I left the boatyard last Thursday, June 29, for a shakedown cruise before heading for Maine. I was nearly out of fuel, down to about 8 gals in the tanks, so the first task was to find a local marina that sells diesel. There are two on the Magothy River but one has a very shallow entrance so I went about 5 miles across the Magothy to the Magothy Marina. There was no one at the dock when I got there so I got to dock by myself. No problems and shortly I had full tanks and was on my way to the night's anchorage. It was afternoon already and with scattered severe thunderstorms predicted, I wanted a good anchorage. I went back to the little bay on the north side of Gibson Island where I had anchored once before. No storms came through there so I had a good nights sleep and got an early start on Fri. (The picture was taken last fall.)

Friday I went to Baltimore. I had never been in downtown Baltimore either on land or water so I thought it would be an interesting side trip. I had been seeing the inner harbor on the local TV news program so that's where I headed. Winds were about 10 K from the NW so I had a great sail until I turned into the Patapsco River. I was now going directly into the wind in the shipping channel so I motored the rest of the way. Most of the channel into Baltimore is industrial so it wasn't a real pretty ride. Once past the Francis Scott Key bridge, there was less industry and more marinas and other commercial facilities. On the north side of the channel is the Francis Scott Key Memorial buoy. This is a buoy with red and white stripes and a blue top with white stars. It marks the spot where Francis Scott Key was held prisoner on a British ship and wrote the national anthem while looking for the flag flying over Fort McHenry.

Ft McHenry is directly ahead as you approach the harbor with the large buildings of downtown Baltimore are behind it.

The inner harbor has been all redone with the typical tourist attractions of downtown harbors. There is an old submarine, the Torsk, and the USS Constitution, an aquarium and various museums, parks, restaurants and a lot of residential buildings. Some appear to be converted commercial buildings but there are also a lot of new residential buildings. A new residential facility right on the water is being managed by Ritz-Carlton. There is actually an anchorage there that I was thinking about anchoring in. It turned out to be big enough for about two boats and there were already three there so I decided not to try to squeeze in. There is also a public dock there that is very convenient and reasonable. I may go back later when it's not a holiday week.

After leaving Baltimore, I went a little ways north and anchored behind Hart-Miller Island. This is a 1,140 acre island that is being built with the dredgings from the Baltimore Harbor and approaches. It is a state park that has a beach with grilles and picnic tables, a lookout tower and camping facilities. It's a couple of miles long and there is a very well protected bay behind it called Hawk Cove. The bay is about 10 feet deep and makes an anchorage that can accommodate hundreds of boats without being crowded.

I decided to go see some of the Eastern Shore today. I got sort of a late start and had the wind directly from the mouth of the Chester River where I wanted to go. I ended up motoring all the way. The recent flooding in PA sent a massive amount of debris floating down the Chesapeake. Most was small stuff although there was the occasional tree and I saw one 55 gal drum with about one inch above water. It was worse than trying to avoid the crab pot floats. I am anchored now along the east side of the Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge on the Chester River. Tomorrow I'll go up stream a ways, possibly to Chestertown. It sounds like a nice place to spend a day or two.

July 3, 2006

Yesterday I went up the Chester River to Chestertown, about 17 miles from where I was anchored. The Chester River starts out really broad, although with a fairly narrow channel in spots, and by the time you get to Chestertown it is down to about a 1/4 mile wide. I was able to sail nearly all the way to Chestertown but started motorsailing when I got to a really narrow deep channel and motorsailed the last few miles. I anchored right across from the town. It's been a while since I've anchored in a river where there was a significant current and it still seemed strange to have the boat stern to the wind and trying to go upstream against the anchor.

Chestertown seems to be primarily a tourist town but still caters more to the land based tourist with lots of bed and breakfast type places. There are a couple of small marinas but I was the only boat anchored there for most of the day. There was an old restored schooner there that they were taking people for rides in although I didn't get a picture. The two larger boats at the dock are a skipjack and an oyster buying boat. The skipjack is number 22 and is quite old. The law governing the taking of oysters requires that the dredging operation be done under sail in an attempt to control size of the harvest. They are allowed to use a push boat to get to the oyster grounds but it has to be hauled out of the water while they are actually dredging and you can see it in the picture hanging across the stern. The oyster buying boat was used to go out to the skipjacks and "buy" the harvest from the oystermen and then take it to the shucking houses on the eastern shore. This allowed the oystermen to keep dredging and not have to stop to take their catch ashore. Bella Vita is anchored in the background.

Chestertown is a beautiful little town, at least the downtown area. It was founded in 1706 and several of the buildings are from the 1700's. George Washington supposedly made 9 trips to Chestertown. There is a lot of restoration and renovation going on now and it seems to be booming. The pictures are just of some of the houses that I especially liked, not necessarily of any historical significance.

