Heading South

Its been a very frustrating week but we believe we are now ready to start the journey south for real. 
We put the boat back in the water on Monday afternoon as planned.  It was all very uneventful.  The keel has been repaired and the bottom painted with two coats of antifouling so we should be set for at least another 12 months in the water barring any mishaps.  Luckily ???? Claire got a picture of the damage to the keel so in the interests of full disclosure I have included it below.  Was not really too bad but glad we came out and got it fixed just the same.

Damage to keel

The week has been spent trying to get the last (for now) bits and pieces fixed, provisions and stores loaded and laundry done.  Scott has been onboard most of the time while Nic has done all the running around trying to buy everything that we need.  The work onboard is not major but the frustrating aspect is trying to get parts.  Once the bit has been identified (which can be half the battle) you go to a supplier but generally it will not be available immediately so it has to be ordered.  Luckily, this being the states, most shipments can be made overnight so that helps.  Then if it is a technical issue you have to wait until the service tech is available.  All this just extends the time we have to spend in the marina.  Still hope this will be the last boatyard stop for a while.  Its just as frustrating for Nic doing the shopping as she has to troll around various stores trying to find the various bits and peices of gear that we need.  And all this time we are trying to forge ahead with the schooling.

Weather has definately turned and we are all glad to be heading south.  Today its raining and lately its been real Scottish type weather albeit slightly warmer.  Plan now is to relocate to an anchorage today for the night and then tomorrow we head off to transit Long Island Sound aiming to reach the East River next weekend and be moored in a marina just across from Manhattan on Sunday where we will stay for a week to catch up with Lars (Scott's brother) and his family. 
Should just mention that we have all thoroughly enjoyed Newport and our dealings with all the people we have met especially Heather and her family.  It is a fabulous destination and the services available are first rate. 

Providence

We took a couple of days off from the boat this weekend - almost like a real weekend.  Friday night we went out with our friends Skip and Heather and Heather's daughter Samantha.  Went to a local Japanese place for a tepanyaki type dinner where the chef amazed the kids with the usual culinary acrobatics and placated the adults by squirting saki into their mouths while shouting "more saki, more happy'"  - it was a win for everyone.
Saturday morning we finished off re-installing some of the bits and pieces we had pulled off and serviced during the week so that the boat was ready to get splashed on Monday.  Then we loaded into the car and headed off on a short road trip to Providence, which is the state capital for Rhode Island.  This was the first day and night we had spent away from the boat for over two months.

Providence waterfront

Rhode Island is the smallest state so it only took us about half an hour to reach.  We checked into a hotel and then headed out to do some shopping for some essentials.  The kids have been saving up for a while to buy a lego toy which they managed to find at a local toy store so they were wrapped and spent the rest of the day and evening building it.  With the kids occupied Nic and Scott managed a meal out in the hotel steak restaurant by themselves - this was a first for the whole trip and a real treat.
Providence is a small interesting city.  The downtown area is high rise buildings many from the early 1900's so there is some really interesting architecture mixed in with the modern developments.

We wandered around for most of the Sunday enjoying the autumn sunshine being away from the boat for a day.  We managed a visit to the Rhode Island School of Art and Design which has a fantastic art museum.  The museum is on 6 levels and relatively small but has a suprisingly comprehensive collection of modern and classic art and artifacts which makes it really interesting.  There were paintings by all the famous French impressionists like Manet, Monet, Van Gogh and Cezane, together with Dutch and American artists, sculptures by Rodin including a really striking marble piece called "The Hand of God."  There was a whole floor with ancient Egyptian artifacts incuding a genuine mummy and sarcophagus and another area with Roman era artifacts.   There were smaller displays of chinese, korean and Indian art and artifacts.  All in all very educational.  It looks like many of the pieces have come as donations from wealthy Rhode Islanders during their travels.  We class this as a field trip for the the kids.

PS  Happy Birthday Mum.  Hope you had a great day.

