Wednesday 15 August: Portland Harbour, Maine
We wake up late, to yet more fog, but at least it’s not raining. By mid morning the sun breaks through and gives us instant warmth. So we hit the town again, this time in higher spirits. Is it even the same town? We ask ourselves, it looks so much better in the sunshine!
We have a very nice coffee in Coffee By Design specialist cafe then wander the town again. The front, by the river is very fishy and a bit run down, probably like it’s looked for decades, but a couple of streets back there are some nice streets. Buildings are a mix of old and not renovated, and very modern office blocks. Not our favorite town, but it is at least a proper town, not like the pretty tourist villages in Eastern Maine, which are very cute, but not real towns! The one downside of most towns and villages in USA is the total lack of anywhere other than a 7-11 to buy food. And the 7-11s are only really gas station stores: drinks, booz, tobacco and snacks. All the real food and provisioning shops are out of town, out of our access. Well, there is Uber, but then it has to be a dedicated shopping mission, not just a few basics.
We come back to the boat for lunch in the bright sunshine and watch a Wednesday evening yacht race in the river. Several yachts tack upwind close to us, several with all the crew sitting in the cockpit at the back, dragging the stern, with the bow in the air. We feel like shouting “get your weight forwards!” But we keep quiet.
We are again ashore early evening where we go to the cinema to watch the latest Mission Impossible. There is no queue for tickets or popcorn and when Oana asks “is it free seating?” We are returned a funny look. In the cinema there is just one other person! Free seating? Ha!
After the movie, we stop at the restrooms before heading back to town. Oana takes a while to reappear, and when she does, she can hardly contain herself with laughter. As per her luck, the door lock got stuck, and, yet again, she got locked inside. Luckily, the door was the type with a gap above the floor, and Oana crawled under the door. Good thing restrooms were spotlessly clean!
After our feed on adrenaline soaked entertainment and still giggling, we wander the bars area and have a cocktail in Blyth & Burrows, a very nice cocktail bar. Then back to Cloudy Bay by midnight. Tomorrow we move … no matter what!
Portland Maine video on Sail Cloudy Bay You Tube channel
