Sailing the Good Life

We were up and underway at 6am. The wind has dropped and it is a nice day with improving conditions. Things are starting to turn our way. Wind is actually out of WSW at 8-10 making getting out of Ptown favorable. Put our main up right away and got a quick a start as possible. Things are looking up as we have strong fair tide and we are making 8.2K close hauled. We can see the front passing from NW to SE just ahead of us so we are in sunny weather and it is clearing ahead of us.
There she is!!!! The first sight of the Grey Lady is Great Point. We are making great time with the fair tide but the wind has gone SW and we are right into it. Looks like we will make the mooring by 4:30.
Got all the hatches open and drying the boat out. Cleaning up as we go. Moby is packing and I am getting all the laundry and cleaning everything up and writing this blog as we sail the final leg of the journey.
For those of you who have been reading this blog, stay tuned for the conclusion. I have been waiting for this trip for a long time and I have some thoughts that I will share in a conclusion. Also, I have some pictures that are stuck on my cell phone that I will bring over and post on the individual blogs so look out for them.
Made the mooring by 4:30 and were fast and cleaned up quickly. Ended the trip with a couple of beers on the foredeck in the bean bags. Chatter on ch66 is that someone noticed Meow was back. Within a half hour EJ and JD had stopped by for a beer and Moby headed off to have dinner with his parents.
Called Beth for a pickup and was home by 6:30. Couldn’t stop the living room from rocking around. It will take a few days to get my land legs.
Stay tuned for the conclusion.

8/11
The sun rose on my watch exactly on schedule, 5:47am. The winds hadn’t let up a bit. The seas were still big. The forecast was for rain, continued wind, fog and thunderstorms. Well back to the drawing board……we need another new plan. Perhaps we should head for Cape Cod Bay and consider taking the Cape Cod Canal. In the end we decided to head for Ptown again. It would give us the most options as the front moved out over night. If the wind went SW we would get to sail the outside of the cape or continue for the canal. It looked like we could make Ptown before dark but we would have to keep our SOG up.
The entrance to Ptown was challenging again. We stayed under sail right to the entrance to the harbor. The waves were big and angry, probably 7-8’ with short intevals. We were taking them over the bow. It was foggy with less than a mile visability and other boats heading in including a large coast guard boat.
It took us two hours of a beating to get from the tip of Ptown into the harbor. We were able to get a mooring from the same mooring company. Once safe at mooring and securely fast, I enjoyed the best Goslings and Ginger I have ever tasted while Moby had a scotch. A nice hot shower was next, warmed up and dried off and made plans to go ashore and have dinner. One problem…..It’s pouring. New plan….have another drink and wait for it to stop. If it doesn’t we were going to pack dry clothes and head in anyway and change at a restaurant. That would require finding a restaurant with single room bathroom. I was not going to change my clothes in PTown in a multi person bathroom.
Finally luck changed and the rain stopped. Looked like it was trying to clear. We called the launch and proceeded ashore where we found a great restaurant on the dock – 9 Rider ( that was also the address). Very cute and well-appointed small Italian restaurant. It had 12 tables and 9 seats at the bar. If you go there it is a must. The chef and prep cook are graduates of Ciro and Sal’s.
Got back at 9, night cap and a good nights sleep. We will pick up stix tomorrow morning ( all the stuff that got thrown around or we had to stowe on the floor or in the sinks). Think I fell asleep getting into bed.

Pulpit to Nantucket
“Are these toilets salt water or fresh. I’d like to put some in my boat” Last night at cocktail hour Moby was researching the toilets on the boat. He wants to change his out to electric flush. “The specs say they are fresh ……you say they are salt“s “ Take a drink from one then you’ll know.”
Up at 6 and set main at the mooring. We were on our way down W. Penobscot River by 7. Within a couple of hours we were headed out into the Gulf of Maine on our way direct to Nantucket.
Doug had agreed to keep track and report us overdue if we hadn’t arrived within 36 hours. All three of us got positive weather forecasts so it looked like it was going to be a slow and easy trip with 5-15K winds from the south…dead into it.
Taking two hour shifts on the helm it started off very comfortably. Reading books up on the foredeck in the beanbag chairs and an occasional nap. Around 3pm it looked like we were going to get some winds building and we might be able to increase our SOG ( speed over ground).
Within 2 hours the winds had built to 18-22K. A little more than a gentle boost in hull speed. What’s up with the those forecasts. We are now heading dead into strong winds and building seas. We’re 50 miles off the coast with no place to run and hide.
First watch began at 8pm LBW. The winds now were 18-25 gusting 30. We double reefed the sails before the watch while underway. This seemed to be the right power for the boat as it was handling everything well given the 6-8’ waves. Our SOG was dropping as fast as the barometer. It was apparent that we were in for a long night.

Each watch was not producing any encouraging results.
We need a new strategy. Decided to alter course toward Gloucester. Closer to land, off the wind so we could make better SOG. Our hull speed went up from 3.2K to 7. Doesn’t sound like much but to us it was like being at Indy.

The night was completely dark so we had changed our two gps so that on displayed radar with orientation course up and the other with chart oriented North up. We were able to keep track of what was going on around us pretty well.

Exhaustion is a big enemy. You don’t make good judgements when you are too tired. The two hour watches were right for us as any longer you got too tired. It was two hours of concentration.