Several boats came in later in the afternoon and decided that where I was anchored looked pretty good. I was close to the edge of an underwater cable area and a couple still anchored in the cable area. That evening, the wind started up and there were severe thunderstorm warnings issued with predicted winds from 35 to 60 knots. The holding was very poor in a soft bottom and I was dragging anchor upstream toward the cable area. I wanted to move but was afraid that I didn't have time to get the anchor up, move and reset it before the storms hit so I let out a little more rode and waited. About that time another boat decided to move up where I was and set his rather small anchor on a short nylon rode close to mine. The wind had dropped a bit so I decided it was better to risk getting caught under power by a squall than to risk staying in that tight group of boats. I got my anchor up as quickly as I could, one of the few times I wished I had an electric windlass, got underway OK and headed about 1/4 mile downstream and about 1,000 feet from the nearest boat and set the anchor. The holding seemed much better down there and I could not pull the anchor in reverse. Feeling much better, I settled down in the cockpit with a book and waited for the storm. I was watching the forecast on TV and the storm seemed to split with the worst of it going north across southern PA with 60 knot winds and nickel sized hail. The other, not quite as strong, portion going south and both missing us. We got a little wind and the temperature dropped but no thunder storm. We did get a beautiful sunset though.

Today I started back to Gibson Island. I didn't want to go all the way back today so I went about 8 miles to a nice anchorage along the river. I'll get an early start tomorrow and go the rest of the way back. I will probably anchor tomorrow in the little cove where I did when I left unless it's too full. Then I'll probably go back to the boatyard and make the final preparations for the Maine trip.

July 16, 2006

The trip back to Gibson Island was uneventful and I was tied up at the boat dock again. I didn't have to do much on the boat other than clean it before John Byrne showed up for our trip to Maine. After a couple of relaxing days John came in on July 6th. It was a little too late in the day to get going and get to a reasonable anchorage so we stayed in the slip and left early the next morning.

The trip started out a little slow with winds from the NNE, which was of course the direction we were going. I wanted to fill up with diesel before we got out to the Atlantic so we went halfway through the Chesapeake-Delaware Canal and filled up at Summit North Marina. It was late and the marina looked nice so we stayed there for the night. After a good meal and a good night's sleep, we were up and off with another early morning start on July 8th.

After motoring through the rest of the canal we entered Delaware Bay and got the sails up. Winds were still light so we motorsailed most of the way down the bay. We were making reasonable speed with a little push from the wind and rounded Cape May, NJ, shortly before dark. I had wanted to get out of Delaware Bay and into the Atlantic before nightfall and we made. Winds were still in the 5 to 10 knot range so we were still motorsailing up the east coast of NJ. By midnight we were off Atlantic City with its casinos putting on their light show. It seemed a little strange to see them lit up since they were closed. NJ failed to pass a budget and a lot of state services were shut down including the ones that monitor the casinos.

We sailed all night through a fairly busy area and by early afternoon on the 9th, we were rounding Sandy Hook, NJ, and entering NYC Harbor. There is a large Lower Bay with a lot of traffic but it's not until you go under the Verrazano Bridge that it feels like your entering NYC. I was a little apprehensive about going through NYC with all the traffic and security warnings. I had called the Coast Guard to see what the restrictions were for recreation boats and he said there was nothing outside of common sense. There was one problem area. The East River that goes along the east side of Manhattan and on out to Long Island Sound is what we wanted to take. Roosevelt Island is in the middle of the East River. The channel to the east of the island was closed for the construction of something so we had to use the busier west channel. Also, the east half of the west channel was closed so we had to use the west half of the west channel. There was a one way traffic control in place for the large vessels because of the narrow open channel. The Coast Guard said not to worry about and just to stay on close to the Manhattan side and stay alert.

After going into the Upper Bay we had a nice view of the Statue of Liberty and the Staten Island Ferry. Even on a Sunday afternoon the ferries were making a lot of runs. We saw a few going each way as we passed through the upper harbor. Governor's Island was next as we traveled toward NYC. I'm not sure what is on Governor's Island but it looked nice. Coming around the north end of the island, you end up right at Battery Park on the south tip of Manhattan. We turned up the East River and under the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges. The entrance to the East River was really turbulent. It looked like there was a current coming out of the East River and hitting one coming the other way from the Hudson River. There were standing waves and whirlpools that could cause quite a problem with a small boat. We got pushed around a little but had no real problem getting into the East River. Brooklyn Bridge may not be the oldest bridge in NYC but it looks like it with its massive stone towers. I hadn't seen it before and had a great view as we went under. This was also my first time to see Manhattan from the water, except from the Staten Island ferry many years ago. It looks a lot different when you're not stuck in traffic. We went right by the UN buildings. I recognized the short building but was really surprised at how small it was. I had this image in my mind that it was much bigger. On up the East river and around to the west side of Roosevelt Island we had no problems. There was some traffic but certainly not what I had feared. Even through the construction along Roosevelt Island was a pleasant trip. At the north end of Roosevelt Island, the East River joins the Harlem River in an area called Hell Gate. Not only do the rivers meet here, but the East River is pushed by the tides coming in from Long Island Sound from the north-east and through NYC Harbor from the south. My cruising guide made it sound like the most dangerous spot you could find and strongly suggested going through at local high or low tide when there would be minimal current. They also mentioned that it is where the local white water kayakers go to practice. We thought we were hitting it at about high tide but it turned out we got there at about high current. We were motoring and went right on through the whirlpools and waves with no major problem. In return for going through the turbulent portion at Hell Gate, we got a big boost on out to Long Island Sound from the ebb tide current. For a while we were going 11.1 knots with the engine a little above idle. It was a great ride.

