August 18,2008 Rockland, Maine

Yesterday we traveled from Booth Bay to Rockland harbor. It was a beautiful sunny warm day with a lot of lobster traps and other sailing vessels. We sighted several dolphins and a friendly seal along the way. Unfortunately the seal was too shy for me to capture a picture and the dolphins are too fast for my camera. This is a picture of one of the many islands surrounded by rocks with beautiful tall pine trees. Many of these islands are desolate and others have one or two homes on them.

It was nice to see so many sailing ships as we traveled northeast to Rockland. The coast has been foggy for the past few days so seeing the blue skies and sparkling ocean was a treat for all to see and enjoy.

As we approached Rockland Maine we saw the "Camden hills" in the background. In the 1800's Rockland was noted for it's lime pits ,granite and its ship building industry. Today it is a busy industrial shipping harbor as well as a tourist mecca for those who would like to sail on some of the refurbished schooners.

Rockland is the area's largest city and Penobscot Bay's largest harbor. We saw windjammers, sailboats, pleasure yachts, commercial lobster fisherman, and ferries that travel between the populated islands. The marine radio was busy with traffic including several boats that needed assistance because of engine problems related to getting caught in a lobster buoy.