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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07/04/2009, Port Clyde, Maine
John and Ev from Changing Lanes at breakfast in the Port Clyde General Store
Well, there hasn't been much improvement in the weather. Yesterday we woke in Portsmouth to see the fog lifted, so we headed out. In light southerlies, we hoped to gey to the mid-coast area, but by evening we were only approaching Casco Bay, so we headed in to Jewell Island.
Just six miles from Portland, this beautiful anchorage is usually crowded, and coming in on a Friday night of the July 4th weekend, I was concerned about finding room to anchor. But not a problem. There were only three other boats there, the crowds being put off by the continuing drizzle and fog. So we anchored and just stayed aboard. Changing Lanes anchored beside us and we chatted across, but nobody was interested in going ashore.
Saturday dawned as usual... light southerlies and dense fog. So we set off again with the radar guiding us through the fog and past the shoals. By noon it began to clear and as we headed in Muscongus Bay, it looked like we might have a nice sail in. But it was not to be. About five miles out of Port Clyde, the Coast Guard came across the VHF with a warning about intense squalls with lightning.
We almost made it in, being chased by black clouds. We saw some lightning and rain, but safely anchored and watched the storm pass to the south.
Clouds chasing us into Port Clyde
Ashore we paid for our mooring at the Port Clyde General Store, a real general store selling everything from Hardware to fine wine. Then we went on a stroll, checked out the restaurant, made reservations for five and headed back for a shower to warm up.
In the evening we went ashore to "The Harpoon" with the crew from Changing Lanes and had a fine meal.
Heading back to the boat at dusk, we were treated to a July 4th fireworks display.
Tomorrow's forecast sounds promising... a fresh westerly wind and no fog! Here's hoping!
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