2015-03-07 Ice House Cove Trip

I had quite a few chores and tasks around home that I wanted to accomplish this weekend, but I also wanted to get out on the boat.  Hmm, so what's a guy to do?

I decided to make a very short overnight trip to Ice House Cove.

This map segment shows the access into the cove.
The black blob at the end of the blue access route is a mooring buoy ("MB").
The cove does not show as "Ice House Cove" on any charts that I have seen, so I guess that is a local name only.
It is only 9 miles from my home port in Bar Harbor, so not a long run to get there.

The access route is easy if you know the area and are aware of all the hazards.
There are several rock piles that are only visible on certain tides.
Here is what awaits you if you enter unaware of the dangers.

This boat wasn't up on the rocks the last time I came by here, so this is fairly recent.

Of course the mooring buoys are first come first served, so there are no reservations.
Whenever you come to a place like this intending to tie to the MB you'd better have a Plan B.
There is room to anchor in the cove and I have done that, but was really hoping to get the MB for this trip.

Fortunately when I came around the corner I could see the mooring buoy was open.
That red and white diamond shaped sign behind it and to the left on shore marks the beginning of a trail.  I did not leave the boat on this short trip.

I had brought along numerous "diversions" for this trip, and I spent the evening working on a few of them. 

It was dead calm when I tied up to the MB, but in the night the wind kicked up and some chop rolled into the cove.  The boat was fine, securely tied to the MB, but the waves slapping against the hull make a bit of noise, so that made it a little harder to sleep.

I left for home fairly early in the morning so I'd have plenty of time to work on my home projects.

I had a little bit of excitement on the short ride home.
A small open metal boat, approximately 20' long, with 2 people and a dog in it flew past me going the opposite direction.  Just as soon as they passed me I noticed that they stopped.  The man came back and took the cover off the outboard, which is never a good sign.

I circled back and just stood by as he worked on the engine.
I figured he would motion me in if they needed me.
I waited about 30 minutes and eventually he drifted into water too shallow for me to enter, so I called the Coast Guard.   The Coast Guard base was barely 2 miles ahead and they have fast response boats.  But as I was talking to them the guy got the engine started and backed away from the beach.  He came over and told me he had bad spark plugs, but had also inadvertently knocked out the "Kill Switch" for the outboard which prevents it from running.

All newer outboard motors have a "Kill Switch" that must be engaged for the engine to run.
The theory is that the operator will attach the Kill Switch to his body so that if he falls overboard the engine will quit and the boat will not circle around without steering and possibly run over him or someone else.

They came over to me after they got the engine started and said they were turning around and heading back to Bar Harbor  They asked me to watch for them in case they broke down again but I did not see them again, so I assume they got in safely.

I was back in the stall by about 11 AM with only a whopping 18 miles logged for this trip.