Hurricane Lee is expected to send SE swells into Maine bays that reach 6-8 feet. Since our Camden mooring is exposed to such potential swells, we decided it would be safer for the boat to move it to protected waters, which we did 2 days ago. Here in Kent Cove, we are protected from those swells, and also have a short fetch to land from E through N to W, covering all expected wind directions. By the time Lee arrives, he will be a Tropical Storm with 50kt winds here, and we will be secure at anchor. Weather is beautiful here now, and we’ve taken the dinghy to Turner farm for some farmstand goods, and have explored a nearby islet. A man from a large house ashore came by and offered to let us use his nice property for a walk with the dogs. So far it has been quite pleasant, but the wind will start strengthening tonight and Saturday. By Sunday we should be able to return to Camden.

On July 6, we departed the Truman Beach anchorage and pulled away from Long Island into Block Island Sound on the way to Block Island itself. We had reasonable wind the entire trip, and pulled into Great Salt Pond before dark. Still packed with boats following the July 4 holiday, we found a spot to anchor that initially looked good, but as the wind and our boat shifted, and a gnarly working tug moored nearby did not, we decided to pull up to find a better spot to drop the hook. We thought we had found a decent location amongst the other boats, but the anchor would not set properly, and when we pulled it back up, with the electric windlass whining hard, we found an old abandoned lobster trap full of rocks hooked by the anchor. A nearby sailor came over in his dinghy, and pulled the anchor out of the trap for us, allowing us to move once again - finally anchoring well for a good night's sleep. When we awoke and looked at the wind forecast, we knew we needed to leave for Nantucket then and there. We would have wind for a couple of days, but after that none for several more. That meant we would not spend any time ashore with friends Jesse and Lilly, and no ride around the island on our folding bikes, but we didn't relish the prospect of motoring all the way to our next stop, Hadley Harbor, near Woods Hole. As it was, we did spend much of that trip motorsailing, and it was often in thick fog. Using radar and AIS we kept a close watch on fishing boats and high speed ferries that ply those waters. Arriving without incident, we spent one night at Hadley before pulling up anchor again and heading through Wood's Hole for Nantucket. The wind and tide was with us and we had a nice sail, making good time, arriving at a mooring in Nantucket Harbor before dark. Next morning, we met Wayne and Susan Roberts, who flew in to spend some time with us on the Island. Wayne stayed to crew with us for the rest of our trip to Maine. Unfortunately, after some decent sailing wind from Nantucket back to Hadley Harbor, and then up through the Cape Cod Canal, nearly the entire 30 hour crossing of the Gulf of Maine to Vinalhaven Island was under power, fortunately with very calm, glassy seas, and a very light wind at our back. Carver's Harbor on Vinalhaven is a fairly large working harbor filled with fishing boats but no cruising boats. There is one honor system rental mooring in the harbor, which was fortunately unoccupied upon our arrival, so we hooked up and took the dinghy ashore to meet Susan, who not wanting to miss the now tradition of frozen Mudslides at the Sand Bar, came across on the ferry to meet us. The following day was another motor on glassy seas up Penobscot Bay to Camden, where we refilled the diesel tank and offloaded much of the heavy gear needed for liveaboard cruising but not for local sailing. Now we are home. Its a strange feeling after nearly eight months living on the boat. We will have to think hard about what is next and when.

Yesterday we motored over largely glassy seas from Port Jefferson, NY, keeping a close eye on the big electrically active thunder boomers over the north shore of Long Island Sound. While they showed a southward tendency toward us, and we experienced some outflow winds, they collapsed before getting too close, and we never had any rain. We anchored off Truman Beach, part of Orient, NY, to spend the night and wait for a favorable tide through Plum Gut. This beach was known as “Hard Beach” by early settlers, as it is composed of mounds of smoothly rounded pebbles 2” or less in diameter. No sand. The varied rocks of many colors dropped by the ice sheet 12,000 years ago have been worked by storms over the millennia to give this unusual feature. We went ashore by dinghy to meet good friends Dennis and Kathy Patti, who brought coffee and bagels to us and took Erin to a nearby farm stand for fresh produce. Next step is a little offshore jump of 35 miles to Block Island, where we will meet again with Jesse and Lily, friends from Herrington Harbor.

We anchored last night a little way down Delaware Bay from the east end of the C&D canal, near Reedy Island. Current runs fast there but the anchor held well. This morning we waited for the ebb tide to begin and headed down the bay. Smoke from the Canadian wildfires is obscuring any sight of shore, or vessels more than a mile away, and some very big vessels ply this water! We plan to anchor at the mouth of Delaware Bay at Cape Henlopen for the night before setting out up the NJ coast to Atlantic Highlands. NEWS FLASH! We decided to carry on past Cape May without stopping. Pictured is one of the Delaware Bay channel lights.

Last time we were here - about 10 years ago when we kept the Valiant on nearby Worton Creek. Java Rock is still on the corner. A nice little grocery is here. And we tied up on the town dock just before a thunderstorm rolled in. Nice little overnight stop!

Surreal has spent over a month out of the water on jackstands while getting new standing rigging (the wire cables that hold the mast up) to replace the 20 year old original equipment. She went into the water 3 days ago, and I have been very busy getting her ready to head north again: replacing the last few pieces of lightning damaged equipment, wrestling with the holding tank to replace a stinky hose, putting the sails back on, restocking food and water, and more. Thankfully friends we have made in the Bahamas and here in Maryland have been generous with land transportation help! Erin arrives tonight, and tomorrow or Tuesday we plan to set sail Northbound. The picture today is of the main cabin with parts and tools strewn about while I worked. It’s better now!