Storm over a Tea Party

We had missed out on visiting Damariscove so headed for the Isle of Shoals instead – our last stop in Maine.  These islands are about 6 miles off Portsmouth and save weary travellers heading inshore when transiting either north or south.  They too are remote and barren although have been in known service to mariners, fair or foul, for well over 400 years.  Captain John Smith chartered these islands in 1614.  (Didn’t that man just get about in his little shallop?).  Rock walls (or causeways) have been shaped to provide scant protection in Gosport Harbor from Atlantic swells and open sea breezes.  We hoped our rocna would hold in kelp beds in a small anchorage off Smuttynose Island we shared with one other boat – a German traveller.  The Americans wouldn’t be silly enough to be out here in this weather…

Catching a ride on Bruce

The weather report for our next destination read like a bad dream – gusts to 35kts, seas to 8 feet.  Damn.  We got up early and left Isle of Shoals (not the best place to be in a storm) at 6.30.  Yes, that’s AM, folks.  Unbelievable, but the early morning calm gave us a great start on our trip south.  Gloucester if it’s really bad, Boston if we have to, Scituate at best or even a little closer to Cape Cod, our favourite, Provincetown.  We made Scituate just as the winds started to get above 20kts and before it started to rain - giving us a little time to explore town.  Scituate (pronounced sit-u-it) is a hospitable little village with a huge supermarket, a coin-op laundry, easy access to a town dock and a great pub (TK O’Malley’s - more Irish).  You know – all those things a salty, weary traveller looks for.

On a mooring at Scituate

Storm predictions worsened and the harbour was full of gossip.  At midnight we were to expect gusts up to 60kts, rain and thunderstorms.  Our ever resourceful Cap’n again prepared our faithful WJ3 for another tussle with nature.  Thankfully we only experienced winds to 34kts – though it sounded worse from our locked-down beds as rain beat against the decks.  To make matters worse, our morning calm was interrupted by an unscheduled thunderstorm that quickly whisked across Massachusetts Bay.  So we spent another rainy day hanging off a SHYC mooring planning a quick get-away to make the right tide (according to Mr Eldridge’s yellow pilot) and a speedy exit through the Cape Cod Canal back into Buzzards Bay.  Seems like we were there only last week – hey, wait a minute!


From: Isle of Shoals, NH  Lat/Long: 42 58N  70 36W  Date/Time: 16/9/10: 0630
To: Scituate, MA  Lat/Long: 42 12N  70 43W  Date/Time: 16/9/10: 1430
Time Taken: 49nm (8hrs)  Distance (this year): 1078nm (199hrs)
Distance Total (since 2008): 4718nm (898hrs)   Fastest Speed: See Note**
Weather: Winds W 10-15kts G20kts; Seas 3-5ft; Evening Winds S 20-25kts G35; Seas 8-11ft; showers & TSM’s 
(**Motored with haste to beat the oncoming storm. (Ed. We later heard that tornadoes had flattened parts of Brooklyn, NY.)

Lobster Central

Portland is Maine’s largest city and located in Casco Bay, another island, rock ledge, lighthouse and lobster pot filled waterway.  Curiously, one nasty ledge was called Junk of Pork; we’d like to know what that was all about!  As we rounded the marks into Peakes Island, a little out of Portland’s busy harbour, we were greeted by a curious little harbor seal.  We never did see any seal colonies but oh well, you just can’t have it all….

This is why we liked Maine

Portland is a very busy harbour, being the only ice-free (brrrrrrr!!) one in the Bay.  (Did we happen to mention that we were wearing our fleecies, thick sailing jackets, gloves and beanies now?  GS was in her thermals too!  We wanted cold – we got it!)  Still, that didn’t stop us from exploring Portland; on land it was a little warmer.  Bruce took us safely over to DiMillos where we could leave him for $10 a day – cheap babysitting really!  From there we explored the cobbled streets of the old port and took a trolley tour to learn about the city’s heritage, drive passed the home of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and visit a working historically listed lighthouse.  Although lobster could be had from the fish markets for $6 a pound (uncooked), we decided over a few brews at Gritty’s (yet another Irish pub) that we would try a curry.  Yes – it was worth it and the naan was melt-in-your-mouth.

We didn’t get to the Museum of Art but, in some ways, it came to us.  Portland supports a thriving College of Art.  We saw more tattoos and piercings per female and more skin heads than you would have expected – that’s art!  Street and shop signage was amazing and sculptures graced every available vacant space.  Portland was trendy, vibrant and compact.  We loved it!  But it was time to hit the road.

