Three Kids and a Boat: Round Pond, ME

As we make our way south along the rugged coastline, there are countless islands and anchorages to consider. We had a little trouble deciding to depart Camden or stay another day. We weighed anchor later than we would have liked after the final decision to leave. A cold front threatening high winds and thunderstorms was approaching and that meant we needed to make certain we had ample protection. After scouring our cruising guide, we located Round Pond.

The "Little Brown Church" steeple peeks above the trees on the right, est. in 1853

This circa photo is on the cover of our Maine guide book. Do you see a resemblance to our picture above?

We started our 25-mile journey looking into the eastern morning sun and a bazillion lobster pot buoys. The wind and waves were directly in our face; so motoring was our only option. As we turned southward, navigating the bazillion lobster pot buoys, we put the sails up in strengthening winds. As we rounded Two Bush Island and pushed on past Mosquito Island, we dropped the sails. The wind was shifting to our bow again. Don’t forget the bazillion lobster pot buoys! We rounded Seguin Island, considered stopping for lunch but decided to raise the sails, and tack our way to Round Pond (and watch for the bazillion lobster pot buoys). The sails went up and the wind died, wouldn’t you know it. By this point, we were beyond frustrated and essentially lobster pot buoy intoxicated. Once again, the sails came down, the setting sun in our weary eyes, the motor reluctantly turned on and facing a bazillion lobster pot buoys. This was not our idea of a fun day. And then by some miracle, the wind suddenly advanced quickly, as if someone had turned on a switch, to 18 knots. We reversed everything and sailed to Round Pond. Phew what a day. You can’t fault us for trying to sail! Let me just say that watching for lobster pot buoys in these parts was a full time, 2 person, 110% focus kind of job.

Two Bush Island Lighthouse

Part of the mainland, Round Pond is nearly a perfect circle etched out of the ragged rock softened around the edges with a shallow basin and homes hidden in the trees. Our cruising guide stated there were mooring balls and a place for several boats to anchor. As we approached late Sunday afternoon, there was no one to hail on the radio to inquire about the mooring balls. Did I mention this is a small town, if one could even call it that? We dared to just pick one up and ask forgiveness later. However, we chickened out when the only one that we thought would hold us had “Anna” stamped in large blue letters.

Anchoring was our only choice and that proved to be a bigger problem than we anticipated. After scratching our heads trying to find a suitable spot, I said, “let’s drop the hook right here”. Well, right here was just about at the entrance to the pond, seemingly in the way. What the heck, we can always move or get a mooring ball tomorrow, right?! In the end, it was perfect and no one asked us to move. The lobster boats just went around us and all was well in Round Pond.

It lived up to the perfect protection we needed from the storms that went around us. As the dark clouds started to build, we heard the rumbling thunder, endured moderate wind and rain drops the size of a quarter. Nothing like what we could have been doused with had we been anywhere else.

For this we were thankful, as we had guests aboard our boat in the afternoon. Craig’s Team in Training coach and friend, Anthony, his girlfriend Kathleen (a mentor on my TNT tri team) and Anthony’s mom drove nearly 2 hours to this remote part of Maine. Anthony grew up in Maine and he and Kathleen competed in a triathlon a few days ago here in Maine. We were delighted to see them and had so much fun visiting and catching up.