W00dy and I are heading north on the next southerly wind (probably Thursday). We're heading to Baltimore to pick up a crewmember then heading to Philadelphia for several weeks. End of May we'll start working our way up to Maine. Any sailfar'ers along our path want to meet up and gam, let us know.
Wishing you a SW to W wind for the Chesapeake and Delaware bays!
More southerly after you clear the Delaware, of course.
Did your new sail come in at Bacon?
Norman
Wishing you the same as Norm did. Mostly hoping for a great trip for Mona and her crew
Yep. It's very stiff and white and strange. We cut and rigged new nettles and reefing pendants earlier this week so it's ready for action. Hopefully there'll be some beating in our future so we can see if our performance has improved.
Had great sailing up the Bay. We turned our motor off as we left Broad Creek in the Choptank and sailed all the way to the mouth of the Patapsco. We'd considered stopping in Annapolis, but Annapolis is a little too crowded for us even when there isn't a spring boat how going on. We sailed on by and anchored in Rock Creek.
The next day was a magic day in which we sailed off the anchor and back onto the anchor in Baltimore, just off Canton. There's free dinghy dock right next to the grocery store. We spent 3 days there picking up Woody's cousin and exploring Baltimore. On Monday we tacked down the river and out into the Bay. We had a small craft advisory, which is good Mona weather. We sailed right up to the C&D Canal where all boats are required to motor.
We intended to take a "rest" day in Chesapeake City. The wind is still blowing 25kts and 6 more boats packed into the tiny pond with us. 3 of the other boats had difficulty anchoring. Two REALLY had trouble anchoring. One swung right next to us and started to drag. We used the electric windlass to zip all our chain in and flee. The next boat was another Westsail 32 that came flying in into the anchor with a bone in its teeth and had to go hard in reverse to avoid plowing its bowsprit into our side. It then "anchored" and promptly began dragging broadside through the anchorage. A boat near us had to abandon their spot to avoid them and we had to abandon our spot a second time. We loaned Woody to the other Westsail to help the skipper get things under control as he was a single hander on a new-to-him boat.
We're all packed in like sardines now, but it seems like the excitement has died down. It was another day that I really appreciated our electric windlass and remote. Being able to raise and lower 100' of chain and a 50lb anchor in a couple minutes from the cockpit is REALLY helpful when the poop hits the fan.
Sounds great Ralay
You know the saying.....
"You're either watching the show or you ARE the show"
Seems you've certainly been watching the show lately 😄😄
Have fun!!!
Oh, we've definitely been the show before. I don't like to watch anybody having a rough time. I'm glad we had a dinghy in the water to be able to lend crew to short handed boats.
Good work!
and fair winds sailing north.
Well, I ought to put my money where my mouth is and add some pics now that Capn K upped the size limit. These are from the trip up to Baltimore.
I sewed a snuffer for our spinnaker this winter, which we got to try out. I'm not sure I'm satisfied with it. It still takes a good bit of force to pull down and on one try, it jammed and the sail had to be lowered manually. I used naugahyde over the hoop, because I figured the nylon would chafe through quickly. That fabric is not as slick as the nylon or the molded fiberglass in commercial versions. I may be able to improve it by changing the attachment of the lines as well. The beauty of building something is that you have all the tools to fix/change it.
We like spinnaker days because we can sail with our poor man's bimini. It's just a colorful thrift store sheet with four constrictor knots at the corners. Not waterproof, but it does a lovely job as a sunshade when tied over the boom. Making a bimini is high on my list of sewing projects, but it'll take some extra doing to work around our boom gallows and mainsheet.
Lastly, we were terrorized by these ducks. The pooped in the dinghy and kept Woody up all night with their flappy feet on the deck. They don't even look guilty.
We were able to motor sail out of Chesapeake City and out into the Delaware. After the first bend, we were able to shut down the motor and beat the other 30nm to windward up to Philly. With 2 kt currents, 6 foot tides, and lots of shipping traffic and chemical plants, the Delaware isn't much like the Chesapeake. With 25kts out of the NW, we still had a nice sail. We sprung for a month at a marina so we can host and meet with all our Northeastern family. We'll head to New England in the start of June. All photo credits to our crew.
I LOVE your expression in the one with J playing the music :)
Agree with CJ, *that* is funny. :)
We were clowning for the picture. W00dy's actually pretty good at playing the accordion. I only make that face when he plays me out of bed in the morning with the Star Spangled Banner.
