Saturday September 12th – Friday September 18th.

Spent Saturday in Boothbay and attended the DEYC haulout party.

On Sunday Teresa had some commitments at home and Ron stayed at Boothbay staring to prepare for the end of season.  Teresa returned on Wednesday and on Friday we motored to Hodgdons, at Southport Island, 43 50.04n 069 40.79W, where we’ll layup for the winter. 

Ships Log: 5695.2, Todays Log: 3.7, Seasons Total: 1247.3

Friday September 11th.

Our final trip of the season.  It was great!  We were either reaching or broad reaching most of the way to Boothbay Harbor, 43 50.96N 069 37.65W, in winds up to 20 knots, with boat speeds reaching 11 knots.  We were dodging lobster pots of course (interesting at those speeds), but at least we didn’t have a propeller in the water sucking in their lines.  And we finished with a nice beat into Boothbay harbor.

A sailboat was motoring against the wind as we were beating in and it turned out he was a fellow DEYC member who ended up on the mooring next to ours.  We met him the next day and he was apparently impressed with the speed we were sailing at on the way in.  Between you and us, this was nothing to do with our sailing skills, but due to the fact that we still had 20 knot winds, and unlike monohulls that have a maximum hull speed, multihulls just keep going faster as the wind gets up.  Anyway it was a very nice sail to finish the season with. 

Ships Log: 5691.5, Todays Log: 25, Seasons Total: 1243.6

Thursday September 10th.

Went for a bike ride on the dirt roads around the island.  People were very friendly.  We stopped at the “Fisherman’s Wife Art Gallery” and discovered to our dismay that the baking lady had finished for the season.  We toured the island and discovered the International, ahem, Airport, the one room school and some very nice walking trails which we biked. 

The school had a welcome sign on it so we tentatively went in.  It was not yet in session and the 2 ladies in there, a classroom teacher and special ed teacher, who were preparing for opening next week seemed pleased to talk with us.  The classroom teacher will have 3 boys this year, aged 5,6 and 7.  One of the 3 boys is a special needs kid, hence the special ed teacher who will be there part time.  There will also be a special ed teachers assistant.  A lot of staff for 3 kids!

We posted a card at the islands post office and inquired about internet on the island.  No go!  We also didn’t have data coverage on our phones, and the boats VHF wasn’t picking up weather forecasts.  The lady in the post office said some bad weather was on the way, so we decided to set off for Port Clyde, 43 55.51N 069 15.76W, that afternoon. 

The winds were, unusually, from the north, but light.  They did however make for a pleasant motor sail to Port Clyde, where we picked up a mooring rented by the Port Clyde General Store.  The store was interesting but expensive – they charged us $5 for a shower.  Ron had a beer in the store’s bar while Teresa showered and Teresa went for a walk around town while Ron showered. 

Ships Log: 5666.5, Todays Log: 19.5, Seasons Total: 1218.6

Wednesday September 9th.

The VHF man came along at 9:30 and diagnosed us as having a bad antenna cable.  So we’ll drop the mast when we lay up this winter and replace it. 

We set off for Matinicus Island, 43 51.78N, 068 52.92W, and had a pleasant sail in 7-12 knots winds, dodging lobster pots.  As we approached Matinicus, the wind piped up to 20+ knots and we found ourselves heading directly into the sun, which made locating lobster floats very difficult.  So we were quite glad to enter the harbor whereupon we found 6 or so visitors moorings with pickup floats attached. 

We picked one up and found a message in a bottle taped to the float.  The message explained that the fee for a mooring was $25, it was an honor system and that we should leave the fee in the bottle.  It also gave a lot of information about the island, including the phone number of the lady who would bake bread and pies etc. if we called her.  Nice! 

Just after we picked up the mooring, a lobster boat went past, asked us if we had found the information and if we wanted some crabs.  Of course we said yes and yes and dashed below to find some cash to pay for the crabs.  They returned with a cardboard box full of crab legs and wouldn’t take any money.  (But they took the few bottled of beer we offered).  They told us how to cook them and departed. 

We had so many crabs they wouldn’t fit in our largest pot, so we cooked the first batch but couldn’t finish them all.   Then we cooked the 2nd batch, added the leftovers from the 1^st batch and extracted the meat.  It’s a very messy and time consuming process and by the time we’d finished, and cleaned up the dining table it was 10:30pm.  Still we had a great meal and will have crab sandwiched for lunch for the forseeable future (on home made bread from the baking lady we hope). 

Ships Log: 5647, Todays Log: 22.7, Seasons Total: 1199.1

Tuesday September 8th.