Out of the water - again

Just a quick update to let everyone know we are still alive.
Boat is out of the water so things are a bit hectic.  We lifted the boat on Monday primarily to get the ding in the keel fixed but Peter convinced us to antifoul the hull at the same time just before he left so we are set for a period of about a week on the hard.  Current schedule will see us splashing on Monday 24th September. 
Its pretty frustrating being out of the water.  You take the opportunity to do as much as possible but regardless of how well planned or though out inevitably things change and so the day to day schedule has to adapt.  We have moved into a motel for the period we are out of the water and Nic is trying to get on top of the schoolwork while Scott spends most of my time on the boat.  On the whole however things have gone pretty well and we are actioning the last of the niggling problems with the boat.  The big suprise this time was a slight oil leak around the intercooler turned out to be the result of a rapidly deteriorating turbo charger.  And of course a new one is not cheap.  Still best get it fixed here and now.  We have also replaced some of the running rigging and that is another expensive exercise.
Currently the hull anti fouling has been done and the keel fixed.  We forgot to get a picture of the damage (honest) but luckily it was pretty minor and only required some re-fibreglassing.  Since we have been here we have seen a power boat with twin props completely mangled where he went aground and a sailing boat with a split where the keel joins the hull so we feel pretty lucky.  We are all eager to get underway but that will not happen until at least next weekend at the earliest.
We are going to try and get a weekend in Providence which is supposed to be a neat town at the head of the waterways here.

We have spent the last three days in this beautiful place called Edgartown.  Edgartown sits at the eastern end of Martha's Vineyard and is a small town and harbour set on the entrance to a well protected bay.  You enter from the North and into a marked bay and head what looks like straight towards a beach.  As you get closer you start to see a narrow channel off to the right and you steer in towards this channel.  The start of the channel has a beach on one side, which is Chappaquidick Island, and a sand spit and lighthouse on the other.  As you move down the channel there are boats moored everywhere and you can see the town off to the right.  Its composed of a number of jetties and mooring piles jutting out into the water from a tree lined shoreline rising gently.  The buildings are all low rise and there is a holiday feel about the place.  The channel winds in along the front of the town and then curves around to the left into an opening bay which is filled with mooring buoys on the water and grand holiday houses with beautiful lawns on the shore.  

Edgartown lighthouse

Edgartown Waterfront

We had contacted the Harbourmaster earlier  for a mooring allocation.  Due to the time of year its easy to get moorings now as the hoilday season is over.  We were allocated a mooring at what seemed the extreme end of the mooring field behind a large catarmaran called Casa de Mer.  We were wondering why we were so far away from the town and assume this has nothing to do with the fact that we are a pommy registered boat but more due to our size.

On the first afternoon Peter and Claire went into town for a look around while Scott and Nic had a quick tidy up and then had an early one as Scott was still pretty shattered from the sail down.  The next day it was back into some school for the kids in the morning.  The schooling is getting easier in terms of execution but the volume is still quite daunting and we are worry that we will not complete the entire syllabus.  What we keep telling ourselves is that any deficiency will be made up in the life experiences from the trip - helps to assuage the parent guilt!!

Note the coffee

Unfortunately our electronic navigation equipment only works for the boat

The next few days we all had a look around the town.  Its got to be one of the nicest places we have visited.  Really relaxed feel to the town and it does not rely too heavily on the nautical themes .  As with most of the islands there are no franchises to be seen so the shops and restaurants are all quite unique.  There are trees everywhere lining the streets and with the perfect weather its just enough to wander around and enjoy the sunshine.  When we come ashore its a real treat to be able to go and get a coffee and some simple food of some sort.  We were treated to a meal out by Peter and Claire one night in a restaurant which is a once or twice a month type experience these days.  It was at a wharfside place called the Atlantic which have there own boat to go out over the continental shelf to get fresh fish for the menu.

The meal was great.  Its interesting in American restaurants because generally they are a lot noisier than elsewhere.  It seems that each table has to talk slightly louder than the one next to it in order to be heard and so slowly the volume in the entire restaurant rises.  It is not something that you notice immediately as it kind of envelopes your table gradually over the evening and you yourselves are forced to talk louder, but at the end of the night if you sit back it is deafening.  It is most noticeable in New York and Boston.  We were sitting outside with a view of the wharf and at around 8:00 o'clock they had the weigh in for a fishing competition being held - "Catch the biggest fish, win the baddest truck" was the advertising slogan.  Some of the game boats were just returning and we saw them unloading the fish which were not huge but certainly big fish.