Quote from: ralay on May 11, 2017, 08:48:49 AM
We were clowning for the picture. W00dy's actually pretty good at playing the accordion. I only make that face when he plays me out of bed in the morning with the Star Spangled Banner.
:) I know - remember the day we sailed Mona and Woody sat on the cabin top and serenaded us? Can't find the pic just now though :)
Great photos! Kudos to crew and to you for posting them. :)
Woody and I are back underway after a whirlwind month in Philly. Meet great people, visited lots of family and friends. We stayed right in downtown Philly near Market St. It was a pretty laid back spot, surprisingly. We didn't even bother to plug in. We're 15 months without shore power and can't say we miss it much. We were paying for the location as there really isn't anywhere to anchor in Philly - fast current, no protection, lots of container ships.
We had such great sailing and little motoring on the way up that we're being stubborn on the way down too. Yesterday we short tacked all of 10 miles from Pier 3 to Little Tinicum Island and anchored. We wouldn't have made the next anchorage 25 nm away without the current switching on us.
Today there's not a breath of wind so we're staying put. The current is to strong to row against, so we had to time our trip out to the little island to the currents. The "trails" had all been reclaimed by poison ivy and Japanese knotweed, so we didn't venture ashore. At high tide, we were able to follow a water trail back into the interior where we met a snapping turtle and some big bald eagles.
Best of all we found a bunch of mulberry trees overhanging the water. We spread out the old windsurfer sail CJ gave us, poled the dinghy under the branches then shook like mad! We both wound up with mulberries up our sleeves and everything is stained, but we've got no regrets and a bumper crop of berries in the colander.
We're supposed to get some Northeast winds Wed and Thurs, so I suppose we'll keep sailing down Delaware Bay then.
Aaaaand a few more.
Docked right in Philly would have been neat!!
Love your berry collector 😄😄
;D Fresh mulberries, YUM. There was a mulberry tree across from my Grandfather's house in the cow pasture when I was small, and a lot of berries fell on the road. There were no limbs any where near low enough to pick berries. From your comment on the weeds, you have been on the island before.
That turtle is lucky that one of you is a vegetarian, they are delicious, and one that large would last many meals.
Great to have the time to "go with the flow" of wind and tide. I have had days that the tide took me further than the wind did. With bare poles and the outgoing tide, you could make a good many miles in the upper Delaware bay.
Both of you look a lot happier without winter clothes.
The island is effective protection from big ship wakes, I am sure. How much water on the shore side channel?
pretty cool, but wondering where the beard went ?? :) Bet he's glad it doesn't look like this now:)
My Mulberry tree not doing well this spring- not enough rain early on
CJ.....I'm still liking his picture playing the accordion best 😄😄
I've never been to the island before. It's owned by the DNR and I looked up a trail map online. We found the blazes, but they trails must not be used enough to keep down the weeds. There's plenty of beach at low tide, but it's as garbagey as you'd imagine.
There's quite a bit of water on the shore side of the island. I think we're at 12' at low tide with a 6' tidal range. Decent protection from Northish and Southish. There are lots of marinas/yacht clubs back here. If you've ever flown out of Philly, you take off right over this spot. We came in from the West as the Eastern part of the channel is reported to be shoaly.
Woody's beard comes and goes with the weather and his inclinations. Both of us got haircuts while we had the use of electricity, a big mirror, and a shower.
"Offshore" post!
Took us a whole week to get from Philly to Cape May sailing in light winds and working with short current windows. We visited Little Tinicum Is and anchored in the Salem and Cohansey Rivers. We snapped on Friday 15nm from the Cape May Canal. We were making a knot through the water with main and spinnaker. We were going to miss our tidal window to get under the short bridges. And then a plague of flies descended. No fun when you can't even out run flies. We turned the motor on and closed the gap.
Our previous a offseason anchoring spot is a designated area for rental jetskis in season and we were chased off in the morning. We reanchored by the CG station but had missed the current window to be able to make the LONG row ashore. We spent the day glowering at the jetski area which was devoid of any jetski customers and looking longingly at all the CG owned beach we were forbidden from landing on.
I was really stir crazy after a week on the boat, so we braved the long row to the yacht club the next day. I sucked it up and paid the beach fee and went for a nice cold swim. By the time we went to the veg-friendly diner and got fresh produce, all was forgiven.
We took off this morning to catch the tail end of these lovely SW winds. We're forecast to have 10-15kts for 24h. Our poor man's bimini (thrift store sheet plus 4 constrictor knots) is providing us some shade while waddle down wind toward NYC. Woody needs to fly back to TX so we have some time to kill in the NYC/LIS area this year.
