This is a picture of an interesting paint job in an International class boat that we saw moored at Great Cranberry, just off Mt Desert Island.

July 11, 2006

Now that we have learned the bus system's idiosyncrasies, we took it today into Southwest Harbor for a few errands, including a stop at West Marine to order a replacement strainer for the shower sump in the forward head. The salty marine environment means that there's always something to replace, repair or just maintain. Then a stop at the internet cafe to download email, etc, and to the grocery store for a few items. Then back to Somesville on the bus. The driver figured out that we were on a boat, and told us not to get off at the regular Somesville stop, which is about a half mile from the lane down to the harbor. So we got off exactly by the lane. Apparently you can flag it down anywhere, and ask it to stop anywhere. Once we figured it out, it was a very convenient (and free) service.

July 12, 2006

Off home today. Saturday is my brother Bill's 60th birthday, so we will have a family party to celebrate. But this morning, as I started the watermaker, all the DC systems shut down. On the boat we have both a 12 volt dc system (fed from 3 large batteries), and a 120 volt ac (like normal household supply). After a little troubleshooting, the culprit was discovered to be a dc shunt, used to supply an amperage reading to a meter that we no longer use. So with that removed, all was well. This also answered some questions about some charging probems that we had been experiencing.

July 19, 2006

We're back in Maine on a hot and windless day. We left Charlottetown about 9 am, and after a drive of almost exactly 7 hours (plus one hour gained in the change of time zones) we were at the boatyard at 3 pm. After loading another jammed carfull of equipment, a short run up the road to an excellent fish store for supper supplies, it was too late and hot to go anywhere, so we just stayed on the mooring at the boatyard for the night.

July 20, 2006

We spent the morning stocking up with groceries, another trip to West Marine, and a few internet details, and were off the mooring about 2 pm. At the head of Somes Sound the fog descended, so we groped pur way over to Clifton dock to top off the diesel tanks and fill up the dinghy's gas tank. Then we motored to the harbor of Little Cranberry Island where we anchored for the night. We arrived in time to take the dinghy ashore for a walk, and a stop in the island grocery store for a few non-essential supplies. Its like stepping back into the 1920's with a few summer homes, some fishermen and a nice restaurant on the wharf. Very nice. When we came ashore, I took the precaution of taking our hand-held GPS unit with us (having entered the boat's position before leaving for shore). And when we were ready to return to the boat, the fog was so thick that we used the GPS to find our way back. Without it, you can easily become disoriented, and get lost in minutes.
But we found our way back without difficulty with the aid of technology and the US military (who maintain the system). We have been to Little Cranberry Island a number of times, and always enjoy it, but this time, with no wind and the coming and going of innumerable fishermen, the rolling from the wakes drove us crazy. Luckily it stopped at sundown, but they wre back at it by 6 am. Never again!!

July 21, 2006

We have been listening to the weather forecasts, and wondering if tropical storm Beryl will sweep up the Maine coast. There has been a storm watch off Cape Cod, and the offshore forecast for the Gulf of Maine is for storm force (50 knots) winds, but our forecast is for moderate (less than 20 knots) winds from the east today, moving to light to moderate westerlies tomorrow. When we heard the first alerts, as we were unloading the car, we decided to bring aboard our new Storm Anchor (80 lbs) given to me by Newfoundland Power as a retirement gift. It's a monster (our normal anchor weighs 45 lbs) but is designed to help you survive extreme weather, so we loaded it on, feeling better for having it. Thanks, Karl. So far we have not had to use it.
There were also forecasts for intense thunderstorms with heavy rain. But in the morning, at Little Cranberry, the visibility was OK (about 1/2 mile) and the winds were favorable (and we were fed up with the constant rolling) so we left after breakfast. With a following wind, we motored out the harbor, and sailed past Owl's Head light, through the Bass Harbor Bar channel, across Blue Hill Bay, through Casco Passage, down Jerricho Bay, and anchored about 3 pm at McGlatherties Island, where we shared the anchorage with one other boat who left about 4 pm.
After getting anchored, and settled away, we went ashore for a 15 minute walk across the island. Returning, we came across some Chanterelle mushrooms, and picked a few for an omelet for tomorrow's lunch. For dinner, we had fresh tuna with fresh snow peas and new potatoes. Our wine was another "special", this one a bit better than the last ($3.99) special.
Tomorrow we're off across Isle Au Haut Bay and Penobscott Bay as we work our way down to Portland. I will be flying from there to Toronto for a meeting on Thursday, so we should be there by Wednesday at the latest, but to avoid weather surprises, we will plan to arrive Tuesday. It's a total of about 80 miles (I always refer to nautical miles, that is about 15% longer than a "statute" or "land" mile), and we travel at about 5.5 knots (nautical miles per hour), so that equates to about 15 hours sailing.

