My planned departure was delayed for a couple minutes by the yard workboat moving a sailboat with a dead engine off the service dock so I wasn't as punctual as I like to be in these things. I met some friends out in the harbor who had sailed (sort of in the near calm) out to see me off and they took this picture.
I then motored down to Portand Head Light and set the sails for another photo op with Barbara on shore. The wind began to come up shortly after and I had grand sail in increasing winds down to Sheepscot Bay dying wind and fatigue (didn't sleep really well the night before) caused me to start the engine.
First glitch of the trip: Autopilot won't stay engaged under power. Fortuantely, mine is the kind that can be fixed with a loop of bungee cord instead of needing to call in a software expert from Raymarine.
I'm now anchored in the cove where I first kept a boat in salt water. Back in 1969, I came to Boothbay to work at Paul Luke's and kept my 10 foot dinghy on a haul off mooring in this cove. I sailed almost every evening after work at the yard I can see across the bay. I'm right next to a row of dories loaded with seine nets, a vanishing sight along the coast, which makes me feel like little has changed in four decades. The boat is bigger, the stomach is bigger, but I feel like I could be that boy just out of high school setting out to discover the world of cruising under sail.
I then motored down to Portand Head Light and set the sails for another photo op with Barbara on shore. The wind began to come up shortly after and I had grand sail in increasing winds down to Sheepscot Bay dying wind and fatigue (didn't sleep really well the night before) caused me to start the engine.
First glitch of the trip: Autopilot won't stay engaged under power. Fortuantely, mine is the kind that can be fixed with a loop of bungee cord instead of needing to call in a software expert from Raymarine.
I'm now anchored in the cove where I first kept a boat in salt water. Back in 1969, I came to Boothbay to work at Paul Luke's and kept my 10 foot dinghy on a haul off mooring in this cove. I sailed almost every evening after work at the yard I can see across the bay. I'm right next to a row of dories loaded with seine nets, a vanishing sight along the coast, which makes me feel like little has changed in four decades. The boat is bigger, the stomach is bigger, but I feel like I could be that boy just out of high school setting out to discover the world of cruising under sail.
