Mystery - the Trip Home

Purchase of our boat and the trip home to Canada

Vessel Name: Mystery
Vessel Make/Model: Irwin Citation 34
Hailing Port: Saint John, NB
Crew: Linda and Rik
22 July 2010 | Penobscot Bay somewhere
19 July 2010 | Rockland ME
18 July 2010
17 July 2010 | Belfast ME
14 July 2010 | Belfast ME
10 July 2010 | Bah's Bake House - Castine ME
06 July 2010 | Cuttler to NE Harbour
05 July 2010 | nice day on the water
03 July 2010 | Saint Andrews, NB
02 July 2010 | Fredericton, NB, Canada - Saint John river
23 May 2010 | Fredericton, NB, Canada - Saint John river
Recent Blog Posts
22 July 2010 | Penobscot Bay somewhere

July 20 - 22

July 20, 21 22

19 July 2010 | Rockland ME

July 19 2010

July 19 2010

18 July 2010

July 18 2010

July 18 2010

17 July 2010 | Belfast ME

July 16 and 17 2010

July 16 and 17 2010

14 July 2010 | Belfast ME

July 14 2010

July 14 2010

10 July 2010 | Bah's Bake House - Castine ME

July 06 10 to July 10 10

Been a few days, been without wifi. Moved around a bit, had a few "adventures".

July 20 - 22

22 July 2010 | Penobscot Bay somewhere
Rik - Hot, sunny, thunder storms, pouring rain and loving it!
July 20, 21 22

Been out in the "islands", hence no email. 20th we left Rockland after repairing the heads. Good to have heads that function. We spent a beautiful evening on Seal Bay way out the other side of the Fox Island Thoroughfare. And seals - yuppers, lots and lots of seals. Check out the two photos - seals and the Captain working hard.

The next day we went "gunk holeing" we just went around Vinyl Haven Island clockwise - visited some harbours, tried to get into the Basin and ended up at Pulpit Harbour on North Haven Island. A week ago we watched a spectacular fireworks show in Belfast. Last night we were in the middle of a horrendous fireworks show that lasted more than an hour, dropped a ton of rain and lit up the sky all around us. And when you think about it, sitting on a 34 foot boat with a 45 foot lightening rod, is probably not the place to be in an hour long thunder storm! The Captain did not like it at all, and our "non-lap cat" suddenly became a lap cat.

Today was a good day, off to Belfast for laundry and ice. And here we sit again, in Rollies, enjoying a Newcastle Summer Ale and splitting a Rollie's Special Burger! Delish! Oh ya, with curly fries too.

Tomorrow - depends upon which way the wind blows.

Fair winds all

Rik, Linda and Captain Hook

July 19 2010

19 July 2010 | Rockland ME
Rik / Overcast with a light breeze
July 19 2010

Some say that cruising is all about fixing your yacht in exotic locations. Well, I am not sure if Rockland ME counts as exotic, but that is where we were today "fixing the boat". We were heading out of Camden going to Castine when I turned a "Y" valve on the head and it came apart in my hand. OK - tried for 20 minutes to fix it underway, then turned 100 degrees to port and headed for Rockland. Why - because there is a Hamilton Marine there and I knew I could find a new one, and I did.

Three hours later, all seems well, we are showered, totally fed at a lovely little diner, walked to Rite Aid and carried a flat of bottle water back to the boat. I never knew that bottled water weighed 50 pounds a gallon. Oh well, good thing Linda is tough.

Now we are sitting outside the Portland Dock's office , doing email and stuff.

Tomorrow - probably Seal Bay off Fox Island Thoroughfare.

Rik, Linda and Captain Hook

July 18 2010

18 July 2010
Rik - Hot and sunny and loving it!
July 18 2010

Belfast ME to Camden ME.

Spent last night on a mooring in Belfast - it was their Celtic Festival and we were treated to live music and a fantastic display of fireworks.