After we got through Hell Gate, the rest of the trip to Long Island was sort of anti-climatic. The prison at Rikers Island pretty much marks the entrance to Long Island sound and as we passed the prison, the wind picked up considerably. We had been motoring until then but with the wind rising, so did the sails. The higher winds, about 20 knot, turned out to be short lived but we still had a nice 10-15 knot wind for some time. There was still some current flowing out so we were very quickly under the Whitestone and Throgs Neck bridges and into Long Island sound proper. This is a great place to sail and there were a lot of boats heading back into the East River. The sound is large but with the winds from the south, there isn't a large fetch and it stays calm making for ideal conditions. The timing worked nicely and we were well into the sound before dark but still had light as we went past the Hamptons and the "cottages." The wind stayed around 10 knots for most of the night and we were able to sail without the engine.

We sailed all night and by mid-afternoon we were past the end of Long Island. It was too late to get to and through the Cape Cod Canal before dark so we decided to stop for the night. We pulled into Point Judith, RI, and tied up for the night. This is a nice little seaside town and we found a great restaurant for dinner.

The next morning, July 11, we got an early start since we wanted to catch the tidal current through the canal. What we hadn't counted on was the fog. It closed in and visibility was down to about 500 feet by my guess. It didn't really slow us down too much since we were motor-sailing in the very light winds and our speed was only about 5 knots. This was one time the radar was critical in keeping up with traffic although it was somewhat disconcerting that most of the smaller fiberglass boats gave little or no visible return. The power boats mostly slowed down to a reasonable speed. It's a strange feeling to be going along and have a 40 foot boat suddenly appear and cross your bow. One trawler, who was obviously not trawling but heading for his fishing area, came out of the fog right beside us. He turned off slightly and went behind us with no problem other than a slightly elevated heart rate. The fog was on an off most of the day with light winds and we reached the Cape Cod Canal about 15 minutes after the current turned in our favor. The canal has some really strong currents since the tides on one side are about 9 feet and on the other about 4 feet. But it's wide and has no sharp turns and could easily be done at night. The approaches are well marked and the canal itself has 'street lights' on both sides. We probably averaged about 8 knots going through with about 1/3 throttle.

Exiting the canal put us in the Cape Cod Bay and on a straight shot for Portland only about 120 NM away. It was shortly before dark and we got sails up and moving nicely before dark. It was a nice sail until about midnight when the winds picked up and it started to rain. There was some thunder but it didn't seem to be near us. The winds and rain kept up through the night and was a good test of our foul weather gear (results: Mixed, definitely a help but still got wet and cold.). The winds were from the NNE so we were pointing as high as we could. Under these conditions, high winds on the nose, the autopilot doesn't do well so we hand steered all night. The autopilot will swing about +/- 10 degrees and if trying to point too high, it will go 'overcenter' and backwind the headsail. Then you either have to do nearly a full 360 degree turn or start the engine and power back through the wind.

Since we were going to have a couple of days before John flew out, we decided to go east a ways to see what 'downeast' Maine is like. We had both heard of Boothbay, but neither been there, so we decided to go there first and then further east as time allowed. Boothbay is at the end of a narrow channel between two 'necks.' Anchoring is somewhat difficult around here since the tidal range is so great. You have to put out enough rode to work in the deep water of high tide and this means you need a lot of room between boats so they can swing without hitting each other. In Boothbay, there was basically no place to anchor so we tied up at a marina. It was nice being able to take hot showers and to go ashore without having to put the dinghy in the water. Boothbay is mostly a tourist town but still nice.

There were a lot of restaurants and shops of all kinds. The ship 'Bounty' used in the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' was in dry dock being rebuilt. It was built in 1962 in Nova Scotia and has been going through a multiyear rebuild. It was interesting, at least to me, to see how they were built. It is built on solid wood frames, looked like oak, that were about 8x8 inches that were bent to follow the contour of the sides. These were dowelled together and then planked on the inside and outside. The outer planking is then caulked and painted. Quite an operation. The rigging had already been replaced and most of the wood below the waterline had been replaced.

There are more pictures of Boothbay in the Photo page.

