A Boat Ride at Sunset

My first night back in Maine I went on a boat ride at sunset exploring the beautiful region separating Portland, Maine and the Downeast Region of Maine known as Casco Bay.

The water was glassy and the 120 hp Johnson engine powered us around the bay with ease.

More Lobster Boats, I can't get enough. Hundreds of their traps dotted the bay like dandelions in a field.

The light was amazing.

Periwinkle!

Incipient twilight, warm companions, and no mosquitos contributed a dream-like quality to an evening exploring the glassy estuaries and inlets of Casco Bay.

Here are some more links:
A Boat Ride at Sunset (Picasa).

Back in Maine

After a 3 month hiatus, I am back in the great state of Maine, or as I like to call it, "the deep south of the far north," wearing overalls and exploring the coast. Unfortunately, the collegiate calender revolves around the the more grim portions of the year, so that the majority of my time is spent with ice in my nostrils and wool socks on my feet.

Maine in the summer is amazing. After spending the last week exploring the coast, driving up Route 1, and running around warm nights in Portland's Old Port District, I see why so many people escape from North American cities and suburbs to this beautiful state

Emma manning the wheel of the rubber duck.

While exploring a small island in Casco Bay, I spotted this puppy playing with bugs on a small dock. She was adorable.

For the next week or so, this tent will be my primary residence.

These immature Black Backed Gulls' mother left them to fend for themselves. RIP.

The harsh changes in Maine's weather are apparent everywhere you look. I really like the weathered wood on this dock and the framing around Emma's dog, Periwinkle.

Lobster boats like this one are the backbone of the Casco Bay region. Low lobster prices are hurting the area.

Spending three months in New York gave me a new found respect and appreciation for sunsets unobstructed by sky scrapers, a clear view of the stars and the hum of lobster boats' diesel engines traps at 5am. I am excited to be back in Maine.

Here are some more links,
Boats and Water (Picasa).

Fishing at Sunset on Great Pond

Around dusk and dawn the brown trout of Great Pond come to the surface to feed. At about 7:30 one evening, Tucker and I went out in his LL Bean Old Town Canoe in search of the elusive trout. I prayed for the clouds to open up with thunder and lightening and for an unsuspecting five pounder to latch onto our hooks and pull us around the lake in an Old Man and the Sea type battle.

Much to my disappointment, the clouds fled to the horizon, exposing a beautiful sunset. I didn't even hear a fish jump. Once again, my fantasy of recreating a Hemingway scene failed.

I couldn't have been happier, and the next morning I woke up at five to give it another go.

Here are some more links,
Sunset on Belgrade Maine (Picasa),
Great Pond (ART).

A Few Days on Great Pond

After finishing my last test and turning in my final essay, I joined nine friends to make the twenty mile drive due west to Tucker's cabin on Great Pond in the Belgrade Lakes region of Central Maine. We brought nothing but the essentials: ten sleeping bags, four beer balls and two cases of beer, ten pounds of hamburger meat and two pounds of flank steak, three fishing poles, two dozen night crawlers, two avocados, five packs of Bubbilicious Bubble Gum and one pack of original Redman.

For three days we terrorized the cold waters of Great Pond in search of elusive brown trout and male bonding. We woke up early and fell asleep late.

Regardless of how often I organize my tackle box, it inevitably looks like this. I guess tackle box entropy is an essential part of fishing and a necessary hurdle standing between a fishing pole and a golden fried trout.

Four of these Beer Balls lubricated the cold the water of Great Pond and sleeping on the hard floor of Tucker's uninsulated cabin.

We relied on manpower to negotiate the glacial lake, not this fine piece of American outdoors equipment.

LL Bean Old Town Canoe like my Grandpa has. Old Milwaukee Beer like my dad drank at the University of Wisconsin. Night Crawlers like I used on the banks of the Columbia River as a little boy.

Tucker's Blackberry is back in action after five months in Copenhagen studying architecture. I look forward to bopping around Maine next fall with Tucker after my summer in the Big City.

We didn't catch a single fish, but we sure drank a lot of beer, ate a lot of meat, burned a lot of wood and told a lot of stories. I couldn't ask for a better start to my summer. Many thanks to Heather, Tucker's mom, for letting us use the cabin.

Here are some more links,
Fishing on a Monday (Picasa),
Fishing in a Canoe (Vimeo).