NOTE: Below this post are four more posts that comprise the journal of my trip. If you don't see all the photos, be patient. There are over 100 and they take a while to download.
I have posted a few photos from my recent trip to NH to visit my family as well as to spend some time sailing on the coast of Maine. It was a wonderful time and a trip to remember.
Photo taken from on the train to DIA. These buildings reminded me of my 'Girders and Panels Building Set' from when I was a kid.
DIA's distinctive terminal building with the relatively new Westin hotel on the right end. The train station is below the Westin.
I arrived in NH on Thursday evening and saw my dad and brother at the family home. I visited my mother in the nursing home where she lives the following morning. My good friend Paul's family has a place in Sumner, ME and as he can only go up there on weekends, we headed up there on Friday evening.
A lovely evening on the pond. Paul's camp is the only one on the pond.
The Gypsy Moth Caterpillar decimated a wide variety of trees, pine and deciduous, eating the leaves and leaving their frass all over the place to make a disgusting mess.
I spent a few days the next week preparing my boat. I installed a 50w solar panel and controller to keep my battery charged to run depth sounder, knot log and lights as well as to keep my phone and PC charged.
I launched in South Portland which leaves you right in the thick of things.
Finally out on the open ocean. Ram Island Light across from Portland Head.
First plunge of the trip. The water was pretty chilly. It felt the coldest of any other place. I don't know if I just got used to it or if it was just colder here than the other places.
Jewell Island's Cocktail Cove is my perennial first stop. It is out of the harbor but not so far that I can't make it in good time while making sure all rigging and systems are functioning properly.
These house boats were an unusual pair of neighbors.
From Jewell Island I headed down east. I didn't have a particular destination in mind; there were several options depending on conditions. I made it to Seguin Island.
Sunset on Seguin Island. These moorings are on a donation basis. There are caretakers on the island to give tours of the lighthouse and its museum. I covered that last year. ;-)
Life below deck and my home for 22 days. I never put ice in the cooler on this trip and brought enough food, beer and water to last the entire time without need to restock.
There was early wind so I got off quickly only to have it die between 10 and noon. It returned and I made good way for the rest of the day.
I passed through this thoroughfare on my way to Burnt Island.
But Burnt wasn't to be my destination that night as gusts picked up so I reefed the main and I took advantage of the wind to log more miles making it to Long Cove at Tenants Harbor, another 6 or so nm along.
The light at the entrance to Tenants Harbor.
Long Cove is a nice anchorage on the way in to Tenants Harbor proper. It was also the only place where I hit ground as I was overly anxious to be done for the day and cut a corner where I shouldn't have. No harm done and I continued to anchor without any more excitement.
I set out for Vinalhaven the following morning. I crossed Penobscot Bay, which is notorious for fog, continuing to pass through Fox Island Thoroughfare by main sail only which made for a relaxing opportunity to sightsee.
Whitehead Island Light is a few miles east of Tenants.
A fair wind dropped for a while then returned (typical) and haze made me wonder if it was actually fog moving in.
Browns Head Light Station at the west entrance of the thoroughfare between North Haven and Vinalhaven.
There were lots of schooners out and about. This one was a small one.
The North Haven ferry.
And a wee boat. I believe this is one of the local fleet of one-design sailing dinghies.
The light near the east end of the thoroughfare: Goose Rock Lighthouse.
After passing Goose Rock the winds freshened and I wasn't able to reduce sail so toughed it out with some good hard sailing to end the day. I eventually had to start the outboard, head into the wind and furl the sails to enter Seal Bay on the eastern side of Vinalhaven.
Rosa is a 1988 Precision 21 that I bought in 1989. She was moored in Portland off the East End Beach from '89 through '99. She has a shoal draft keel with a centerboard that lowers out of the keel. her draft is 2 feet with centerboard up, 5 feet with it down. Her displacement is 1850 pounds with 600 of that in the keel. I have a 150% genoa and a 100% jib. I sailed the jib most of the time due to the vagaries of the winds.
Dinner.
I took a lot of photos in response to @Snowfan's questions. We were texting a bit throughout the trip. I aimed for single pan meals and this one really hit the spot. Sauté dry salami, onion, garlic, sun-dried tomato then add dry pasta and enough fluid (I used milk made from powder) and simmer until al dente. Toss on some parmesan and enjoy. The stove has a single alcohol burner which will also heat up the cabin on a chilly or damp day without a lot of noxious fumes. The sink drains outside and the pump is connected to 5 gallon tank below. I had an additional 8 gallons of water in reused juice bottles and a 6.5 gallon water jug.