Thanks for the update.
Geepers....how cold was the water??
have fun!
Internet says we've got SSTs in the low 70s. The air was in the 80s. It felt worth the $6 they charged me to get on the beach. Not having had a shower in a week probably helped.
Thanks for the update.
Two years ago we took a nap for a couple hours at Cape May to wait for the tide to flip and then headed up the Delaware toward the C&D (heading south overall). Didn't have to deal with non-existent jet skis or a long row. :-)
Made it to Coney Island Creek. Had to motor a couple hours this afternoon when the wind was too light to have steerageway. There's a wreck of a homebuilt yellow submarine right next to us along with a lotta other old, weird, junken, and sunken stuff.
Not much movement the past two weeks. We spent 5 days in Coney Island Creek, which was pleasant and protected with wind from the S, E, N. The only shore access involved locking the dinghy to a fishing pier and scrambling over rip rap and fences, but we made do. Walked the Boardwalk, went to the Mermaid Parade, saw a side show act, visited friends in Brooklyn.
One day with a good wind, we sailed into the Upper Harbor and up to the Statue of Liberty. A line of folks waiting in the sun snaked all the way around the island. We were happy to be seeing it from the water.
We continued up the East River, though we were unable to sail with the strong flukey wind under the bridges. We anchored in Port Washington for several days to wait for Woody's flight back to Texas. Port Washington is a pretty sweet town that offers mooring balls free for 48h and $25 after that (with launch service included on paid days.). A $8 ticket on the Long Island Railroad will put you in Manhattan in an hour. I spent most of Woody's week in Texas in Port Washington sewing, varnishing, and visiting more friends in the City.
Last Sunday a friend came to visit and we sailed a couple bays down to Oyster Bay. Oyster Bay has a little room left to anchor, but is not so welcoming. There's a marina, yacht club, and community sailing school, none of which allow dinghy tie ups. There's a 9' tide that makes landing on the beaches difficult. I love our Portland Pudgy but I'm not strong enough to drag it several hundred feet up a soft beach. Undoubtedly there's probably a rule against leaving your boat in the parks as well, but no one caught me today when I tied up to a piece of rebar near a culvert.
This is one of the most irritating parts of cruising. To be in a fabulous natural anchorage with 360 degree protection full of empty boats on moorings and not being allowed to put a foot on shore even when I want to come spend some money. That said, being confined to the boat for days is the only way I ever seem to get around to varnishing.
I'm floating in the dinghy just off the boat ramps waiting to scoop Woody from the train station. Soon we'll be back on our way North/East.
Thx for the update.
"Boat trapped" can be boring or productive. Good on ya for varnishing 😄
Appreciate your thoughtful reports.
Fair winds. :)
I too, appreciate the updates. This is one of the areas of the country I know the least about....and find your descriptions interesting reading. Thank you Ralay...I wish you perfect weather.
Woody successfully rejoined Mona and I and we sailed down the rest of Long Island.
We sailed from Oyster Bay to Port Jefferson in an afternoon of good southwesterlies. Port Jefferson harbor has a relatively narrow strip of shallow water that is taken up by moorings. We have a 55lb Delta and 300' of chain, so we felt fine about anchoring in 40' of water. A friend from SUNY Maritime drove out to spend a good night of catching up.
In the morning, as Woody rowed or friend ashore, he noticed we had the end of a piece of line fouled on our bobstay fitting which is right at the waterline. He pulled it but couldn't budge it, so he cut it loose. I went to the windlass to weigh anchor, but something was definitely amiss. The snubber seemed to be fouled. Then as I pulled in chain, I could hear and feel something shuddering down the chain still in the water. In places the chain came up hockled and twisted, though it worked itself out. I expected to find the anchor fouled, but it came up easy enough and we other underway.
We had a long sail to and through Plum Gut and into Gardiner Bay. The north shore of Long Island reminds me of the upper part of the Chesapeake with tall bluffs and small sandy beaches. As soon as we transited Plum Gut, we had to beat for several hours into 15-20kt winds to get to some shelter between Shelter Island and Orient. With reefed main and jib, we could tack through about 100 degrees, though we were only making 3-4 kts in the chop. We were pretty darn happy to throw the hook out around 9pm and fall asleep.