After Boothbay, there were a few places we wanted to go to but only had one more day. We motored over to East Boothbay which is a working town with little tourist traffic. The route to East Boothbay was simple and short except for having to dodge all the lobster trap buoys. There are literally thousands of them and some of them are actually underwater. We didn't stop at East Boothbay but just motored through the harbor and back out. There were even lobster traps in the middle of the harbor so you had to dodge them as well as the moored boats while fighting the tidal current and wind. The lines seem to be a little short and the buoy ends up a foot or two underwater at high tide. Tough to dodge those! There was a boatyard there that had a large tug boat in the shop. It had ducted props that looked like they also turned. I had never seen props like that but it explains how the tugs can maneuver so easily in tight areas.

Next it was over to the Townsend Gut. This is a very narrow channel, described in the cruising guide as "twisting, confined", that leads from the Damariscotta River where East Boothbay is located to Johns Bay. There is an opening bridge at the west end but there were wires across the mouth of the gut that I wasn't sure I could get under so we passed on going through. We couldn't find anyone on the VHF that knew what the clearance was. Instead we went south and around the end of several little islands over to Johns Bay.

Next was Pemaquid. This is on the east side of Johns Bay at the mouth of the Pemaquid River. There is not a lot there except for a local historical society that runs a museum and a restored fort, Fort William Henry. The historical society has a dock where you can tie up for an hour so we decided to do it. Docking was tough with the current going out, pretty quickly, and the wind opposing. It certainly wasn't pretty but we got tied up eventually. We did the tour of the museum and fort which was quite interesting. We asked a few people where the town was, looking for a restaurant and grocery store, and it turns out there isn't really a town there. The closest was New Harbor on four miles away on the east side of the neck. Since it sounded like a little further than we wanted to walk, we decided to stay where we were. But there was a lobster coop there that had a restaurant. A lady we talked to at the museum said that was her husband and her were going to eat so we decided to go there. We picked up a mooring, got the dinghy assembled and in the water and headed off to the coop. It was packed with locals and I'd guess 90% of the people there were eating lobster. You stood in line to order and then found a picnic table outside to eat at. The food was good and prices reasonable. There was a beautiful shingle style house at the end of the mooring field where we were tied up. I think it one that was toured on 'This Old House'. If it is the same one, it was built by a couple over many years and is as nice inside as outside.

Yesterday we got another early start and headed for Portland. Winds were light but since so we motorsailed to make sure we could get back in time to get a slip so John could catch a taxi to the airport at 5:00 am. John spent a fair portion of the trip at the bow watching for lobster trap buoys. The trip was uneventful although the high speed ferry from Nova Scotia certainly got our attention.

Altogether, we traveled about 623 NM in 8 days including three overnight sails. The light winds meant that we had to motor a lot more than I would have liked but it also meant that the seas were calm and we had a much more comfortable trip. It was my first experience with dense fog and high tides with their strong tidal currents. John got off this morning on his way back to Boulder and I am getting ready to go downeast to Penobscot Bay for some extended cruising in that area. I left Portland today, after uploading the previous site update, about 2:00. I motored out of the marina into a strong southerly wind. Once clear of the harbor, I raised sails and shut off the engine and was able to sail close to 6 knots. Great sail! Looked like it was going to be a good trip to Penobscot Bay. After about 45 minutes, the wind dropped off to about 5 knots and pretty much stayed there for the rest of the day. At least I was reminded how nice it is to be able to sail without the engine running. I wanted to be sure that I got well into the bay and to a good anchorage before dark on Tues so I started the engine and ran it enough to maintain about 4.5 knots. I was surprised yesterday when I filled up that I had only burned about 45 gallons since leaving the CD canal, about 560 NM, and we did a lot of motorsailing.

July 18, 2006

I made it to Penobscot Bay in time to anchor. It was a bit overcast all day but that made for some nice colors in the evening. The picture is of Segun Island with its lighthouse standing proudly on top. I motorsailed, mostly motored, most of the night and was at the entrance to Penobscot Bay at about day break. I can certainly tell I'm getting close to the eastern edge of the time zone, it was getting light at 4:45 am. It was a pleasant overnight even though I had to motor. There are sufficient lights, some on the islands and some on floating buoys, that it is pretty easy to find your way. Of course the PC chart plotter helps some. As I was approaching Monhegan Island, the only island that I would pass north of, the lighthouse was visible for about 15 miles and the other lights showed up as I got closer. I had run my route on the plotter close to one of the lights, Sunken Duck Rock Lighted Bell Buoy 5. As I neared the island, I could not find that buoy. When I approached the buoy's location, I could here the gong but not see the light. Eventually, it sounded like the gong was right beside me and I shone the spotlight to where it was supposed to be. There it was, about 50 feet away with a green light that was not working. It quickly brought home how accurate the chart plotter and GPS are and also how important the lights are.