Art on the Sidewalk
(and it really is a piece of Berlin's famous Wall) 

From: Portland, ME  Lat/Long: 43 39N  70 12W  Date/Time: 15/9/10: 0830

To: Isle of Shoals, NH  Lat/Long: 42 58N  70 36W  Date/Time: 15/9/10: 1645
Time Taken: 47nm (8.5hrs)  Distance (this year): 1029nm (191hrs)
Distance Total (since 2008): 4669nm (890hrs)   Fastest Speed: See Note**
Weather: Winds NW 10-15kts G20kts; Seas 3-5ft; overcast; bumpy into the night
(** Did our usual 5-6kts; did a little sailing today too; cutter rig works well)

Ghosting Along

Leaving the delights of Camden far behind, WJ3 turned her nose down Penobscot Bay to our next over-nighter, Tenants Harbor.  We anchored for the night in a cosy Long Cove (with its 12 foot tidal range!!) after negotiating a current filled Muscle Ridge Channel.  Again, we passed any number of tranquil anchorages.  A restored lightkeeper’s house on Southern Island at the entrance to Tenants is home to the current generation of Wyeth’s, famous for painting Maine seascapes and portraiture.

An early start, again!

Plans go astray as always.  Our next stop was to be remote and barren Damariscove Island (Boothbay Harbor region).  Once this island was home to a major trade centre and the earliest permanent European settlement in the New World – it seems hard to believe it when you see it.  Even the Mayflower stopped here in 1620 to trade for food. (“Trust the Europeans”, said the Cap’n, “heard the pilgrims were on their way so headed out and opened up a shop ready for ‘em.”)  Things changed somewhat when in 1676 settlers in Maine fled to outlying islands to escape the Indian Wars.  However, Damariscove was attacked and again in 1689.  The island’s unfortunate owner was killed aboard his sloop and his body later washed ashore.  It is said that a headless Captain Pattishall and his faithful dog still walk the headlands on foggy nights.  Well, we won’t be meeting him because the wind was blowing straight into Damariscove’s harbour.  With some daylight left, we set our sights on Portland and more windjammers.  And ocean liners…

Feeling a bit chilly 

From: Castine, ME  Lat/Long: 44 27N  68 46W  Date/Time: 11/9/10: 1045

To: Portland, ME  Lat/Long: 43 39N  70 12W  Date/Time: 13/9/10: 1720
Time Taken: 111nm (18.5hrs)  Distance (this year): 982nm (182.5hrs)
Distance Total (since 2008): 4622nm (881.5hrs)   Fastest Speed: 7.4kts (whoo hoo)**
Weather: Winds SE-S-SW 5-10kts; Seas 1-2ft; overcast;
(** Confirmed today there are NO fish in the sea only lobster pots)

Nice Sunsets at Cocktail Hour too!

A Barrel of Salt Pork

Learning to sail on Eggemoggin Reach

Camden was close, the weather had broken, and amazingly the wind in our favour, so we decided to take the scenic route via Fox Islands Thorofare.  This convenient and scenic east-west 8 mile passage across lower Penobscot Bay made us feel we were really “doing Maine”.  Anchorages abound, bays are not all filled to overflowing with (expensive) mooring balls, seals search for their dinner, so it is still possible to experience remote Maine as it may have been 100 years ago.  Except for the lobster pots!

Outer Harbor Camden

Windjammers however, were in our sights.  Camden’s well protected inner harbour was packed with ‘em, by crikey….  Camden has done itself proud.  The harbour, though compact, has been well planned and great care taken to be transient sailor friendly.  The place was head to toe with windjammers and day trippers; the little village catering to every need, including a nice little greengrocer.  Supplies, and access to them, are important when you need to restock regularly.  (We can only keep 3 to 4 days of fresh goods at a time.)  The Cap’n found a good bookshop to resupply his dwindling stock of Mark Twain books and GS was able to pick up Kaffe Fassett’s latest really, really cheaply (compared to aussie prices anyway).  Other than that, Camden is just steeped in nautical history.

Camden's Inner Harbor bursting with Windjammers

Down on the harbour, our Cap’n took a tour over Schooner Lewis R. French, a 65 footer launched in 1871 and currently Maine’s oldest.  She’s taking just 21 passengers for multi-night cruises of the Maine coast.  Sounds romantic and so it is; windjammers look just stunning out on the water under full sail.  Mind you, we discovered that “windjammer” was a disparaging term once used by steamship seamen to describe a sailing fleet then considered old-fashioned.  We didn’t dare tell WJ3 – no ruffled feathers on our little (fibreglass) gal thanks!

