Home Again!

A sailor’s dilemma:

Option A: Depart Tuesday, August 20, and head home with head on forecasted southwest winds but low wave heights and 9 second wave intervals, or

Option B: Wait for possible following northeast winds with higher wave heights and 4-5 second wave intervals that may come this weekend after a forecasted weather front moves through on Friday

Well, Option A won after much pondering and study of weather forecasts.  We departed Block Island on Tuesday morning and motor/sailed parts of the way but mostly motored.  There was a beautiful full bright moon shining all of Tuesday night. Surprisingly, we saw no ship traffic but there were at least two dozen fishing trawlers dragging their nets as they zizagged around us through the night. Perhaps the full moon made fishing catches better or maybe they are out there every night, we aren’t sure?

On Wednesday afternoon we were offshore of Atlantic City, NJ.  It seemed like a foggy horizon welcome home for us as we could barely see the huge high rise casinos on the beach in the haze.  Look closely at the photo and you’ll see the top of one highrise casino.

We decided to stay in Cape May an extra day and were glad we did when the weather front moved through on Friday afternoon.  It brought skies like we have not seen before. As the clouds moved over the harbor, tour boats were rushing for their docks.  The crewman is out on the bow sprit of the ship tying down the sail, which he would normally do back at the dock, trying to beat the storm.

These storm clouds were impressive.  They rolled over us anchored in the harbor and hovered just above the ocean off shore.

Fortunately the storm cells only poured rain on us.  We were glad to be safe at anchor in the harbor instead of still coming down the coast. This was the worst storm we have seen on our trip. We were amazed to hear no distress calls to the Coast Guard on the VHF radio. Perhaps the storm just looked worse than it was, at least we hope so.

Two things surprised us about our trip to New England.

1. Above Cape Cod Canal during our routine bilge checks in June, we found a cup or so of water where there is usually none.  It took us a few days to figure out that the cold seawater temperatures and high humidity was causing water to condense below our hull water level and drips were running down into our bilge and accumulating.  This continued until we were returning back south to Portland in August.  The sea water temperature had increased and humidity decreased enough so that it was no longer a problem and the bilges were again dry.  This was a learning experience for us.
2. The New England area was interesting and beautiful to explore but we found it difficult to find  lots of places to anchor.  The guides said “take a mooring” and we now understand that is what most boaters do to visit. The places we would often like to anchor were usually filled with lobster floats, or were very deep up to shore with rocky bottoms or already filled with private moorings for rent. We are a bit spoiled by having many anchorages available in the Chesapeake Bay that are more shallow with a good holding mud bottom.  It is always fun to see how boating differs in other areas.

After a roaring sail up the Delaware on Saturday and colorful fireworks off the shore as we were anchored on Bohemia River for the final night of our trip, we returned to the marina on Sunday.

  

We have had a wonderful boat trip enjoying the opportunity to visit new places and meet new friends.  As always, we may travel east and we may travel west, but returning home is always the best!  The Chesapeake Bay is pretty special!

Moving on down....

We left Portland and rounded Cape Ann headed south.  Fisherman never seem to rest as we sailed by this fishing trawler hauling in its nets with seagulls struggling to get a taste. 

Threatening weather forecasts made us decide to spend two nights at Isles of Shoal although heavy evening fog turned out to be the worst of it.  After a night anchored outside Rockport Harbor, we stopped for another fun family visit with Laurie and Mike in Scituate, Massachusetts.  Friday brought great west winds for a beautiful sail south so we could motor through the Cape Cod Canal about 5:30PM to catch the tide rushing west.  As we exited the Canal, we looked back to see the raised railroad bridge that marks the western canal entrance. 