July 22, 2006

It is a bad idea to have deadlines when cruising, and today explains why. Needing to be in Portland on Wednesday, we were anxious to leave McGlatherties and work our way west. One reason for leaving was the forecast for 15-20 kts winds from the south-east, meaning a nice sail downwind across Isle Au Haut and Penobscott Bays to a mooring somewhere along the western side of Penobscott Bay. And the forecast for this evening was heavy rain and rising winds, and for tomorrow gale force winds, so we need a snug anchorage for the night. This would leave a couple of reasonably short days to Portland. So either go now, or risk staying put for at least tomorrow and possibly Monday as well. That would be cutting it short for Portland Wednesday!
So we set out about 9 am in dense fog. This means one of us sitting at the navigation station (the nav station) reading the chart plotter that is linked to the GPS, and comparing this to the radar. The Plotter shows your exact position, and the radar tells you who else is out there with you. The person navigating then gives directions to the person on the helm. And the person on the helm then follows the course given, while dodging the thousands of buoys marking lobster traps.
So we set out, and for about half an hour groped our way out into Isle Au Haut Bay, where we could relax a bit, as there are fewer things to hit, including fewer lobster buoys. While we were waiting for the wind, we motored across the bay. But with no wind, and a large swell rolling in perpendicular to our course, we did a lot of rolling. After an hour or so, the wind picked up a bit so we hoisted the main. There was not enough wind to sail, but the main helped stabilize the rolling.
By the time we had motor-sailed across Isle Au Haut Bay and across the bottom of Vinalhaven, we were totally fed up with the rolling! The wind, although it had picked up a little, was still too light to sail directly to our destination, so we decided just to sail in whatever direction minimized the rolling. That took us about 40 degrees off our course but we had a nice sail. I made lunch of home made baked beans and toast. The wind slowly came round, allowing us to resume our course to our destination, Port Clyde, but after while, petered out, so we lowered the sails and resumed motoring... right over a lobster pot!!! This happens to us (and others) once or twice a season. The line gets hooked in either the rudder or the propeller. Some times you can work it loose, other times (like twice last year) I am forced to put on my scuba gear and dive down to untangle the mess. Today, after about a half hour of struggling, we managed to get free. So for the remaining two hours we were motoring, we were pretty careful! During the day the fog never really cleared. Once we had about a mile of visibility, but for the most part it was a quarter mile or less, at times down to a boatlength.
But rain held off (as did the wind) until we were about 3 miles from Port Clyde. Then we got it all... wind, rain & fog. The only blessing was that the roll had gone as we were now in the lee of some islands. We finally arrived, tired from the rolling, wet, but not too cold, as in spite of the fog and rain, it is still quite warm. Down below we have had hot showers, the espar heater is on, so we are warm and dry, and ready for whatever comes. But have we learned not to set deadlines? I doubt it!
Tonight sounds like a Thai curried coconut shrimp night!

July 23, 2006

Well, it wasn't Thai coconut shrimp last night because it turned out we didn't have all the ingredients. We were missing such essentials as fresh basil and mint, so we moved over to beef tenderloin with grilled asparagus and salad. And with a nice merlot to wash it down. But the day continued to go down from there. We were happy to be on a secure mooring, but we had perhaps underestimated the weather forecast. Usually NOAA exaggerate the forecast, so, although we took the necessary precautions in case they were right, we were surprised when they were! At sunset, the wind began to howl, and it blew stink (40 knots, or about 80 km/h) while the rain pelted down. I decided that it was best to just go to sleep, but Jeannie worried her way through the night until it blew itself out.
This morning we went ashore and compared notes with the other cruisers who were there with us. All were surprised at the ferocity of the storm, and planned to be more careful in future. We went in to pay for the mooring (usually $25-$30 per night) but were told that because of some problem with a change of ownership they were unable to charge us. So we spent the money on more wine!! When we got into the dinghy this morning, I noticed that it was feeling soft (it is an inflatable dinghy). After a short search, I found a nice neat hole in it, about 1" long, looking suspiciously like it was made with the tip of a knife (more precisely, the knife I had in my hand yesterday when we were hooked on the lobster pot). With no repair kit, we covered it with some sticky tape we had for something else. Seems to do the job well enough for a temporary fix.
We decided that the forecast (SW@10-20 kts) seemed good, so time to push on. We left Port Clyde about 10 am and motored out down Old Hump Channel and sailed across Muscongus Bay and into Christmas Cove, where we picked up a mooring for the night. This time they were allowed to charge us ($30). With the remnants of the swells from the south-east and a light wind form the south-west and out course westward, it was a challenge to manage the rolling of the boat. We were following a couple of other boats, and decided that sailing was better than motoring, as the sails stabilized the boat. We couldn't sail a direct course to our objective, but we made better time on our course, and had a much more comfortable sail than had we chosen to motor directly into it.
We walked a mile to South Bristol past innumerable quaint old Maine family cottages to a store that sold some excellent fish. After considering the monkfish, we elected to go for the swordfish that was excellent with fresh peas and potatoes. We decided against the monkfish as we had never come across a recipe for it. We will start looking for one.
Some day, I'll talk about boat maintenance. My list just gets longer and longer!


July 24, 2006

With sun and a forecast for following winds, we set off from Christmas Cove sailing off the mooring. Christmas Cove is at the mouth of the Damariscotta River, so we sailed out the river, and across Booth Bay, going in to the Booth Bay Yacht Club for lunch and to fill the boat's water tanks. We have a watermaker (that's on my maintenance list) but we fill up whenever we have the opportunity anyway, as it only makes 15 gallons per hour, and because of the energy it takes, it is usually only run when either the engine or generator is running. After lunch, we sailed out Booth Bay and around the southern tip of Southport Island, and up the Sheepscott River about five miles, and into an anchorage called Love Cove. We sailed up the Sheepscott with another boat (flying a Cruising Club of America burgee) that followed us into the tiny cove and anchored near us. When we were out in the dinghy, I noticed the boat's home port was Cape Small, a tiny harbor a few miles away that we had been meaning to visit. But the charts are not too clear, and the guide books warn about rocks, and no room to maneuver, so we have avoided it. When we were out in the dinghy exploring, we stopped by, and asked about it, so he gave us detailed directions, sketched out a chart, and offered us his mooring. So perhaps that will be tomorrow's harbor. I then discovered that his boat was the predecessor to ours. Our boat is a Bristol 41.1 (41.1' long, made by Bristol Yachts). His was a Bristol 40. So we discussed the merits of each.