The next three days took us down the Gulf of Maine calling at Lunenburg, Eastport, Boothbay, Provincetown and finally Boston.
Luneburg is cosy little town designated as a UNESCO world heritage site. We went ashore using Amundsen’s two tender boats. There was much talk about the fish museum. I imagined a museum of ancient, desiccated fish. Old fish nailed to the wall. Actually, turned out to be a fisheries museum which contained many and varied ways of killing fish. Further along the jetty was a rather lovely looking gaff rig schooner called Bluenose II. This is a replica. The original Bluenose was built in Luneburg for fishing and racing in1921. Proved to be good for fishing and exceptionally good at racing. Out of the fishing seasons, she enjoyed success in the International Fisherman’s Cup and achieved a degree of fame. On several occasions, Bluenose defeated boats specifically built to complete against her. Wind power became obsolete for fishing in the 1930s so the masts were removed and a diesel engine fitted. Later, the masts were re-fitted for what was to become the last race of the fishing schooners of the North Atlantic. Bluenose distinguished herself by winning against yet another yacht built just to beat her. De-masted again and reduced to carrying bananas she eventually sank on a reef of Haiti in 1946. Bluenose II is a pale reflection. Not used for racing but more for promoting beer, as a pleasure yacht and, most recently, as a cultural ambassador promoting tourism.
Eastport contains one of the few museums, in the world, that I have actually wanted to visit. Raye’s Mustard Mill Museum. At 120 years old, this is the last remaining traditional stone ground mustard mill in North America. I thought it could be interesting to see how they make the mustard and I also wanted to buy some sample to liven up the rather bland ship’s cheese. We wandered off, up the hill, in the right general direction. After twenty minutes or so my legs were hurting and so was Diane’s arm. Feeling terribly incapable, we gave up and took a short cut back towards the pier where the Amundsen was moored. Here we found a lovely wine shop with a cool cellar where we could recover from our ordeal. Just across the road was a small shop which sold Raye’s mustard. So, I managed to get a couple of small jars eventually.
For Diane the key feature of Boothport was the popcorn shop. An entire shop that exclusively dealt with their own handmade popcorn. She chose five packets with different flavours and then was pleased to be told that, with five packets, she could choose a sixth for free. Generously, she let me choose the bonus packet and I went for “Parmigiano and garlic” flavour. We wandered around the town for a while longer before ending up in a dockside bar. Here we whiled away a very pleasant hour drinking the local beer. I took a photograph, from the bar, of a heron at the water’s edge.
Penultimate call for this leg of the trip was Provincetown. Situated on the very tip of Cap Cod this is a colourful, bustling town known for its big, welcoming LGBTQ+ scene. We went on a short, organised bus trip. The most notable part of this was when the driver clipped a parked car. “Illegally parked” was his explanation and we carried on. We drove round some of the surrounding countryside and back into the other side of town. For some reason we were not allowed to get off. This combined with difficulty hearing the guide made for one of the less remarkable tours we have experienced. Afterward, we wandered around town for a while on our own before returning the ship and getting ready for Boston.
We arrived at Boston in the evening and most of the ship disembarked. The port was a stark change from the pretty coastal towns of Maine. Aircraft were on their landing approach directly above the ship. Quaysides were stacked with shipping containers and lined by massive cranes. There is nothing cute or glamorous about this place. Next day we sailed for Charleston and ship repairs.