The rest of our time here has been spent relaxing and buying a few souvenirs.  Peter and Claire managed a bus tour around the island. 

Interesting Sculpture

So the interesting facts about the island are a) this is where Jaws was filmed.  This was the town of Amity and b) as mentioned above also the setting for the Chappaquidick scandal involving the Kennedy's.  (I am assuming that everyone remembers Jaws but the younger members of the audience will have to google Chappaquidick and possibly Kennedy's for this to be of any relevance.)

Interesting plaques like this all over the towms

200yr old tree

We are off back to Newport in about an hour.  Wind is 5 to 10kts  but may be too westerly for it to be of any use to us.  The transit will take us about 5 to 6 hrs.  We now have a period of about 1 to 2 weeks in Newport to carry out some further work on the boat before heading down to New York.  Pete and Claire will depart in the next couple of days.

We would definitely recommend this part of the world to anyone looking for a great holiday.  The towns are beautiful, the people more than hospitable and the weather is perfect most of the time.  I guess for people outside the states it may not be the first place to think of for a vacation but it really is a great destination.

Edgartown in the morning from the anchorage

Edgartown from the anchorage

Overnight to the Vineyard

Happy to report that we have made it south in one piece and are now safely moored in a beautiful place called Edgartown in Martha’s Vineyard which incidentally is famous for a few things apart from being a hang out for the windswept and interesting.  More of that later.

From the last post we moved the boat from Soamesville closer to the offing point for the overnight sail - only about 6 NM down Soames Sound - and anchored up in a bay just outside Northeast Harbour.  Soames sound is a small fjord and so the land rises pretty steeply from the water.  At one point the cliffs tower about 700ft vertically and so we took the boat in close to the sides and the kids had fun shouting at the wall and hearing their echo come back.  That was on Monday afternoon.

Can you hear me now?

On Tuesday at 0400 we started the journey south.  Turns out the lobster pot buoys which were a nuisance during the day are even worse at night.  We had Peter on the bow with a torch for the first hour while we motored out of the islands until there was enough dawn light to see.  The sails were hoisted as soon as we settled on a favourable course.  We quickly cleared all the outlying islands and then set a course direct to a turning buoy near Boston.  The wind was forecast westerly at 15 to 20kts and it lived up to  expectations.  During the day we fairly flew along on a close reach at an average speed around 8 or 9 kts and even hit 10 kts a few times.  By lunch time there was nothing in sight except the Atlantic Ocean and only the occasional vessel far off.  The boat was moving a fair bit but but the motion was not excessively uncomfortable and it was an acceptable trade off given the speed we were doing.  We had to reef and shake loose the reefs on the main a couple of times and that all went without incident. The roller furling on the boom is working very well and we are happy with the system.

Porridge at dawn 

Claire taking a turn at the helm

Peter on watch

Around late afternoon the wind started to come around and head us which forced us first to sail close hauled and then pushed us around to the east.  This just meant it was a more uncomfortable ride.  Eventually we had to put in a couple of big tacks and beat into the weather for the whole night.  Peter and Scott did most of the time on deck but everyone except Calley tried a turn during the night.  All the systems and equipment worked well and the AIS (automatic identification system) and the radar both proved their worth.  These were some of the upgrades which we installed in Newport and we are glad we did now.  At one point in the early hours we had lights from a boat steaming across our bow who would not give way or answer a radio call.  We were tracking him the whole time so it was never an issue but all very exciting.  Eventually we had to bear off and go around behind him.

The weather was great for the transit but getting cold as you will see from the pictures, especially at night.  Everyone was dressed in various combinations of layers of thermals, fleeces and wet weather gear.  The sun shone during the day but the wind was cold.  On watch you try to stay out of the wind in the shelter of the dodger as much as possible.