In the morning we went ashore on a long spit of land that's part of a state park. Lots of osprey, horned poppy, mullein, and cactus. We're all the way in New York and we're still seeing prickly pear. We seam back to the boat, removed some fishing line from the prop, and got underway again.
When we pulled up the anchor, we noticed that the 5' line we use to cleat the anchor to the windlass had unlaid. We came to the disturbing realization that THIS was the line we'd cut free in Port Jefferson. When we dropped the hook, the very bitter end of this line must have flicked itself around the bobstay fitting where we couldn't see it from the deck. The anchor was dangling on a 5' line in 40' of water and we must have spent all night "anchored" on a 200' bight of chain. It's pretty wild that it worked as well as it did.
We elected to spend the 4th of July in Lake Montauk based on the number of damning and luke warm reviews. We had no desire to try to cram in at Block Island or Newport or Martha's Vineyard.
We've had high pressure and not much wind all week and have been happily exploring. There are few boats here. We have a little beach with bathrooms to land the dinghy at. We can swim right off the boat.
We rode our bikes to one of the 4 state parks around us and picked some high bush blueberries before the ticks ran us out. We need long pants/socks/DEET for further forays. The Atlantic Beach and all the surfers you can watch are just across the road. Town is another easy bike ride. It's a pretty sweet spot. Supposedly it's unpopular because the holding is poor (grass over soft mud). We had some trouble getting a good grip up near the yacht clubs, but our current spot in the southern end of the lake is pretty great.
All we need is some more scrappy cruisers to hang out with.
Sunset guitar practice.
Swimming home
Blueberry time
Sometimes the water Gods are in your corner
Others times...well....you know...
They were certainly in your corner anchoring!
Wow....could easily have been a different ending for sure.
Glad it worked out like it did.
Nice update!
What was a lovely 10-15kt breeze, is now a dead calm, glassy swell and less than 1/4 nm visibility. Welcome to Maine. Pretty sure it's actually over there.
Yea, coast is pretty fogged in this morning, 1/8th mile visibility in portsmouth.
It'll burn off & be a great day. Good weather is forecast for the rest of the week.
Enjoy!
It was there.
😳😄😄
I'm scheduled to arrive Portland on Aug 2nd, for a few days :)
Cool, CJ! We need to fly back to Texas tomorrow, but we should be back before you get here. It'll be a miniscoot.
It's very green, sunny, and beautiful on THIS side of the jetties. Jim picked a nice area to live. Woody found us a cheap weekly rate on a mooring at a boatyard, so we should have good access to shore for meeting up.
Hope to see you both- I'm visiting Jim
Looks like Nubble Lighthouse @ Cape Neddeck?
Wood Island light at mouth of Saco.
Good thing I'm not navigator ;)
Well, as navigator, it wouldn't have been much use anyway. It wasn't lit nor sounding a fog signal. We couldn't see it until we were within 1/2 nm and we saw the breakers on the rocks before the lighthouse. It was a very good day to have radar.
Pictures for leg from Coney Is to Saco, ME: http://imgur.com/a/QcktO
Ray, not 100% sure of this but I remember folks talking about this a couple of years ago.
Many of the fog horns on Maines coast no longer sound continously during an event.. They sound on demand when keyed from a vhf channel. Something worth looking into.
Modern neighbors probably did not appreciate the noise.
I wonder if you can turn on the horn by radio if there is no fog? That could be important if the sender failed
Norman
@misfits: Yes, we listen to the LNM on 22A and heard an announcement that the mariner-activated sound signals could be activated by keying the mic 5 times on 83. We tried it, but never got a horn to sound. Maybe there was a different frequency for that inlet? Maybe we were keying too fast/slow?
We discussed how we thought it seemed like a bad idea. Woody mentioned that anyone with radio/electrical problems would be doubly screwed by being deprived of sound signals in poor visibility. I mentioned I thought that hearing a signal where one ISN'T expected is just as important as hearing signals where you expect them. Someone who is off course but doesn't know it needs to hear those horns.
I went back and checked the charts and coast pilot and Wood Island Light is a Mariner Activated Sound Signal (marked MRASS) on chart. The coast pilot says it's activated by keying the mic 5 times on 83A, so I'm not sure why it didn't respond to us.
In reading about it, I learned that 81 is also a common frequency used and occasionally other frequencies are used which can be found in the Light List. So maybe some of that info will be useful to other cruisers. The Coast Pilots and Light Lists are available as free PDFs as well as paper copies.
Pics: Saco to Boothbay: http://imgur.com/a/7cf7B
You take really good pictures!