Shortly after this, the fog settled in. Since it was still well before daylight, the lobster men were not out. With the engine off, I could here boats in the distance and see them on the radar. About the time I turned up into Penobscot Bay, I started seeing more boats on the radar. Most of them were moving very slowly because they were tending the traps but now and then one would go by quickly. Some got within 1,000 feet, according to the radar, but I still was not able to see them through the fog. The wind was light but I didn't want to run the engine because then I wouldn't be able to here the other boats. One time I heard a bell that sounded REALLY close but no visible boat. I was done to about 1.5 knot and that was from the tidal current going into the bay. I had no steerage so I had to start the engine and motor to get control of the boat to dodge the lobster trap buoys. The fog stayed pretty thick until about 9:30 and I was past Rockland. Rockland seems to be a pretty busy harbor and there were a lot of security calls. Whenever a large ship is entering or leaving a harbor, they broadcast a security call so other vessels can watch for them. I stayed to the east side of the bay, away from Rockland, and did not see any other vessels except on radar.

Shortly after Rockland, the fog lifted so when I got to Robinson Rock they were visible. This is a few rocks that are the home, or at least resting place for, a lot of seals. There is deep water all around then so you can get close to watch the seals. Not that they are all that exciting, they pretty much just lay around on the rocks, although I did see one turn over. The rocks are also home to a lot of birds, as well as a resting spot for one bald eagle. He took flight as I went by much to the consternation of the other birds. What a magnificent bird.

After the excitement of the seals and eagle, I turned across the bay for my chosen anchorage for the night. Bucks Harbor looked really nice and the guide said there was a large anchorage at the end of the harbor. I sailed over, dropped sails, and motored into the harbor. Well, where the anchorage was has been completely taken over by a large mooring field. For those not familiar with the difference between anchoring and mooring, a mooring consists of a line that is attached, hopefully securely, to the bottom and has a large buoy with a short line attached to it. You tie up to this line. When anchoring, you use your own anchor and drop it to the bottom where it digs in. (Off course when the bottom is rock, it doesn't dig in too well.) The ability of the anchor to hold is determined to a large part by the angle of the anchor line. If it's too short, it will hold the end of the anchor up and it won't dig in. The line should be from three to seven times the depth of the water. The problem with this long line is that the boat will swing around the anchor in a circle the size of the line. The mooring line is much shorter so the swinging circle is much smaller and more boats can safely be secured in the same space. There are two problems with the moorings. The first is that you need to pay for them and if you use one every night, it adds up. The other is that you don't know how secure they are. Some are tied to weights that just sit on the bottom while others are cemented into the bottom. With a mud bottom, they tend to use large weights. These may or may not hold your boat in a storm. Also, the lines are frequently damaged by the propellers of boats going by. Because of all this, I prefer to anchor instead of tie to a mooring.

With no space to anchor, I decided to head for Castine. They have two very large anchorage areas near town. It was about two hours away and I got there about 4:30 pm with plenty of time to anchor, clean up the boat and eat dinner (Beef Burgundy) before collapsing. I had stayed up all night the night before and was a bit tired.

It was a 102 nm sail from Portland to Castine.

The anchorage is beautiful and large. It's about a mile long and 0.75 mile wide with a small island in the middle. It is well protected from the seas of Penobscot Bay by uninhabited Holbrook Island but still gets the breeze. The entrance is a little narrow with a shoal area in the middle that never quite shows. The schooner in the picture found it shortly before low tide and had to sit there and wait for about three hours for the tide to rise enough to float off. It is a little deeper than I usually prefer and I anchored in about 32 feet at high tide. The tide here is about 11 feet. I can see one house on the harbor and a pretty little island in the middle. There are severe thunderstorms predicted for this afternoon so I will probably stay here for a couple of days. It's time to do laundry, actually a little past time, so I'll probably do that in Castine, and pick up a few things before heading on further.

This afternoon one of the predicted sever thunderstorms came through here. There was a lot of cloud to ground lightening that was really close. I'm not sure what the wind got up to but I was watching the charging current from the wind generator. According to the output curve, it is supposed to peak out at 450 watts or about 33 amps at the charging voltage. I saw 44 amps on the monitor so I'd guess the winds were well off the chart which goes to 35 mph. Comparing it to the squall I went through in Marsh Harbor, I'd guess the wind was well over 50 mph. There was also some hail with the largest I saw about 3/8 inch diameter. No problems from it and the boat got a nice washing.

I added the pictures of Boothbay to the Photo page. I ran out of time before I left Portland.

July 25, 2006

The fog seems to come along quite often here. At times it is so thick that visibility is a few hundered feet at best but it does provide some great scenery if your not trying to sail through it. At other times it is clear and bright and also makes for nice pictures. This is Bella Vita in Holbrook Harbor. Sailing in the fog is another time when the radar indespenceable although it's not prudent to rely on it entirely. Fiberglas boats generally give a very poor return on the radar. I have seen fiberglass boats within 1/4 mile and still can't see them on the radar. Steel boats will give a much better return so I am reasonably sure that other boats can see me, assuming that they have their radar on and are monitoring it. So when I'm in the fog, I really appreciate the steel hull.