Sheltering from the wind 

Owner takes control

Nic - Looking every bit the nautical adventurer

......but confidence may be lacking

On passages like this, down below becomes a bit of a mess.  Obviously we stow everything before leaving but stuff still comes loose and unless its a danger or a nuisance we leave it where it falls.  Dishes get stacked in the sink, beds are unmade, wet weather gear is lying where it fell when you have come off watch and clothes are strewn around all the cabins.  There is no incentive to tidy up because working down below brings on seasickness and it would probably be messy again in a very short space of time.  On most of the bunks there are lee cloths which are net sides which can be put up to stop someone falling out of the berth.  These were put up and proved effective.  In Nic and Scotts cabin however on the island queen size bed there are no such lee cloths and  so they had to either lie sideways or use one of the kids beds.  Also found out that there are actually two mattresses on the double bed with a friction coefficient between them akin to butter and glass.  As a result the top mattress slides off the bed with the sleeper at about a 5 degree angle of heel.  Will need to either ditch the top mattress or get some velcro.  Upshot of all the above is that down below turns into a tip and the place is left in a tip until we get to our destination and the movement stops.  Then it does not take long to tidy up.

By early morning we were at the entrance to Cape Cod Bay with the wind still in the wrong direction and dying.  We were about 20 NM from the entrance to the canal and Scotts patience finally gave out and we started up the engine and motored for the canal entrance.  Peter was at the helm through the canal and we exited without any incidents and then headed to Edgartown on Marthas Vineyard via Woods Hole arriving around 1500.  In total we had covered approximately 230Nm.

So we had survived the night sail.  It was fantastic that Pete was along for the first one but it was an eye opener for everyone including Scott.  Scott was pretty exhausted from the journey and will re-evaluate the night sailing in light of this experience.  It certainly is tiring trying to sail for 24hrs when you are short handed.  We know that lots of people do it but it will take some getting used to.  We also need to sharpen up certain areas such as food and hot drink preparation earlier and also the safety aspects.  We have decided that in future for every night sail lifejackets, tethers and jacklines will be compulsory.  Given the size of Dulcinea and the sheltered waters of Maine we have probably become a bit complacent so need to reassess and make sure we are ready next time.  The next time will be when we leave New York for Cape May.  The good things about the trip were that the boat worked well, everyone got a taste of night sailing.

More on Edgartown later as this post has ranted on a bit already.

That was Maine!

Quick post just to bring you up to speed.  Picture below shows current setting from where we are sitting.  Dulcinea is in the centre of the picture.

Internet Access at Soamesville

View from our internet location.  Dulcinea in centre

We are in a place called Soamesville at the top of Soames Sound in Mount Desert Island.  Another beautiful spot and the weather has turned really nice for the first time in a few days.  We are anchored in a really sheltered natural harbour and have come ashore to get an internet connection which we have found by parking ourselves outside the public library beacause it is shut today (Mon 10th Sept).  Nic and I are busy working in the internet while Sam is trying to catch himself a black bass in the local pond.  I swear Sam is turning into more of a Huckleberry Finn character every day.  Try and get him to do school and its impossible but mention fishing and you cannot see him for dust.

The weather is just perfect today.  Almost clear blue skies, little wind and the sun shining.  We start our big transit tomorrow morning early down to Newport.  Plan is to ride the northerly winds expected on the front of a high pressure system moving into the area.  There is a tropical depression way out east which will probably generate some uncomfortable swells for a while but we need to leave to ensure that we catch the wind otherwise it will be swinging Southwest which is exactly the direction we want to be heading.

Northest Harbour was nice but the weather was not that good while we were there.  We did manage to get off the boat and up into the Arcadia National Park where there is lake (Jordon Pond) and a place you can have lunch so we went up there with Peter and Claire and had a relaxed lunch.  It is always good to get off the boat.  We also had an auction on the boat.  Calley put up all her drawings which she has been working on for the past few days for auction to raise some sorely needed funds.  Claire acted as auctioneer and did a stirling job although believe there were a couple of people in the audience pushing the prices up.  In the end she managed to raise $8.10 minus 10% commission for the auctioneer.

The great Calley art auction

 After two nights at Northeast Harbour we motored 6 NM away up Soames Sound to where we are now.  After arriving Peter, Claire and kids went ashore to have a look around.  Nice place but pretty quiet.  They met a guy fishing at the local pond and were given a black bass he had caught which we ate last night.  Hence the interest by Sam to catch something today.