Thanks. Jim took the one of the rosey lighthouse, which looks like good postcard material. It boggles my mind how far digital pictures have come. All those pictures are what's snapped with our (cheap, generic) phones. Sometimes I crop them or fix underexposure in GIMP (open source Photoshop). The future is now and it's pretty cool.
It was wonderful to meet Rachel, Woody, and Charlie! After encouraging them to come to this area for some time...they did. I had been reading about R&W from the Peanutbutter Diet blog and their previous boats and cruises from years back and more recently their reports here, other thread posts, and chats. It's interesting to finally meet people that you've gotten to know so well through their writings and photos.
It's also really something to experience Mona in person. Photos can only go so far in capturing her immense character. When a sailboat has been made a home, like a house being made one, especially in this instance where they have invested so much effort, time, labor, creativity...of themselves into the vessel...it really looks and feels alive and enchanting to experience.
A view of Mona moored and Rachel with guitar as Woody rowed Charlie and me back to shore as a near full moon rose beyond, capping off a delightful afternoon sailing and evening of dining and music...
Had another very foggy sail from Rockland to Swan's Island. Before coming to Maine, we'd hoped that fog was the sort of thing that appeared in the morning and burned off, so one could decide just to stay at anchor until it cleared. In reality, it's just as often that a sunny day breeds pea soup as the land warms. I was sweating in shorts on our way to the post office this morning. By afternoon, I was putting on long johns and foulies trying to stay warm and dry. Poor Woody's glasses fog faster than he can clean them making it difficult for him to take the helm in heavy fog.
Today's fog was similar to the other fog we've had. From the radar, I'd estimate it at significantly less than 1/4nm. I still haven't heard anyone but us sound a fog signal. They only folks I've seen out in the fog are the lobstermen and they probably can't hear an air horn over the sound of their engine anyways. I'm still amazed they can find their pots among thousands on days when it's hard to find a 6' metal buoy with a sound signal.
We've had a lot of beautiful, sunny days. Today just wasn't one of them. We've also got a front passing through which is why I'm awake at 0300. We're on a poached mooring in a tiny nook on Swan's Island. The wind is already howling and a red radar band is still encroaching. Tiny nooks in these parts offer great protection, but they're also all made by big granite ledges and boulders. No place to come loose in the middle of the night. I keep peering out the portholes during the gusts even though it's too dark and misty to keep an eye on the rocks.
Despite the rocks and fog, Maine is my favorite place we've been on the boat by a large margin. It's going to be hard to want to go anywhere else, though I'm sure winter will get us moving. When the weather lifts, we ought to have a good view of Mt Desert Island (Acadia NP) which is just northeast of us and our last destination before we start slowly beating back.
The Bahamas may have sand beaches and cheap rum, but I get more excited about this! We could see all the way to Deer Isle and back to our anchorage at Rockland from the top of Mt Megunticook in Camden Hills State Park.
Some friendly lobstermen came to talk to us this morning while taking respite from the weather in our nook. I told them how impressed I was at the navigational skill involved in finding all those lobster pots in the fog. They laughed at me and told me it's all done with electronics. They know where the pots are to within 3 feet. That's what I get for assuming that a couple of grizzled old fellas in Grundens must be using some arcane traditional knowledge.
:)GPS is great, no matter what the weather, and I personally miss the old primitive LORAN. Either one, used within its limitations is incredibly accurate. 20 years ago, I set a waypoint on a handheld LORAN as I passed within 2 feet of a day mark. 8 hours later, sitting on the foot well and steering blind, and using the LORAN, the owner of the boat took the tiller from me, as he was concerned we would rub the mark.
The weather down east is changeable. We were there the last week of August one year, at Rockport, and had a frost the 2 days before we left. It was a very light frost, but the maples started changing the next day. We flew into Owls Head Airport, using the aircraft LORAN for primary navigation, and broke out of the clouds 2 miles out, perfectly aligned with the runway. That is a nasty runway to use in poor weather, and the actual approach was non directional beacon, so the added information the LORAN provided was a big boost to my confidence.
We rented a small sailboat and sailed all day one fine sunny day, with very light wind. the "sealed" plastic envelope with the Coast Guard re
Obviously hit the wrong button!
The flares were in an envelope, with some holes, and it was full of water.
We canoed around the point at Rockland on a dead calm day, and admired the rugged shore on the seaward side. Another day, climbed the small mountain behind Camden for a picnic, and later that day, supper at a lobster house. Fog was absent while we were there.