I finally left Castine. The harbor there was really comfortable but it was a long trip into Castine, about a mile which in my dinghy is a long trip, and the facilities there left something to be desired. The library was nice and provide free high speed internet service. There was a small grocery store but it didn't have much of a selection. There were lots of tourist shops and restaurants and I did finally try a lobster roll. Pretty good. I decided I had to laundry before I left so I loaded up all my dirty clothes, actually most of my clothes, and headed for town. They have a town dock with a dinghy dock that is pretty convenient to down town and my cruising guide said there was a laundry mat next to the grocery. Well, next to the grocery is a newspaper office and next to it is an apartment building and next to it is country. I stopped a the grocery and asked where the laundry mat was and found out eventually that it closed. Boy people from Maine like to talk! Before I found out that there is no longer a laundry mat, I learned that the apartment building had a fire and when it was rebuilt, the owner neglected to install the second water heater. Also, you need a permit for a laundry mat since water is so expensive in Castine. From all that pretty much decided that there was no longer a laundry mat in Castine. So, I hauled the dirty clothes back to the boat and decided that I would move on in search of a laundry mat.

The other thing that makes sailing around here somewhat difficult is the thousands of lobster traps. They are thicker that I've ever seen the crab traps in the Chesapeake Bay. Not only are they thick but at times the floats will be slightly underwater so you can't see them until you are right beside them. Lately I've seen a new problem with them. Some will have two floats with about a 10 foot line between them that tends to be a few feet under water. I'm not sure what the purpose of the second float is but it sure makes it tough to miss them. The first one I saw seeemed to be wrapped around my keel and and I had a float on each side of the boat going right along with me. Eventually it came off after I dragged it along for a while.

One place that I wanted to go to was Brooklin. Brooklin is at the southeast end of Eggemoggin Reach. Eggemoggin Reach is a channel between the mainland and Deer Isle. It's called a reach because of whether the wind is from the SW or NE, the two predominate wind directions here, you can sail either way on a reach. It's a pretty sail and has the only bridge I've seen in Maine that I've sailed under. There is also a nice lighthouse on Pumpkin Island at the NW end of the reach.

Brooklin is a very small town but is home to the Brooklin Boatyard which is well known for its beautiful wooden boats. It is also home to the Wooden Boat School and Wooden Boat magazine and was home to Joel White until he died. Joel White was a well know naval architect who designed everything from the 7' Nutshell pram to the 76' W class racing sailboats. I had seen the first two of the W class boats on my first charter in the BVI. They were tied up at the Bitter End Yacht Club on Virgin Gorda. They are truly beautiful boats. Each had three people who lived aboard and maintained them and when racing they had a crew of 14. They were designed for someone who was trying to start a new one-design racing class and were both built at the Brooklin Boatyard. I don't think any more were built and I recently saw one of them was for sale for around $2,000,000.

At Brooklin, I motored through the very crowded harbor but couldn't find an empty mooring and there isn't really room to anchor so I just turned arond and went back out admiring the boats and taking pictures on the way. The harbor is filled with beautiful sail boats and I added several pictures to the photo page. The boatyard is just barely visible in the background of this picture. It was a great day for taking pictures.

Wooden Boat magazine has been one of my favorite magazines for some time even though I never had, or wanted, a wooden boat. It is a very well done magazine and I've read that the school is the best at teaching how to build wooden boats. It is located in the next little harbor so I decided to go in there and see if I could find a place to anchor and go ashore to see the school and other facilities. The harbor is large, although not real well protected, and I had no problem finding a nice spot to anchor. The facilities are quite impressive. They apparently bought a large estate. The magazine offices are in the house, I guess it should be called a mansion, and the school is in what I assume was the barn and/or stables. In addition they have built a new store and there are two large houses that serve as dorm's and dining facilities for the students. These pictures are of a small house that was built right on the waterfront. For some reason I didn't take many pictures of the rest fo the grounds.

There were three classes going on and since they were out to lunch, I was able to wander around and see what they were doing. One class was build a lapstrake kayak where each student builds one and it is theirs to keep. The second class was building a larger lapstrake power boat and the third was doing marine carving. I talked for a while to one of the students in the carving class. He said he has taken one class every summer for the last 18 years and he can't build boats any more because of physical problems so he builds models and does carvings. I almost signed up for the carving class until I saw that the tuition was $650 and I had already missed one day. It looked like something I would enjoy and may do it someday. They have many different class in crafts and also many sailing classes. I highly recommend a visit if you're in the neighborhood. Also, at $10 a night, they have the cheapest moorings I have ever seen.

I took some time to make use of their free wireless internet to catch up on my email even though I had to go back to the boat to get my laptop.

By the time I left, it was getting a little late so I decided to anchor in Mackerel Cove on Swans Island. It looked like a good anchorage on the chart and the guide said it would accommodate a flotilla of boats. The only problem looked was that the entrance to it looked really narrow and shallow. It turned out that it was pretty easy to get into, helped by the fact that it was close to high tide. There were a dozen or so boats anchor there and room for a few dozen more. I anchored in about 20 feet at high tide and had a very comfortable night. These pictures give some idea of the tidal change here since they were taken at close to low tide.