Today dawned hot, sunny and breezy, and, "almost" going in the correct direction. They say: "Gentlemen don't sail to windward." It tends to get rough and sloppy and spills the champagne and hors d'oerves, and that's simply not right. Well - we had a beam reach out of Belfast and a tight beat into the wind to Camden. But, as I said, we pinched in the gusts and luffed when it dropped and were able to go all the way on one tack and then a port tack into Camden. Sailing at some of its best. We have sailed more this trip than in the last fivce or six trips combined. It kind of helps to have a proper yacht with new sails. She handles so well!

Once we got swettled and checke demail, we called the "launch" on CH 68 and had Tom drop us at the city dock. So decadent! We strolled the Atr on the Water show beside the public library, got ice cream, hit the ATM and then walked to the Camden Yacht Club to pay for the dockage. It has gone up a bit, but we have anchored and used friends moorings so much this trip, this is only our fourth paid night.

Tom tomorrow we will head out and try and hook up with Phil and Nikkie at Castine.

I took Captain for a dingy ride and he really does not like it. I kept the leash on this time and any time we were within ten feet of any dock he wanted to launch himself in that direction. When he figured out that was not going to happen, he snuggled between my legs and buried his head in my ankle. As soon as we got along side Mystery - he was off like a shot and down below.

Oh well - he is getting used to Mystery at least. On the long 10 mile tack we were healed over pretty good and I went below to find him curled up, wedged in behind the nav station on the leeward side - a perfect hidey hole for that kind of tack.

Tomorrow also looks like a good sailing day.

Shalom all

Rik, Linda and Captain Hook on board Mystery

July 16 and 17 2010

17 July 2010 | Belfast ME
Rik - Hot and sunny and loving it!
July 16 and 17 2010

Hot and sunny, cooler, damp and foggy - repeat Ad nauseam. So, we spend a boat day when it is not nice out and sail and swim when it is. Right now we are in Scoops in Belfast ME eating Blueberry Ice Cream and doing email and web stuff. It is 85 F today, sailing was splendid and we are enjoying it to the fullest.

Yesterday - that was a cooler and damp day. I changed the oil and filter, tightened the alternator belt, installed an LED light, and spent some time with new friends Phil and Nikkie from the UK. They are here on their 39 foot cat. They are also friends of Pat and Liz from Falmouth UK who spent time with us in Freddy last summer. The boating world is a wonderfully small one.

We have a strange "problem" with our domestic water. we have two tanks connected (125 gallons total) and we have to sinks. One in the head and one in the galley. The sink in the heads smells like sulfur when we run the tap but the sink in the galley water smells normal. Same source. Suggestions??

Captain Hook is taking over the boat more and more. Whenever we tie up to a dock, he want to get off and explore. Yesterday we were tied up near the Lincoln Ferry terminal on Vinylhaven and of course he jumped ship and explored the dock. He started toward the gang plank up to the shore and so I came up behind him and scuffed my foot on the aluminum gangplank - making quite a noise. Off like a shot past me, across the dock and onto His Boat! What a fun little guy!

Well - it is getting too warm here in Scoops - maybe we'll head next door to Rollies, get a pitcher and sit where it is air conditioned.

Shalom all

Rik

July 14 2010

14 July 2010 | Belfast ME
Nice now, cloudy and drizzle this am
July 14 2010

Warren Island State Park to Belfast - only 10 nm.

The weather was fro rain and cloudy all day so we decided on a "town day". Get groceries, get laundry done and get Linda's hair cut (boy, does she look cute!). We motored the 10 nm to Belfast, got 10 gallons of diesel, two blocks of ice and then picked up a friend's mooring. Took the dingy back to the dock and met a friend who drove us to Hannaford's (the big grocery store) - excellent! While Linda was getting groceries I went to VIP Auto to see if I could find a filter and an alternator belt. I had the cover from the Yanmar belt (was $36.00) and got the same one at Napa for $10.00. VIP did not have the filter nor the belt, but the boss said to the young guy working there:

"Its quiet and I bet you want to try your new jeep anyway - take this guy to NAPA so he can get a filter."

The new Jeep was a 1969 Willey s Jeep he had just bought for $2600.00 , new in 1969 they sold for $2011.00 - a neat old machine! He drove me to Napa and not only did they have the filter for my Racor primary (normally about $30.00 at a marina) for $10.00, but they also had the exact alternator belt I wanted. It is good to have spare parts. It is better to find them at a good price!

