In the summer of 2008 I was almost a live-aboard, staying on the boat for
nearly 7 weeks. The pace was generally slow and relaxed, with lots of guests.
Most of the time the sky was cloudy.
Doug Gage and I left Keyport early on June 23. We got as far as Northport that
day where, while getting fuel, the bow thruster failed. The next day we sailed
up the Connecticut River and took a mooring at Old Lyme and arranged to have
the boat hauled the following day in Portsmouth, RI, where the bow thruster
would be replaced. It turned out that the internal gears had stripped after
only three seasons on use. Bad design I guess.
Running into Newport
Doug and I had a good sail into Narragansett Bay. By the time I got the video
camera out the wind had dropped a bit and seas had diminished, but we were
still having a good ride
In a complicated feat of transportation coordination, Stu Gannes and his friend
Sylvine, flew to New York from California. They then took a NJ Transit train to
Middletown where Janet picked them up, brought them to our house and gave them
the keys to Doug's car which he had parked in our driveway. Stu and Sylvine
then drove to Wickford RI, where Doug reclaimed his car and took off and Stu,
Sylvine, and I went aboard Applied Physics to have a lobster dinner. The next
few days we spent in Martha's Vineyard, finally arriving at Quissett where Stu
and I attended the FDIS 2009 workshop. While we
were sailing on Vineyard Sound a heliocopter came by and took a photo of us.
Finding the perfect gift for Paul
Before the 4th of July parade in Provincetown, there was time to explore
downtown. Rich Howard chose a gift for Paul Mankiewich at a surplus store, but
first, he modeled it. Such a gift was consistent with old Bell Labs traditions,
like mailing pizza slices.
Birch Island
Rich Howard and I sailed to Birch Island in Casco Bay from Quissett with stops
in Provincetown for the 4th of July and then Gloucester. The last leg to Maine
was almost entirely done in dense fog. Janet met us at the Mankiewich's house
at Birch and Rich drove her car back to NJ. Margaret and Vijay were there and
made us all a fine dinner.
Castine
Janet and I sailed straight from Casco Bay through fog to Penobscot Bay with a
delightless passage along side the shipping channel. It turns out that this was
probably a better choice than going through Muscle Ridge Channel, which we did
on our return trip since that channel is filled with lobster pots. In Rockland,
we picked up our friend Lorna Gray, who flew in from England, and the took the
bus from Boston to join us in Maine. After anchoring in Smiths Cove, we made a
short stop in Castine, but couldn't stay because all the moorings were reserved
for a yacht club cruise. Instead, we took a mooring at Bucks Harbor where we
had the traditional lobsters.
Northeast Harbor
Lorna, Janet, and I sailed on to Northeast Harbor and Acadia Park. That lobster
boat in the harbor makes a great photo, but its skipper apparently saw it
fitting to drop a trap right at our stern while we were tied to a mooring
platform. It would have been easy for the line to have gotten caught in our
prop. With the Maine coast as large as it is, I wonder why at least the centers
of the main, marked navigations channels can't be trap free.
Pemetic Mountain
On July 16 we hiked from Northeast Harbor to Jordan Pond, then took a bus to
the Bubble Pond parking lot where we proceded to climb Pemetic mountain, hiking
back to Jordan Pond. We probably hiked a total of about 8 miles over fairly
rough terrain.This day was just about 4 months since Janet got her new knee and
it proved to be a great improvement over her worn-out old knee.
While we were in Northeast Harbor we also rented bikes and took the carriage
road up Parkman Mountain where we had a fine supply of blueberries. Lorna said
that on the way back, she especially enjoyed coasting downhill on her bike,
passing others who were struggling uphill in the opposite direction.
Winter Harbor
Lorna got a bus in Bar Harbor for the trip back to Boston (and eventually
London) and Janet and I continued east to Winter Harbor. While there are still
summer vacation homes in town, the place is pretty quiet. There were real
fishing boats in the harbor, but few cruisers like us.
Schoodic Peninsula
There's a bus from Winter Haven into the National Park's Schoodic Point section.
We took that bus to the trail that leads to Schoodic Head. The hike up (about
400' vertical) reminded me of scenes from the Lord of the Rings.
Ship Harbor
Dave and Kathi Bloom drove from Boston, meeting us in Northeast Harbor. With
them we visited Ship Harbor.
Smiths Cove
Kathi got their car to Rockland, while Janet, Dave and I sailed to Penobscot Bay
to meet her. We then took off to Smiths Cove where we steathfully captured a
large pot of mussels for dinner.
Stellwagen Bank
Pretty much every time we cross Stellwagen Bank we see whales. In 2008 maybe we
got too close. We didn't chase them; they came to the boat.
Quissett is a nice quiet anchorage which is especially welcoming after
transitting the Cape Cod Canal with the usual southwest wind against swift
current building a steep chop in Buzzards Bay. Rob and I were snorkelling by
the shoreline rocks, when the sky grew dark. We got back to our boat just in
time.
Getting Home
Rob and Mara left us Martha's Vineyard and took a bus to Boston. Janet and I
sailed through the sounds back to Keyport.
Near New London a sub came by with no "Security" call.
While on Long Island Sound there was the constant threat of thunderstorms. Just
past Oyster Bay, I looked back over my shoulder and told Janet to observe the
tornado. She thought I was kidding.
We picked up Paula and Urs Muller in Glen Cove for the last leg home.