The weather cooperated on our scheduled departure, and clear skies were the rule all the way to Rehoboth Delaware.
Shirley and I have been to Mount Deseret Island on a very small cruise ship, about 200 passengers. We started from Baltimore, cruised to Montreal, and return. Different ports of call each way. The climb to the top of Mount Deseret was well worth the time, as the day was severe clear, and the views astounding.
There was a small group of dedicated sailors on board, and we convened on the after deck following meals. We had a paper chart and a GPS, and estimated what time the next landmarks and towns would be passed.
Maine is a very pleasant place to be in the summer months.
Sounds like a good trip, Norman. I can see Mt Desert Island, but we're reluctant to make the dash. The wind is so loud and our nook is so calm.
Nice shots Jim
Pics from Boothbay up to Mt Desert Island and back to Belfast: https://imgur.com/a/YwH4v
Yea, Maine is a pretty awesome place.
We were hanging out in Belfast for the day couple of weeks ago.
I have a mooring application sitting on my desk ;D
For Belfast? The town is definitely charming. The harbor is pretty open. We sprung for a city mooring to get a little farther up into the river (by R6), but we're still bouncing even though there's very little wind. I guess bouncing is no big deal if you don't live aboard, though. It's certainly a beautiful area.
I Have also stood on those bare rocks and gazed out across Camden, Rockport, and Rockland on a similarly clear day. We ate a picnic lunch right on top. We spent a week with friends who lived in Rockport. While we were there an impressive yacht, about 70 feet, was tied stern to the rock wall at the head of the harbor, and the crew had lowered the Volkswagen station wagon to the pavement with the davits. After a supply run to the local stores, they left. They were there only one night. I visited with the skipper while he waited for the crew to return.
By pure chance, the skipper of the yacht visited my Church in Washington DC, and we had an interesting conversation. Basically, it is not a yacht, but rather a portable luxurious condominium. It is corporate owned, and the owners of the company schedule it for a few days, a week, or sometimes a month, at a port where they wish to be. At the port, it rarely moves, except for sunset or moonlight cruises. From port to port, the crew runs at whatever power setting is required to arrive on time.
From Rockport, he went to Miami, then the French Riviera, then Greece. The owners were in Washington to see, wine and dine government officials for the benefit of the company when I met him that second time.
The owners would not consider cruising from one port to another, as there might be waves, and discomfort. Out and back on a perfect night, that is fine. They did not use the Volkswagen ashore, it was only for the crew to run errands. A Lincoln Town car was driven by their chauffer to stateside ports for shore travel, and equivalent rented cars with chauffer's were used in foreign ports.
A very different experience of the ports and routes than yours and Woodies
Terrific pictures, enjoyed all of them. The house boat with a Sunfish dinghy struck me just right, the main hull is as slow as they get, the dinghy is fast!
Norman
Quote from: ralay on September 05, 2017, 06:34:01 PM
For Belfast? The town is definitely charming. The harbor is pretty open. We sprung for a city mooring to get a little farther up into the river (by R6), but we're still bouncing even though there's very little wind. I guess bouncing is no big deal if you don't live aboard, though. It's certainly a beautiful area.
Well places that allow new moorings are far & few between. You can get on a waiting list but I think you'd need to be placed there upon birth for any chance of getting one.
For not much more than what it would cost me for a seasonal mooring down this way ($1500.00), I can purchase the ground tackle & have it set. After that I'd be looking at less than $200.00 a season to keep my boat up there.
I'm starting to look at the disposal income side of things seeing how I'm now 62 & thinking about retirement.
It also gives me a homeport to go north or south to some the best cruising grounds on the east coast.
That's what I'm thinking.
Ralay, on the ripped stay sail, do you plan to put the vertical patch on one side, and horizontal one on the opposite side, to give double thickness at the point of greatest stress? That appears to be an older sail, but sails used for actual cruising age faster than others, so harder to tell from a picture.
Having a sewing machine certainly reduces the economic impact of such tears.
Shirley will allow me to sew spinnaker weight material on her 60 year old Singer, but all heavier clothe is sewn by hand, tedious work.
You and Woody are certainly having some of the adventures that I dreamed of at an earlier age. My family was active in hiking and camping, and as teenagers, my brother and I went out on our own many times. As you and Woody have, we picked wild blueberries, and also found abandoned orchards with ancient apple trees. The apples were genuine organic, meaning they had insect damage, unattractive to eat as picked, but quartered, sliced, and fried, delicious. May apples, pawpaws, wild plums, and grapes, at various times of the year supplemented our backpack foods.