You would think that it would be difficult to get to sleep with a diesel engine under your pillow and the boat bouncing around like a cork in the ocean. Not to mention that continuous banging of the waves against the hulls. It took minutes to get to sleep and we had to wake each other up for our watches.

Neither of us were concerned about being in any danger but I was concerned about when I would get my next good night’s sleep. It could be days at this rate. However, at some point the weather would change and things would get back to normal.

August 9, 2015
Woke up to Doug cooking bacon and Moby swabbing down the deck. Someone tracked in mud last night and it was obviously bothering him. Lucy baked some fresh pastry and our last breakfast together was enjoyable in the aft dining area.
Doug and Lucy were picked up at 11:30 and Moby and I picked up a few last minute provisions. This is the last shopping spot until Nantucket. We sailed to Pulpit Harbor on Northhaven Island. It is a beautiful anchorage with only private homes surrounding the harbor. It would be a great hurricane hole; totally protected.
We got in at 2:30 and both took a nap. I feel asleep in a double bagger on the foredeck and Moby in his cabin. Steaks on board tonight and early bed. Tomorrow we are leaving at sunrise to head out into the Atlantic to head directly to Nantucket. It should take us about 36 hours at sea at the most.
I am just finishing this blog and it’s cocktail hour so I am going to sign off. Stay tuned for the summary. In the meantime………..”Here’s to a fast ship, a fair wind and a lass that loves a sailor.”

August 8
Were exploring different small anchorages today. First Stop is Benjamin River and then up to Buck’s Harbor. These are all places that Doug has been to and put on the things we should see. Each one would be a great place to spend the night and are obviously popular by the count of boats in them.
Our destination is Castine, Me. This is where the Maine Maritime Academy is located. It is very picturesque town with beautiful large summer homes lining the coast and at big light house marking its entrance. Doug’s knowledge came in very handy here as he called ahead and reserved the last mooring in the anchorage. We would have had to anchor across the harbor and it would have been a long dingy ride. He also knew about the Penatagoet Inn and made dinner reservations for us there. The owner of this inn is a former CIA agent and his brother is associated with Eastern Yacht Club in Marblehead. He recoginized Doug the moment we walked in.
Doug has to work Monday so we will be dropping Doug and Lucy off here tomorrow. They have arranged to be picked up and brought back to NE Harbor where we left their car. It’s about an hour from here.
This might be a good time to mention how Doug and Lucy’s extensive knowledge of this area has added significantly to the quality of our experience. They know most of the anchorages, the best time to arrive, which you can make reservations for moorings and who to call. There would have been no way for us to enjoy what we have, the way we have without their experience and knowledge of these islands. There are simply too many islands and too many anchorages to even begin to find where we have been.
We pulled into Eaton’s Marine and pulled up to the fuel dock like we knew what we were doing. We take up a lot of space so we drew some attention. We took on fuel, water and ice. Dumped our garbage and headed for our mooring. Eaton’s does things the old fashion way: In God we trust, all others pay cash. Their hospitality was exceptional and going ashore there was like a scene out of the White Squall. Old fashioned, dirt roads and old buildings that are simply classic. A real genuine feeling that you just can;’t find.
Doug and Lucy went for a jog and Moby and I toured around Castine. Moby and I ended up at a neat little dockside restaurant with a nice bar ( Dennett’s ) right on the water with our boat out front. Since there are only three in town, it didn’t take a detective to find us and Doug and Lucy chased us down and joined us. Back to the boat for showers and “smart casual attire” for dinner.
By the time we were finished with dinner it was time to get to bed early. Tomorrow packing up and we are beginning our trec back home.

August 7
Left Sommes around 9:30 down river to SW Harbor arount the end of Mt Desert Island then thru Blue Hills Band. Continued thru Casco Passage and truning right up Eggemogin Reach the wind built to 12-14 and we were on the famous Reach.
We reached Center Harbor around 1pm. Where we decided to post up for the night. This is the home of Brooklyn Boat Yard and just down the island from this is Wooden boat school that we wanted to explore.
BBY builds wooden boats. One of the most famous boats that they build is the W Class. They built the W-Boat that caught fire last year off of Cuttyhunk that Wendy Schmidt owned and Tom Pochman’s son was captaining.
This anchorage is abundant with a variety of small wooden classic sailboats from Friendship Sloops to Herreschoff 12.5’s There are also a few beautiful large fiberglass hulls in there.
The Yacht Club is very cool. It only has a single room, classic New England building that appears to function mainly as a summer camp for young kids living on the island and the main place in this harbor for them to have summer fun and learn to sail these classic boats.
The houses surrounding the coast are clearly generations of wealth. Got talking with a man whos sister lives in Oregon and the look forward every summer to their annual trip to the remote family compound on the coast of Maine. It is probably the same scene as the families on Tuckernuck.
One thing about the people in Maine is that they are overly friendly and can’t help you enough. We took up a mooring at the BBY and the CFO offered to give us a ride down to the Wooden Boat School. It was about 5 miles. He also owned the general store. The school is only open from June-September but the principal business for them is the publication of Wooden Boat Magazine. Up on a hill overlook the anchorage is a beautiful classic main house where the magazine is published. Along with it are multiple other boat building magazines specific to different building techniques. These two businesses support most of the year rounders in this area. Enough of them so that there are good schools but not much else going on in the winter.
Hitch hiked back with the director of Wooden Boat, cocktails in the bean-bag chairs on the foredeck. Lucy made dinner and we all hit the hay early.