No Worries

The weather has finally turned sunny and Maine is glorious and warm. We are meandering around from port to port and some close friends came out by boat to join us for an evening in a quiet harbor in Deer Isle. We had just enough time to inspect each others boats, share a drink and some conversation and they were drawn back to shore side commitments made.

For me, that very lack of structure, places that I have to be and duties that I have to carry out has been an enjoyable change. I still make lists of things that I have to do on the boat or things I might want to buy next time we make it to a store, but life is now focused on one (little) 50 foot boat and my family. As long as the anchor is holding, the pantry is stocked with food and water, the family is safe, life is good. And most importantly, we are together as a family. When Emily caught her first fish off the boat, I was glad that I was there to share her surprise and joy take it off the hook for her.

We are carefully hesitant to tell people where we will be at a certain time until we get there. Weather or just a really nice spot that dares us to stay one more day may change our plans and desire to move. Just today we decided to stay put in this nice quiet cove and do some boat maintenance items. I bought a fresh water outlet to install on deck at the bow next to a salt water outlet and it’s been sitting waiting patiently for me to install. Since we have several nice dry days coming up, I will add that fitting and plumb it up properly while Kim does some exterior varnish work. Now when we raise the anchor, we can wash the mud off the chain with salt water and then give the foredeck a nice fresh water rinse too.

Those chores should only take a day or two and Boothbay is just around the corner, so maybe we will sneak over there on Sunday afternoon… just as all the worker bees race back to their jobs.

Wooden Boats and Popovers

We’ve been winding our way around Maine and having a grand time despite the overcast days. We spent 3 days in Belfast Harbor visiting with good friends who have a home nearby. We handled a few errands that were made possible by car and even attended Sunday services just off the dock. From there we explored Eggemoggin Reach and dropped our anchor among three old schooners from an earlier time right in front of the Wooden Boat school. We went ashore and saw some craftsman making boats the way they have been made for over a hundred years.

After awaking to the sounds of sea shanties as the schooner crews sang as they worked in concert to raise their sails, we also raised our anchor (with a push of a button) and proceeded down east. We motored through Blue Hill bay and through some rocky channels and anchored between Great and Little Cranberry islands. We could find just enough swinging room among the lobster pot buoys to anchor and it proved to be a lovely spot. We stayed put for three nights and it became our base for exploring the Acadia area.

The winds have been so calm, that we have been taking our dingy further and further with confidence. We dinked over to Northeast harbor on Mount Desert (about 3 miles) and saw some fellow cruisers from our home yacht club and shared a nice cup of coffee and conversation. We discovered that several free busses are provided (by LLBean) to take people all around Acadia national park and run every half hour almost everywhere. The first day included a trip to Bar Harbor and the next day (sunny for a change) Emily enjoyed playing at Seal Harbor beach followed by a nice lunch at Jordon Pond house. They are famous for their popovers that are served warm with gobs of real butter and blueberry and strawberry preserves. They were very good and their Lobster stew and Seafood chowder was also quite memorable!

One evening during dinner on the boat, Kim noticed a 20 foot boat floating by us and heading for the rocks. Kim and I put on slickers and bounded to the rescue with our dingy. We managed to grab it in time and secured it to our little ship over night. The next morning, after calls to the Coast Guard, we towed it over to Little Cranberry fishing Co-op. We discovered it belonged to a retired lobsterman and despite shameless hints at our love of lobster, only received verbal thanks from his friends. Had we stayed longer, perhaps we might have met the owner. Oh well, I hope one day a fellow mariner will return the good deed in our time of need.

Tom

Another Rendezvous

We met up with another 70 boats in beautiful Gilkey harbor, which is in Islesboro Maine for the 18th Annual Seven Seas Cruising Association (SSCA) Downeast Rendezvous. Although most members are sailors, there were several other trawlers there and we were welcomed as long time members. Friday afternoon found seventy dingys all tied together in the harbor passing plates of hors d’oeuvres around as a floating cocktail party.

There were plates of shrimp, warm crab dips, several more traditional treats and Emily found a few kids her age to talk to. She was later interviewed by some of the Cruising World magazine staff for an upcoming article in that magazine. The next day, we all went to Dick and Kathy de Grasse's cottage on Islesboro Island for a similar pot luck lunch and were entertained by several speakers and met several new friends who invited us to visit them as we move down the east coast later this year. Emily renewed friendships with the same bunch of kids she had met the day before and was well worn out by days end from running around the small island.

The rain held off for the entire two day event but has returned with a vengeance ever since. We have not seen a sunny face in the 10-day weather forecast for the past 10 days and have given the generator a workout to make up for the lack of solar power from above. But dear reader, let me assure you, that a rainy day on the boat still beats the heck out of a sunny day at work! Kim has been baking deserts in the oven to warm up the boat and we’ve been pouring over the charts at such exotic places as Eggemoggin Reach, Frenchboro, Isle au Haut and Somes Sound that are begging to be explored.

Tom

Learning

We are learning as we move our way to Maine. The first lesson was learned by the Captain. We were taking the first of many long walks from the dingy dock to the supermarket in Onset, Mass for some food when the skies opened up with rain. Not a fresh cooling light mist, but a lets-soak-these-folks-down-to-their-skin type of rain. We tried ducking into a store to avoid the worst of it, but after looking at the T-shirt rack for the third time, we decided it would not be letting up until the cold milk we were carrying turned into cottage cheese. So we decided to walk through the torrential rain. Upon arrival at the boat and stripping off the wet clothes, I had the encounter with my learning experience…Palm Centro phones don’t like rain.

Luckily, we can all laugh about it now since Aunt Sally drove us halfway around Cape Cod to the nice people at Verizon, who replaced it for free. We added zip lock bags to the backpack for all future trips.

After the two day Cape Cod visit, we crossed the Stellwagen Bank and saw whales blowing and broaching. We had one about 40 feet from our boat and they are truly magnificent creatures.

We stayed in Rockport, Mass before making a 10 hour trip to Casco Bay, Maine. We visited with my Godfather Bill, and Dottie and they treated us to a nice dinner in that seaside town.

Emily and Mom are tearing through the 3^rd Harry Potter book and she is also learning too. For instance, she learned that a cookie, properly placed, can make one look strikingly like a baboon?

We are now deep in Maine and enjoying the cool nights for sleeping and seeing views like this out of an early morning porthole.

Tom