Somesville Harbor, ME 28 August 2008

Arrived here several days ago. Somesville is on Mount Desert Island near Bar Harbor. The weather has finally settled and we have had several very sunny and warm days. We will be working back toward Boothbay tomorrow morning. We stayed in this harbor last year and really enjoyed it so we returned.

Boothbay Habor with a schooner in the background.

August 24, 2008 Islesboro, Maine

We have been having a delightful time on the island of Islesboro. We have been able to spend time with the Hollins family and the baptism of our niece's children James and Harry. The lobster feast, the luncheon of mussels pulled from the shoreline the ham and steak cook-out and the enjoyable treat of visiting with family and friends has reminded us of how blessed we are with love and warmth of our extended family! Yesterday we spent time "chasing the local yacht club race" with Captain Harry Hollins and my twin brother Jim and sister-in-law Nancy enjoying the ride with us.

Captain Harry taking us on the Boston Whaler around the island and chasing the Dark Harbor racing fleet on a beautiful afternoon.

The fleet heading home to the last racing mark on the downwind run. We scooted just ahead of the fleet and captured the colorful spinnikars on their downwind track.

August 18,2008 Rockland, Maine

Yesterday we traveled from Booth Bay to Rockland harbor. It was a beautiful sunny warm day with a lot of lobster traps and other sailing vessels. We sighted several dolphins and a friendly seal along the way. Unfortunately the seal was too shy for me to capture a picture and the dolphins are too fast for my camera. This is a picture of one of the many islands surrounded by rocks with beautiful tall pine trees. Many of these islands are desolate and others have one or two homes on them.

It was nice to see so many sailing ships as we traveled northeast to Rockland. The coast has been foggy for the past few days so seeing the blue skies and sparkling ocean was a treat for all to see and enjoy.

As we approached Rockland Maine we saw the "Camden hills" in the background. In the 1800's Rockland was noted for it's lime pits ,granite and its ship building industry. Today it is a busy industrial shipping harbor as well as a tourist mecca for those who would like to sail on some of the refurbished schooners.

Rockland is the area's largest city and Penobscot Bay's largest harbor. We saw windjammers, sailboats, pleasure yachts, commercial lobster fisherman, and ferries that travel between the populated islands. The marine radio was busy with traffic including several boats that needed assistance because of engine problems related to getting caught in a lobster buoy.

August 15, 2008 BoothBay Maine

There are many sailing ships that tourists can board and have a fun ride across BoothBay. The fog is hovering in the distance but the sun is warming up the bay. Last night I heard a "put=put" noise and looked out of the cabin to see a lot of fog and a persistent "put-put" noise. Then a small "cat "sail boat came into the misty view with a smaller dingy trailing behind. The person aboard was using a flashlight to find a mooring ball. I watched him skillfully maneuver the boat and shut off his engine. After several tries he drifted to the mooring ball and captured the line with his hook. This morning we noted with a chuckle the name of the little cat boat is "patchy fog".

There are not only all types of sail boats in the harbor but also these very large cruising yachts. This morning Gordon met one of the captains of these yachts who has had many years of experience cruising up and down the coast between the Caribbean and Maine. While chatting he found out regardless of the size of the boat the issues tend to be the same!!

Thursday, August 14, 2008 BoothBay, Maine

We have had periods of fog, sun, and rain. This morning the fog hovered on the coast and crept into the harbor. By afternoon the harbor had warm sunshine while the fog lingered in the distance. We did some housekeeping and shopping. We will be heading northeast on Sunday

The Fog

The fog creeps in with padded feet.

It hides the golden sailing fleet.

The whispering wind is quiet too.

The mist falls fast with evening dew.

The boat is shrouded in the mist.

The hauled down sails are gently kissed.

The cloud lies down on cabin top.

The boat it glides to a gentle stop.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008 BoothBay Maine

We are having the bottom of our boat checked by one of the local divers. He is replacing the zinc bars on the propeller shaft etc and he noted the bottom does not have much barnacles and marine growth. We had been at anchor at a small harbor east of here during the past few rainy days and then came back to Boothbay Harbor to have the bottom checked (routine). It is a beautiful sunny day-at last!!!

This bird hitched a ride for a few hours when we came north from Cape Cod to Boothbay. He practiced landing several times before finally dropping on the bow pulpit.

We just can't resist taking pictures of these outstanding sunsets. This was taken while traveling from Provincetown, Ma. to Maine. The sky was a brilliant red and then rain clouds marched over the horizon with "bursts" of rain falling in the distance. We were ahead of the rain showers but the wind gusts picked up the waves making it a very bumpy ride since we were head into the wind.

One of the lighthouses that are seen on the many islands that are dotted along the Maine coast. This one is not far from Boothbay Harbor.

Boothbay, ME, August 8, 2008

We arrived in Boothbay on Tuesday August 5 after a 27 hour run from Provincetown, Cape Cod MA. There was little wind during the daylight hours but after sunset the wind came up and increased to about 18-20 knots all "on the nose" so we could not sail and the seas were building and very uncomfortable. Between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m we were making very little progress. In fact a wave hit us from behind and threw me from my bunk to the floor ( I did not have the lee cloth attached). I have a nice bruise on the left hip after I graced the floorboards. We headed east toward Portland and the seas calmed and wind lessened so we continued on to Boothbay. We have been playing tourist in town, visiting the shops along the wharf but it has been rainy and cold for the past few days. Today, the sun finally came out!! We grabbed the free trolley and restocked the boat.

Provincetown-Cape Cod, MA, Aug.2,08

When we left Dutch Harbor, Rhode Island on Friday August first, the speedometer was not registering the knot speeds. Gordon put on his boots, raised the boards in the cabin and starting scraping the speedometer. We have had to do this many times after a day or so anchorage.


This is a picture of the tiny sea creatures that clogged up the speedometer. They look like little crabs. We motored out of the harbor and headed for the sea. No wind, very calm sea conditions. Later that morning we heard on the VHF radio that a tugboat was on fire. When we were in the shipping channel abeam of New Bedford, Ma. we saw three tugs and a coast guard cutter in the distance around the site of the distressed tugboat. In the afternoon we heard that the tug was being towed into New Bedford harbor.



As we headed up Buzzards Bay we saw this fleet of about 40 boats racing around the set race markers. Earlier we heard on the VHF radio someone trying to get a mooring in one of the harbors on Buzzards Bay and he was declined because of all the boats in the Buzzard Bay race.

I stood on the deck and tried to capture the excitement of the race. These colorful spinnakers are a delight to see. Not far from this fleet we saw another racing fleet. Although there were very light winds, it looked like a great race day!
We anchored at Mattapoisette harbor on Friday night.



We headed out of Mattapoisette harbor at 6:15 a.m. to catch a favorable tide in the Cape Cod Canal. This is a great picture of the canal. If you look closely you can see the tidal whirl pools. We zoomed through the canal at about 10-11 knots. Even though it was early Saturday morning, we saw walkers, skateboarders, and bike riders on both sides of the canal. As soon as we were out of the canal into Cape Cod Bay, we were in thick fog. We traveled the 20 miles to Providence Town outer marker in mostly in fog. However the last 5 miles the sun warmed the sky and the fog lifted.



Province town Ferry. It came speeding past us as we were approaching the harbor.

The sand dunes of Cape Cod can be seen in the distance just before entering the town harbor.