We will stay here until early afternoon and and then have a short sail to move closer to the offing point for tomorrow morning.  We have all really enjoyed Maine - the people, the scenery, the food, everything.  We would recommend this place to anyone looking for a holiday destination.  It certainly is a magical part of the world and I think we all are sorry that we have to leave but it is getting colder and the tropical climes are calling.

P.S.  Steve - sorry to hear about your latest run in but glad to hear you are OK.  Think you are right about the sailing being a much safer venture.

Anchorage at Soames Sound

Sunset at Soames Sound

Mt Desert Island

Have finally made it to Mount Desert Island (pronounced dis-zurt) and we are holed up in a small town called Northeast Harbour in the South.  We pulled in here yesterday evening (Friday 7th) after having spent two days in Blue Hill which turned out to be a great little place.

Inner Blue Hill Harbour

Thought I might describe some of the life on the boat as best I can.  Generally we wake up earlyish - Calley is normally the first one up.  One great thing is that we do not have any alarm clocks and typically wake up when it gets light which is around 0600 to 0630 just now.  We will normally start the day with school but that only happens once every two days at best just now.  Typically Nic and Calley will adjourn to the aft cabin which is the biggest and sprawl out on the bed with their text books. pens and paper, while Sam and Scott take the main salon and the dining table and make a similar mess.  Calley has the advantage as she does much of her schooling lying down but there is a downside as sometimes she just falls asleep.  Sometimes we can make use of the outside table in the cockpit if the weather is pleasant and there are not too many distractions.  School normally takes the whole morning but we are now managing to get it completed by lunchtime with only the occasional run in.

Some mornings are just completely impromptu as yesterday was.  Scott and Calley took the dinghy out early and rowed around the boat to get some pictures of it in some pretty thick fog.  On the way back to the boat we spotted some mackerel schooling nearby and soon Sam and Peter had rods in the water and caught two almost immediately before the fish moved off.  However not long after, as the fog lifted, the water was that still that you could see the fish schooling in different spots around the bay at different times, so Peter, Claire and Sam jumped in the dinghy and headed out.  Nic on board Dulcinea acted as a spotter and would watch for the schooling activity through binoculars and then direct the dinghy to wards it.  It was a pretty successful morning with the dingy returning with nine decent sized fish.

Dulcinea in Maine fog

Sam and the mackerel haul

After school if we are moored somewhere we will head ashore or we may start a transit to another destination.  Regardless Sam will have a lot of homework to do which he will either get into straight away or wait until we are sailing the next day.  Then there is all the day-to-day stuff which has to be done regardless....cooking, cleaning, tidying up etc.  Luckily the boat is not that big.  In addition Scott will poke around and do his best to tackle any outstanding jobs or maintenance items which he can do.  Typically at the moment Nic is taking care of all the victualing and Scott looks after the boat and the cruising planning.  We have given Sam responsibility for the dinghy and he is quite adept now in handling it and knows what has to be done to get it ready or to stow it away.

Sam chauffeuring passengers ashore

Blue Hill Harbour was a great little spot.  Claire and Peter had already been in earlier in the morning and had wandered around and enjoyed themselves with a lobster and vino lunch.  We went in and headed to the library to get an internet connection.  Not having the wifi easily accessible is proving the biggest pain at the moment for everyone.  There are lots of times we would like to be able to go online whether to pay bills, access accounts, carry out school work or search for parts, but with the coverage up here it is not possible and since the Satcom system is not yet activated we just have to make do.  In a way its nice not to have the internet all the time but there are those times when you really need it.  We are assuming that as we move south the connection will once again get better.

Finished the library visit

After a couple of hours in the library we wandered around the little town and managed to meet up with Claire and Peter in a wine shop which had an impressive array of cheese and pate including a Spanish blue cheese which came wrapped in a chestnut leaf.  That was dinner sorted.  The tidal range here is about 3m and Blue Hill Harbour is quite shallow so we had to get back to the boat before we were left high and dry.  Back at the boat we went swimming and Scott checked the hull once again to look at the damage spot and to see if the line we had been tangled up in had done any damage but all looked good.  The kids and Peter were swimming just in bathers but Scott was lucky enough to have the use of his wetsuit.

