Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Aug. 22 We sat in Rockland and waited for the airhorn part and did some window shopping in town.
Aug. 23 The part arrived in the morning and we were able to head out into the bay and over to Bucks Harbor. Our friend Larry on Algonquin was there on a mooring waiting for his wife,Leslie, to return on Friday from a business trip. Another reason for picking Bucks was a visit to our friends from “Steadfast” Buz and Rosemary who have a house on land nearby. They picked us up and took us for dinner there. There house is like a three story tower with great views of the bay. We met their daughter and son in law and grandson and had a fun dinner.
Aug. 24 Larry was doing varnishing chores so we kept him company till it was time for lunch. He had a rental car so he took us to the Bagaduce river and a greasy spoon restaurant. It took several tries to find it though so we saw lots of Maine countryside. That afternoon buz and Rosemary brought over the younger crowd to see the boat and socialize.
Aug.25 “Spirit of Zopolote”was in the harbor so we went by to say hi. On our way back to the boat we stopped by to see “Ariel” whom we had met in Conception Island last winter. Small world! The wind was piping up and we were basically exposed to it in our spot so we decided to move around the corner to Smith Cove. Hurricane Irene was on her way and we wanter tog et a good spot before the anchorage filled up. We found just the right spot at the head of the bay and put the anchor down for good.
Aug. 26 Rosemary came to the town dock near us and took us to Blue Hill and Ellsworth to do chores and have the morning off the boat. She dropped us off in Bucks where we met up with Mike and De. They drove us to the town dock in Smith Cove and gave us back our booze that they had kept for our Canadian trip. The rest of the day was quiet.
Aug. 27 Larry and Leslie on “Algonquin” and Mike and De from “Rita Marie” came over for lunch. “Algonquin” had come into the harbor to sit out the hurricane. Mike and De drove from Bucks. We had a lively lunch out on the aft deck. All three couples had owned Mason 44 sailboats and Mike still did. Mike and De went back to guard their boat in the hurricane and we went with Larry and Leslie to Castine for groceries and to poke around and then to dinner on their boat.
Aug. 28 The big day! The rain was quite hard in the morning and the wind came and went. At one moment, the sun actually tried to come out. We spent most of the day watching several of the other boats fussing with their anchors or moving. Many of the sailboats had already taken their jibs off for the storm. There were at least 40 boats of all sizes and types in the big harbor. We did chores and watched movies. Steadily throughout the day the wind picked up and the rain slackened. We never really saw any horrible winds but John stayed up late to keep watch. We had picked a good spot to weather the storm.
Aug. 29 The morning came with glorious sun and lighter winds. I checked in on the VHF radio with several other boats that belonged to friends in Bucks and Smith harbors. Then Leslie picked me up and took me for a girlie day. She had a rental car and we drove all over the countryside basically heading for Blue Hill and Ellsworth where she had to return the car. The weather was clear, sunny and just the most delicious temperature. I wanted to find my niece, Heather’s, new house in Blue Hill so we headed there and succeeded! She and her French husband had just returned from France and the house was stiil a work in progress but it was fun to see and catch up with her a bit. Then, it was off to Ellsworth for lunch and some shopping. A friend of Leslie’s met us at the rental place and drove us back to the town dock in Smith Cove. That evening we had cocktails on Windermere and dinner in Castine at a wonderful restaurant.
Aug. 30 A clear crisp morning and it was time to move on to another piece of paradise. This time, we were treading new ground with a new anchorage for us. In Penobscot bay, there are many islands of all sizes. We had never been to the tiny group of them called the Barred Islands which were just down the bay from Castine. The entrance is a bit narrow with rock ledges on both sides but we managed to pick our way in carfully and anchor in the middle of the mini archepelego. during the rest of the day, the 11 ft tide slowly went out and our world changed. Now we were almost completely surrounded by either islands, sand bars, or big rocky ledges. After lunch, we took the dinghy out for a ride to explore our area and let John have a cigar. Later on, 4 sailboats arrived and filled in most of “our” little anchorage. One hit a ledge on the way in and had to wait for the tide to lift him off.
Aug. 31 Another beautiful day but cooler temperatures and time to move to Rockland. John will stay here on the boat while I go and visit my mother in Greenwich for Labor Day weekend.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Aug. 11 Another early departure to get the tide up to Metghan Harbor. The harbor is manmade and full of fishing boats except for one floating dock which we zened ourselves on to along with a beautiful yacht next door that looked completely out of place. Our mission in this part of the world was to meet the builder and designer of Windermere. She was built at the A. F. Theriault yard which was nearby. Arthur Theriault and his wife, Peter Sever and Graham (the project manager) came to see the boat and have dinner. They were very pleased to see it in such good shape and so loved.
Aug. 12 Arthur and Peter picked us up and took us to the shipyard for a tour. Boy, is it big and they work in steel, aluminum, and fiberglass. After the tour, they took us to lunch and dropped us back at the boat. Later, Peter and the Theriaults took us to a restaurant by the sea with a great view of a big deep sand beach and the sunset. The weather had cleared and we had a glorious evening!
