The first southern chapter of my grand life plan began with departure after sunset from Southport Marine with a friend from Vermont on board for crew. It was very dark with a new moon dimly seen through the overcast as we motored out past Portland Head Light into seas that probably would have been a lot more intimidating if we actually could have seen them. There were some impressive light shows of green and red as the bow dropped into deep troughs and I would catch glimpses of breaking crests gleaming abeam that made me think it might be just as well that Brad couldn’t see much. When he told me the next day about the sailing he did with his father as a boy, I realized I needn’t have worried.
We both expected to get really beat up after rounding Two Lights but getting out of the current from the harbor, away from the shoals, and on a course that put the seas more abeam, things eased up considerably. As it turned out, I would have been delighted to get beat up on that short leg because the wind had come easterly earlier than either I or the weather forecast expected. The easier ride meant we spent an uncomfortable night rolling in the swells refracting around Richmond Island instead of getting the protection I expected tucked right up into the bight by the end of the breakwater.
We were off shortly after dawn under gloomy skies spitting a little rain and expecting to spend a day being poured on. The day was drier than expected and we never got significantly wet. It would have been a tough slog to windward due to large swells coming in from some weather system offshore but running under power with 8-15 knot winds on the quarter and a bit of jib set to steady the boat made for a quite tolerable ride. We arrived off Portsmouth shortly after noon just as thick fog was blown in by a freshening breeze. I usually have a good sense of timing in these matters.
We picked up a mooring off Fort McLary for some respite and additional lunch but it would have clearly been an uncomfortable place to spend the night with the swells rolling up the harbor. Next was a tour of the harbor with a pass by the research vessel that started the second half of my career. We then ran around up into the Back Channel behind the shipyard and picked up a mooring that my sixth sense and careful analysis of the growth on the pendant loop told me belonged to a boat that has been hauled for the season. After dinner and very responsible and ecologically sensitive disposal of alcoholic liquids imported from Scotland, we turned in for a very sound night’s sleep extending well into a lazy and rainy Sunday morning.
We spent a quiet morning in pouring rain waiting of the girls to drive down from Portland. When the their cell phone call told us they were going through the toll booth, we motored down and docked at the Kittery Point Boat Yard long enough for all of us to go to Cap’n Simon’s Galley for lunch. Then it was hasty hugs and farewell’s in the rain. I’m back on the boat alone and expect to be departing at the crack of dawn for the 36 mile run to Gloucester if nothing significant changes in the forecast before morning.
We both expected to get really beat up after rounding Two Lights but getting out of the current from the harbor, away from the shoals, and on a course that put the seas more abeam, things eased up considerably. As it turned out, I would have been delighted to get beat up on that short leg because the wind had come easterly earlier than either I or the weather forecast expected. The easier ride meant we spent an uncomfortable night rolling in the swells refracting around Richmond Island instead of getting the protection I expected tucked right up into the bight by the end of the breakwater.
We were off shortly after dawn under gloomy skies spitting a little rain and expecting to spend a day being poured on. The day was drier than expected and we never got significantly wet. It would have been a tough slog to windward due to large swells coming in from some weather system offshore but running under power with 8-15 knot winds on the quarter and a bit of jib set to steady the boat made for a quite tolerable ride. We arrived off Portsmouth shortly after noon just as thick fog was blown in by a freshening breeze. I usually have a good sense of timing in these matters.
We picked up a mooring off Fort McLary for some respite and additional lunch but it would have clearly been an uncomfortable place to spend the night with the swells rolling up the harbor. Next was a tour of the harbor with a pass by the research vessel that started the second half of my career. We then ran around up into the Back Channel behind the shipyard and picked up a mooring that my sixth sense and careful analysis of the growth on the pendant loop told me belonged to a boat that has been hauled for the season. After dinner and very responsible and ecologically sensitive disposal of alcoholic liquids imported from Scotland, we turned in for a very sound night’s sleep extending well into a lazy and rainy Sunday morning.
We spent a quiet morning in pouring rain waiting of the girls to drive down from Portland. When the their cell phone call told us they were going through the toll booth, we motored down and docked at the Kittery Point Boat Yard long enough for all of us to go to Cap’n Simon’s Galley for lunch. Then it was hasty hugs and farewell’s in the rain. I’m back on the boat alone and expect to be departing at the crack of dawn for the 36 mile run to Gloucester if nothing significant changes in the forecast before morning.