An overnight anchorage in Onset harbor meant one more chance for an ice cream treat with Mike and Laurie – a delicious treat and great company.  Saturday feels like we are back in the Chesapeake with still wind doldrums and pretty warm weather as we motored to anchor outside Cuttyhunk’s harbor.  August is definitely the boating season busytime in this area as the outside anchorage has sixty boats today compared to three when we were anchored here in late June.  Of course, today is a weekend, also. It was interesting to see this herd of cattle enjoying the coolness of the water on the neighboring island.  They get hot, too, it seems. 

We hoped the Block Island anchorage area would have some vacancies on a Sunday evening but we do not think they would miss us if we were not here.  The harbor is full of visiting cruisers.  We did find a spot to anchor for the night as we rest up and check weather for the next big hop down the coast to Cape May, NJ.

Rain & Sun

A rare totally rainy day! It was forecast and we were in a quiet anchorage in Harpswell Harbor with lots of swing room to just let it rain.  We are very fortunate to have a loose schedule so that we could just stay at anchor to wait it out.

So what do we do to keep busy on a rainy day?  Jay works on the computer and having an internet connection makes that even better.  Reading good books we brought or pick up at marina book exchanges works for a while.  Norma brought some unfinished craft/embroidery projects that she wants to complete by the time we get home. Listening to Sirius radio allows us to hear music, news or NPR and that signal is received anywhere we go. I let Jay beat me playing cards sometimes! A quiet slow paced down day can be a good thing.  We are thankful for a warm, dry boat!

 

The rain did stop, fog lifted and the sun shone bright on Sat. morning so we headed into Portland to restock food, water and fuel before beginning the longer hops southward.  Portland was bustling on a weekend with kites flying at the shore-side park and a harbor full of boat activity.

 

 

We again used the bikes to explore South Portland near the marina where we stayed.  Explored to find the kites in the Bug Light Park, Hannaford grocery store, a local art festival and the growing downtown South Portland area.

Sunday was a walking day for us to cross the bridge and explore downtown Greater Portland with trails all along the harbor.  We'll be ready to depart early tomorrow, moving southward.

Seeing new places as we move west in Maine

Our Coastal Explorer software, GPS and Chartplotter are key for navigation but we still need to attentive as we plan our routes. Shoals and rocks are never far away and sometimes hidden by the ten foot tidal difference.  We are close to this shoal of rocks but it is pretty deep up to them.

Picking up a mooring at Robinhood Marine Center was a night's stop up the Sheepscot River.  The Center bought some of the Cape Dory boat molds in 1987 when Cape Dory closed.  We suspected there would be some other Cape Dory boats to see.  It is always fun to see how others have fixed up their boat identical to ours.  Robinhood was the English name for Chief Mahotiwormet who led a tribe of local Indians in the early 1600's.  He was known to have kept peace with the white settlers and the marina honors him with its name and statue.  Priority is moored far back in this photo.

Robinhood Marine Center occupies the whole cove with docks, moorings, restaurant, library/museum as well as huge work sheds.  Jay found the boat molds for the 27' and 30' Cape Dory boats.  We had fun looking all around. Jay stands over the dock where we could land our dinghy when coming ashore.

With water tanks filled and laundry all clean we left Robinhood and sailed to The Basin off the New Meadows River.  Friends recommended staying here as a very protected, peaceful and beautiful hurricane hole anchorage. We navigated the narrow entrance as shown in the photo which opened into a larger pond area with room for us to anchor in a muddy bottom (instead of rocky). A great recommendation!

 

After morning rain showers, we left The Basin and continued west to Eagle Island.  Admiral Robert Perry who is credited with first reaching the North Pole built a family home on this island.  His family donated the island home to Maine which opened it as a state park.  Perry bought Eagle Island for $200 when he graduated from college and eventually built this house where he lived for nine years until his death.  It is beautifully maintained and filled with his collections from traveling the world.

Lobsters used to grow bigger here in Maine.  Perry caught this 15 lb. lobster off the island.  Having studied taxidermy, he mounted it for display.  Today Maine lobstermen measure each lobster they catch and must throw back any they catch under or over a certain size.  Perry's lobster was huge compared to those lobstermen catch today.

