I've been in boating since the age of 12. I worked at several marinas while growing up in Rhode Island and heard many stories of how beautiful the coast of Maine is. After hearing "you got see it" so many times I decided last year to see for myself. I should mention how many times I've heard, "There's 20-foot tides in Maine Ð make sure you plan accordingly."

Tides in Rhode Island range from a few inches inside the small ponds like Charlestown, where I grew up, to 3 to 4 feet near the ocean inlets. At age 42, I was about to find out for myself what real tides look like.

	Photo courtesy David Dawson
	Author David Dawson and a cruising buddy raise a toast to Downeast adventure on board the author's 30 foot Sea Ray.

I usually bring my dog, Tina, whenever I go boating. But this trip was different. Not only would I not be taking Tina or my girlfriend, Barbara, but I'd be going alone for most of the trip. I would cruise from Rhode Island through the Cape Cod canal, turn north and east, visiting the harbors of Massachusetts and Maine Ð hopefully as far north as Bar Harbor Ð and returning home 11 days later. Some things in life you simply have to do for yourself; this trip was one of them.

I left Silver Spring Marine, my home port, at about 1:30 on a beautiful sunny afternoon in mid-August. At Great Salt Pond, I needed to stop at Point Judith Marina for two reasons: I made lunch for my girlfriend, Barbara Merry, who has a business there, and needed to top off with fuel.

Now, I know some of you are thinking the second reason may be more important than the first, but believe me, it's really not.

I left the breachway at Galilee at 2:45 p.m., aimed my 30-foot Sea Ray at the east gap, and shot out of the Harbor of Refuge at about 35 m.p.h. A couple hours later I slowed as I entered the Cape Cod Canal.

The current was against me going through the canal, but otherwise everything was fine. I entered Duxbury Harbor at 6:20 p.m., my first stop of the trip.

I decided on a narrow channel just east of the Duxbury Yacht Club, where there were about a dozen boats moored surrounded by sandbars. I picked a spot on the north end of the pack and set the anchor in 10 feet of water.

After dinner and a quick entry in the log, I retired for the evening.

But around 3 a.m., I noticed pressure on my head. Uh oh. The boat was at a 30-degree angle, and as I slid up against the wall my head was stopping me from sliding any farther.

I grabbed the flashlight and went to the cockpit to take a look around. Just 30 to 40 yards south of me the pack of a dozen boats floated just as I seen them earlier, but I was high and dry in the sand. Although I planned for the huge tides in Maine, I was surprised that I never heard that Massachusetts also had big tides. So much for only planning for Maine tides.

Fortunately, since I'm in the habit of raising the outdrives whenever I'm in a strange port, I didn't suffer any damage. By 6 a.m., I had 9 feet of water under me and breakfast inside. I puttered till 8, pulled the hook, got some fuel, and headed for Gloucester.

Gloucester is a busy fishing port, so I was surprised to see how clean it is. After fueling, I headed up the small canal to Annisquam. The day was on the dreary side, with light rain and a little fog, and I had an appetite, so I decided to moor at Annisquam.

By the time lunch was over, and after the usual weather briefing and the office check-in, I decided to stay the night.

The following day was beautiful. I took such a liking to the area that I called my friend, Fuad, who lives in the area, and invited him and his family for a day on the boat. We did a little swimming and snorkeling and took a couple of joy rides. It made a terrific day.

So good, in fact, that I ended up staying for two and a half days. I recommend Annisquam as a nice place to stop for anyone traveling by the Gloucester area.

Sunday morning was a bright and beautiful day. I left Annisquam mid-morning and headed north towards Portland via Isles of Shoals. It was perfectly flat and I could go just as fast as I wanted to feed the fuel to her. Doing just under 40 m.p.h., it seemed as if the Isles were just a few miles from Annisquam, even though I stopped several times to watch the surfacing whales.