You will perhaps notice a theme of sunset shots in this thread.
They were extraordinary nearly every evening. They were also the signal to deploy a screen over the hatch as mosquitos would come at dusk and dawn as I was always in proximity to land at those times.
The next day I headed out again with no specific destination planned but a few possible. I got across East Pen Bay to the west end of the Deer Isle Thoroughfare and the fog rolled in. I stopped in a cove, had lunch and hoped the fog would lift. It appeared to, but kept moving in and out. I proceeded with caution under power through the thoroughfare.
There is a spectral schooner in that photo.
Stonington was known for its granite quarries. This is a loading dock with a pile of refuse stone.
Yet another schooner. This one is pretty good sized.
The metal tubing on this lobster boat was new to me. They use it to hang gear on and in this case add some deck space past the transom. It must free up a lot of deck space which would make fishing that much easier and safer.
When I cleared Deer Isle I continued towards Swans Island which had a nice anchorage. More fits of calm and fresh breezes spurred me to pass by Swans and head for Northeast Harbor on Mount Desert Island. I got to Bass Harbor Light at the southern tip of the west lobe of the island and encountered something I knew about but had never experienced.
There is a bar that extends from MDI to Great Gott Island to the south. The depth of this bar varies from 15 to 10 feet with the approaches on either side much deeper. So during a tide, the current is flowing with plenty of space until it encounters the bar where it forms a rip tide. Either side of the bar are basically flat water but over the bar there is this chop and strong current. I was going with the tide in the case or I would have been challenged to sail over it with the gentle winds I had at the time.
As you can see in the video there was some thin fog.
This thin layer thickened up quickly and left me to dead reckon the rest of the way (4 - 5 nm) to Northeast Harbor. There were ledges to the north of my course, then after turning north, ledges to the east.
Needless to say this was a good site as it was one of my targets in navigating around the ledges. This is a gong, which has three gongs of different pitches to distinguish it from a bell which makes one sound. I turned north at the gong and shot the following video.
I picked up a free town mooring in Northeast Harbor. This is a great harbor. Well protected and with plenty of marine services, dining options and adjacent to a land trust with lovely gardens and hiking trails.
I have posted a few photos from my recent trip to NH to visit my family as well as to spend some time sailing on the coast of Maine. It was a wonderful time and a trip to remember.
Photo taken from on the train to DIA. These buildings reminded me of my 'Girders and Panels Building Set' from when I was a kid.
DIA's distinctive terminal building with the relatively new Westin hotel on the right end. The train station is below the Westin.
I arrived in NH on Thursday evening and saw my dad and brother at the family home. I visited my mother in the nursing home where she lives the following morning. My good friend Paul's family has a place in Sumner, ME and as he can only go up there on weekends, we headed up there on Friday evening.
A lovely evening on the pond. Paul's camp is the only one on the pond.
The Gypsy Moth Caterpillar decimated a wide variety of trees, pine and deciduous, eating the leaves and leaving their frass all over the place to make a disgusting mess.
I spent a few days the next week preparing my boat. I installed a 50w solar panel and controller to keep my battery charged to run depth sounder, knot log and lights as well as to keep my phone and PC charged.
I launched in South Portland which leaves you right in the thick of things.
Finally out on the open ocean. Ram Island Light across from Portland Head.
First plunge of the trip. The water was pretty chilly. It felt the coldest of any other place. I don't know if I just got used to it or if it was just colder here than the other places.
Jewell Island's Cocktail Cove is my perennial first stop. It is out of the harbor but not so far that I can't make it in good time while making sure all rigging and systems are functioning properly.
These house boats were an unusual pair of neighbors.
From Jewell Island I headed down east. I didn't have a particular destination in mind; there were several options depending on conditions. I made it to Seguin Island.
Sunset on Seguin Island. These moorings are on a donation basis. There are caretakers on the island to give tours of the lighthouse and its museum. I covered that last year. ;-)
Life below deck and my home for 22 days. I never put ice in the cooler on this trip and brought enough food, beer and water to last the entire time without need to restock.
There was early wind so I got off quickly only to have it die between 10 and noon. It returned and I made good way for the rest of the day.
I passed through this thoroughfare on my way to Burnt Island.
But Burnt wasn't to be my destination that night as gusts picked up so I reefed the main and I took advantage of the wind to log more miles making it to Long Cove at Tenants Harbor, another 6 or so nm along.
