The unthinkable has happened. I’m not going to be taking a cruise downeast this year. We were planning a cruise while I wait for the tropics to settle down enough to head south but the wet and unsettled weather pattern hasn’t made the idea very compelling. With over 6000 miles under the keel in the last year, I’m enjoying some shore life and finding lots of little things to do on the boat which will make life aboard more pleasant and convenient.
I’ve met a number of ICW snowbirds here in Portland that were turning back after seeing Portland and a bit of Casco Bay. They’ve come a long way and “seen” Maine. I tell them they haven’t seen anything. Some have told me they have been downeast by car so it isn’t worth more miles in the boat. I tell them they still haven’t seen the real Maine and have no idea what magic and beauty lies to the east. Few listen.
Multiple circumnavigators have told me that Maine is one of the most beautiful cruising grounds on earth. Having now cruised every east coast state, I pronounce it unquestionably the most beautiful and interesting. How could I miss it for one of the distressingly small number of cruising years I have left?
Well, in the over forty years since I first watched the sun set from the cockpit of a boat anchored in Maine, I’ve seen a lot of it. I could spend another four decades finding new coves and hidden spots in this incredible landscape but I have sailed on or looked into every place large enough to have a name on a map of the full state. There is no place left where I can round a headland and have the vista of an entire unknown bay or river open up for exploration. I was at Roque Island (picture above) six times in one recent year. I think a year of abstinence will make it even more magical when I pass through on my way to Nova Scotia next summer.
My current plans are to head south as soon as the tropics appear to settle down. That could be as early as the end of next week if I don’t see little hurricane embryos lining up across the bottom of the National Hurricane Center map. A couple of friends are going to sail with me non-stop to Cape Cod. I then plan some leisurely cruising to NYC with a lot of visiting along the way. Four Points and Scott T-Bird plan to join me for the NYC to Cape May leg so the departure from New England will depend on their schedule, probably be early October.
I’m putting stuff back aboard the boat. She could be ready to go in an hour, aside from food and fuel. If it weren’t for the stuff “Out of Africa”, I could be underway tonight.
I’m ready.
I’ve met a number of ICW snowbirds here in Portland that were turning back after seeing Portland and a bit of Casco Bay. They’ve come a long way and “seen” Maine. I tell them they haven’t seen anything. Some have told me they have been downeast by car so it isn’t worth more miles in the boat. I tell them they still haven’t seen the real Maine and have no idea what magic and beauty lies to the east. Few listen.
Multiple circumnavigators have told me that Maine is one of the most beautiful cruising grounds on earth. Having now cruised every east coast state, I pronounce it unquestionably the most beautiful and interesting. How could I miss it for one of the distressingly small number of cruising years I have left?
Well, in the over forty years since I first watched the sun set from the cockpit of a boat anchored in Maine, I’ve seen a lot of it. I could spend another four decades finding new coves and hidden spots in this incredible landscape but I have sailed on or looked into every place large enough to have a name on a map of the full state. There is no place left where I can round a headland and have the vista of an entire unknown bay or river open up for exploration. I was at Roque Island (picture above) six times in one recent year. I think a year of abstinence will make it even more magical when I pass through on my way to Nova Scotia next summer.
My current plans are to head south as soon as the tropics appear to settle down. That could be as early as the end of next week if I don’t see little hurricane embryos lining up across the bottom of the National Hurricane Center map. A couple of friends are going to sail with me non-stop to Cape Cod. I then plan some leisurely cruising to NYC with a lot of visiting along the way. Four Points and Scott T-Bird plan to join me for the NYC to Cape May leg so the departure from New England will depend on their schedule, probably be early October.
I’m putting stuff back aboard the boat. She could be ready to go in an hour, aside from food and fuel. If it weren’t for the stuff “Out of Africa”, I could be underway tonight.
I’m ready.
