but not the voyage.
We woke up in Rockland to a beautiful sailing and traveling day but laundry and other errands meant the day’s run was just from the anchorage to the town dock. Pleasant errands for the most part, we were visited by a former colleague of Dreameagle’s while the laundry ran and then had lunch with the harbormaster, an old friend. After lunch, I did things like filling water tanks and picked up items at Hamilton Marine so Dreameagle could spend a couple hours in the Farnsworth Museum gift shop without me standing around fidgeting. On her return, we filled the fuel tanks and returned to the anchorage to watch a “Supermoon” and even more super sunset while we talked about the cruise.
The return to busy streets and stores made us realize that we are transitioning out of the cruising phase of this adventure. Things like an October meeting about the research vessel design I’m advising on, our decision to take the boat south again, and an invitation to crew on my 39 foot schooner design in the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race, are bringing schedules back into our lives. We’ll be moving south now with a lot more focus on making progress than on exploration.
Pondering the past weeks, I realize that I think of Maine east of Schoodic as being to Maine as Maine is to the rest of the New England coast. It’s been a relatively fast trip but we saw a lot down there as well as a good portion of the rest of the state. By the time we reach Portsmouth, it will be rare that Dreameagle ever meets anyone who has seen as much of the Maine coast as she has. For major areas, it is easier to list what we won’t have seen this trip. We didn’t see Eggemoggin Reach, get to Isle Au Haut, or see the Bold Coast and Eastport but we have been able to at least look over and see just about everywhere else. My only significant regret is that our timing kept us from seeing much of the Windjammer fleet since we went through Ponobscot Bay on weekends both coming and going.
We began the next phase of our adventure appropriately with a uncomfortable power run in sloppy chop over swells to Boothbay. There was enough wind to sail but not to make Boothbay and it would have been slow and uncomfortable dead down wind. Cruising, we could have made something better out of the day but we need now to make westing.
We tied up at the town dock in Boothbay for a walk to visit some of the places in this town where I lived and worked for several years. A voice in front of the hardware stores said, “Is that you Roger?” That lead to a mooring and a delightful evening ashore after a short side trip to look at “Black Star”, a Friendship Sloop I designed.
http://www.cruisingonstrider.us/Boats.htm#Yachts
Today was another delivery style run to anchor off Chebeague Island in order to be positioned for getting into Portland tomorrow before the rain starts; more errands to do there, and then off towards Gloucester and points south with all deliberate speed.
I’ve commented before on how, when I have bad luck, it always seems to be at a convenient time. I’d picked up a head rebuild kit in Rockland for that overdue and messy job. Our ETA at anchor would leave plenty of time to tackle it. Dreameagle went down to use the head and, on her final pump stroke, the handle came right out of the pump. Anyone who has ever had to rebuild a head under duress knows the horror but I ended up doing it exactly at the planned time.
The cruise may be over but my good luck goes on, knock on wood.
We woke up in Rockland to a beautiful sailing and traveling day but laundry and other errands meant the day’s run was just from the anchorage to the town dock. Pleasant errands for the most part, we were visited by a former colleague of Dreameagle’s while the laundry ran and then had lunch with the harbormaster, an old friend. After lunch, I did things like filling water tanks and picked up items at Hamilton Marine so Dreameagle could spend a couple hours in the Farnsworth Museum gift shop without me standing around fidgeting. On her return, we filled the fuel tanks and returned to the anchorage to watch a “Supermoon” and even more super sunset while we talked about the cruise.
The return to busy streets and stores made us realize that we are transitioning out of the cruising phase of this adventure. Things like an October meeting about the research vessel design I’m advising on, our decision to take the boat south again, and an invitation to crew on my 39 foot schooner design in the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race, are bringing schedules back into our lives. We’ll be moving south now with a lot more focus on making progress than on exploration.
Pondering the past weeks, I realize that I think of Maine east of Schoodic as being to Maine as Maine is to the rest of the New England coast. It’s been a relatively fast trip but we saw a lot down there as well as a good portion of the rest of the state. By the time we reach Portsmouth, it will be rare that Dreameagle ever meets anyone who has seen as much of the Maine coast as she has. For major areas, it is easier to list what we won’t have seen this trip. We didn’t see Eggemoggin Reach, get to Isle Au Haut, or see the Bold Coast and Eastport but we have been able to at least look over and see just about everywhere else. My only significant regret is that our timing kept us from seeing much of the Windjammer fleet since we went through Ponobscot Bay on weekends both coming and going.
We began the next phase of our adventure appropriately with a uncomfortable power run in sloppy chop over swells to Boothbay. There was enough wind to sail but not to make Boothbay and it would have been slow and uncomfortable dead down wind. Cruising, we could have made something better out of the day but we need now to make westing.
We tied up at the town dock in Boothbay for a walk to visit some of the places in this town where I lived and worked for several years. A voice in front of the hardware stores said, “Is that you Roger?” That lead to a mooring and a delightful evening ashore after a short side trip to look at “Black Star”, a Friendship Sloop I designed.
http://www.cruisingonstrider.us/Boats.htm#Yachts
Today was another delivery style run to anchor off Chebeague Island in order to be positioned for getting into Portland tomorrow before the rain starts; more errands to do there, and then off towards Gloucester and points south with all deliberate speed.
I’ve commented before on how, when I have bad luck, it always seems to be at a convenient time. I’d picked up a head rebuild kit in Rockland for that overdue and messy job. Our ETA at anchor would leave plenty of time to tackle it. Dreameagle went down to use the head and, on her final pump stroke, the handle came right out of the pump. Anyone who has ever had to rebuild a head under duress knows the horror but I ended up doing it exactly at the planned time.
The cruise may be over but my good luck goes on, knock on wood.