The light at the entrance to Tenants Harbor.
Long Cove is a nice anchorage on the way in to Tenants Harbor proper. It was also the only place where I hit ground as I was overly anxious to be done for the day and cut a corner where I shouldn't have. No harm done and I continued to anchor without any more excitement.
I set out for Vinalhaven the following morning. I crossed Penobscot Bay, which is notorious for fog, continuing to pass through Fox Island Thoroughfare by main sail only which made for a relaxing opportunity to sightsee.
Whitehead Island Light is a few miles east of Tenants.
A fair wind dropped for a while then returned (typical) and haze made me wonder if it was actually fog moving in.
Browns Head Light Station at the west entrance of the thoroughfare between North Haven and Vinalhaven.
There were lots of schooners out and about. This one was a small one.
The North Haven ferry.
And a wee boat. I believe this is one of the local fleet of one-design sailing dinghies.
The light near the east end of the thoroughfare: Goose Rock Lighthouse.
After passing Goose Rock the winds freshened and I wasn't able to reduce sail so toughed it out with some good hard sailing to end the day. I eventually had to start the outboard, head into the wind and furl the sails to enter Seal Bay on the eastern side of Vinalhaven.
Rosa is a 1988 Precision 21 that I bought in 1989. She was moored in Portland off the East End Beach from '89 through '99. She has a shoal draft keel with a centerboard that lowers out of the keel. her draft is 2 feet with centerboard up, 5 feet with it down. Her displacement is 1850 pounds with 600 of that in the keel. I have a 150% genoa and a 100% jib. I sailed the jib most of the time due to the vagaries of the winds.
Dinner.
I took a lot of photos in response to @Snowfan's questions. We were texting a bit throughout the trip. I aimed for single pan meals and this one really hit the spot. Sauté dry salami, onion, garlic, sun-dried tomato then add dry pasta and enough fluid (I used milk made from powder) and simmer until al dente. Toss on some parmesan and enjoy. The stove has a single alcohol burner which will also heat up the cabin on a chilly or damp day without a lot of noxious fumes. The sink drains outside and the pump is connected to 5 gallon tank below. I had an additional 8 gallons of water in reused juice bottles and a 6.5 gallon water jug.
You will perhaps notice a theme of sunset shots in this thread.
They were extraordinary nearly every evening. They were also the signal to deploy a screen over the hatch as mosquitos would come at dusk and dawn as I was always in proximity to land at those times.
The next day I headed out again with no specific destination planned but a few possible. I got across East Pen Bay to the west end of the Deer Isle Thoroughfare and the fog rolled in. I stopped in a cove, had lunch and hoped the fog would lift. It appeared to, but kept moving in and out. I proceeded with caution under power through the thoroughfare.
There is a spectral schooner in that photo.
Stonington was known for its granite quarries. This is a loading dock with a pile of refuse stone.
Yet another schooner. This one is pretty good sized.
The metal tubing on this lobster boat was new to me. They use it to hang gear on and in this case add some deck space past the transom. It must free up a lot of deck space which would make fishing that much easier and safer.
When I cleared Deer Isle I continued towards Swans Island which had a nice anchorage. More fits of calm and fresh breezes spurred me to pass by Swans and head for Northeast Harbor on Mount Desert Island. I got to Bass Harbor Light at the southern tip of the west lobe of the island and encountered something I knew about but had never experienced.
There is a bar that extends from MDI to Great Gott Island to the south. The depth of this bar varies from 15 to 10 feet with the approaches on either side much deeper. So during a tide, the current is flowing with plenty of space until it encounters the bar where it forms a rip tide. Either side of the bar are basically flat water but over the bar there is this chop and strong current. I was going with the tide in the case or I would have been challenged to sail over it with the gentle winds I had at the time.
As you can see in the video there was some thin fog.
This thin layer thickened up quickly and left me to dead reckon the rest of the way (4 - 5 nm) to Northeast Harbor. There were ledges to the north of my course, then after turning north, ledges to the east.
Needless to say this was a good site as it was one of my targets in navigating around the ledges. This is a gong, which has three gongs of different pitches to distinguish it from a bell which makes one sound. I turned north at the gong and shot the following video.
I picked up a free town mooring in Northeast Harbor. This is a great harbor. Well protected and with plenty of marine services, dining options and adjacent to a land trust with lovely gardens and hiking trails.
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