Land of Wooden Boats

Finally, it was time to move on – the Cap’n was getting fidgety; this was the start of our “coming home” leg.  Well, it’s back to Deltaville.  So we filled WJ3’s sails and threaded our way through a filigree necklace of lobster pots, over a shallow Bar Harbor bar and out into Blue Hill Bay, carved by glaciers some 13,000 years ago.  Open ocean sailing had been replaced by bay cruising, negotiating hundreds of islands, some little bigger than the houses that rest on them.  Passages between, some navigable, some not, are riddled with rocks, ledges and worse, lobster pots.  The Motleys had to concentrate.

Now this is island living...

Pond Island Passage led us through to Jericho Bay and the start of Eggemoggin Reach.  This fabulous stretch of water is home to Wooden Boat School and if you’re into traditional sailing, this is the place to be.  We sailed past head-turning schooners in full sail, noting that they needed a few more (active) crew aboard than WJ3.  We dodged simple gaff-rigs, tanbark sails, acres of (pristine) varnish work and forests of wood in all shapes and sizes out for an afternoon’s fun and fresh air.  We looked forward to playing with famous windjammers in Camden. 

Historical Castine

Bucks Harbor, at the end of Eggemoggin Reach had been our planned destination, but as is often the way, the weather had turned against us and we sought better protection off Castine, up the Bagaduce River, in Smith Cove.  Castine is a heritage listed town having been occupied since early 1600’s by French, Dutch, British, Colonial America and now summer tourists (locally called rusticators) of all persuasions.  Its strategic location and convenient source of raw materials (timber) made it once a busy ship building port.  Even salt was sourced here to supply Grand Banks fishing fleets.  With British built Fort George (1799) and connections to Paul Revere (Revolutionary War) it is easy to imagine soldiers marching about town, sailors checking rope works, sea shanties wafting over the docks and washing flapping behind pretty cottages.  Today, the people on the streets are more likely to be students from the Maine Maritime Academy.  We followed some of them to their favourite Friday night drinking hole at Dennett’s Wharf then enjoyed, over a few local pints, a large serving of cod and chips...

From: Northeast Harbor, ME  Lat/Long: 44 17N  68 16W  Date/Time: 10/9/10: 0900
To: Castine, ME  Lat/Long: 44 27N  68 46W  Date/Time: 10/9/10: 1530
Time Taken: 46nm (6.5hrs)  Distance (this year): 871nm (164hrs)
Distance Total (since 2008): 4511nm (863hrs)   Fastest Speed: See Note**
Weather: Winds SW 5-15kts G20kts; Seas 2ft; overcast; blustery thru Eggemoggin Reach; freezing!
(** Mostly motor sailed; dodging lobster pots & wind jammin’ schooners)

Land of Wooden Boats for sure

Maine Event

We had chosen Mt Desert to leap into our Maine cruising schedule.  The area is considered “quintessential” Maine.  Acadia National Park covers much of the island and elsewhere, stately homes owned by the likes of Martha Stewart, sit in stands of pines along rocky granite bays - inspiration to wordsmiths, artists and even left-brainers.

Acadia National Park, Mt Desert Island

Mt Desert’s wild beauty has always attracted the wealthy; the Astors, Fords, Carnegies, Rockefellers and Vanderbilts were among those who retreated to their summer “cottages” to partake of Maine’s cool air, pristine hiking trails and chilly waters.  Mt Desert’s first recorded sighting by Europeans was as early as 1524 and Samuel de Champlain formally named the island in 1604; it was part of “New France”.  The island’s interests were then held by the French for many years until after the Revolutionary War.  Preservation came much later but under the leadership of George B Dorr who, inspired by Mt Desert’s rugged beauty, encouraged land and financial donations to preserve it.  In 1916, 6000 acres became a designated national park.  Artists, naturalists, campers and rusticators (summer people) made the island a fashionable retreat until a devastating fire in 1947 consumed many homes and much of the woodlands.  The park, long since recovered, has some 35,000 acres to explore, including smaller islands off the coast.  Cars can traverse some of the roads and byways, but it’s much better to take a horse & carriage or ride the LL Bean eco-buses (gas powered).

Bar Harbor

The Motleys had already covered one of Mt Desert’s famed harbours, Southwest, and now sailed Somes Sound in search of shelter.  After Earl’s terrible tantrum, we spent a few pleasant days – true gunkholing – watching bald eagles fly, kayakers paddle about nooks & crannies, gorgeous sunsets and people swim (including our Cap’n but he is a Victorian) in the oh, so clean waters.  Then it was on to Northeast Harbor to pick up a mooring ball.  This harbour too was pretty; we were tempted to stay a few days.  The village and its conveniences were only a step away, including a fabulous library (with free wifi & a fireplace) and an island explorer bus stop.