The wine and Cheese Shop

Peter educating the kids

The evenings here are comprised of getting dinner ready and relaxing in the cockpit for an hour or two.  Also at night is when we will start the genset to charge up the batteries and provide hot water for washing up and any showers.  On this evening we managed to lay out a spread of cheese, wine and pate and enjoy the sunset.  The weather is getting colder and although we still get some beautiful days there is more rain and cloud about and the nights are getting cooler.  Luckily we will be heading south soon.

After the mackerel session, lunch and a quick swim we pulled the anchor and motored out of the bay.  Before starting the days journey Peter and Scott tried to calibrate the electronic compass and look at the deviation on the magnetic compasses.  This process involves alternatively steaming around in circles or following straight line courses along known bearings to try and ascertain how accurate the compasses are reading.  The weather was perfect for this as it was flat calm and very little wind.  After everyone was suitably dizzy we headed off to Northeast Harbour. 

Calley passing the time during a transit

The wind was coming directly from the direction we wanted to go so we had to motor all the way.  We did attempt to sail  but once the sails were up the wind dropped and backed.  Luckily the boat motors really well and we can comfortably sit on 7 to 8 kts.  The scenery around here is spectacular and seeing it from the water is probably the best way.  There are lots of small islands which, like most of Maine, are covered in forests going right down to a rocky shoreline.  As we came around the south end of Mount Desert we could see the swell in the ocean pounding some outer ledges.  Luckily we turned into the shelter of the bay leading to the harbour.  There has been a notable drop in the amount of pleasure boats on the water although the lobster boats and their pots are still everywhere.

The foredeck mooring crew

We will stay around Northeast Harbour area for the next few days before we start heading South.  We have decided to take advantage of Peter being here and sailing straight through from here to Newport probably starting around Tuesday next week and depending on how the weather shapes up.  It will be a total run of over 200NM and will involve an overnight sail which will be the first time we have done this with Dulcinea and a completely new experience for Nic, Sam and Calley.  Nic is quite apprehensive about the trip and so having Peter around will be a real help.

We had a little question time onboard for likes and dislikes and am glad to report no major dissention was voiced at this stage  (although it could be its all being suppressed).  Calleys likes included swimming and eating and her dislikes were being sick and washing and drying dishes which I think she has done once.  For Sam he likes the swimming , fishing, seeing all the new places and taking care of the dinghy but predictably is not keen on the school and homework.  He did also have “being yelled at” as one of his dislikes so will have to try and moderate that.  Sam really thrives when he is outside with something to do whether its fishing, swimming, helping on deck etc.  Nic likes us all being together, seeing the new places and learning sailing but is still getting used to shopping by dinghy, short showers, limited comms and a freezer which has a condensation issue.  (last item was addded to spur the maintenance man into action I think).  For Scott its all great although its annoying that we have to disassemble the sofa to get to food storage sometimes and a couple of systems issues refuse to be resolved.   

Thanks for the comments to the blog.  As we have mentioned before its great to hear from you.  

Think I hear the school bell so must be going.

Kids in Blue Hill

So here is a piece of useless but interesting information.  There is a small mountain (big hill) on Mount Desert Island and it is the highest mountain on this side of the Atlantic north of Brazil.  Amazing what you find out when you read the guidebook.

Dulcinea continues to perform well although we are thinking about the work which needs to be done when we get back to Newport.  We will have to take the boat out of the water again to fix the damage to the keel.  This in itself should not be a major issue and it will give us an opportunity to carry out some other bits and pieces.  There is no one specific item which needs fixed but a few niggling problems with some of the systems which would be good to get looked at.   One of the most critical aspects of life onboard is the constant vigilance of the systems to try and spot any minor deviations from the normal operations in order to foresee any potential problems.  Hence any small niggling issues need to be dealt with to ensure they do not expand into bigger problems.  Must admit that I had grand ideas about roaming the boat with a toolbox in hand fixing anything that broke down but in reality most of the systems are way beyond my ability and comprehension so that instead we will look at stopping every 6 months or so to get systems looked at as required.  Newport presents a good place to get the next round of work done before we push on South after which the next work destination will probably be Florida before X-mas.  Currently we are looking at a week long program for Newport where apart from the keel we will finish off some outstanding electrical work tidying up wiring and systems, finish off the servicing of the rigging hardware, service the hot water heaters and look at troubleshooting the sewage system again.  There are also decisions which need to be taken for ugrading such as do we get a new watermaker or a new headsail - always with a view to maintaining some kind of budget. 

