It’s strange how mood affects the view. Yesterday, we were rolling downwind in sloppy swells under power after giving up on the sail along the cliffs due to the disappointing die off of the wind. I said to Barbara, “You know, I like Vinalhaven better. This is spectacular but it’s one of those places you really only need to see once. Close up, all those beautiful rounded rocks and places to discover make where a place like Seal Bay much more interesting. I probably won’t come this way again unless I want to show it to someone.”
She agreed.
We awoke this morning to a corker of a day with a promising breeze already coming up from the northwest at dawn and decided a run down the cliffs with the early light on them would be worth it even though we’ve been there and done that. I figured there wouldn’t be any wind in the lee so we started the day under power.
Incredible. Jaw dropping. It’s as if I had never seen Mount Desert before. I could look at that island, certainly the most dramatic bit of coast on the eastern shores of the U.S. every day.
The mood improved from there when we cleared Otter point into the wind and set the sails. It was the wind strength that just moves the boat enough to be interesting close hauled but which requires enough attention to the tell tales to put one into that Zen like state of full attention and quiet mind.
Now, I promised Barbara, myself, and all of you that there wouldn’t be any long days like this:
57.2 nm. Power shown in red and sail legs in green.
However, what do you do with such a perfect sailing day? The wind freshened off the Duck Islands. The mid day lull as the afternoon southwester came in early was timed perfectly for a short power run up to take a look into Frenchboro, a place I hadn’t seen. We were then off racing westwards close hauled.
It was challenging steering. The boat was pressed close to needing a reef and the current had the lobster pots spread out perpendicular to our path. Lobstermen in these waters use a lot of line between their toggles and buoys and shaving close to one buoy in order to pinch up around the next pair without sagging into it was often a near thing.
After a short tack to clear a shoal south of Swans Island, we were able to ease the sheets and Strider took off. Our average speed under sail for the day, 5.94 knots, ended up being higher than our average speed under power of 5.79 knots even though I kept the boat at cruising RPM for most of the power legs.
We were planning to go up into Merchants Row to anchor but the wind was right on the nose, the pots were thick and the afternoon sun was making them hard to see. It quickly was becoming not fun after a long day. I started the engine and rolled up the jib. That didn’t make the pots any easier to see. I decided to head up into South East Harbor so I unrolled the jib and shut down the engine. The speed picked up to where I could call down to Scotty in the engine room and tell him he could stop throwing dilithium crystals into the mass converter and take a break for coffee.
We got up to the entrance of Southeast Harbor and the wind was funneling down, shaped by the land to be dead on the nose. I could see a long slog to windward under power so I made my second destination change of the day, probably a record for me. We bore off and sailed a long “U” turn around the end of Stinson Neck. The far side of the “U” ended the sailing day with another warp speed leg up to Potato Island where we lowered the sails for the run up to the head of Greenlaw Cove.
It gets better than this but I can’t remember the last time offhand.
She agreed.
We awoke this morning to a corker of a day with a promising breeze already coming up from the northwest at dawn and decided a run down the cliffs with the early light on them would be worth it even though we’ve been there and done that. I figured there wouldn’t be any wind in the lee so we started the day under power.
Incredible. Jaw dropping. It’s as if I had never seen Mount Desert before. I could look at that island, certainly the most dramatic bit of coast on the eastern shores of the U.S. every day.
The mood improved from there when we cleared Otter point into the wind and set the sails. It was the wind strength that just moves the boat enough to be interesting close hauled but which requires enough attention to the tell tales to put one into that Zen like state of full attention and quiet mind.
Now, I promised Barbara, myself, and all of you that there wouldn’t be any long days like this:
57.2 nm. Power shown in red and sail legs in green.
However, what do you do with such a perfect sailing day? The wind freshened off the Duck Islands. The mid day lull as the afternoon southwester came in early was timed perfectly for a short power run up to take a look into Frenchboro, a place I hadn’t seen. We were then off racing westwards close hauled.
It was challenging steering. The boat was pressed close to needing a reef and the current had the lobster pots spread out perpendicular to our path. Lobstermen in these waters use a lot of line between their toggles and buoys and shaving close to one buoy in order to pinch up around the next pair without sagging into it was often a near thing.
After a short tack to clear a shoal south of Swans Island, we were able to ease the sheets and Strider took off. Our average speed under sail for the day, 5.94 knots, ended up being higher than our average speed under power of 5.79 knots even though I kept the boat at cruising RPM for most of the power legs.
We were planning to go up into Merchants Row to anchor but the wind was right on the nose, the pots were thick and the afternoon sun was making them hard to see. It quickly was becoming not fun after a long day. I started the engine and rolled up the jib. That didn’t make the pots any easier to see. I decided to head up into South East Harbor so I unrolled the jib and shut down the engine. The speed picked up to where I could call down to Scotty in the engine room and tell him he could stop throwing dilithium crystals into the mass converter and take a break for coffee.
We got up to the entrance of Southeast Harbor and the wind was funneling down, shaped by the land to be dead on the nose. I could see a long slog to windward under power so I made my second destination change of the day, probably a record for me. We bore off and sailed a long “U” turn around the end of Stinson Neck. The far side of the “U” ended the sailing day with another warp speed leg up to Potato Island where we lowered the sails for the run up to the head of Greenlaw Cove.
It gets better than this but I can’t remember the last time offhand.
