Finally!

Vessel Name: Katahdin
Vessel Make/Model: Cambria 44
Hailing Port: Cape Elizabeth, ME
Crew: Larry and Cathy Clough
About: We have been cruising Maine waters for 30 years on a Pearson 26, an Ericson 34, and now a Cambria 44
Extra: On our first journey south we left Maine in early September of 2011 to travel to the Caribbean and back over 9+months. Now we've begun our second trip, taking it at a bit more leisurely pace.
18 May 2016
25 March 2016
09 March 2016
21 February 2016
26 January 2016
05 January 2016
18 December 2015 | Jolly Harbor, Antigua
06 December 2015
21 November 2015
17 November 2015
13 November 2015
19 June 2012 | Portland Harbor
16 June 2012 | Provincetown, MA
12 June 2012 | Great Salt Pond, Block Island, RI
Recent Blog Posts
25 May 2016

Hashes, Hikes, and Hauling

Hashes, Hikes, and Hauling

18 May 2016

Grenada

At the end of March we sailed along the east coast of Grenada from Carriacou to the bays at its southern end. Since we were not sailing in the lee of the island we took a precautionary seasickness pill, Stugeron, which is not available in the US but which, as a non-prescriptive medication, can be purchased [...]

06 May 2016

Carriacou, Grenada's Grenadine Island

I'd like to fire myself as a blog writer. I have no excuse for waiting a month before writing about one of the most enjoyable islands we've been to. In my defense I'd say that to start writing about Grenada and its islands is to acknowledge that the incredible sailing adventure we've experienced would [...]

25 March 2016

The Grenadines

The Grenadines

09 March 2016

St. Lucia

St. Lucia

21 February 2016

Martinique Sud, and a Sample of our Daily Life aboard Katahdin

Today is February 21st. We left St. Pierre on the 8th and meandered our way down Martinique’s west coast to St. Anne at the southeast tip of the island. Along the way we overnighted in 3 anses (anse is a Creole word for bay), with decent snorkeling and hiking, 2 nights in the yachting center for [...]

The Abacos

06 April 2012 | Green Turtle Cay, Abacos, the Bahamas
Cathy/stormy
We left Man-O-War Cay at 7 this morning to travel the 20 or so miles to Green Turtle Cay, trying to work our way around squalls and tide issues through a notorious cut called the Whale in which the feared rage often takes place. This rage, which can be extremely hazardous to smaller craft, occurs when incoming swells and strong winds produce standing waves over swells, making just plain havoc. Larry timed our passage through it perfectly and there was no problem for us, thank goodness. On the Caribbean 1500 of 2010, one boat diverted to near here and attempted to cross onto Abaco Sound during nighttime hours, encountered one of these rages, and ran aground, with one crew member being lost. We have learned to treat these cuts with extreme caution.

Where have we been since we began our northern Bahamas adventure? Our first anchorage was just inside a long cay called Lynward as we were looking simply for protection from the easterlies and not needing any amenities. The next day, on our way to Hopetown on Elbow Cay, knowing that there would be no swimming in the next few harbors (because of too much boat pollution; i.e, boats not using their holding tanks) we stopped for lunch at a few coral heads just around from Tavern Cay. I think I'm glad that we did as I had an experience that is well worth mentioning.

Larry chose not to swim here, but went down below to make his lunch as I snorkeled up to and around the first coral head. There was a decent amount of soft, colorful coral and an OK number of fish. I swam over to the next coral head, looking all around, of course, and saw what I had hoped I would never see: a 10 foot gray shark passing within 15 feet of me. Well, I didn't hesitate but swam to the coral head and climbed on which I never would do in a million years as I respect everything alive in these waters. Where I stood, however, was mostly smooth and not covered with plants or projected coral so, looking back, I didn't feel too bad.

