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.

It rains in the south

19 July 2016 | Haerland Norway
Debi Dennis Jack Markin
We're doing a pretty good job of not revisiting the same places we saw on the way up north. Even when I want to go back to a place it's just working out that we don't and instead find some new place that's equally interesting. This morning we left Kalvag thinking we would have a short trip to Svanoy (an island with the family run salmon smokery that should be sold by Zingermanns) before the winds got too strong from the south, but instead we kept going to Haerland on the island of Askvoll. Kalvag was an interesting town. It was our first stop after seeing the most sheer drop to the sea that Norway has to offer--there were tons of waterfalls and still snow at the top of some very steep walls. We were told that Kalvag had the best restaurant in western Norway so we went to eat there. It was good, not great, and expensive, but nice to eat out for a change. This was the first town that we heard anything about refugees. The restaurant owner was hosting some Syrian refugees and we met him while he was getting them pizza. Norwegians eat a lot of pizza. It seems like they mostly eat fish, pizza and hotdogs. We tied up in front of a 46ft sailboat from Bergen with a couple about our ages aboard. Not long afterward another 46 ft sailboat came in and tried to tie in front of us, sticking off the end of the pier about 20 ft. So Jack suggested they move back and we tie to them and we did, only to discover that there were ten of them aboard. So two boats, same size, one has two people, one has ten. There were eight kids with one couple. They were like a kind of relief foster parent thing. Retired teachers in their new job--they have the kids every other weekend year round, for winter and fall vacation breaks and for a two week summer camp. The summer camp has lots of boats of course, including this 46 foot Bavaria. They said in the winter they take them skiing. It's called 'tailwind kids', as explained to me by the former coach most kids have someone pushing them to do well, these kids don't, so they need a tailwind--that's his job providing the tailwind. Anyway, we left early this morning while they were all still sleeping. We wanted to go to Svanoy to get some smoked salmon like we did on the way up but once we got going in the rain we decided to push a little further and ended up in Haerland, which appears to be a great place for hiking but it's been pouring rain since we got here and we got drenched on our short rainwalk. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and warm. Should we stay and enjoy it on the island or use it to get to Bergen? Hmmm... one of the best parts of sailing is when the weather will not let you. After going for a short wet walk, we spent the afternoon aboard reading. Deb Chekov and Jack Wendell Berry. There is something delightful reading about a sense of place and a life tied to farms while in a sailboat far away from your place. Cruisers that do this full time seem to be able to make wherever they are their place, or perhaps imagine that they do. We are not able or willing to do this. Our connection to family, friends and the places we grew into are too strong as well as too attractive to fully leave behind. This does not belittle the places we have seen, but in a some way tempers our association with them. It is both comforting and disconcerting to see an end, or at least the outline of one.
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Iroquois's Photos - Main
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