The weather has been cool (10-20 deg C during the day and colder at night) but the winds have been light, making it possible for us to put in some pretty long days (3 days over 70 miles and 1 a whopping 87 miles!). With lots of daylight we have been leaving early (usually around 5 a.m.) and have been underway often over 12 hours. Unfortunately we haven't been doing much sailing because of the light winds, but you can't have everything.
Tuesday was a big day from Huntington to Stonington, CT. We had originally planned to try to get to Point Judith, RI, which was a stretch day, but after a very calm day the wind came up around 5 p.m. right on the nose, and we figured we couldn't make it in before dark, so we took a left turn into the shelter of Stonington. Wednesday was quite windy on the nose, so we only went 22 Nm to Point Judith arriving there before 10 a.m. and spend the day hunkered down on the boat. Luckily we were able to get wifi from the boat, so we managed to make good use of that to do some Skype calls to family.
Thursday we went to Duxbury Bay, MA where we arrived just before dark after a really long day fighting currents all the way. We had originally planned to stop at Onset, just before the Cape Cod Canal but once we got there we decided to push on because we figured we could make it through the canal and to Duxbury Bay before dark. We only just made it, dropping the hook well after sunset and just before it got too dark to see what we were doing. Once again we spent the night near Plymouth and we didn't set foot in the place, just like on the way down.
Friday we had another long day to York Harbor, Maine. We are now in the land of the lobster pots, so extra vigilance is required on the watches, making them a lot more tiring. We passed Gloucester on the outside instead of going through the canal, and motored past Isle of Shoals before heading towards York, where we arrived just before 6 p.m. and picked up a mooring after no luck contacting the harbour master or yacht clubs. I picked up the mooring and when Dave came forward to help me get it on the bollard at the bow, he kicked the boat hook overboard. Luckily it floats, but the current was rushing out of the harbour at about 2 or 3 knots, so we quickly got the dinghy down and Dave got the oars on and rowed after the boat hook. He retrieved the boat hook just as it started to rain and then rowed in to shore against the current to the yacht club to see if he could find out about the mooring.
Saturday the forecast was for relatively strong winds on the nose, so we decided to stay put in York for the day. As it turned out the wind was much lighter than the forecast, at least where we were, so we probably could have gone, but we were ready for a bit of a break. We found the harbourmaster and moved over to one of the town moorings before heading in to pay and explore a bit. York is a very beautiful town, about 5 miles north of Portsmouth, and obviously there is a lot of wealth here to judge by the beautiful homes. They have some very nice walking paths, so we went for a bit walk up the main street and along the 'Cliff Walk' in front of many huge waterfront homes and then back along the 'Fisherman's Walk' along the shore of the river and inner harbour. We had a delicious lunch at the Fat Tomato Cafe in the village and bought a brownie to share for dessert later. It was labelled 'World's Best Brownie' and although I was skeptical, when we ate it I thought they might be right. When I read the ingredients they were pretty standard, but they included coffee, which I figured is the secret.
We had quite a discussion with the Harbourmaster at York, who explained to us that there is a 20 year waiting list for moorings there and also told us about the floats that they have all over the harbour. Apparently they make it easier for people to load and unload their boats and Dave figures they can probably fit more boats in this little harbour with this arrangement as well. Although we were the only visiting boat at this time of year, it sounds like it is a pretty busy place in the summer. Dave figures they don't really encourage tourists though, because many of the parking areas, including near the trails, had lots of 'permit only' parking. We're not sure if this is because York is such a popular place that the locals have a hard time getting parking or what, but it was kind of odd.
Sunday we got up and left early, planning on a very long day to Tenant's Harbor Maine. Tenant's Harbor is about 6 miles south of Rockland and it was another stretch day for us. We covered 87 Nm in just under 15 hours. And they were tough watches, as the lobster traps were becoming thicker. We arrived at 8 p.m. and just as we finished eating supper we heard the unmistakable sound of... fireworks! Sure enough I went up into the cockpit and on the north shore of the cove we were anchored in they were setting off a fireworks display. Although it was obviously being put on by amateurs (there was a delay between each 'set' of fireworks where I could see them lighting off the next set) it was quite a show and it went on for 15 or 20 minutes at least. Who would have expected this in a quiet cove in Maine in early June? That is one of the neat things about cruising - you never know what you are going to see!
Monday we had a relatively short day and arrived at Isle au Haut just after noon. We anchored in Duck Harbor, where there is access to the trails of this adjunct to Acadia Park, and after lunch we set off to do some hiking. We were the only people in the park, as the ferry doesn't start until mid June and there weren't any other boaters, so the only people we saw were some lobster fishermen who were hauling traps just off the island as we hiked on the rocks along the coast. We started out with the Duck Mountain trail, which is rated as 'difficult' and is fairly challenging. From there we hiked along the coast and back to the cove where we anchored just over three hours later. We spent a lovely evening enjoying the peace of the cove and watching the sun set before falling into bed exhausted again.
Tuesday we set off mid morning for Vinalhaven, an island in Penobscot Bay that is very pretty (like so many in Maine). Once we negotiated the mass of lobster pot buoys just outside Duck Harbor we unfurled the jib and tried to sail, but as we got away from the land the wind died completely leaving us to motor the 10 miles north. We went into Seal Bay just off Winter Harbor, as it had been recommended as a beautiful anchorage by some friends and it certainly is. The trip in past Hen Island was lovely with the big flat rocks and pine trees that remind us of northern Ontario.
We anchored and spent most of the afternoon puttering around the boat. I made some muffins and biscuits and Dave changed the oil in the engine. Late in the afternoon we put the engine on the dinghy and went for a bit of an explore, walking along the shore of one of the rocky islands and scooting around the bay in the dinghy so Dave could get his 'power boat' fix. We had arranged to meet up with Robin and Ian on Passage that night. As luck would have it they were launching their boat nearby in Rockland before heading down towards Cape Cod, so the timing worked out. They launched the boat at 1 p.m. that day and arrived and rafted up to us just before 7 p.m.
We had a nice evening catching up on adventures from the winter over drinks and supper before we all turned in for the night. We feel like we've really come full circle, as we met them in Liverpool, NS on the first week of our trip heading south and travelled with them into Maine and we're meeting them again in Maine just before the end of our trip.
Today we plan to head over to Herrick Bay near Brooklin, just west of Bar Harbor, to meet up with George and Cynthy from Ellie Belle, who live there. Again we have come full circle, as we first met them near the beginning of our trip in Jewell Island, Maine last September and continued to see them along the way down the east coast in the fall. Unfortunately we woke up to fog this morning so it might be a challenging trip through the Deer Island Thoroughfare. We can't really complain, as this is the first fog we have seen on our trip north and it was bound to show up eventually.
We know we are getting closer to home as we have been hearing Fundy Coast Guard Radio on the VHF ever since we passed Boston. I have seen a number of seals and have heard the call of the loon and we are back in the land of 10-12 foot tides. Maine even smells like home - the tang of the seaweed near the shore, the cool scent of pine in the woods and even wood smoke in the air. There is no doubt we are on the ocean because even though the winds have been light, the swells have been very big. Soon we will be staging somewhere waiting for good weather to cross the Bay of Fundy and head back along the coast of Nova Scotia for the last leg of our journey.