When Shirley and I climbed Cadilac mountain on Mt. Deseret Island, there were a few late blueberries to pick, but they were very small.
A question on your sail among the rocks and lodges. Would you have attempted that without GPS charts showing safe water? Or did you do it with lead line and bow lookout?
Norman
On Sail Repair
Like the main we just replaced, the staysail is probably an original 30+ year-old sail. They tend to fold in the same spots where the number of layers changes. Those spots get thinner and thinner with age and eventually the fabric fails at the perforations in the seams. I probably exacerbated this a little when I restitched it last year. I learned (halfway through) that it's better to offset the new stitches rather than stitch along the old seams. I switched methods, but only after I finished this seam.
For short term repairs I marked out a 9" wide patch that will run the full width of the sail. I removed the luff and leech tapes in that section. I'll stitch the patch on so it overhangs the whole damaged area, then reattach the luff and leech tapes. I need a calm day to take the sail cloth out on deck and and work with the torch and knife to cut out the patch and clean up the tear without any wild flapping. I should be able to sew it up no problem with my new hand crank balance wheel.
Unfortunately, we should probably buy a new staysail soon if we want to be able to count on it. I've got used sail alerts set up from Bacon and Second Wind. Sailrite also quoted me for a kit, but it would be about $600 in materials even after I deduct the thread, hanks, and materials I already have. Maybe we'll just beat this one to death first.
On Tight Squiggles
Yes, I think it's doable without a GPS. It's probably hard to tell looking at a photo of a chart, but it was as narrow as the ICW or many channels. Tacking out was like tacking in any other marked channel. Most people don't tack through jetties looking at the GPS. They look at the jetties themselves and tack when the feel uncomfortably close. Likewise, I wasn't tacking because the water was getting shallow or because of my position on the chart plotter. I tacked when I was uncomfortable with what I saw. Judging from the behavior of local boaters, I seem to lose my nerve early, having started sailing in areas where the water is shallow and the bottom shoals gradually.
I don't think a lead line (or a depth sounder) is as helpful up here. The contours are too close. The time it would take to haul in 60' ft of lead line and release it again would be plenty of time to run into something. Jim told us about the traditional potato navigation method for Maine: throw a potato. If it splashes, you're good. If it doesn't, tack. That seems like it's about right. ;D
It helped that we came in at low tide. I could see all the rocks on the chart and we were only going 1-2kts. We left at high tide, but I knew at that point that there weren't going to be any surprises in the channel. The only rock far from shore had a can to mark it. Even that rock was probably safe to go over once the water rose 10'. I don't think it was more than 1-2' above the water at low tide.
The GPS was most helpful in telling me when we had the minimum speed necessary to tack and to tell me our actual course with leeway/current so that I knew how many more times I'd need to tack before we were clear.
@misfits
A mooring sounds like a great value. We've considered the same thing. The cost of a mooring vs dockage in Boston, for example was extreme. There you're required to pay a use tax on your vessel to get a mooring permit, but it would still be much cheaper than paying to use someone else's. The wave action in Belfast may not be a very big deal if you're not living aboard anyways. We learned yesterday that the little pedestrian bridge opens. There are some interesting shantyboats back there on moorings. Depending on how many times you want to go in and out, it might be worth checking out. Certainly a sweet spot to hang out.
Rockland was also an awesome, boat friendly town. Not sure if they still give out mooring permits. Don't see why they wouldn't - there's a ton of room. They have a good town dock that you can tie up at to get water, ice, showers, internet, etc.for a few dollars. Makes it real convenient if you don't have a home base nearby.
Most places charge a use or excise tax up here whether you have mooring or a slip. If you keep your boat at a marina it's usually rolled in with the slip/mooring fee.
A friend of mine keeps his 33 footer at Constitution Marina in Boston. Last time I talked to him it was close to 10 K a year....
Rockland, now that is a lumpy harbor. I heard so many people say that over the years, they avoid it.. It wouldn't surprise me if they had room.
Woody volunteered to float around in the dinghy in Penobscot Bay to finally get some photos of Mona under sail. I think they came out pretty good. Other boaters must have wondered what the heck I was doing sailing circles around a loose dinghy.
From Belfast, we stopped in Isleboro where a schooner captain invited us to take his extra mooring and have dinner. We went to Warren Island State Park and then back to Rockland to pick up our autopilot. Sailed on to Portland with overnight stops in Port Clyde, Cape Small, and Jewell Is.