This morning I got up early and was off by about 6:00. I wanted to see Somes Sound and since there is no good anchorages there I had to have time to see the sound and then get to one. Somes Sound, on Mount Desert Island, is the only fjord in North America, outside of Alaska. I don't know what the definition of a fjord is but I expected to see a deep, narrow finger of water between steep mountains on both sides. That is what I saw although I did envision higher and steeper mountains. The hills along the sound are 600 to 800 feet high with much higher ones in the background so it makes for some senic spots. The picture on the left is the entrance to the sound and the one on the right is a closeup of a spot on the west side. It appears to be 'the' place to live and there are huge houses along both sides, many with their Hinckley, or sometimes two, tied to a mooring in front. Of course, Hinckleys are made in Manset right at the mouth of the sound. It was a very enjoyable trip and I went to the end before turning around and heading out. The canoe is one of two that I have seen several times, first over near Rockland, next heading for Somes Sound, then up in the sound as I was leaving and then I passed them again on my way back to Mackeral Cove.

I decided to anchor either in Sorrento or Flanders Bay for the night. Both are close to the north end of Frenchman Bay. Frenchman Bay goes along the east side of Mount Desert Island, home to Bass harbor, Bar Harbor, the Acadia National Park in addition to Somes Sound. The park was quite busy with lots of people at the overlooks watching the boats go sailing by and the people on the boats watching the people on shore. I've never been to Acadia, actually I've never been to Maine before, but it looks like it is one of the nicer National Parks. The coast there is rugged and of course undeveloped although the east side of the island has some nice homes. I think these are homes but I guess they could be lodges for the park. There is a town and a lot of homes along the southwest part of the island and Bar Harbor is on the northeast side. In between seems to all be park.

About the time I turned north at the eastern side of Mount Desert Island, I heard a Coast Guard broadcast warning of severe thunderstorms approaching. It had gotten much cooler and the winds picked up to the 15-20 knot range and the western sky looked ominously dark. I decided to get prepared and got on my foul weather gear as I headed up the bay. I was sailing along at over 6 knots with just the genoa up but still had about 11 miles to go to the anchorage. The next time I heard the severe weather warning, I heard that it was for western Maine. I don't really know where Western Maine ends but I was thinking it was quite a ways away so I relaxed some. It was still cold so I kept the foul weather gear on and the winds seemed to keep building until I'm sure they were well over twenty knots and the following seas were up to about 3 feet. I wasn't expecting this today so I was towing the dinghy. I was glad I had taken the engine off before I left Brooklin, even more so as a wave broke over the back of the dinghy and it started to go under. It took on enough water from the one wave that it lower the stern and after a few more waves it was swamped. I was still going close to 6 knots with the dinghy underwater. I turned upwind and dropped the genoa as quickly as I could before it tore the front of the dinghy off. The portaboats are pretty tough but I don't think they are made to be towed underwater at 6 knots. After the genoa was secured, I turned my attention to the dinghy. I was able to pull it forward and actually lift the bow enough that I could dump out some of the water. Of course then one of the oars started to float out. Thinking that I might need them someday, I really wanted to get that oar aboard. I was able to catch it with the boat hook and lift it high enough to grab it and quickly stow it below. The other one was still under the seats and seemed content there. I had to get the dinghy aboard so I tied a loop in the painter and fastened the main halyard to it. With the winch I was able to slowly lift the boat so the water would run out and then raise it high enough to get it on deck. I don't really have room on deck for the assembled boat but was not about to take the time to knock it down now. I was drifting well off course and closer all the time to the rocky shore of Ironbound Island. It was a little tough to see around the dinghy but I left it on deck as I got the boat pointed the right direction. Within a few minutes the wind began to drop and as soon as I got around the Porcupine Islands, the seas also moderated. That was good since I had all excitement I needed for one day.

As I was going around Long Porcupine Island I found out how fast the depth can change around here. I had been going along in about 170 to 200 feet of water and was a bit surprised to see 117 feet. I looked again and noticed the decimal point, I was in about 12 feet deep water! Quickly turning away from the island, normally the right move, since I didn't want to take the time to look at the chart, the depth was almost immediately back over 50 feet. Staying off the rocks around here requires staying alert and watching the charts carefully.

I am currently anchored in Flanders Bay in about 11 feet of water. It's almost low tide so it should work out well. This is a huge anchorage, about 3/4 nm square with almost all of it under twenty feet at low tide. There are a few sailboats on moorings and one other one anchored at least a half mile from me. The wind picks up now and then but the sea is nice and calm. Should be a good night.

