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.

Animals wild and domesticated

02 November 2017 | Lagos Portugal

There are usually lots of fish in the marinas in Spain and Portugal. And seagulls. But here in Lagos now there are also some black seabirds. We think they are cormorants but we are not the best wildlife identifiers. We saw one of them "fishing". Basically he/she just ducked into the water and came up with a fish in its mouth. It seemed the goal was to subdue it enough to be able to eat it. This fish was practically as big as the bird itself. There was a struggle and it wasn't clear if the fish would escape or not. Then suddenly another bird shot up out of the water, grabbed the head of the fish and swallowed it whole. We didn't even know there was another bird in the area. Well, the first bird was nonplussed. It just grabbed another fish and started over. Eventually it was able to turn the fish lengthwise without dropping it and swallowed it in a few gulps. It's incredible that such a small body can eat such a big whole fish and calmly swim away. It wasn't until much later that I remembered we have a video camera and that would have been a good time to use it. Maybe I'll remember next time. We went for probably our last walk with the Lagos Strollers. It was a 14km ramble through the countryside. We saw lots of animals -- flocks of sheep, herds of goats and cattle, hogs including a mama and many small piglets, chickens, turkeys, a few cats and many and assorted guard dogs. We passed a horse who was grazing a paddock with no fences. It was on top of a rock wall above the street. There was a big yellow dog lying in the middle of a street forcing all the cars to drive around him. The walk ended at what is known as the "black beer bar" as it's the only place around that has dark beer on tap. We completely overwhelmed the small staff, but it was a nice place to wait for the bus back. All in all a very enjoyable day. There's a cold front moving through today and tomorrow with some much needed rain. Once it passes we expect the wind to shift and come strong from the north starting Saturday. That should carry us nicely to the Canaries in four to five days.

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