Aug. 13 We managed to extricate ourselves from the dock and harbor and roared up the Bay of Fundy trying to get to Saint John in time to go through the reversing falls. Our friend, Bill Nugent was planning to hop on the boat and guide us through but we just couldn’t get there in time. When we did arrive, Bill told us where we could anchor for the night out of most of the current. Tomorrow, he would take us through the falls to his wonderful house on the far side.
Aug. 14 Bill came to the docks and John worked his way through the foam in the harbor to pick him up. (When salt water meets fresh in the right proportions, it creates foam) Bill was our pilot through the falls and on to his house where we anchored nearby. After we were secure, their house guests came out to see the boat and we all spent the rest of the day socializing, swimming, and eating and of course, drinking. The CCA cruise was stopping nearby for the night.
Aug. 15 Krista took Pam Kellett and I to the grocery store then they all went to the zoo and John and I did chores on the boat till cocktail hour. Bill made dinner and a good time was had by all.
Aug. 16 We headed out with Krista aboard and joined the long conga line of CCA boats going through the reversing falls again. Now, we were heading to St. Andrews in Passamaquoddy Bay. The weather was gray but not bad and we had a nice smooth trip. I even made a cobbler for tea along the way! Once in St. Andrews, we were helped to a mooring by the wharf monger, B.B. who knew Bill and Krista. Bill drove down and was brought out to the boat by B.B. Did I mention it was now pouring rain! All of us dried out and had a delicious duck dinner and played dominos in our warm cozy boat.
Aug. 17 It was a beautiful sunny day and time to explore St. Andrews and all of its shops. The men went in search of some parts for the boat and Krista and I went to a nice display garden. Afterwards, we all met up for lunch and went back to the boat for cocktails on the flybridge. Then it was time for dinner and to finish the dominos tournament.
Aug. 18 Another beautiful day so we took the boat out for a spin in the bay. We found a nice big cove to anchor in off Deer Island and had lunch with an eagle watching. Then we went out through Leteete Passage in the currents to see if we could find the whale watching boats. There were plenty of small porpoises jumping in the currents probably fishing. The whaling watching boats were out too far so we returned to St. Andrews and dropped the Nugents off with B.B. Now, we headed towards Eastport and were able to find a protected cove with more eagles. During cocktails, three deer came down to the water’s edge which was a strange sighting indeed.
Aug. 19 The fog was thick but we wanted to clear into the USA in Eastport so we went over there anyway. Luckily, the sun burned the fog off in time for us to go into the dock and clear customs. We were finally back in the good old US of A. We wanted to do an overnight down to Rockland to get the final leg over with and the pea soup fog didn’t help as we were now back in lobster pot land. It was amazing to us that there were pots even in 300 ft of water! these guys were extra big and doubles even. Dodging them in the fog was indeed a challenge. As darkness closed in, we just had to let the chips fall as they may because we couldn’t see a thing. By daybreak off Vinal Haven, we could actually see the sea of “jelly beans” we were surrounded by. Luckily, we never picked up a single one and made it into rockland around 7 am. I went right to bed again and John came shortly after.
Aug. 20 Back in the land of the internet and cell phones again! lots of communication and john went to town to try to find a part for our air horns. He ran into the man who owned an interesting boat called Oasis that we had seen the summer before in Castine. We were invited by Cliff, the owner, to come and look at her later and we did. Then we played cards and had an early dinner and to bed.
Aug. 21 It was partly cloudy and we got a lazy start to the day until Cliff called and said he wanted to see our boat. We gave him and his wife and crew the tour. As we were doing so, a CCA friend on his trawler passed us on his way to a mooring. We called him and it was decided we would go to lunch together in town. It was fun catching up and meeting his son and a friend to boot. Then we were off to the grocery store to restock for the next week. The rest of the day was filled with chores, cards (we finished a tournament and John won this time) dinner, and a movie in bed during a wild rain and lightening storm.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Aug 5 The weather was not bad and we had a good current with us so we decided to go all the way to Halifax. Halifax is one of the largest natural harbors in the world but luckily there is an offshoot called North West Arm and one can go up to the end and anchor in a nice quiet area. First, we pulled into a marina to clear back into Canada because we had been in “France”. As we motored up to the anchorage, we noticed two boats of our group already there. Small world isn’t it. We all went into the local yacht club and had drinks.
Aug 6 What a gorgeous day! Sunny, warm, and no wind. We shared a cab with some friends and went to the big indoor farmers’ market. It was wonderful with great local produce and crafts and food to nibble on as well. Afterwards, we met up with a couple who own a sister ship to Windermere and had lunch and they showed us their boat. Afterwards, they took us back to our boat and we all had cocktails and dinner outside! Our captain from time to time, Peter Murphy, joined us. He lives in Halifax.
