With all the activity I have found little time for artistic photography but managed to find a few minutes this evening to experiment.

While Jeanine took the kids to an ocean beach, Mark and I made a one-hour drive to visit the School of Wooden Boat Building located in Brooklin. Mark has often considered attending a week-long kayak building class with his sons, and this was a great opportunity to check out the facility and talk to one of the instructors.

This morning Kyle, Nico and Mario joined me for a kayak run. Rather than heading out into the ocean, we ventured up the estuary which empties into Sullivan Harbor. Here we discovered something I have never seen before, reversing tidal falls. Near the bottom of the falling tide, water travels through this constricted section of the estuary with such speed that is forms a white water rapid over the rocks. When the tide begins rising the same thing happens but the rapids are running in the opposite direction. The site of many shipwrecks, the unpredictable currents are treacherous to navigate. We paddled upstream near the shoreline where the eddies helped us and then peeled off one at a time to shoot the rapids. No one capsized but everyone agreed it was better not to tempt fate with a second run.

When we arrived at the outermost Porcupine Island our captain donned a wet suit and Scuba gear and with a very nice video camera dove to the ocean floor. We watched video aboard the boat as he searched for and interacted with a vast array of sea creatures, many of which he returned to the surface with. He had a 3 inch tall miniature diving buddy on a string named Little Ed who fearlessly investigated and was frequently attacked by the claw bearing bottom dwellers. The whole thing was quite hysterical and the kids really enjoyed the experience.

While cruising to our dive location we encountered a seal, harbor porpoise (not pictured), natural sea arch, and an immature loon.

When everyone was awake and dressed we drove to Bar Harbor where we had a quick breakfast before making our way aboard the Starfish Enterprise. Our 3 hour Park Ranger led tour was fantastic. When the ship’s captain (and diver) enlisted one of his two Newfoundland dogs to demonstrate proper use of a life vest it was obvious we were in for a great adventure.

An early morning departure was needed to catch the tide on our first kayak outing. I was joined by Jeanine in her single and Rory and Maya in a rented tandem. We made a four-mile round trip to the nearest major island. It took the two youngsters some time to synchronize their paddling, but they eventually mastered the skill.

While dinner was being prepared, Jeanine put on some music, and the girls danced with abandon.

Our next destination was Sand Beach where the girls were careful to keep their clothes dry while racing the waves. Although the water temperature was a chilly 57F it was our lack of towels (and an adult willing to follow them) that kept the girls from taking the plunge.

Here is the reverse view from the top of Cadillac Mountain looking back on Sullivan Harbor. We enjoyed lunch here with Sophia and Rose while the boys and Maya elected to remain at the house enjoying croquet and tennis. Funny as I think about it, but with a high enough resolution camera you could find all 7 kids in this frame.

This morning, I was up at 5 am to catch the sunrise and do a little early morning photography. From our backyard, Sullivan Harbor opens up onto Frenchman’s Bay and this view of Cadillac Mountain in the heart of Acadia National Park.

I was rather thirsty after the long drive and decided to see if there was anything interesting in the refrigerator. A couple of live lobsters were not what I was expecting to find. Apparently these were all that remained of the seven purchased by Mark this morning directly from a lobster boat working off of the dock adjacent to ours. You need to know my brother to understand why fresh caught lobster for breakfast is a perfectly reasonable meal?

We are renting an oceanfront home on Sullivan Bay with a stunning view of the mountains of Acadia National Park. With my brother’s family, we number 10 (my sister-in-law, Marie, is in Ireland visiting with her sister, who is battling cancer and could not join us). The place is enormous, and everyone has plenty of room to spread out.

Within an hour of Nico’s liberation from the hospital we were on our way to Maine to join up with the rest of our clan. We made several pit stops along the way and completed the journey in six hours. I took this photo while driving which explains the bow of a kayak in the frame. The sky started out unusually beautiful but eventually turned dark and we spent the last hour driving through a torrential rain storm which ended as quickly as it started when we reached our destination.