I'm not sure where I'll go next. I am at the last page of my chart book so I doubt that I'll go much further east. The sailing gets pretty serious as you go east from here. There are few marine facilities for parts or repairs, the tides increase drastically reaching about 60 feet in the Bay of Fundy, the water is cold and the shores rugged. My cruising guide dedicates 5 of its 500+ pages to that area. I think I'll start back to the west, I guess that would be 'upwest.'

July 27, 2006

I am back in Makeral Cove today. I actually came in here yesterday after leaving Flanders Bay and decided to spend today here taking care of a few things on the boat, such as updating the web site. The trip f rom Flanders bay pretty much encompassed all of Maine sailing. I started out in very light winds and had to motor from Flanders Bay almost to Long Porcupine Island. This is a schooner that I think operates out of Bar Harbor. It had a load of people on it but was a little to far away for a good picture. Then the wind started to pick up and I raised the main and motorsailed down past Bar Harbor. The bay got wide enough then that I could tack so I got the genoa up and turned off the engine. I need a fairly wide channel before I want to tack, its just too much work when singlehanding. As I got close to the end of Frenchman Bay, the fog settled in. Since I was then a little preoccupied with watching for other traffic, I dropped genoa and went back to motorsailing. I sailed into and out of several patches of fog before it mostly disspated and I was able to sail some more. While going through the fog, The cat, a high speed catamarine ferry that goes to Nove Scotia, went by right on the edge of visiblility. I think he saw me on radar and went around me because he turned back in front of me and headed on. There was another boat about a mile in front of me, at least I think it was a boat, that I was watching on radar and The Cat came close enough to it that the blips merged. There were also a few lobster boats that went by right on the edge of visibility. The fog had mostly lifted shortly before I got to the shallows off Bass Harbor Head. The water goes from about 80 feet to less than 10 feet although there is a small channel that is gredeged to 13 feet. There is a very strong current through there and with the change in depth, the area gets pretty rough. It was quite similar to what we went trough in Hell Gate in NYC. After getting through this, it was a nice sail back to Mackeral Cove where I anchored.

The canoe is one of two that I have seen several times, first over near Rockland, next heading for Somes Sound, then up in the sound as I was leaving and then I passed them again on my way back to Mackeral Cove. Tehy each carry about 12 people and in the picture, four of them were rowing. Sort of like motorsailing I guess. They ar abou 30 feet long, don't seem to have an engine since they were rowing every day I saw them. I think they are part of an excursion that spends several days sailing and camping.

July 29, 2006

I'm back here in Castine. I spent the last couple of days in Mackeral Cove on Swans Island just relaxing and waiting for a low pressure area to pass. Today is a beautiful day and I came up the Eggemoggin Reach this morning. This was the second time through and I've had to motorsail on a tight beat both times. Seems like they should call it Eggemoggin Beat. I'm going to try and get to the library before they close so I can update the web site. I think tomorrow I'll go check out Belfast.

This boat was anchored in Mackeral Cove. John and I had seen this helicopter going over several times when we were a little further west of here. Apparently the owner uses it to commute from his boat to Portland. Not a bad way to live.

July 30, 2006

I did go to Belfast yesterday for a couple of things. I wanted to be able to say I'd anchored in the Passagassawakeag River. Well I anchored there but still can't say Passagassawakeag. I was also continuing my quest for laundry mat. Well they had one just a few blocks from the dock. I didn't have time to go back and get my clothes and get to the laundry mat before it closed so I spent the night there. This morning I got up and went in to do my laundry.

Belfast is a nice little town. It has a much of tourist shops downtown along with several art galleries and restuarants. I got to see a lot of it while I walked about amile to the grocery store.

By mid-morning I was ready to leave and decided to go to Searsport. They have a large marine supply store there. It is only about 4 miles up the coast so about an hour later I was anchored in Searsport harbor. Searsport is also a pretty little Maine town. I haven't seen so many big motor home for a long time. They also have some beautiful bed and breakfasts. Like most of the coastal towns, they cater much more to the land based travelers than the cruisers but they did have a nice dinghy dock and the harbor master came out as I was getting the dinghy ready and gave me his phone number in case I needed anything. There is what looked like a really nice museum, the Penobscot Marine Museum, and several antique shops, one that was full of antique tools.

Shortly after noon I was back on the boat and ready to leave. I thought about going back to Mackeral Cove but it was a little too far to get there before dark. So I am back at the Wooden Boat School anchorage. As I came in I saw the Bonnnie Lynn anchored there. It's the black hulled one. It was a little overcast when I took the picture so it's not the best. I first saw this boat about 10-12 years ago in the British Virgin Islands. It is a steel hulled gaff rigged schooner that was built by the owners. The captain gave us a very nice tour of the boat. He had done a fantastic job on the boat. They do crewed charters in the BVI during the winter and in Maine during the summers. The boat looked about the same except that they now have white sails instead of the tanbark sails they had back then. I have a web site that I think is www.bonnielynn.com.

I'm heading east over the next couple of days and will be in Winter Harbor by Thurs night. A friend from Lexington is coming up for a couple of days and we'll probably meet there.