08/23/2009, Somesville Hbr, Mt Desert Island, Maine
Seabird ghosts out into the fog
On Wednesday we left Little Cranberry Island heading for Frenchboro on Long Island just a few miles offshore. But just outside the Western Way, the southern entrance to Mount Desert Island's Great Harbor, the wind, light at best, swung to the south. So with that we changed course for Buckle Harbor, about 10 miles to the west. After a nice sail we were safely anchored in one of our favorite spots, and to our surprise, we were sharing it with only two other boats.
In late afternoon we spoke with Seabird in Frenchboro, just five miles away, and told them we would see them the next morning. Then we settled in for a quiet evening wandering the paths of the tiny Buckle Island.
On Thursday morning we pulled up the anchor and motored in the flat calm around to Frenchboro on Long Island. Frenchboro's greatest claim to fame is its wonderful lobster dinners served on he wharf, and we duly placed our orders for a 1.5 lb lobster. With corn on the cob, total price was $11.85 each! Then we wandered up to the town library where we used the free computers to check on Hurricane Bob's progress. The town consists of about 15 fishermen and families and in summer, about an equal number of summer residents. A few years ago, the islander, worried that the dropping numbers of school age children would see their school close, advertised free land to any families wanting to build. A few took advantage, but sadly didn't stay, leaving an out of place empty sub-division in the middle of the island. Later in the day we decided to take advantage of the low-priced lobster and bought three 1.5 pounders for $3.85/lb. While waiting for them to cook we spoke with the woman cooking and tending her girls about schooling. Her response was very pragmatic; when the girls reach high school age, they would simply have no option but to leave. She had no idea where they would go or what they would do. But life on the offshore islands, while picturesque, is not easy.
Friday morning it was time to take Hurricane Bob seriously. The forecast was for winds out of the north at 20-25 knots but seas out of the south-east about the same... 20'-25'. Although we would be protected from the seas in Frenchboro's harbor, we would be exposed to the wind and the accompanying wind waves building up over a two mile fetch. We would be safe on the substantial moorings, but not too comfortable, so we dropped the mooring and headed out into the dense fog we woke up to. After a lot of dithering, we decided to spend the night at Little Cranberry Island, and then head up to tiny Somesville Harbor where there are usually lots of spare moorings. We considered Northeast Harbor, but thought it may have been a bit open to the swell, and in any case the VHF traffic told us that it was not just full but over-full with some serious debate between some mooring owners and "squatters". Motoring up Somes Sound, we passed our boatyard and picked up a mooring at noon. During the afternoon, Jeannie went ashore for a walk and I fiddled with the generator which has decided to act up. After some adjusting of the governor it is working better, but still can only be loaded to about 30% of capacity. I suspect a dirty injector, but it is working well enough for this cruise, so the final repair will be left for the fall.
After drinks in Seabird's cockpit and still no sign of H. Bill, we returned to Estelle and had steak and bbq'd corn for dinner, accompanied by a nice red Zinfandel.
In the night the rain started and from midnight on it poured, but the wind never really got started until dawn and never got over 20 knots. So all our planning was unnecessary in hindsight, but better over-prepared than caught unprepared! Today we'll take the free bus down to Southwest Harbor for some groceries then head out tomorrow hopefully "downeast"!
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08/18/2009, Little Cranberry Island, Maine
Frenchborough Harbor, Maine
Well, we've made some decisions.
First, we decided that we'll take the winter off from cruising to do some other family stuff and some serious skiing since we missed skiing last year, the first time in over 30 years.
Second, we decided that if we're not going cruising this fall, that we'd do some cruising here in Maine for a few weeks. So we arrived at the boatyard on Somes Sound (Mt Desert Island) yesterday and found the boat ready to go. But arriving late, we just bought supper and had it aboard then turned in. Today we headed back in to Ellsworth for some serious shopping. Then we cast off and headed round to Clifton Docks to top off the fuel tanks, and motored over to Little Cranberry Island, a total trip of about 8 miles.
At Little Cranberry we picked up a guest mooring and dinghied ashore for a walk. There's not a whole lot on the island except summer homes and about a dozen year round families, all fishermen. But its a quiet anchorage and the walking ashore is nice, so we had a nice evening.
Tomorrow we'll head out to meet Seabird with whom we have cruised on and off for the last three years. They are cruising with their yacht club, but plan to head further down east next week, subject to Hurricane Bill's plans. We're watching his progress. At the moment we seem fine, but a small change in the forecast could be troublesom, so we'll watch carefully.
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07/06/2009, John Williams Boat Yard, Somes Sound, Maine
Friendship Sloop in Northeast Harbor, Maine
Well, we finally made it.
Our original plan was for a trip of ten days to two weeks, not the actual 18 days! But at least yesterday's weather forecast was right. When we woke in Port Clyde there was a fresh westerly blowing and clear skies. So we quickly dropped the mooring and motored out into Muscle Channel where we hoisted our sails for the best days sailing of the trip. John and Ev had invited Gerard aboard to sail with them on Changing Lanes for the day, so I took hin across in the dinghy. Then we hoisted the outboard engine aboard and were off. Outside Port Clyde we hoisted the sails, turned off the engine and enjoyed the best days sailing of the trip!
We ran up Muscle Channel, across the lower part of Penobscott Bay, through Fox Island Thoroughfare, across Isle Au Haut Bay and through Deer Island Thoroughfare past Stonington, out into Jericho Bay, through York Channel, across the bottom of Blue Hill Bay and into Northeast Harbor on Mt Desert Island, a run of 58 miles, arriving just before six pm.
To celebrate our arrival, we headed in to the Lobster Hut, a small seafood restaurant, and had a final dinner with John and Ev as they were heading for Shelburne NS the next morning.
In the morning we said good-by to Changing Lanes and headed in to Bangor to pick up our car that we had left at the airport on our way down to Virginia. We were fortunate to run into an acquaintance, Bob Briggs, anchored in the harbor, who loaned us his car, as we hadn't figured out how to get to Bangor, learning that we had missed the only bys that left at 8:00 am. By early afternoon we were back, and we sailed around to the boatyard where we tied up for the night.
Today we emptied all the perishables and the mountain of dirty laundry into the car and were off to PEI by noon, and home in the evening, the cruise over.
So no more blog entries until mid-August when we'll cruise the Maine coast for a couple of weeks.
ps: I have added the photos of the trip in a separate folder in the photo gallery.
pps: We heard from Changing Lanes. They reached Shelburne late today and will be on their way to Halifax tomorrow.
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