Morning boat ride on the Sea Walker

My co-worker, Corey, kindly took us on a boat ride from the South Freeport Harbor. We left the dock at around 6:30 am and returned at 8:20 am. The morning was sunny, cool, and calm. The water was glassy smooth, and just perfect for a jaunt around the harbor and the nearby bay.

Captain Corey and the Sea Walker. We had such a great time, and were happy that the water was so calm as we haven't been on a motorboat in 17 years. We are not what are known as seafaring people;-)

Our journey began as the sun was rising over the islands. The morning light cast warm tones over the harbor as we journeyed toward the bay.

I love wood trim on boats. It gives them a timeless look. The bottom two photos are of a Canadian designed fishing boat. In Canada, taxes are levied for the square footage of the amount of your boat that comes in contact with the water. So, boats have been designed to maximize space and to minimize contact with the water! We saw lots of beautiful scenery on our trip, including many interesting boats in a couple of different harbors.

And, no harbor is complete without the Marine Patrol keeping an eye on things. These guys have a super fast boat. Check out the dual 225 hp engines, which can propel the boat at upwards of 75 mph! Also, in Freeport, we saw a castle! Well, only the tower is left of the Casco Castle, which was built as a tourist attraction/hotel in 1903. It now stands on private property.

Gorgeous rocky islands and birds galore!

There were lots of islands dotting the seascape, as well as bird life. We saw Common Eider ducks (which you can see in these photos.) This is a flock of females. "The Common Eider is the second most common nesting bird on the islands of Maine (after the Herring Gull)." "The Common Eider is our largest duck, about 25 inches long, and is a diving duck living largely on blue mussels swallowed whole. It also eats other small shellfish, crabs, shrimp, urchins, and some fish." (Kidwell, Al. Maine Geographic Coastal Birds: A Guide to Birds of Maine’s Beautiful Coastline. Freeport, ME: DeLorme Mapping Company, 1983. Print.) 

Harbor Seals

Small, exposed rocks are perfect for a morning snooze. We were boating at low tide and the seals were taking full advantage of their rock. The island was no longer visible on the incoming tide. 

Snoozing space is at a premium.

There was lots of chatter as the seals vied for their tanning beds.

There were lots of seals swimming all around the rock
and the harbor. They were popping up all over the place!

Harbor Seals are plentiful along the Maine coast, and they breed here from May through June. They return to Canadian waters in the fall. You can find them basking in the sun, on rocky outcroppings of islands in protected bays, like Maquoit Bay, in harbors, like that of South Freeport, and even on sandy beaches. I think that one of my favorite characteristics of the harbor seal is their variability in coloration. They sure are pretty beasties!

We can't thank Corey enough for treating us to the boat ride. It was wonderful, and we are hoping to do it again soon! We had such a pleasurable morning, and I must say that this is the highlight of our summer.

Please note that we didn't get too close to the rock. I used my 70-200 mm lens to shoot the photos. The seals went about their business even with us nearby.

A Grand Day Out on the Sea Walker

This is a short video of some clips from our trip. Fun!

Maiden Voyage of the "EV Colossal"

We took the "EV Colossal" (Ha!) out for its maiden voyage this afternoon. First, Drew and I went out together. Then, Neighbor Carla joined me for a short cruise across the pond and back. We actually came upon a flock of 8 mallard chicks who were just paddling along nearby. They did not seem to be bothered by us at all.

The motor is battery powered, and is quiet as can be. It has good speed at full throttle, and cruises along nicely at 1st speed. We went forward and backward with ease. And, I docked the boat as smoothly as if I had been a pro. Unfortunately, we don't have any video evidence of my steering prowess;-) Fun, fun, fun!

By the way, we are trying to come up with a good name for the boat. If you think of one, shoot us an e-mail;-)

Wicked Bad Thunderstorm cycle

We are in an afternoon thunderstorm cycle at the moment. Yesterday, I was hoping to go boating after returning home from summer school, but alas, my favorite custodian, Moe, was right. We got one heck of a thunderstorm, which hit around 2:30 pm, and lasted until 3:30 pm. We had hail, wind, and driving rain.