We stepped aboard to take the scenic loop road – 27 miles past Sand Beach, Thunder Hole, Jordan & Bubble Ponds and Cadillac Mountain.  We didn’t hike on account of GS’s still recovering ankle but the drive was nice.  Bar Harbor retains its quaint village atmosphere despite the influx of tourists (millions), including glamorous passenger ships nearly every other day in season.  You could tell the difference between cruisers and cruisers.  We had that windswept, clothes more than 3 days old, unshaved look…  GS poked around in touristy shops and even found a quilt shop to buy a few Maine themed prints – moose, bears, eagles, pinecones etc.  There’s a zoo close by with the real thing (moose, bears etc) in Trenton across from Mt Desert, but we had come to our “turnaround” time.

Northeast Harbor

One of the joys of sailing is catching up, often unexpectedly, with friends you meet along the way.  “Cricket” (home to Pam, Ben & lovely Lila) had also spent some time in Deltaville Boatyard.  They set sail a little earlier in the season, so it was fun to catch up and compare ports of call and sights seen.  They were on their way to Rockport to have some electrical work done before heading back down to the Chesapeake – maybe.  See you on the water!

From: Somes Harbor, ME  Lat/Long: 44 21N  68 19W  Date/Time: 6/9/10: 1130
To: Northeast Harbor, ME  Lat/Long: 44 17N  68 16W  Date/Time: 6/9/10: 1330
Time Taken: 7nm (2hrs)  Distance (this year): 825nm (157.5hrs)
Distance Total (since 2008): 4465nm (856.5hrs)   Fastest Speed: See Note**
Weather: Winds SW 10-15kts G20kts; Seas 1-3ft; a bit of a slop on the Sound
(** Motored back down Somes Sound (into the sun) dodging lobster pots!)

Waiting for Earl

There was no wind; the calm was eerie.  All craft were nosing south expectantly.  To our front, the largest sailboat in the anchorage had both masts up-lit and looked like some medieval warhorse.  A dense New England fog settled into the small harbour just on dusk and a few boat owners fidgeted with last-minute mooring or anchor line adjustments.  It seemed like, and was indeed, the calm before battle.  An advance party of strong winds, gusting 45 to 60kts was expected at midnight. We were waiting for Earl... 

Somes Harbor

We had been following, as best we could, reports on Earl as he whirled his way up the east coast.  The Cap’n had pinpointed the destructive eye on our charts and had spent almost two days preparing for the worst.  Earl was forecast to hit Cape Cod and then move down east (NE) to the Maine coast.  That’s exactly where we were.  Isn’t it odd that we’ve been dodging hurricanes for 2 seasons in the Caribbean now and finally, when we pop out of that acknowledged hurricane box*, one comes to find us.  Aagggghh!

We had arrived in Southwest Harbour, Mt Desert Island in Maine and the news of Earl’s progress stunned us.  Our friendly Harbourmaster advised us to seek better shelter, in Northeast Harbor if we could.  But all moorings were taken. (It was Labor Day weekend after all.)  Kindly, Dickie Beal (of Beal’s Lobsters) recommended, when we re-fuelled and re-watered at his lobster dock, staging ourselves up Somes Sound in better protected (& muddy bottomed) Somes Harbor.  Off we went, then and there.  Lucky because we were in and set (on two tandem anchors and 200 feet of chain) before stragglers and late-comers tried to snuggle into this tiny protected harbor. 

Same view (as above) with fog as Earl approached

The Cap’n went off to get a few supplies and an internet connection.  Bad luck, Somesville is little more than a few pretty cottages.  He then set about taking down sails and clearing the decks, taking the motor off Bruce and other measures to “hurricane-proof” as best we could.  At worst, Earl’s eye was currently reading 90kts, gusting 110kts (say that slowly) and at best, we could look forward to 60kt gusts.  Thank goodness for Skymate.  We were able to download regular (12hr) NOAA weather reports for this specific area and data on Earl’s progress.  To add to the drama, GS had twisted her ankle at the fuel dock and was now incapacitated.  Surely her bad temper was enough to scare Earl away?  The Cap’n wanted to leave home too – except he’d probably either starve or face a diet of 2 minute noodles & canned corned beef.  Facing Earl seemed a far brighter proposition…

Cold Water Swim

Our after-dinner weather update brought us better news – well, sort of.  Earl was slowly running out of puff and our Tropical Storm Warning, though still in effect, had forecast winds 40 – 45kts.  Thankfully too, our hurricane hole proved perfect.  Around midnight, winds tore over us; we could hear roaring as the wind rushed through high pine forests, sounding for all the world like a giant steam train.  Those marvellous mountains of Mt Desert Island directed the flow of winds over and above us.  Rain beat in but we stayed quite dry, only a couple of hatches leaked.  Bruce filled to the gunnels with fresh water – and our house-proud Cap’n is now using it to swab the decks, making WJ3 and Bruce shine.  We’re grateful Earl amounted to little more than a storm in our locale but both agreed preparations were well worth the effort.