Since most of my boating has been between Nantucket and New York Harbor, I've rarely seen whales, so stopping to see a half dozen or so was a wonderful and enjoyable sight.

I slowed as I approached the Isles of Shoals at about noon. Creeping between Lunging and Gosport, I decided to snap a few photos and take a look at the people relaxing at the hotel, which seemed close enough to touch. A few waves at the people in a passing ferry and I was off again.

I fueled up at Dimillo's in Portland and headed toward Cook's Lobster Pound on Bailey Island via Peaks, Great Diamond and Long Islands. After an S-turn through Great Chebeague, I turned south at Broad Sound, and made a hard left north into Merriconeag Sound and Cook's on Bailey Island.

With a couple of fresh Maine lobsters aboard and a growing appetite, I asked the fastest way to Booth Bay. The gentleman at Cook's said to go under the small bridge, across Willis Gut, head south to open water turn east to the Sheepscot Bay and then into Boothbay Harbor. Well, that got me there all right, and without any further sightseeing I was cracking claws and slitting tails at my mooring in Boothbay Harbor

After dinner, I stood in the cockpit at the transom watching the beautiful sunset when all of a sudden a young seal popped up right next to the boat. Those big beautiful eyes stared at me with an, "I've lost my mommy, can you help me find her?" look. Then, in a flash, the seal was gone. I stood there in amazement and chuckled at the way it's the little things that make a trip.

Pea soup fog Monday morning made for an easy decision to get some office homework done aboard. Tuesday was pea-soup fog as well, but as long as I was working I didn't get the usual guilty feeling of taking time off. The next day I would take a shot at Bar Harbor regardless of the fog.

After breakfast I wiped the windshield down with Rain-X and headed out of Boothbay Harbor in fog and light rain. My electronics didn't like the pounding in the heavy chop I encountered, so about 15 miles into the trip I pulled into Monhegan Island. One of my marina pals grew up there and he insisted that I pull in if I was in the area.

There were no public moorings in the harbor, and a solid rock ledge bottom made it impossible to set the hook, so I grabbed a lobsterman's mooring just long enough to analyze the situation. I wished I could have stayed the night at Monhegan Ð the setting was perfect even if the weather wasn't cooperating Ð but as the boating guide said, don't count on anchoring or mooring in the harbor.

Although I still had five days left on my trip, I was committed to meeting Barbara in Salem Harbor on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Bar Harbor wasn't meant to be on this trip, so I unhooked and headed back to beautiful Boothbay Harbor, where I spent the rest of Wednesday.

For those of you wondering where to go in Maine, a visit to this harbor is one of my strong recommendations. I've done a fair share of boating, and although it's been limited to a 300-mile stretch of coast and islands, I've had hundreds of stays in ports and harbors. Many of them were beautiful, but when it was time to go, I left without regret.

Not so in Boothbay Harbor. I thought about leaving the boat there and returning for a couple more weekends, but a promise is a promise so Thursday morning I left, picking up my friend Jerry in Portland. He was to ride back with me into Salem and would spend the weekend with Barbara and me.

Thursday night we spent in York Harbor, a cozy place with a polite and helpful harbormaster. Friday we were off to Salem, where Barbara was an exhibitor at the antique boat show.

It was a long bumpy ride home on Sunday to Great Salt Pond. No matter which way we were headed, we were loosening screws, but by 5 p.m. we were back.

To everyone who hasn't boated in Maine yet, go! And by the way, 11 days will never be long enough. I would make my next trip 30 days or so. We'll see.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that words alone cannot describe how many lobster trap buoys there are. It would be virtually impossible to make any time at night. Plan accordingly. And don't forget the tides.



David Dawson boats out of Silver Spring Marine in Wakefield, R.I. A boater since he was 12, he has worked at a marina and currently runs a woodworking company specializing in custom architectural woodwork. His girlfriend, Barbara Merry, is the author of "The Splicing Handbook."

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