Debi and Jack sailing on SV Iroquois

Vessel Name: Iroquois
Vessel Make/Model: Ohlson38
Crew: Jack Markin, Debi Dennis
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21 July 2019 | Belfast Maine
12 July 2019 | Pulpit Harbor, North Haven, Maine
27 July 2018 | Lincolnville Maine
05 July 2018 | Boothbay Harbor Maine
17 June 2018 | Falmouth Foreside, Maine
14 June 2018 | Portland Maine
12 June 2018 | Portsmouth New Hampshire
10 June 2018 | Jamestown CT
07 June 2018 | New Haven CT
30 May 2018 | Port Washington New York
27 May 2018 | Brooklyn New York
25 May 2018 | Atlantic City, New Jersey
24 May 2018 | Cape May NJ
23 May 2018 | Worton Creek
21 May 2018 | Annapolis Maryland
16 May 2018 | Solomons Island Maryland
13 May 2018 | Deltaville Virginia
11 May 2018 | Cape Charles Virginia
09 May 2018 | Hampton Virginia
06 May 2018 | Hampton Virginia
Recent Blog Posts
21 July 2019 | Belfast Maine

Belfast Maine

After Pulpit Harbor we stopped at Warren Island state park for a night before checking into Belfast. Nate came by in his little boat and took us up river which was way cool. We passed some houseboats, one of which was covered in plants. He even had peas growing up the stanchions  and lifelines.

12 July 2019 | Pulpit Harbor, North Haven, Maine

Pulpit Harbor

Iroquois is afloat again! We launched Wednesday in Rockport where we stayed all day readying and organizing. We had a nice get together and dinner in Camden with our Rockport friends then yesterday we did a shakedown sail to Pulpit Bay on North Haven. There was a light wind, 8-15 kts, so we put up the [...]

27 July 2018 | Lincolnville Maine

2018 The End

Iroquois is getting the full spa treatment. Every locker, cubby, lazarette, bilge emptied and cleaned. Varnish in and out. Metal cleaned. Winches serviced. Sails washed and repaired. The engine is serviced and winterized. Even the fuel is polished! The boat is going to enjoy a well-deserved rest in a [...]

05 July 2018 | Boothbay Harbor Maine

Boothbay Harbor

Our apologies for the lack of recent posts. We hung around Portland and Handy Boat -- visiting with family and friends and trying to adjust to a more land-based existence. Lily and Anthony came up for a Saturday dinner (oysters and lobster) aboard then sailed to our mooring at Handy Boat. The next weekend Zach and Maura came and we did the same thing. It was a pleasure to have Zach aboard for the first time. Thank you Maura! Hopefully it was enough fun they will want to come again. This past weekend the Garbers came and we did some sailing around Casco Bay. Lily was a good helmsman. She and Hubbard shared the duties. There wasn't much wind, but also no accidents. We had some great food in Portland, including two excellent meals at Fore Street, which did not disappoint. In between all the family visits we caught up with Stephanie and Brian on Detour. We met them on the OCC Norway Rally in 2016. They crossed over the next winter and spent last summer in Maine. They are just getting ready to take off on their next adventure as we wrap ours up. Hopefully they will have an excellent trip wherever the winds blow them. Handy Boat was very welcoming to us. It was fun to come back and see everyone who took such good care of us before our first Atlantic crossing. We also took in a concert by the  Frank Vignola Hot Jazz Trio, which was really good and a nice break in routine. Yesterday we motor sailed and motored to Boothbay Harbor. We will stay here a few days and visit with John and Ann who live here. We met in the Bahamas when Ann greeted us with a freshly baked loaf of bread. We were hungry and tired after a six day passage from St Thomas and her bread is amazing. It's hard to repay something like that. Anyway, this is our last hurrah for the season. Saturday we'll stop in Rockland. Sunday we move to Rockport and prepare to get hauled out Monday morning. Then we'll start work on the long list of deferred maintenance and repairs. We plan to be home in Wisconsin by August.

17 June 2018 | Falmouth Foreside, Maine

The Atlantic Circle is Complete

We have completed the Atlantic circle. Today we sailed from Portland to Handy Boat in Falmouth Foreside with Lily and Anthony. Almost exactly three years ago we left here on a transatlantic adventure. It's hard to imagine and even to remember all the places we've seen and all the people we've met. We [...]

