GPS and was left to my own devices. It wasn’t too long before I found a lovely park and there was Portland Breakwater Light  in the distance.

There was a parking attendant but she really only gave me directions. She pointed out another entrance to the park and told me to drive down that and it would take me much closer to the lighthouse. Success! I could walk the large rocks of the breakwater right up to the “Bug” light.

This is really a cute lighthouse. It’s classical Greek Styling combined with its short stature (the tower is only 13 ft tall) makes this little lighthouse look like it belongs on a chess board.

After exploring the light I spotted another interesting structure. It was a giant hull of a boat with ribs exposed. I’d seen this on the boat tour as well but up close it was enormous. It’s a monument to the men and women that worked in the shipyards that built the vessels for the war effort in World War II. This is the Monument to the South Portland Liberty Ships. It was building ships like these that made Rosie the Riveter and Wendy the Welder household names.

Beyond the “ship” I could just see the Spring Point Ledge Light so I headed back to the car to see if I could find my way to that lighthouse. Several bumps and turns later I was pulling into the Portland Harbor Museum parking lot. To reach the lighthouse you walk through the ruins of an old fort, climb a short set of stairs and there you are.

The breakwater stretches out before you, at the end, another “spark plug” of a lighthouse.

This  one much more simple without the Greek frills.  The design of this lighthouse was intended to help it survive the gale force winds , high water and pressure from winter ice floes.

I sat on the steps leading down to the breakwater watching the boats sail past and the sun sink toward the horizon. It was time to head back to Portland Head light.