Its great to see Claire and Peter again and although we enjoy being just the four of us on the boat its refreshing to have some different company.  Peter brought some supplies over from Australia including a couple of power tools for Scott (as the boat is wired 240V and everything in the US is 110V), vegimite for the kids and Nic and Tim Tams and Cherry Ripes for everyone.  In addition Peter and Claire gave Nic a stove top espresso machine so our coffee problems have been alleviated.  

We all enjoyed visiting in Camden which is a beautiful little town.  In the morning Claire and Peter climbed the local hill behind the town while the rest of us did some more schoolwork.  We then all met up and had a look around town.  This is a tourist town now but like many places here it has a working background based in boat building and fishing.  The town is built around a small narrow inner harbour with a stream cascading into it off the rocks at one end.  On one side of the harbour is the town and on the other is the local marine yard but the harbour is only about 150m to 200m across and it is crammed full of pleasure boats.  Even with the harbour so narrow there is additional mooring in the centre along pontoons which have been permanently moored to provide more parking space .  To make the harbour even more congested there are at least a half dozen working schooners which constantly manoeuvre around the harbour either returning from or departing with a load of tourists out for short day sails.  And of course there are a few lobster boats.  Onshore there are primarily craft shops. art galleries and eating places to look at.  The weather was sunny and it was great wandering the streets. 

Camden Inner Harbour

Camden Street

Peter and Claire took the kids for an hour or two and it was the first time we had been away from them for the last month - it was great for just the two of us to be alone even if it was just for an hour or so.  We all met up in the late afternoon and went back to the boat for the dinner.

Nic and Claire on the launch back to the boat

Camden Harbour

The following day we headed off towards Mount Desert Island.  We had picked an Island to stop at enroute called Swans Island and sailed most of the way into an anchorage on the South in a place called Burnt Coat Harbour.  Great sail in beautiful weather.  Could not get Peter off the wheel.  Once we got anchored though the weather turned and we had rain and wind.  Nevertheless in true adventurer fashion we decided to push on with a BBQ for dinner.  Peter and Sam got dressed in their wet weather gear and cooked the snags while the rest of us sat inside and encouraged them.  During the night the rain and wind continued.  

Entrance to Burnt Coat Harbour

Once anchored, when the wind and rain start, you worry about whether or not the anchor will drag.  With the wind gusting around 25 to 30kts there is significant strain on the anchor line.  So far we have been lucky with using minimal scope for the anchor chain but we need to be ready to sit out 50 to 60kt winds if the situation arises and then the anchor line will really see some load.  Burnt Coat Harbour is relatively protected and so in reality we were pretty secure.  It is quite a big harbour with small settlements on either side with limited facilities. 

Wet weather trio

The next morning was foggy and rainy so we sat it out on the boat but things started to clear up after lunch and a decision was made to head North to our next destination called Blue Hill Harbour.    After motoring around the Southern corner of Swans island we started sailing and decided to practice a manoeuvre called “heaving to” which is essentially putting the brakes on while the sails are still up.  While we were practising we managed to run over a lobster pot and get snagged.  Not to sure how but we had a line wrapped around the keel with the wind behind us and we were effectively moored in the middle of the bay with sails up and a choppy confused sea running around us.  We furled the headsail but the main was proving difficult to fully furl with the wind behind us so we just left it up.  Claire spotted the line holding us trailing out the back of the boat about 6 feet under the surface.  It was clear that the line had to be cut which meant getting into the water.