From the unique windows in Perry's library we could see Priority riding on a mooring.

Park rangers maintain the building and yard.  Summer interns and volunteers come by boat daily to help.  Only one caretaker lives in a small house on the island all summer.

 

This monument was built on one of the outer islands next to Eagle Island along Maine's coast to help boaters identify their location.  Before having GPS to locate a boat's position, this monument marker told sailors exactly where they were among the many little islands dotting the shoreline.  It still stands strong and tall today.

We sailed up Harpswell Sound to anchor in Harpswell Harbor for the night with thunderstorms and a rainy Friday forecast.  The orange line shows our travel path west.  It intersects our yellow track followed when we went east but we attempt to visit new places.

Old ships, old cars, old sails and old movies

The tall ships are active during August traveling the ports of New England.  Going into Pulpit Harbor on North Haven in Maine we met these two ships leaving on a rainy Saturday.  They are classics and a joy to watch sail.

Going ashore in Pulpit Harbor we were able to land our dinghy at a floating dock.  It made a perfect opportunity to take our folding bikes ashore for a ride on the island of North Haven.  Jay shows how compactly a bike folds.

We enjoyed riding the quiet roads across the island of North Haven to the Fox Island Thorofare which we have sailed through.  This classic Dodge caught our eye as it waited in the parking lot for its owner to arrive on the ferry from across the Penobscot Bay.

A real treat was to have the right following wind to sail our spinnaker as we headed toward Seal Bay on the island of Vinalhaven on Sunday.  This spinnaker is nostalgic for us as we purchased it used from Bacon, a consignment marine store, in Annapolis, way back in 1983.. and it is still sailing-just like us!

Monday we sailed on to Port Clyde, Maine.  We explored the little seaport town and walked to the Marshall Point Lighthouse on the point.  Do you recognize it?  Did you watch the movie "Forest Gump"?  Port Clyde was excited when Tom Hanks and his movie crew came to town for four days to film the thirty seconds of the movie when Forest ran across the USA and touched the east coast lighthouse - the Marshal Point Lighthouse!  The volunteer at the Lighthouse said :Tom Hanks walked into a trailer in the parking lot and Forest Gump walked out a few hours later".

We decided we'll have to watch the movie again and look for the lighthouse.

Delightful Penobscot Bay, Maine seaport towns

Each seaport town was built because of its location rich in a history of ship building and living off the water.  In today's world each of those seaport towns is trying to resurrect itself to be attractive for people to visit based on that same history but with some unique defining characteristics.  Castine has developed an extensive historical walk about town including a walk to the Dice Head Lighthouse.  It is privately owned now but the kind owners let visitors walk the steep path down the cliff to the water edge on the point.

Castine's historical walk takes you to the Wilson Museum with Wednesday demonstrations. In the woodshed Temple Blackwood shares his woodturning skills to show how craftsmen would have created similar items years ago.

These are some of the items Temple created but are similar to ones made many years ago using hand tools with no electrical help. Bowls, stools, mallets, candlestick holders, game pieces and toys were just a few of the smaller items as well as pieces of furniture and trim for house exteriors. In fact, for today's young visitors, Temple was turning magic wands since they were Harry Potter fans.

Darren put us to work making a long piece of rope from eight single strands of twine to demonstrate rope making techniques for the ships built in Castine's harbor. We had never made rope before so we learned a new skill. Jay is turning the eight strands and I am working my way up to him with the twisted piece of rope.

In Thursday morning's fog we traveled across the Bay to Searsport to visit their small town with the Penobscot Marine Museum village including several old sea captain's homes, the village church still used today and several boat houses filled with fishing boats, various skiffs and sailing vessels.

The fog disappeared but with forecasts of rain and thunderstorms, we ventured on to a more protected anchorage in Belfast for the night.  Belfast is a quiet seaport town redeveloping its waterfront area.  We walked on the footbridge  recently completed to connect the two sides of town. Priority rides on a mooring in the Belfast harbor behind Jay. The sun is shining bright now!

