Debi and Jack sailing on SV Iroquois

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.

Stories

20 June 2016 | Hjartoy Norway

Debi Dennis Jack Markin

We did walk up to the hole in the mountain at Torghatten and I did try to take pictures. The first I took was a terrible selfie, then I tried taking a picture of Jack in front of the hole. The first one he looked down, the second he wiped his hand across his face, and the third he closed his eyes, then I gave up. Luckily there were some more photographically adept people with us who took some pictures. George, of the boat Migration, sent up his drogue and took a group photo in front of the hole in the mountain. As soon as we get wifi I will put it on this post. There is a story in one of our guidebooks which I like because it reminds me of the momma and baby bears in Michigan. Once upon a time there was a giant troll named Hestamannen who fell in love with a beautiful ogress, Lekamoya, when he saw her bathing in the sea with her six sisters. He tried to steal her away at midnight, but as he galloped southward the seven sisters saw him and fled as far as Alstadhaug where they collapsed in exhaustion on the ground. When Lekamoya fled on, Hestamannen shot an arrow from his bow, if he couldn't have her no one else could either. But Lekamoya had a guardian, the king of the mountains, who deflected the arrow with his hat. When the sun rose the trolls turned into mountains and the king's hat became Torghatten. There are also some true stories I haven't related yet but don't want to forget. One was told by the guy on Bjornsund in the museum. They have a bottle there with a written message in it. During WWII some boys from the village stole a boat to escape to Shetland, but they were never heard from until many years later when this bottle came ashore 1000 miles north of the village. Inside was a note explaining that their engine had stopped in a gale and they were not able to start it again. Their parents were very rellieved to know what happened and that they had not been tortured by the Nazis. There is also the story of Sarah, the fisherwoman, who lived on Sorgjaeslingan, just south of Rorvik. She lost her father as a young girl and took up fishing to support her family. It turned out that she was an excellent sailor and navigator and often went aboard other boats as a pilot. One Christmas Eve in a blizzard she spotted a ship off course, which had been missing for some time. She sailed out to it and brought it in to the owner, who offered her to stay but instead she sailed off for home in a blizzard on Christmas. Another story is similar, but this time the captain found out she was a woman and believing her a witch tried to chop off her head, but she kicked away the chopping block and took control of the ship again guiding it safely to harbor, again refusing hospitality and sailing home alone. There is a statue to her in the harbor in Rorvik.

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