The shark, perhaps a reef shark, never turned toward me and probably didn't think much of me, either as food or as an enemy. However, I didn't know what its intentions were so I stood on that coral trying to get Larry's attention and failing to do so. After what I hoped was an extremely suitable interval I got my nerve up to swim the 50 yards back to the boat, trying not to kick so much as to make bubbles/noise or whatever. Needless to say, it was an experience I hope never to reproduce.

After that, all I can say is Hallelujah for Hopetown! This is one of those gentrified communities in the Abacos, and is absolutely stunning. Everyone gets around by golf cart, the houses are cleverly painted and with lots of trim colors, usually in the Bahamian spectrum, the streets are winding, everything is clean and neat, the Atlantic side boasts a fantastic beach where we swam on the second afternoon, we had wifi from our boat, etc. We spent two nights here and can't wait to come back. We ate out both dinners and one luncheon; this is remarkable for us, and our dinners out included new friends Chuck and Maryanne from Symphony who are also on a sabbatical for about a year, from Long Island. We rented bicycles and toured the island from top to bottom [one-speed bikes, on mostly flat terrain], loving the whole feel of things. Even all the Americans transplanted here, raising their children who go to the local school, just added to the sense of community. In addition, Hopetown has one of those iconic lighthouses, such as Portland Head Light in our hometown of Cape Elizabeth, and the view from the top was stunning.

But, we had to make tracks so we headed to the 3rd largest town in the Bahamas, Marsh Harbor, to do errands and to visit with fellow Mainers Eldon and Dianne on Maine Visions. Well, after a nice visit and after the errands were completed there was no reason to stay in this pseudo-Floridian strip mall community so we moved over to Man-O-War Cay for a very pleasant two-nights, meeting up serendipitously with former Centerboard Yacht Club members and friends Jack and Carol Dexter. There was nice walking on the streets, again with golf carts for transportation for those living there. We probably, though, didn't try hard enough to discover why Man-O-War is a favorite of so many. It paled after seeing Hopetown. We both enjoy the solitude of quiet anchorages, and also the pleasure of being in communities with stores when we need to get food, fuel, or water, which we didn't yet need. With the strong winds forecasted, however, we had to find a secure spot and Man-O-War fit the bill.

Now we are nestled in the secure harbor of Green Turtle Cay as the wind howls from the west at up to 42 (!) knots and thunderstorms break out around us. We're here for 2 nights before we cross over to Sale Rock for a night in anticipation of leaving the Bahamas behind as we head to St. Augustine, 250 miles northwest. As we well know, all is dependent on the weather.