Belfast is home to some very creative and artsy people shown by the inventive street benches you find as you walk throughout the town.  We only show a few favorites here.  You have to come and visit to see them all - lots of fun!

 

Very comfortable form fitting seats...

 

Even an outboard engine seat for the Captain...

My favorite bench with empty colorful paint cans for support...

We certainly think you'd enjoy a visit to these seaport towns by boat or by car, the towns above and the towns we already shared such as Camden and Rockport.  Each one is unique and worth a stop if you come this way. 

Farther east and then heading back

Remember Jay's favorite photo of the fog rolling over the islands taken from our hike high on top of Cadillac Mountain a few days ago? Saturday we sailed out of Northeast Harbor around the south of Mount Dessert Island and up into Frenchman Bay past those same islands. Porcupine Island looks very different on a clear day with no fog.

We had a quiet night anchored in Flanders Bay.  Sunday we left anchor with clear skies but a few hours later as we motored back down Frenchman Bay we could see a wall of fog ahead of us.  The red-sailed schooner out of Bar Harbor was giving visitors a ride on the edge of the fog bank that was moving toward us.  Jay got to see the fog rolling over Porcupine Island for a second time.

Our confidence has grown reading the radar screen and using the chart plotter to help us navigate when the fog moves in.  That is a good thing since we have had lots of overcast damp days which seem to correlate with foggy weather.  Deciding to continue our visit in the Acadia National Park on the more remote Schnoodic Pensisula we motored to a mooring in Winter Harbor. (We already stayed in one Winter Harbor on Vinalhaven but this is another Winter Harbor farther north on Schnoodic Peninsula.) Maine granite is still very evident as this huge decorative cleat made of granite stands by the main harbor at low tide.  Our foul weather gear has been essential for rain protection as well as warmth.

We enjoyed a tour of the coastline as LL Bean also supports the Schnoodic Peninsula park area by providing a bus for visitors.  In fact, while Mt. Desert Island does close in winter, Schnoodic Peninsula remains open throughout the winter since the Park has its headquarters here.  The local residents are happy since they get their roads snow plowed and kept clear by the Park.

After much thought we decided not to travel farther east.  There are beautiful anchorages and places to visit.  However, with increasing fog and higher tide differences (more than the 10-14 feet difference we now experience), we left Winter Harbor in thick fog and light rain.  We traveled southwest to anchor in Buckle Harbor on Swans Island.

Dinghing ashore at low tide to explore Buckle Island, we found that we could walk all the way around the uninhabited island along the rocky shores and using trails through the pine trees on land.

We decided that since the water is pretty chilly for swimming, visitors must use their creativity and time on land since we found this "door" on the trail.  There once was a cabin on the island and the door must have been left behind so someone put it to work. We also found a village of three miniature houses made of bark, sticks and stones- very clever of previous visitors.

Today again started foggy and chilly as Capt. Jay dons his winter hat.  We passed under a bridge across Eggemoggin Reach connecting Little Deer Isle to the mainland on our way to visit Castine in the upper Penobscot Bay.

Capt. Jay is very pleased with how well our new autopilot is able to hold a course so that often we are on helm duty without touching the steering wheel.  However, here you can see that he still remembers how to steer as winds were gusty and fluky blowing around the many little islands of Eggemoggin Reach.  He is still smiling as he handles the helm, too.

Castine is a quiet, historical seaport town and home to the Maine Maritime Academy.  Its 500' training ship, the State of Maine, is docked and open for visitors.  We did this afternoon.

Michael is a freshman at the Academy and volunteers as a tour guide during the summer.  He took us up on the bridge where we could look out and see how small Priority looks far below on her mooring in the harbor. Michael just returned from a trip on the ship to Quebec.  Jay could ask lots of questions as we toured the engine rooms, (6 cylinder 8000hp diesel).