Summer cruising in the fog
30 June 2006 | Northeast Harbor
Sunny/Foggy, 73F
Pulpit Rock with the Camden Hills in the background
Today at 5:00 pm , I am officially retired after 33 years at Maritime Electric. Although today is my last official day, my last day in the office was Monday, June 26th.
We are in Northeast Harbor, Maine, having made good 5 miles from John Williams Boatyard where we have kept Estelle for the past 2 winters. We arrived down at the boat on June 27th and spent the afternoon learning about the new systems we had installed during the winter. In summary, we added: Mastervolt 3.5 kW generator, Spectra Catalina 300 watermaker, Espar heater (so far the most valuable addition), a cockpit shower, and an anchor washdown pump. Only the generator took up valuable storage space (in a cockpit locker), as the other equipment was installed in areas not too useful. But maintenance could be a challenge. We spent Wednesday stocking up supplies and buying stuff we forgot at home. Thursday morning we had a couple of final jobs completed, and we motord 5 nm (nautical miles) in dense fog to where we sit.
Last night we were woken at 1:30 am with a huge thunderstorm passing overhead. It seemed like the largest I have ever experienced. Then it was followed by 4 hours of dense downpour that left the dinghy half full. We had a leak in the forward berth that we discovered last year that was well tested, and passed with flying colors. I have a couple of jobs to re-caulk the chainplates as there was some small leakage there, but given the downpour, we are in pretty good shape.
The weather continues poor all down the coast with flooding down as far as New Jersey, and fog in Newport RI, postponing the start of the Women's US Open golf tournament. But it's scheduled to clear tonight, so we will be off, probably working our way west towards Penobscott Bay. Our plan for tomorrow night is either Buckle Harbor or Buck's Harbor, depending on the weather and how well organized we are.
One good thing about the weather is that we eat well. Last night was BBQ steak with new potatos and fresh peas. The first night was broiled swordfish with strawberry-rhubarb pie.