Hi all -
My wife and I are planning a 10 day trip during the first week of September. Our boat is on a mooring in South Freeport, and we sail that area of Casco Bay every weekend. For this trip we'd like to get farther NE. This is our second season up here, and last year we only made it as far as Monhegan. The weather wasn't great and would have made for rougher conditions than we wanted to have our daughter on board for, plus we fell in love with Monhegan and enjoyed every hike it had to offer.
We have a 3 year old daughter, and for her benefit we try not to push the actual sailing time too long. She naps extremely well when underway (better than anywhere else, even with a fair amount of heel and waves), and so we typically try to do most of our sailing during nap time and maybe a couple hours before or after. Then we like to get somewhere and explore with hikes, tidal pools, etc. So, figure on 4-6 hours of sailing per day. An overnight passage is very likely out of the question, but I am not opposed to an early start for a few hours, stopping somewhere, and then maybe a little farther during midday nap before stopping somewhere else, and maybe even a little farther at night time. Or a late sail during dinner, etc.
We love remote islands like Jewell, Seguin, Monhegan and lots of hiking (especially more-so now with Covid). We'll need to refill water tanks after ~4-5 days. Ice wouldn't be bad at that point too, but not a necessity (especially if we plan for not having it). Boat is a Pearson 31-2 and we can figure 4-6 knots. I'm also not shy about starting up the diesel and motorsailing if it is the difference between making it to a desirable anchorage or not. That may be controversial, but it's the reality of our situation given that we want our daughter to have enough off-boat time to explore new islands. She's a busy kid and the bucket of water in the cockpit with all of her toys only gets us so far before she needs to RUN.
Below is our idea so far. The only places we *need* to see are Jewell at the beginning and end (my brother is the caretaker of the island and will hopefully be watching our pup for us this year. We may bring the pup along which could strike Jewell off the list) and Monhegan for at least a day. Seguin is nice, but the anchorage has always been a bit rolly and when we were there earlier this year the moorings looked pretty rough. Maybe it'll become a stopover for lunch on this trip.
Anything we're missing or that we should otherwise definitely do? Especially in the Vinalhaven area as we've never been there. Calm anchorages are a plus.
My wife and I are planning a 10 day trip during the first week of September. Our boat is on a mooring in South Freeport, and we sail that area of Casco Bay every weekend. For this trip we'd like to get farther NE. This is our second season up here, and last year we only made it as far as Monhegan. The weather wasn't great and would have made for rougher conditions than we wanted to have our daughter on board for, plus we fell in love with Monhegan and enjoyed every hike it had to offer.
We have a 3 year old daughter, and for her benefit we try not to push the actual sailing time too long. She naps extremely well when underway (better than anywhere else, even with a fair amount of heel and waves), and so we typically try to do most of our sailing during nap time and maybe a couple hours before or after. Then we like to get somewhere and explore with hikes, tidal pools, etc. So, figure on 4-6 hours of sailing per day. An overnight passage is very likely out of the question, but I am not opposed to an early start for a few hours, stopping somewhere, and then maybe a little farther during midday nap before stopping somewhere else, and maybe even a little farther at night time. Or a late sail during dinner, etc.
We love remote islands like Jewell, Seguin, Monhegan and lots of hiking (especially more-so now with Covid). We'll need to refill water tanks after ~4-5 days. Ice wouldn't be bad at that point too, but not a necessity (especially if we plan for not having it). Boat is a Pearson 31-2 and we can figure 4-6 knots. I'm also not shy about starting up the diesel and motorsailing if it is the difference between making it to a desirable anchorage or not. That may be controversial, but it's the reality of our situation given that we want our daughter to have enough off-boat time to explore new islands. She's a busy kid and the bucket of water in the cockpit with all of her toys only gets us so far before she needs to RUN.
Below is our idea so far. The only places we *need* to see are Jewell at the beginning and end (my brother is the caretaker of the island and will hopefully be watching our pup for us this year. We may bring the pup along which could strike Jewell off the list) and Monhegan for at least a day. Seguin is nice, but the anchorage has always been a bit rolly and when we were there earlier this year the moorings looked pretty rough. Maybe it'll become a stopover for lunch on this trip.
Anything we're missing or that we should otherwise definitely do? Especially in the Vinalhaven area as we've never been there. Calm anchorages are a plus.
S Freeport to Jewell | Saturday |
Jewell to Seguin | Sunday |
Seguin to Monhegan | Monday |
Monhegan to Tenants Harbor (water, pumpout if needed) | Tuesday |
Tenants to Vinalhaven (Seal Cove?) | Wednesday |
Vinalhaven (hike and explore for the day) | Thursday |
Vinalhaven to Monhegan | Friday |
Monhegan to Seguin | Saturday |
Seguin to Jewell | Sunday |