Debi and Jack sailing on SV Iroquois

Vessel Name: Iroquois
Vessel Make/Model: Ohlson38
Crew: Jack Markin, Debi Dennis
Social:
21 July 2019 | Belfast Maine
12 July 2019 | Pulpit Harbor, North Haven, Maine
27 July 2018 | Lincolnville Maine
05 July 2018 | Boothbay Harbor Maine
17 June 2018 | Falmouth Foreside, Maine
14 June 2018 | Portland Maine
12 June 2018 | Portsmouth New Hampshire
10 June 2018 | Jamestown CT
07 June 2018 | New Haven CT
30 May 2018 | Port Washington New York
27 May 2018 | Brooklyn New York
25 May 2018 | Atlantic City, New Jersey
24 May 2018 | Cape May NJ
23 May 2018 | Worton Creek
21 May 2018 | Annapolis Maryland
16 May 2018 | Solomons Island Maryland
13 May 2018 | Deltaville Virginia
11 May 2018 | Cape Charles Virginia
09 May 2018 | Hampton Virginia
06 May 2018 | Hampton Virginia
Recent Blog Posts
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.

End of season 2016

14 September 2016
Iroquois is safely tucked away in the big shed, or hall as they call it, at Baltic Kölln in Burgstaaken. We stripped all the varnish from the house top and coaming then sanded down to new wood. The color changed from sunworn yellow to deep red. We had planned to put on 7 new coats of varnish but as things go found that there were rotten spots where repair was beyond our skills around the portlights. So we took out all the portlights and frames and removed all the caulk. We hired the local boatbuilder to make the repairs over the winter and we'll have to varnish in the spring. Burgstaaken has all the craftsmen that we needed. A rigger remounted the main winch on the boom, a sailmaker is storing our sails, and a mechanic helped with the engine, in addition to the woodworkers. Jurgen connected us with all of them. He also made many phone calls to help with our Shengen visa extensions. Then he had someone drive us to the auslander authority in Eutin and told us we would have to take a number and wait for someone to take care of it. We got to the office around 10:15 and there was a sign on the ticket machine saying they stopped dispensing tickets at 10. The office closes at 12. We stood around for a while with lots of immigrants, all waiting nervously until our driver cornered one of the officials as he was passing through to the copy machine. Eventually he agreed to help us after all the others had been processed. So we waited until about 1:00 then he explained that since no visa is required it's difficult to extend it--there's nothing to write on. He wrote letters for each of us stating that we can stay until Sept 23rd, which is the day after our flight reservation. We need to have the passport control at the airport confirm that we have left and send the letter back to his office. Before leaving the building I visited the toilet. There was an interesting sign explaining how to use western toilets and public toilet etiquette written in English, Arabic, German and another mideastern or eastern language that I didn't recognize. In all we spent about two weeks on Fehmarn. Most of the time we were working on the boat, but we tried to make time each day for an ice cream or beer, both of which are consumed in massive quantities there. It's a big tourist destination but we didn't take in any of the attractions. We did try to learn more German and everyone we met enjoyed helping in the endeavor. After mastering several phrases we were informed that they were local and that in the south they use different expressions for greetings. Ah well. At least Jack was good enough that when we visited the Bundestag in Berlin the security officer asked if he was german. From Burgstaaken we went to Hamburg where Lutz met us and walked us around on a really interesting tour of the city. Then we came to Berlin. Now we're going to Leipzig then Dresden then Munich on our deutschbahn railpass. We fly to Boston September 22 and will be back in the spring. Berlin has been very interesting. It is very cosmopolitan with people from all over the world who are living here. The number of immigrants here is huge. There are constant reminders of the division between east  and west, and fewer but large ones of WWII. It seems that both have differing degrees of importance to people depending on their age. The contrast between the Topographie of Terror  museum  and the Bauhaus  museum and the impact of both on our experience and world view in a small way encapsulate what is Germany both past and present.
It was a great season. From Inverness,  through the Orkneys, Shetland, Norway, and a bit of Denmark and Germany we met a lot of nice and interesting people and did some great sailing. Looking forward to next year.
Comments
Iroquois's Photos - Main
4 Photos
Created 11 May 2016
1 Photo
Created 4 August 2015
4 Photos
Created 1 August 2015
6 Photos
Created 1 August 2015
No Photos
Created 7 June 2015
8 Photos
Created 7 May 2015

About & Links