14 June 2018 | Portland Maine

BacK in Maine

Jack woke me at 4:20 this morning, claiming that it was light, and we left Portsmouth harbor a little while after along with a fishing boat. It started as a slow day of dodging lobster pots. Every time I get annoyed by them I try to think about how delicious lobster is. There are so many of them, either there are a lot of lobsters or there will soon be none. Somewhere between Portsmouth and Portland we heard a sound we haven't heard for a very long time, it was the call of a loon which brought smiles to our faces. The wind did pick up and it turned into a nice sail all the way to Portland Maine. This is only the second place we've been in four years that we have actually been to before. We also stopped twice in Bergen Norway.  Anyway, we have certainly seen a lot of new places and the end of the journey is a little sad. Luckily Jack bought an oyster knife and we are docked near the fish market so we can treat ourselves and enjoy the moment.

heavy weather

24 June 2015 | 41 46.4'N:054 35'W,
Well, we've been through a three almost days or so more of heavy weather and learned a few things. Also have a few broken things. The winds were steadily 25-35kts with gusts into the forties, the waves were the biggest I've ever seen--I'm not good at estimating wave height (25-30 feet but not breaking), but these were the mountinous type with the foamy white rivulets running down the front of them. We ran off under storm jib alone (at close to 7 knots). I really learned to trust the boat and the monitor. For a while in the depths ofit I was afraid to set the Monitor self-steering because the waves were so big that one mistake could be catastrophic, but then I realized that I could also make a mistake so I set it up and it did just fine--kept our stern to the waves and stayed on course. We've had about 6 hours now of no wind and have been running the engine to charge the batteries and keep moving us eastward. We expect another short storm this afternoon and then should get a b reak for a couple of days before the next big system comes through. In the course of the last storm there were some scary moments I give you a few that I can think of now. -- Once I was resting below when Jack starting yelling "I need your help" I came up and he showed me that the attachment for the Monitor lines had ripped out of the coaming. Luckily we have our cordless drill (best friend) and hardware kit accessible so I was able to find some bolts, washers and nuts and then I steered while Jack made a new attachment point. All this time we were in 35 kts with occasional drenchings. ---Also in 35 kts we wrapped the genoa and couldn't get it clear so had to take it down and stuff it in the v berth all wet. During this process the shackle that holds it on disapperared. Luckily Jack (i wired the new one on) found one that works. I wrote an earlier post about 'Jack of all trades". I am so grateful that Jack is good at fixing stuff. When the winds slowed to about 17 kts in th e middle of the night we thought we could put up the genoa again so we gave it our best shot, after raising it the first time we noticed that all the line had run out of the drum furler, so we brought it down, rewrapped the line and tried again--naturally we wrapped it the wrong way and had to drop the sail again and start over, the third time I didn't see that the halyard was wrapped around the forestay, by that time I was exhausted and we had to give up and stuff it back down into the vberth. In the morning in the light with only 5 kts of wind it was so easy! It's surprising how quickly we adjust to a situation--I mean after a while 20 kts seemed like a light wind to me. Of course lots of stuff slid around below since we don't really have great stowage for everyhting. Somehow a bottle of lavendar soap loose and broken on the floor of the head. Jack can't find his reading glasses. But no serious injuries and no disabling damage We did lose our windex, which I will miss. And I'm a lot braver now.

Jack writing: I am pretty sure that given a complete list of the things we have done wrong since this trip started thatlist would be very close to every possible mistake. Since there is no wind now(since early this morning we have been motoring. This is the last time I think we will motor through calms as we only have 40 gallons of diesel and when I turn off the engine will have used about 10 of them. Night watch has varied from terrifying (storms) although were it not so terrifying going hull speed under storm jib alone might be pretty cool. Even though terrifying the waves were ridiculously beautiful. Night watch has been cold. Night watch has been dull. The stars are very clear. there are two planets and a star that make a downward sloping line on the western horizon, the planets are huge and bright. We have seen 3-4 big ships and 2 Portuguese man-of-war although they only had 6-9 inch sails. We started to downlaod GRIB files almoust everyday, They seem to be better than the weather router, and the weather-fax also delivers files.
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Iroquois's Photos - Main
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