This year we mostly revisited favorite places without too much new exploration. We were away from New Jersey for almost 7 weeks, fortunately avoiding what people say was a unpleasant summer in the NYC area. The weather was generally excellent, with little fog in Maine. Our seven-year-old boat behaved better than ever - a new prop eliminated an annoying vibration (thank you Robert Lockwood). We had only one minor failure - a leak through the windlass shaft that was repaired with some grease donated by Morris Yacht Service in Northeast Harbor.
Our first day out, June 29, with Paula and Urs Muller, was the hottest as we motored up the East River to Glen Cove. The new skyline of lower Manhattan continues to take shape.
11 years ago when we returned from our first trip to Maine we sailed past lower Manhattan just 2 weeks before 9/11.
Last year the new Trade Center became the tallest building downtown.
This year the new One WTC became the tallest building in New York City. Four WTC is now rising to the east.
From Glen Cove we motored-sailed with a favorable current all the way to Fishers Island where we anchored. We were welcomed by Marc and Jane Plotnick who have a 2005 Hunter 44 which sparkles. Marc led us to a prime dog-walking spot with Luke and his dog, Sailor.
The next day we sailed into the Salt Pond at Block to say "Hi" to our friend Edwin Muth who had cleverly anchored at the west edge of the fairway. Alas, by then the anchorage was jammed and it was impossible for us to set out enough scope to be safe in a blow. What's more, our neighbors had perhaps 2:1 scope, so they didn't look very secure to us. We wished Edwin luck, and got to a mooring at Dutch Harbor in Narragansett Bay just as we were hit by a fierce thunderstorm. Edwin later told me the storm wasn't bad at Block with "only" 40 knot winds. He was on the west side of the anchorage, so no boats were likely to drag into him. I was glad we bailed out and went to a less challenging harbor.
A nice feature about Dutch Harbor is a wonderful grocery within walking distance. We filled our fridge and then set sail the next day for Quissett. We transited the Cape Cod Canal on the following day which was July 3. Luke is usually quasi-inert when the seas are calm and the winds are light, but when we are near shore he perks up and guards the boat against all comers. If I point out any dogs on shore (or, heaven forbid, a cat) he barks with authority, generally in the appropriate direction.
Dave and Shana took the ferry from Boston to Ptown on the 4th and watched the parade with us. Luke (middle dog in photo - can't you tell?) made friends with people and dogs, including a look-a-like cousin. Luke was not impressed by the parade, especially the loud noises, so he took refuge under a bench, close to Shana, Dave, and Janet. Later he got to eat French fries that I snuck to him under the table during lunch at an outdoor restaurant. We all sailed to Boston on the 5th.
We motorsailed and just plain sailed to Boston on July 5 where US Warship 1, "Wasp" was visiting as were Tall Ships. That evening the ship from Ecuador left port with crew on the yard arms.
We spent the night of July 6 in Gloucester, and then at dawn on July 7 we walked Luke and promptly set sail for Potts Harbor, in Casco Bay, Maine, a journey of about 80 nautical miles. We had light winds, gentle seas, and mostly fair current, arriving at Potts in 11 hours. Luke used the long ride as an opportunity to nap, ignoring our sighting of a fin whale, the only noteworthy event of the day.
We spent a few days in Penobscot Bay, with stops at Tenants Harbor, Bucks Harbor, Smiths Cove (a good place to gather mussels), and Warren Island. We then worked our way east via Stonington, where, on July 14, we took a mooring at the Old Quarry, just east of town. The next day we had a tense motorsail to Burnt Coat Harbor on Swans Island: there were a huge number of lobster traps with toggles. The current was cross-wise to us, so that the lines between the toggles and the floats were right across our path, just itching to grab our winged keel, spade rudder, or worse, our exposed prop. We encountered this situation many times in Maine, especially in Jericho Bay. Only in Penobscot Bay were there large areas of water free of traps. We often found traps 3 miles off shore and in water 300 feet deep. The traps can be in the center of narrow channels as well as among moorings. Entering Tenants Harbor, dodging traps, with the sun glinting off the waves and obscuring the floats, was an especially tedious experience. The flip side was that lobsters were extremely inexpensive this year, so we ate quite a few.
On the whole, it is not a lot of fun trying to sail in these waters in a boat that is not designed to be "pot friendly." We go to Maine for reasons other than the sailing.