Aug. 7 Gray again but it was time to go further west along the coast to Mahone Bay where we anchored off the town. The cook wanted to eat out so we walked along the main street and found a great bistro and had a delicious dinner.
Aug. 8 The naval architect for the boat came to Mahone and drove us to Lunenburg to see the new building of a famous schooner called Bluenose. He is the architect for that project too. Then we fed him lunch and he helped us with questions we had about the boats design. Even tough it was rainy, we need to move on a short ways to the LeHave River and anchor for the night.
Aug 9 Not bad weather greeted us which was nice for a change and we made good time to Negro Harbor and anchored off of a beach out of the wind. The sun was out and we were able to enjoy its warmth during cocktails and cards on the aft deck. John even had a cigar!
Aug.10 We left at 5 am for Yarmouth trying to get the Bay of Fundy tides to help us. We were not quick enough and we had to crank up the engine to keep a reasonable speed. It was raining and very windy but we were able to anchor right off town in a secure spot for the night.
Aug 2-3 We didn’t want to move but need to in order to get to Halifax to meet people. It was still windy and rough on the outside so we only went as far as Tor Bay. Our original anchorage, that we used on the way east, was too exposed to the NE winds we were experiencing so I found another one across the bay. This one proved to be a nice cove with a few houses along its shore and we ended up staying through the rest of the storm and the next night. It rained and blew all day long but we were snug inside and did chores.
Aug 4 The weather was better so we poked our heads out and went down the coast to Sheet Harbor. We hadn’t been here before but were glad to add a little cove called Salmon Cove to our list of good anchorages. The sun even came out and we had a nice sunset while playing cards.
up the mast and she comes down. Once she puts the radar unit down, she goes up the mast and he comes down again. What a crazy situation! We all laughed almost to the point of peeing in our pants. If you want to know more of them, I will tell you when I see you. July 30 It was gray again and we were up early and off on an expedition with 16 other sailors on a big Zodiac with a guide to see the island of Langlade and Miquelon. We all donned our life preservers and loaded up into the Zodiac and were off to look at puffins, seals, wild horses. countryside and have lunch at a seaside cafe oowned by our guide. Part of the tuor was by bus up to the town of Miquelon where we had beenonly a few days before. The Zodiac ride back was quite bumpy but not wet. The guide got us all back safely. It was an ibuprofen evening. We went out with a few boats crews for a delicious final dinner. July 31- Aug.1 We left St.Pierre and made good time to Port Howe Harbor in Nova Scotia but the seas were confused and big and we rocked and rolled quite alot. My montra at times like theses has become “This too shall pass!” We finally turned to go into Port Howe in the late afternoon and it was a welcome moment. Our anchorage was behind two small islands and very cozy and protected and included two eagles for the first minute. John managed to zen us into just the right spot so we could still turn with the tide and just miss the shore rocks. Sleep came soon after dinner.
July 29 Several tours of the island were scheduled and we were on the first one. Luckily, the sun was out and the tour interesting. Afterwards, we had lunch at our usual restaurant and went shopping for more lardon. Once back at the boat, it was time to cook it all up and work on our slide show of the trip.Later in the afternoon both “Glide “ and “Faring” showed up. “Glide” was the one we towed to safety and “Faring” was the boat that decided to escort her to St. Pierre. That night was the final celebration dinner and we showed the slide show on our computer. There was good food and lots of awards. We got one for our rescue effort. John and several other sailors told funny stories. His was about his walk from hell with the bugs driving him crazy. Another one was about one of the couples trying to get their broken radar down off the mast. The wife went up the mast and the husband discovered there was a problem with the line on the winch so he took the line off the winch and held it by his own strength. Just as he did so, she got the radar unit off and in her arms. Now she is heavier than he is so he goes up the mast and she comes down. Once she puts the radar unit down, she goes up the mast and he comes down again. What a crazy situation! We all laughed almost to the point of peeing in our pants. If you want to know more of them, I will tell you when I see you.
July 30 It was gray again and we were up early and off on an expedition with 16 other sailors on a big Zodiac with a guide to see the island of Langlade and Miquelon. We all donned our life preservers and loaded up into the Zodiac and were off to look at puffins, seals, wild horses. countryside and have lunch at a seaside cafe oowned by our guide. Part of the tuor was by bus up to the town of Miquelon where we had beenonly a few days before. The Zodiac ride back was quite bumpy but not wet. The guide got us all back safely. It was an ibuprofen evening. We went out with a few boats crews for a delicious final dinner.
July 31- Aug.1 We left St.Pierre and made good time to Port Howe Harbor in Nova Scotia but the seas were confused and big and we rocked and rolled quite alot. My montra at times like theses has become “This too shall pass!” We finally turned to go into Port Howe in the late afternoon and it was a welcome moment. Our anchorage was behind two small islands and very cozy and protected and included two eagles for the first minute. John managed to zen us into just the right spot so we could still turn with the tide and just miss the shore rocks. Sleep came soon after dinner.
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