The storm took out many of my gorgeous gladioli flower stems, of which three are now residing in a vase. A big maple tree snapped off and downed Neighbor Ernie's mailbox, and we spent some time helping him to remove the tree and set the box up to be somewhat usable until Ernie does his magic on it.

We also lost power until 6 pm. It is ironic that we haven't had refrigeration for 15 days (due to unfortunate circumstances), and just got the fridge repaired yesterday. We got it running for about 3 hours before losing power. Geez... But, all is well now and we actually have food in the darned thing. Life is back to "normal" whatever "normal" is;-)

3:45 pm Refrigerator Update: Grrrr....the fridge side is not cooling down properly and we just went grocery shopping...Grrrr......Back to square one with a call to the repair service. Darn. We should have known better than to have bought food to be refrigerated...

Boat is registered and is ready to launch!

Boat is registered and is ready to be put into the water. Hopefully, this will occur on Thursday sometime. Geez...it is taking forever...

Quick Lift Boat Dolly in action

One of the last crucial steps in getting our boat into the water was the arrival of the Quick Lift Boat Dolly from smallwatersports.com.

The Quick Lift Boat Dolly

Drew assembled the dolly very easily, and it works great!

We are slowly getting set to launch the boat. We received the Quick Lift Boat Dolly today, which Drew assembled, and did a trial run with in the front yard.

The dolly fits into the groove along the middle of the boat bottom.

Drew made handles for each end of the boat.
Thanks to Neighbor Ernie for the idea!

Wet and cool temps lead to fresh scents

Lately, our outdoor temps have been cool...in the 60's during the day and 50's during the night. It drizzled most of yesterday, and I took a short walk down our much neglected, woodsy path into the back woods. I was overwhelmed with the heady scent of pine, specifically that of Eastern hemlock. The woods directly behind our house are filled with beech, maple, and hemlock trees. The hemlocks prefer moist, cool sites, and we have a lot of drainage from the road, so their roots are damp all the time. Then, as I headed back to the house, I passed our big, overgrown raspberry patch. It has lots of berries and also yielded a sweet berry scent as I passed by, and I realized that it is now time to pick some big, juicy red berries. Ahhh...Maine...I love this place!

The many moods of a Fritillary Butterfly

I only have a couple of Fritillary butterflies flitting about the gardens, whereas 15 years ago I felt as if I was in a scene of Fantasia, every day, as there were butterflies and bees galore. (Click on any photo for a larger, more detailed view.)

I took the opportunity to photograph one of the Fritillaries as it was feeding on the Echinacea (which they seem to be greatly attracted to.)

Check out the proboscis (drinking straw-like structure.)

"The proboscis is made up of 2 parts (each is a galea) that zip together after the adult emerges from the pupa. You may have seen this on the monarch. When it emerges, the proboscis consists of 2 strands, but it soon begins to coil and uncoil these and the two parts fuse into 1. Each galea has a groove, that when the 2 are fused, the groove forms the food canal (the central hole in your photo). Inside each galea there is a trachea (the smaller tube in your photo) as well as a nerve and muscles.

Butterflies and moths can only feed on liquids or liquids containing particles small enough to fit through the food canal. Zebra Heliconians are unusual in that they can feed on pollen by gathering a ball of pollen on the tip the proboscis and reguritating digestive juices that break down the pollen enough to ingest it. Other butterflies may also spit and slurp such as the Gulf Fritillary feeding on the dead deer. Butterflies will often squirt water from the rear end onto the sand, mud, or bird droppings, and sip up the minerals. Apparently, the digestive tract removes the minerals while water etc goes through the rear."  (Marc Minno) And, see Butterfly Fun Facts and Shady Oak Butterfly Farm for lots of cool butterflies and information!