As noted last year, the Rockefellers have a large tract of land adjacent to Acadia National Park that includes Long Pond, some carriage roads, as well as fields and woods. The area, which is reachable by bus, is open to the public and dogs are allowed off leash. We spent about a week in Northeast Harbor this summer and nearly every day, we went to the Dog Park. The most fun was to take the bus from Northeast Harbor to Jordan Pond, then walking along the trail and carriage road that parallels Jordan Stream until we got to Little Long Pond and the off leash area. We would then eat lunch at the pond and finally flag a bus to take us back to Northeast Harbor. The trail along the stream is especially fine, with red granite stones and a good supply of blue damselflies.
This walk was not completely carefree. There were horses on the carriage roads, so we took care to get Luke on the leash when they were near. Also, there was often a muddy drainage ditch alongside the road where Luke liked to cool off. When he got his legs and belly caked with mud I would push him into the pond to rinse, an actively he did not enjoy. Luke has never learned that getting filthy (which he loves) leads to a bath (which he hates).
Doug Gage met us at Northeast Harbor on July 17 and spent a week with us visiting Long Island, Schoodic Point, and Acadia Park. On Long Island we hiked our favorite trails. The dry weather reduced the mosquito population in the woods.
At Schoodic, Doug commanded the waves to stay back, with predictable results.
I met a local couple at Schoodic who went out to the point during Hurricane Irene last year. They said it was more dramatic during that storm and noted they were lucky to get home alive.
After Doug left we looked for an out-of-the-way place to anchor. We found it at Pretty March Harbor on the west side of Mt. Desert Island. There was only one other boat at the anchorage.
This photo was taken at Folly Island, at the south end of the harbor. Moments after taking the photo, Luke thought he could walk on floating seaweed and became soaked in salt water, resulting in a dog bath in fresh water back on our boat.
We needed to be in Rockland on July 29 to pick up our friend, Stuart Gannes, the next day. Working out way back to Penobscot Bay we anchored by the Wooden Boat School. Classes were in session, so we couldn't go inside, but the harbor was pretty with a resident seal.
On July 28, a Saturday, we tried to pick up a mooring at Warren Island. We have been there many times before and always found a free float; this time they were all taken. Fortunately, we had come up the bay on the east side of Warren Island and saw the rental moorings in Cradle Cove. We returned to Cradle Cove, picked up a mooring, walked Luke, and then watched an Osprey fish. It would perch on the mast of a neighboring boat for perhaps a minute, then dive and always come up with a fish.
With Stuart on board, we slowly worked our way south and west including a stop at Christmas Cove. We walked to where RT 129 crosses "The Gut" via an ancient rotating bridge.
We revisited The Basin this year, which is on the east side of Casco Bay. The Nature Conservancy has fine trails at the south end. Avoiding the rocky landing we used last year, we chose to land the dinghy on a beach ... this was a mistake. Luke acquired the most amazing sticky mud coating on his legs and belly. The next morning we took him ashore and landed on rocks. On the dinghy ride back to Applied Physics The Basin was a mirror.
Stuart left us in Gloucester and headed on to Boston by train and then home. We spent two nights at Gloucester, waiting out stormy weather, and then departed on August 6 for Provincetown, crossing Stellwagen Bank at its north and south ends. As usual we saw our fair share of whales. After hearing scary stories of sailboats meeting whales, we kept our distance. Luke had no concern.
On August 7 we crossed Cape Cod Bay with nearly no wind. However, after transiting the canal, we were greeted with the usual southwest afternoon wind on our nose and against the current. This time the true wind was only 15 knots, so the chop was not as bad as previous years. Nevertheless we were glad to be in our Hunter 44 which handles chop much better than our previous boat, a Hunter 340. Safely at Quissett, we walked to "The Knob" where we always meet other dog walkers.
After Quissett we stopped at Cuttyhunk, which was crowded. After being in Maine this anchorage, which years ago seemed like such a fine destination to us, now felt dreary. We were ready to be home. In a day we crossed Rhode Island to Noank, where we were fortunate to spend three nights as guests of the Ram Island Yacht club. On our first full day there, Friday, August 10, a strong storm blew through spawning tornados in Long Island and Connecticut. We had sustained winds of 40 knots for quite a while. We were lucky to be on the leeward side of the dock, so we had no damage.
On Saturday, more storms were forecast, so we stayed in Noank, finally leaving on Sunday for Port Jeff. The next day it was on to Glen Cove to see my mom, finally returning to Keyport on August 14.
For many years I always tried to be at Hell Gate at slack. Now we go with the current. We averaged 8 knots from Glen Cove to Keyport, not including a stop at Liberty Landing that was designed to wait out a passing squall. It sprinkled at Liberty Landing, then we got doused on Raritan Bay just 5 miles from Keyport. Amazingly this was the only time during the entire cruise when we needed foul weather gear on board.