In case you don't look at the photo gallery, what you see below are turbot skins once used on this island for scrubbing floors.
Comments
Katahdin's Photos - Main
We spent most of the last month of our cruise in Mt. Hartman Bay on the southern coast of Grenada. There is a wonderful community of cruisers in this and nearby bays, and we found plenty to do and new friends to make. What we particularly enjoyed were the hashes and hikes we did each week. Do ready the blog of the same name if you want to discover what a hash is.
19 Photos
Created 25 May 2016
Grenada is, if not our favorite, at least in the top three. It is a large island, the people are fantastic, and there is so much to see and do that we were too busy to consider posting a blog. But, now that we're back in Maine, we have no more excuses.
11 Photos
Created 6 May 2016
Petite St. Vincent (PSV) is part of its namesake, while Petite Martinique belongs to Grenada. They are both considered part of the Grenadine archipelago and are separated by perhaps 1/2 a mile. In fact, they are so far off the normal route that a boat can travel from one to another without having to clear customs on another island.
9 Photos
Created 6 May 2016
Carriacou is one of the Grenadine islands; St. Vincent owns most of them but not this one or Petite Martinique. It is an interesting island, hilly with a shipbuilding heritage. We especially liked it because of the large number of cruisers who anchor for a while in Tyrell bay on the southwestern coast.
9 Photos
Created 6 May 2016
The Grenadines are a group of tiny to small islands just south of St Vincent and just north of Grenada. With a few exceptions they are wonderfully welcoming and quite beautiful, though, because there has been a consistent drought throughout the past 10 or so months, there's not much greenery.
17 Photos
Created 25 March 2016
From Rodney Bay to the Pitons, and nothing in between.
9 Photos
Created 9 March 2016
On the way to our current anchorage at St. Anne at the bottom of Martinique we visited 3 other delightful bays along the way. We've been doing our usual hiking and swimming activities, but this blog also reveals what a "typical" day for us is like.
15 Photos
Created 21 February 2016
During our first visit to St. Pierre we didn't go far afield. This time we did and have a new appreciation for this area.
13 Photos
Created 21 February 2016
We had a fabulous time on this island, one of the poorest in the Caribbean. It has been blessed with fantastic beauty and we did our best to take it all in.
21 Photos
Created 7 February 2016
After visiting the Pigeon islands and La Soufriere we were looking for places not so popular, and we found them.
21 Photos
Created 26 January 2016
The photos are from two distinctive and well-known locations on this island. First, from the Jacques Cousteau underwater preserve at Isles des Pigeons on the west coast, and then from the hike up to the tallest mountain on the island, La Soufriere, a still semi-active volcano at almost a mile height.
16 Photos
Created 16 January 2016
The photos are from two distinctive and well-known locations on this island. First, from the Jacques Cousteau underwater preserve at Isles des Pigeons on the west coast, and then from the hike up to the tallest mountain on the island, La Soufriere, a still semi-active volcano at almost a mile height.
6 Photos
Created 16 January 2016
We spent most of the past few weeks in English Harbor which was an idyllic spot to celebrate the holidays with our family
20 Photos
Created 5 January 2016
These were our last stops in the Virgin Islands where we spent a whole month. It's a great place, and lots of people know that as there are lots of other sailors such as ourselves.
13 Photos
Created 18 December 2015
We're spending a few weeks lazily navigating around the numerous islands here, looking for great snorkeling and sunsets.
12 Photos
Created 6 December 2015
7 Photos
Created 21 November 2015
Katahdin ended up here after being a "passenger" on a freighter. We joined her on 11/15/15.
5 Photos
Created 17 November 2015
Katahdin makes her way south to St. Thomas, piggy-backing atop a freighter.
2 Photos
Created 13 November 2015
We arrived in Fernandina Beach on 4/11, and hope to be back in Maine sometime in the latter part of June.
1 Photo | 9 Sub-Albums
Created 12 April 2012
We expect to meander slowly northward through the Bahamas before we cross the Gulf Stream again.
1 Photo | 13 Sub-Albums
Created 17 March 2012
We overnighted to Luperon from Gilligan's Island in Puerto Rico, and spent a wonderful 5 days, having adventures out of the town.
26 Photos
Created 17 March 2012
We took our time in the Spanish Virgin Islands, but sped along the southern coast of Puerto Rico
1 Photo | 1 Sub-Album
Created 1 March 2012
We took our time traveling from Portland into the Chesapeake, enjoying some beautiful stops along the way
1 Photo | 8 Sub-Albums
Created 8 February 2012
Martinique is quite beautiful, and we've enjoyed our stay here. However, we will start heading back north in the next day or so.
20 Photos
Created 7 February 2012
These include Anguilla, St. Martin, St. Barts, down to Guadaloupe and Dominica.
1 Photo | 12 Sub-Albums
Created 18 December 2011
We arrived in Nanny Cay in the BVI on November 21, and will travel around the BVI and the US VI over the next month.
1 Photo | 7 Sub-Albums
Created 21 November 2011
The rudder leakage issue shadowed our first two weeks in Virginia; after the repairs, even the sunsets were more spectacular.
1 Photo | 2 Sub-Albums
Created 8 November 2011
An album of many of the places we visited through Chesapeake Bay on our way to Virginia
1 Photo | 7 Sub-Albums
Created 18 October 2011