As luck would have it we had bought a shorty wetsuit for Scott in Rockland. It was meant to allow us to inspect the keel again but now it was a godsend.  Scott and Sam climbed into the dinghy which was moored alongside Dulcinea and then Scott went into the water - first to try and see where we were tangled and then armed with a knife to cut the line.  We had all sorts of comical scenarios envisaged such as the knife going through the inflatable and it sinking or the boat taking off once the line was cut and leaving Scott and Sam behind but in the end everything was fine.  The line was close enough to the surface to allow Scott to dive down and cut it and then the boat was free.  Unfortunately that represents a lost pot to one unlucky fisherman but with the tension in the line there was no way that the line could be reconnected.

We motored North to Blue Hill Harbour which is at the head of a very long protected bay arriving early evening.  We cautiously entered the harbour but there was no space to anchor.  The harbour is pretty small and narrow and boat are everywhere on permanent moorings.  We did not want to pick up private mooring and so ended up outside in a nearby bay.  Luckily the weather was calm and after a couple of tries managed to set the anchor in about 5m of water.  So we are all set to explore Blue Hill Harbour tomorrow.

Claire on the helm

End of Summer

Well its officially the end of summer in Maine.  Traditionally we are told that the season runs from

Memorial Day in June to Labour Day in September which is today.  Typically now is the time that the summer holidays are at an end and the kids are going back to school.  What does that mean for us - not a  whole lot.  The anchorages and towns should start quieting down and the weather will start to get a bit colder but thats about it.  Means we have to start thinking about heading south.

Rockland Harbour on Nic's Birthday

We had Nic's birthday on Saturday which started with an inevitable round of schooling - after the presents of course - and then finished with dinner in a local restaurant.  Thats the first birthday on board and it will be closely followed by Calleys.  Had our first school related dummy spit on the same day.  Scott fell out with Sam over the school work and Sam tried to work by himself for the day with dubious results.  Luckily there is no escape and we are back on track.

Pete and Claire arrived yesterday around midday.  We slipped the mooring in Rockland harbour and came in alongside a municipal jetty for a couple of hours.  This was for a number of reasons - firstly it makes the whole moving aboard process a lot easier for our guests - the suitcase/dinghy combination is awkward at the best of times and secondly it meant that we could knock off a few jobs like stocking up with supplies for the next weeks cruising and washing down the boat with fresh water.

We slowly motored up to the dock and made ourselves fast.  Nic and Sam are doing a fantastic job on deck handling the lines and fenders and we can now dock the boat without needing anyone on the jetty to take lines for us.  This may not sound like a big deal but it was one of my big concerns to start with given the size and weight of the boat. The system is that Sam jumps onto the quayside to secure the lines while Nic secures the other end on deck.  So far it has been working well although most of the jetties we have come into have been relatively open and easy to access.  May be a bit different when we come to a tight Marina situation.

Nic then took off to the supermarket in a taxi with Sam while Scott and Calley filled the fresh water tanks and cleaned the boat using the fresh water hose on the dockside. While we are cruising, fresh water is a scarce commodity and so having water to wash the boat is a real luxury.  We carry approx 1000 litres and use about 100 litres a day.  We do have a watermaker which can make about 125 litres and hour but its not good practice to run this in harbour and its nice to get the tanks completely full once in a while.  As it turned out it was raining heavily the whole morning so we could have had a fresh water wash even at the mooring!

At around early afternoon we had our visitors and safely onboard, crew returned and and all supplied securely stowed.  We cast off from the jetty and headed about 9 miles North to a small town called Camden.  This is reputed to be one of the nicest towns in Maine.  A little harbour set amongst wooded hills.  We have been looking forward to visiting for a while now.  There is a “windjammer festival ‘ going on this weekend as well so it will be busy.

We motored up to Camden and picked up a mooring at the outer harbour.  There is a US Navy Guided Missile Destroyer parked further out as part of the festival.  Everywhere there are schooners of different sizes sailing around and lots of yachts moored around us.  We decided to stay onboard for the night and are looking forward to a visit ashore tomorrow.  

Camden Harbour

Must mention that the finale of the festival involved a fireworks show which was set off from a barge moored not 200m from where we were.  It was a great show and the noise of the explosions echoing off the hills was terrific.  Great night.

Fireworks Show in Camden

So for the next two weeks we plan to cruise to a place called Mt Desert Island which is further east and north. It will be a great opportunity to spend time with Pete and Claire and explore Maine some more with them.