Windjammer Festival: Important

Schedule Changes/Hurricane Earl

Here is our original post on August 9, 2010 for the upcoming Camden Maine Windjammer Festival event, however the scheduled has been changed due to Hurricane Earl. Our local chamber has posted the following important information regarding the event:

Following consultations with public safety officials and based on the best weather information available the evening of Wednesday, September 1, the Camden Windjammer Festival committee organizers are delaying the start of the festival unti 4pm on Saturday, This means that the Festival is cancelling all of Friday’s and most of Saturday’s events.

This is due to both the prospect of heavy rain and strong winds from Hurricane Earl Friday night into Saturday early afternoon and because as a responsible community we do not want to start an event that brings large crowds to town at a time when Emergency Management Agencies are likely to be counseling caution and limited travel.

The festival will begin officially at 4pm on Saturday with an official announcement over the PA. Saturday’s events will consist of:

7:30pm  outdoor movie, Library Amphitheatre (wind permitting)
7:30pm (doors open) Paranoid Social Club and guests, Camden Opera House

On Sunday, we are adding the pancake breakfast (7-10am) and the Chowder Challenge (11:30am-2pm)- both contingent on availability of both volunteers and product from the Rotary Clubs. We are also moving the fireworks to 9pm on Sunday evening, contingent on an ok from the Coast Guard and Central Maine Pyrotechnics (the fireworks company).

All other Sunday events will proceed as scheduled, unless changing weather conditions require further changes.

Full Revised Schedule: Available online atwww.camdenwindjammerfestival.com/events

Camden Windjammer Festival is packed with events and fireworks and is scheduled for Friday September 3rd through Sunday September 5th 2010. Well over a dozen historic windjammers, sleek day sailing yachts, and motor fishing boats will enter Camden Harbor Friday afternoon for the Labor Day weekend gala.  For years Camden Harbor has been the home port of this event each Labor Day weekend and it attracts old salts, historians, boat builders, woodworkers, and sailing enthusiasts from around the globe.

The windjammer event provides a unique opportunity to board and take a walking tour of each of these beautifully and impeccably restored historic sailing ships.

Nathaniel Bowditch is an 82′ schooner that was built in 1922.

Speak one on one with schooner ship Captains and their crews who are eager to share their ship’s history, tales of the sea,  in addition to their own sailing adventures.

Camden Harbor with Mount Battie rising above the harbor.

Climb aboard and take a 2 hour sail out of picturesque Camden Harbor Maine. You will sail past spectacular islands and lighthouses and view seals, eagles, porpoises and may even see a lobster fishermen hauling traps.

Hiking Up To The Cross

The trail to the summit is only 1 mile and affords scenic views of Megunticook Lake, the interior and coastal mountains with distant views of Penobscot Bay.

Access to this trailhead can be found off route 52 in Camden, however you may take longer hikes through various trails within the Camden Hills State Park trail system to reach Maiden Cliff.

The trail is not difficult yet steadily climbs upward through the woods over rocks and tree roots.

Along the  way  you will cross over a wooden footbridge. This time off year it is relatively dry however in the spring there is usually a steady flow of water rushing under the bridge.

Plenty of exposed tree roots along this part of trail.

Halfway along this trail one of the other trails intersects. We stay on course to the cliff.

At the summit gazing at interior mountains and pristine Meguntiook Lake.

Distant views of Penobscot Bay and Islands to the south. The cross was erected some years after Elenora French fell off the cliff and died in 1864.

Incredible opportunity to see Osprey, Eagles and Turkey Vultures soaring just above, below, and at eye level.

Cedarholm Garden Bay Inn is on the oceanside and just 1 mile from the incredibly beautiful Camden Hills State Park. To download a trail map click  here.

Camden Harbor is quaint and unquestionably picturesque and with the dramatic backdrop of  Mount Battie it is certainly an eye catcher.

Impeccably restored old schooners fill the harbor and offer day trips or overnight cruises.

The arrow indicates the turret at the Mount Battie summit (Camden Hills State Park) which can reached by driving the auto road or by hiking the various trails in the park.

Darin Strickland, a Virginian, and writer for the Virginia Sportsman Magazine enjoys our town Camden Maine so much so, that he was inspired to write about it. He wrote a beautiful story about this incredibly unique area in the March 2010 issue complete with beautiful photography of the Maine Coast and windjammer schooners.

“Along Maines’s Atlantic coast, Route 1 winds through the picturesque countryside – a scenic byway that hugs the coastline and skirts quaint seaside villages and towns.  For the summer tourist, it serves as a springboard to Maine’s coastal vacation destinations and a direct route to popular Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. However, there is one town on Route 1, that won’t be bypassed and ignored as it requires you to drive through its main street and take notice as you do.

Camden’s Main Street and Route 1 are the same. Lining the way, historic and stately Federals, Capes, and Victorians with architectural details such as widow’s walks and bay windows; some with carriage houses.  These centenarians are the first to quietly announce this town has been receiving the affluent for a long time.”

Click to read his entire story which includes some history, culture, activities and of course lobster….

Camden-Maine’s-Mid-Coast-Summer-Jewel

Photo taken by Darin Strickland.

Part 2

As we near Little Cape Point we look back at Cape Cove and admire the natural beauty that surrounds us. On our first visit to this preserve, the shore was in full bloom with a sea of purple Iris Hookeri and wild pink Sweet  Peas. The Iris is just one of many rare plants that thrive in these harsh conditions.

Approaching the point you will find an abundance of sealife.

Along the Maine Coast rock formations display many examples of Dikes, this particular area provides a good example. The southern end of the island where the rock drops steeply into the sea is what The Nature Conservancy explains as the  ”Fundian Fault”, “a long crack in the earth’s crust that extends from the Bay Of Fundy to the coast of New Hampshire.”

Many varieties of seaweed line the shore.

This one reminds us of a horse’s tail that has been wrapped with a bandage.

A cute fawn is unaffected by our presence.

Blue blazes and cairns mark the trail.

Soon we will be reaching the Mud Hole trail.

The trail hugs the shore where there are many tricky areas to be mindful of. Slippery rocks, deep crevices and a few areas that require minor rock scaling.

Our coastal walk has come to an end. The Mud hole trail brings us back into the deep forest and winds along a picturesque fjord-like cove .

A last glance at the stunning scenery before heading back through the woods.

Lots of discoveries in the woods. Here a fungi is growing off of the bark of a pine tree.  Are there any fungi enthusiasts out there?  Would love to know the name of this species.

The moss and lichen covered forest silences your footsteps which creates an extremely tranquil setting.

Great Wass Island Preserve is one of the many gifts of nature. Thank you Nature Conservancy for protecting and preserving this treasure.