Set off for Rockland, 44 06.03N 069 06.40W, where we’re hoping to get our VHF diagnosed.  (It does not have the range it should).  The winds started out promising, 7-8 knots on the quarter so we hoisted the screecher and cruised along at 3.5 knots of boat speed with a knot of fair tide giving us a an SOG of 4.5 knots.  Not earth shattering, but very pleasant.  As we keep reporting, the winds died after an hour or so, and we motored the rest of the way to Rockland where we tied up on the public landing to await the VHF repair man while we (Teresa) did our laundry. 

It was hot and humid again, with no wind and we wished we were at anchor, where we could at least go for a swim.  The VHF man didn’t show and we went for a walk along the (very short) boardwalk. 

Ships Log: 5624.3, Todays Log: 18.7, Seasons Total: 1176.4

Saturday – Monday September 5th – 7th.

We motored the 11 nm to Belfast, 44 25.71N 069 00.06W, on another hot, windless day. 

Teresa’s niece and husband have a summer home on Unity Pond, Maine, which is only 25 miles from Belfast.  We were invited for the long weekend.  Debbie picked us and our bikes up on Saturday.  Stan took us for a boat ride around their beautiful lake.  We partied Saturday night with them and their neighbours.  

On Sunday, Teresa and Ron took the kayaks out on the lake in the morning, then Debbie, Stan and neighbours had a fish fry in the afternoon.  All in all a jolly good time!  On Monday, Teresa and Ron biked back to the boat and Debbie and Brandon drove out for a sail.  They were really lucky – the winds picked up in the afternoon for a beautiful beam reach down Penobscot bay, followed by a change of wind direction and a pleasant run back home. 

Finished the day with a very nice dinner in Belfast before Debbie and Brandon headed home.

Sat: Ships Log: 5596.5, Todays Log: 11.5, Seasons Total: 1148.6

Mon: Ships Log: 5605.6, Todays Log: 9.1, Seasons Total: 1157.7

Friday September 4th.

We had a short sail today to Islesboro.  Despite the prevailing winds being SW, we had NE winds, bang on the nose.  Anyway, since we hadn’t had any winds to speak of recently we were glad of the opportunity to sail.  Until they dropped to 4 knots and the boat speed dropped to 2 knots.  So the engines went on again!

We pulled into Dark Harbor, 44 15.30N 068 55.41W and picked up a mooring.  It didn’t look like a visitors mooring so Ron went for a ride in the dinghy to investigate where the visitors moorings were.  They were over the other side of the channel in Cradle Cove on 700 Acre Island, 44 15.67N 068 56.33W, so we headed over there and found a mooring. 

Our guide book suggested that the best cycling was on Islesboro Island, so we loaded the bikes into the dinghy and set off back to Islesboro.  The island has many beautiful homes, apparently owned by the rich and famous (such as John Travolta).  And it also has lots of gorgeous views. 

After cycling to the southern tip, we headed north again and Ron wanted to reach the village of Dark Harbor, where he hoped to find some ice cream.  Sure enough we found a likely looking store and parked our bikes.  No sooner had we done so than a lady came out of the store and said “I hope you’re not looking for ice cream, ‘cause we’ve run out”.  Initially we thought this was some kind of Dark harbor humour, but alas, it was true.  We looked around the store anyway, ignored the huge ice cream menu, and then mounted our trusty bikes again.  After a few miles we found another store, and solved the ice cream problem!

Ships Log: 5585, Todays Log: 14.4, Seasons Total: 1137.1

Thursday September 3rd.

We’re cruising again!  We left Boothbay Harbor on another hot and humid day with hardly a breath of wind, and boy could we have made use of some, not only for sailing but also to cool us a little.  We motored all day, mostly with a slight fair tide thank goodness.  The wind teased us late in the trip so we unrolled the genoa (the main was already hoisted – just in case), but after 5 minutes the wind was back to 2-3 knots and we furled the genoa again.   

We had planned to go to Rockport, 44 10.80N 069 04.22W, but by 4pm the fair tide had turned against us, and we were fed up with motoring, so we turned into Rockland Harbor, 44 06.76N 069 05.00W, and dropped the hook behind the breakwater.  This turned out to be a good decision, because we had time for a swim and to cook dinner, before it started getting dark shortly after 7pm.

Ships Log: 5570.6, Todays Log: 36.6, Seasons Total: 1122.7

Wednesday 19th August – Wednesday September 2nd.

Drove back home in a rental car and stayed overnight.  On Thursday Teresa drove south to visit her mom.

Ron returned to the boat and spent a few days fixing or jury rigging some of the lightning damage and doing a few other jobs around the boat. 

The weather, on the boat at least, was not good.  Foggy and drizzly in the mornings, rain shower and the promise of thunderstorms (which have not yet materialized).  So luckily a good few days to be taking a break from sailing. 

Quinita ended up spending 15 days in Boothbay – her longest stay in the water in one place.  The weather was hot, humid and windless.  The showers at the Tugboat Inn are wonderful!