Debi and Jack sailing on SV Iroquois
| Vessel Name: | Iroquois |
| Vessel Make/Model: | Ohlson38 |
| Crew: | Jack Markin, Debi Dennis |
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21 July 2019 | Belfast Maine
Belfast Maine
After Pulpit Harbor we stopped at Warren Island state park for a night before checking into Belfast. Nate came by in his little boat and took us up river which was way cool. We passed some houseboats, one of which was covered in plants. He even had peas growing up the stanchions and lifelines.
12 July 2019 | Pulpit Harbor, North Haven, Maine
Pulpit Harbor
Iroquois is afloat again! We launched Wednesday in Rockport where we stayed all day readying and organizing. We had a nice get together and dinner in Camden with our Rockport friends then yesterday we did a shakedown sail to Pulpit Bay on North Haven. There was a light wind, 8-15 kts, so we put up the [...]
27 July 2018 | Lincolnville Maine
2018 The End
Iroquois is getting the full spa treatment. Every locker, cubby, lazarette, bilge emptied and cleaned. Varnish in and out. Metal cleaned. Winches serviced. Sails washed and repaired. The engine is serviced and winterized. Even the fuel is polished! The boat is going to enjoy a well-deserved rest in a [...]
05 July 2018 | Boothbay Harbor Maine
Boothbay Harbor
Our apologies for the lack of recent posts. We hung around Portland and Handy Boat -- visiting with family and friends and trying to adjust to a more land-based existence. Lily and Anthony came up for a Saturday dinner (oysters and lobster) aboard then sailed to our mooring at Handy Boat. The next weekend Zach and Maura came and we did the same thing. It was a pleasure to have Zach aboard for the first time. Thank you Maura! Hopefully it was enough fun they will want to come again. This past weekend the Garbers came and we did some sailing around Casco Bay. Lily was a good helmsman. She and Hubbard shared the duties. There wasn't much wind, but also no accidents. We had some great food in Portland, including two excellent meals at Fore Street, which did not disappoint. In between all the family visits we caught up with Stephanie and Brian on Detour. We met them on the OCC Norway Rally in 2016. They crossed over the next winter and spent last summer in Maine. They are just getting ready to take off on their next adventure as we wrap ours up. Hopefully they will have an excellent trip wherever the winds blow them. Handy Boat was very welcoming to us. It was fun to come back and see everyone who took such good care of us before our first Atlantic crossing. We also took in a concert by the Frank Vignola Hot Jazz Trio, which was really good and a nice break in routine. Yesterday we motor sailed and motored to Boothbay Harbor. We will stay here a few days and visit with John and Ann who live here. We met in the Bahamas when Ann greeted us with a freshly baked loaf of bread. We were hungry and tired after a six day passage from St Thomas and her bread is amazing. It's hard to repay something like that. Anyway, this is our last hurrah for the season. Saturday we'll stop in Rockland. Sunday we move to Rockport and prepare to get hauled out Monday morning. Then we'll start work on the long list of deferred maintenance and repairs. We plan to be home in Wisconsin by August.
17 June 2018 | Falmouth Foreside, Maine
The Atlantic Circle is Complete
We have completed the Atlantic circle. Today we sailed from Portland to Handy Boat in Falmouth Foreside with Lily and Anthony. Almost exactly three years ago we left here on a transatlantic adventure. It's hard to imagine and even to remember all the places we've seen and all the people we've met. We [...]
14 June 2018 | Portland Maine
BacK in Maine
Jack woke me at 4:20 this morning, claiming that it was light, and we left Portsmouth harbor a little while after along with a fishing boat. It started as a slow day of dodging lobster pots. Every time I get annoyed by them I try to think about how delicious lobster is. There are so many of them, either there are a lot of lobsters or there will soon be none. Somewhere between Portsmouth and Portland we heard a sound we haven't heard for a very long time, it was the call of a loon which brought smiles to our faces. The wind did pick up and it turned into a nice sail all the way to Portland Maine. This is only the second place we've been in four years that we have actually been to before. We also stopped twice in Bergen Norway. Anyway, we have certainly seen a lot of new places and the end of the journey is a little sad. Luckily Jack bought an oyster knife and we are docked near the fish market so we can treat ourselves and enjoy the moment.
This is the Orkneys
We had a magnificent sail yesterday from Kirkwall to Pierowall. It got off to a bit of a rocky start when we raised the sails and the battens started coming out of the mainsail...I motored slowly into the wind while Jack managed to get them back in enough to sail. Guess we need to tie them in better! After that we sailed with 16-20 kts and the tidal current through the buoy marked channel between Shapinsay, Egilsay, Eday and Westray. The sun was shining and all was well until the last turn when we headed straight upwind. For fear of losing the battens we took down the sails and motored in to the marina. We had phoned the harbormaster ahead and he was waiting for us on the dock. He had us tuck in to the southeast corner. Imagine our surprise to be the only yacht there. Turns out that this is a very small community. The sign on the toilet/shower building which is shared with the ferry describes the island as one large farm. There is however a huge fishfarm and several large boats that service it. One of them came in and tied up on the other wall of our corner at quitting time. A little later another one came in and rafted up to them so we are blocked in a little hole with breakwater on two sides and big boats on the third. It seems they don't work on the weekends so it's very quiet here today. There is no wifi. We'll walk into town and see if we can get some for weather reports. The town has two shops, a hotel, a bar and a restaurant. There is a bakery open an hour each morning on the way to town and in the harbor there is a seafood processor that sells crab and lobster meat. Or so we are told. It looks like we will have some time to explore here as the forecast is for north and east winds for the upcoming week! Will write more after we walk around a bit.
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