Heat Wave in Maine? Hardly.

"Everyone treats each other equally, whether you have a mansion or a trailer," said de Grasse, whose family has owned a summer place here for several decades. "The island is laid-back and isolated. And after 4:30, it's like the bridge has gone up."

I made the crossing just in time.

* * *

A cold spell was forecast for my last day, and I awoke with an entertaining image in my head: a boat full of tourists buzzing around Penobscot Bay in blankets and fleece, dressed for December in July. The 50-foot Schooner Olad's earliest departure was at 9:45, before the sun could sufficiently warm up the brisk northern air. Perfect weather for a summer sail.

Aaron Lincoln, the captain and owner of the vessel, has logged nearly 100,000 miles on the bay and around its islands. After admiring the boat's sleek lines and polished wood, I turned my fascination to his beard, a burly red nest that would make a nice home for a family of bald eagles. Lincoln was a very easygoing commander as he steered the boat past a cruise ship and along the craggy coastline, rarely pausing in his anecdotes and descriptions.

Seals often sun on the rocks, porpoises skim the waves, and ospreys roost atop Curtis Lighthouse. But the wildlife was being coy this a.m., so Lincoln regaled us with tabloid-worthy stories. He showed us the largest house in Camden, which features a 72-car garage. A short distance later, we passed a mansion surrounded by sculptural rocks. Lincoln explained that the family's son had died in a boating accident and the mother had the stones aligned as therapy. Though the rows appeared haphazard, there was order to her invention: They all lead to a mermaid figure holding a star in the palm of her hand.

On the return sail, the conversation turned toward recipes. Lobster, of course, was the main ingredient: caramelized onion, asiago cheese and lobster omelet; asparagus and lobster quiche. Then it switched to the weather.

"We can all talk about the weather and get along," said Lincoln, as his first mate lowered the sails in Camden Harbor. Indeed, even when we have different definitions of hot, we certainly can.