After groceries we took showers at the town public washroom near the dock and did laundry. Linda got her hair cut and we headed back to the boat. We picked up a few things on the way and arrived safely back. We had met a couple on the dock who have a Souther Cross 32 so after off loading the laundry and supplies, I took Captain Hook for a dingy ride. He does not like the sound of the motor. He really doesn't. We dingied around and then headed back to Mystery, and as soon as he say our boat he was up and running around the little inflatable. But, alas, he was a bit too enthusiastic, because as soon as we were six feet from our boat, he launched himself through the air to the boat. Cappy is good, but he is not that good! Splash. Uggg - he also does not like swimming. He started toward the bow, I headed him off, he headed toward the stern and started up the ladder. I did not know cats could climb ladders. He was trying to climb a little line we use for pulling the ladder up, but he fell back in the drink. By then, I was there and scooped him up. I wrapped him in a towel and his poor little heart was going a million mile an hour. He is now inside grooming himself. Ugg, a salt water bath.

Maybe, we hope, he might just learn.

Tomorrow - who knows - somewhere. It is supposed to be 85 F and sunny. We plan on coming back this weekend for the big Celtic Festival. I wish John and Nina were here to enjoy it with us.

Shalom - more the next time I have wifi.

Rik, Linda and a wet Captain Hook

July 06 10 to July 10 10

10 July 2010 | Bah's Bake House - Castine ME
Rik / foggy and muggy, sun coming out now
Been a few days, been without wifi. Moved around a bit, had a few "adventures".

Lets go back a few days - the trip from Cutler ME to NE Harbour ME was "ugly". Not dangerous, just ugly. The ocean can be as calm as a mill pond, can be ferocious in a storm and everything in between. Well - we had the in between. There had been a storm, a few days previous and there was a 2 to 3 foot swell coming from the south. We were travelling SE under power. That meant, a cork screw type of roll for eight plus hours. Hence my nautical term "ugly". Sea sickness was not a worry. Back when I was much younger there was a phrase "Better Living Through Chemistry" which is a variant of a DuPont advertising slogan, "Better Things for Better Living...Through Chemistry. ... Well, we have the meds that pretty much take care of sea sickness. But, is was still ugly. In addition, we picked up some weeds on the prop and the last three hours were under reduced speed. Weeds make the prop inefficient! We got to NE Harbour and I cleared the weeds, but when we left out through Western Passage, across the Bass Harbour Bar, through Casco Passage and down Eggemoggin Reach, we were still only running about 5.3 knots. Ugg - I much prefer 6.2!

We got to Castine and were kindly given the use of Jeff and Karen Siegel's mooring. The Jeff and Karen of "Active Captain" http://www.activecaptain.com/index.php

We had breakfast at Bah's with Jeff and Karen and we talked about the reduced power problem. We both agreed, the loss of a knot means you are dragging something! So, yesterday we used their other mooring way back in Smith's Cove and I went in and checked the hull from stem to stern. Nothing! Not a weed, not a piece of line, not a lobster pot! OK - as a last resort, check the system's manual. I have a full shop manual for my Yanmar 2QM20H and so started with the "Trouble Shooting" section. Loss of power - one of the options is a clogged primary filter. If there is one thing diesels like, it is clean fuel. And the primary filter is there to keep the fuel going into the injectors clean! What a dirty bloody filter! I guess eight plus hours of cork screw swells can really stir anything up from the bottom of the diesel tank.

Changed the filter, did a trial run - yuppers, back to my 6.2 at 2500 RPMs with no wind or current. Now I have to buy a few more filters, that was the last one in the spare parts box.

This is our second day in Castine and we will probably got to Warren Island State park today, or not. Depends how we feel after the coffee. The goods in Bah's Bake House are so good, we can't stay too long or we put on too much weight.

More when we next get wifi.

Rik and Linda and Captain Hook
Mystery's Photos - Mystery the Trip Home
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Fixing up the bate bag
Fixing up the bate bag
Added 6 June 2009

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