* The hurricane box is reputed, for insurance purposes, to be below Grenada (since Ivan 2004) at 12N and above 35N (Cape Hatteras & Cape Lookout, NC).   Deltaville VA where we stored WJ3 is at 37N.  Maine (where we are now) is 44N.  Since 1851, only 15 major hurricanes (about one every ten years) have leapt outside this box to damage areas above the North Carolina/Virginia border.  The last one was Alex in 2004.  It seems that record high temperatures and unseasonably warm waters beckoned storms further north this year.

From: Southwest Harbor, ME  Lat/Long: 44 16N  68 18W  Date/Time: 2/9/10: 1100

To: Somes Harbor, ME  Lat/Long: 44 21N  68 19W  Date/Time: 2/9/10: 1220

Time Taken: 6nm (1.5hrs)  Distance (this year): 818nm (155.5hrs)

Distance Total (since 2008): 4458nm  (854.5hrs)   Fastest Speed: See Note**

Weather: Winds SE 5-10kts; Seas 3ft; seas followed by a quick tropical storm to drench us

(** Motored up Somes Sound on a mission!)

Gidday, Ducks. Seen any Quahogs lately?

Greenport, Long Island Sound

Bird on the Wire

We’re still not quite sure where that little storm came from – it certainly wasn’t on our weather radar, but hey, what’s a day or two indoors when it’s gusting 35kts?  We settled down and read books, worked on a frustrating internet connection (I guess at least we had one!) and cooked roast lamb.  Yes, we’ve been able to find a few scraps of decent Australian lamb here and there…not a popular choice with the Yanks who much prefer pork. (As an aside, the Indians & Malays didn’t much like the flavour of sheep either, finding it much too strong. Mutton meant goat and the more bones to nibble on the better!)

The Pond

Before drifting off on dreams of steaming roti chani, I had had better get back to boat stuff….  As the weather cleared, the Motleys braved a trip to town.  We started with a character second-hand book shop and its owner, an obvious relic of the swingin’ 70’s.  His store was stuffed to the brim as was the hardware store next door.  There were quite a few people doing town too, poking into rather nice galleries and intriguing gift shops.  I missed taking a photo of hundreds of rubber duckies (bath type not dinghies) but we did meet Roy in a quirky nautical boating-cum-decorating shop.  Roy turned out to be Sir Roy, of Scottish heritage, who ran a small submarine construction company downtown.  We later found out he knew Rod Stewart and Sean Connery - as you might… But we couldn’t wait for Sean to visit town to be introduced (damn!).

1920's Carousel

The village also boasts a small museum (closed), camera obscura (closed), a blacksmith (closed), a jail & police museum (closed), a 1920’s carousel (open) and a newly established Starbucks.  That was definitely open so we reconnoitred our internet back-up position….  We hankered for fish & chips but not before tasting at Claudio’s Pier, a “raw bar” selection of local long-neck clams (quahogs are large clams) and oysters.  (We really are spoilt in Brooklyn. Nothing beats JJ’s servings of Sydney Rocks, some fresh mullet & real potato chips with lashings of tomato sauce. Mmmmmm!)  

Character Lighthouse

Greenport started its life as early as 1640, growing quickly to become a vital (& sheltered) destination for cargo ships as they plied the waters between settlements of New England and trade centres of the Caribbean and South America.  (Captain Kidd is said to have cruised these waters looking for “prey” too.)  Later, from 1795, whaling became its sustaining industry, with 24 whaling ships making more than 103 voyages to the Atlantic and Pacific.  During the war years, this tiny village became a major small ships building centre, launching over 550 ships, including mine sweepers, tugs and landing craft.  Greenport also has seen menhaden processing, oyster & clam harvesting and rum running (1920-30’s).  Little evidence of all this industry remains except for a small area of rotting piers and not-so-photogenic waterfront.  Its quaint village and quirky shops though are a perfect holiday destination – so that’s exactly what we did.  Now, where did they say that boutique brewery was?

Greenport's old working port