Swan's Sweet Songs

After a foggy day at anchor on Sunday with the Dashew's aboard for a cup of tea, we had a sunny day Monday to motor about 30 miles further Downeast thru the thick lobster pots of Merchant Row to Burnt Coat Harbor on Swan's Island (44d08.44'N, 68d26.79'W, 25 ft). Katie sat in the dinghy on the foredeck with the WH autopilot remote all day hitting the dodge buttons while Kurt navigated and made macro course corrections from the pilothouse.

We took the dinghy ashore at the lobster coop wharf and set off to secure tickets for the annual Sweet Chariot Music Festival held in the Oddfellows Hall. The General Store usually sells tickets but they were sold out for Tuesday and Wednesday and all Thursday tickets were collected and held by a local character named 'Shamis' whose last name no one knew. A kind woman named Carol drove us to the Oddfellows Lodge where some members gave us his number and we were able to secure two seats for the Thursday show. Carol gave us a tour all around the island and of her typical 1880's summer home. Of particular interest was the "Quarry Pond', a fresh water swimming hole.

 

The Sweet Chariot Music Festival on Swans Island was a hit and we were able to go Wednesday night as well. It was mostly a group of local artists and the rest from all over including LA, Bulgaria and New York performing folk music including sea chanties, celtic ballads, and original songs. Some artists even sang chanties in the afternoons from a yacht circling the anchorage.
The Quarry Pond allowed us to swim for the first time since the Bahamas two months ago. We and about a dozen locals had to share the warm clear fresh water with a flock of seagulls but they stayed on their side of a buoyed rope. Kids were jumping off rock ledges and sunning on a dock in the middle.