May sound like a strange caption from a blog about a sail boat trip but here's the real scoop. The amount of sailing on a delivery trip like ours will be certainly less than half of the travel time. In fact, once we hit the intercostals waterway (ICW) which we'll talk about as we get closer, you are likely to do little sailing at all.

We are trying to make passages and get into port at a reasonable time so if the winds are not favourable we're running the engine (or iron genny as sailors call it). As much as we can we motorsail which means we have the sails up but also run the engine, often at low revs just to keep the speed up. So imagine a usual day being a 40 mile passage. If we run the boat at 6 knots, we'd be underway around 7 hours allowing for slow leaving and tying up. So what if the winds are light or directly against us (we call it "on the nose") and we can only make 3 knots; that same passage takes 14 hours. The Admiral (Judy) and the Naval Commander (Chopin) definitely get cranky. So the rule of thumb is for a 40ish mile day, if we can't make 5 knots, the engine's running.

Well today was a pleasure. We were able to sail much of this long but fantastic day. The winds were all over the place and varying in strength but WE SAILED! It was clear and bright and warm for the most part. We intended to go to Boothbay Harbour but decided to forge on given the great conditions. We then aimed for Five Islands and again, wanted to put some more miles under the keel. So then we aimed for Mackeral Harbour in Casco Bay. We came into this picturesque harbour but there did not seem to be any place for us to anchor, or tie up. We asked a couple of fishermen but they were not in the least helpful. Ultimately, we ended up in a delightful harbour called Orr's Bailey's. There is a very unusual bridge here, supported by stacked blocking and reported to be the only one like it in the world (you didn't hear this from me).

We're on a mooring in a delightful harbour; have been invited to a pot luck at the Yacht Club. Life is good!

A bit of a Saint John River connection - some of you will know the boat Majek. It's a black hull, traditional looking boat, owned by I believe Bill Harmon of Queenstown. Well, the son of the original owner just rowed over to our boat to exchange stories. Apparently is was well known here and I recall an article in the sailing magazine "Points East" chronicling the sail of the boat to the new owner from Canada.