Portland seems like a wonderfully weird place, but the harbor is pretty darn exposed. We had hardly a breath of wind all week but were rolled unmercifully by wake. We were jarred awake at 6am this morning by the fog horn of a cruise ship the size of a few city blocks creeping into it's berth just beside the anchored boats. Too much excitement for us.
We didn't want to stick around and wait for the effects of Jose in such an open anchorage, but we've also had dense fog for 3-4 days. Today we went out anyway in 1/10nm visibility and sailed to the Saco. There are 3 free municipal moorings several miles up the narrow river. So we're all ready for a gale but it seems like Jose is prolonging our wait by dancing around out there. If we want to work, we need to fly out of Boston 10/4. It would be nice if this tropical weather would calm down!
Also, after talking to Bubba about the origin of his Westsail, I put in some extra effort and finally found the fella who built Mona from a bare hull back in the 70s/80s. He seemed excited to be updated and it was fun to hear more about the history of the boat. Good stuff.
Congratulate Woody on three great pictures! Fascinating clouds, in the various directions, add to the nautical feel of the day, and sailing conditions.
Very neat that you have found the first owner, I can imagine his excitement at finding that his old love is out there cruising!
How many days can you stay at the free moorings at Saco? As the season ends, hopefully, long periods. The cruise ship coming through would be more excitement than I would want, definitely a good reason to move someplace quieter.
Nice!!
It is hard to get "undersail" pics of your own boat!!
They turned out well!!
Very pretty!!
Norman,
I think Active Captain said they're "by donation." There are 3 at the inlet and 3 a few miles upriver. I'm yet to see another boat on any of them. There's nowhere to put a donation and I can't get ahold of a harbormaster, therefore they're free.
I rowed a mile and a half upriver to Saco today. It was very beautiful. Saw lots of birds and got followed by curious seals. Woody motored up in the afternoon and found a spot to squeeze Mona in right in town.
I'm not sure why Saco doesn't seem popular. I guess it's because there aren't any marinas and it requires motoring a few miles upriver. I think it's quite pretty.
I looked at Saco on Google Earth, and it appeared to be a quiet, out of the way town, at the head of navigation. The flow of water over the hydro electric dam suggests a steady supply of fresh water at the time the pictures were taken, and the generators were almost certainly at max, also from the water disturbances below the dam. The water in the river must be pretty clean, as they have a fish ladder.
That certainly appears to be a snug hurricane hole.
Don't expect high end stores or classy restaurants, though! For the two of you, the real question is how far to a large grocery store.
By the way, tell Woody, I have seen many painting by famous artists, including Winslow Homer, with waves and clouds that look just like his! Mona is very photogenic too. Nice job of sailing her, Ralay! (Auto correct does not like Ralay)
Actually, I wouldn't say it's a backwater place. There's a place that serves vegan pizza and a microdistillery within 2 blocks and a big fancy grocery store within walking distance. If you want more, the Amtrak station is on the island by the dam and will get you to Portland in 15-20 min (for $5, I think).
You are right about the water being clean. I rowed a couple miles and I only saw one soda can. So 3 times as many seals as pieces of garbage. Pretty good ratio. We've seen huge fish jumping, mink, and lots of birds. It's fresh and warm too. We swam a bit on our first stop. The bottom is sand between the rock banks. Really, a likeable town.
Cruisers seem to stop at Wood Harbor to sleep and then move on. We haven't meet any other cruisers who've been into the Saco.
I googled the town....pretty place!
Easy to see why you would spend some time there.
Even better if it's not busy.
Have fun
Jim_ME has been playing host and tour guide, so we've got to explore much farther than we could by foot and bike. We all went down to Cape Elizabeth today to watch the big swells smash on the rocks. I imagine there's a lot of surfing going on down in Long Island Sound. Supposedly we have a small craft advisory, but there's not a breath of wind upriver. Totally flat and smooth.
Great you two are spending some time with Jim.
I'm sure you are ALL having fun!!
Good deal- I totally enjoyed my visit with Jim
Here's a short video clip of some footage from cruising this year. Hope you enjoy it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSFAgscSs7A (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSFAgscSs7A)
Great video.
The fog early on and rocky shores looks like it could be out here.
The tall ship sure was beautiful!!
Have fun!
Last night during chatting, Charlie asked something about our daysail on Mona. It has got me thinking about how it was about this time of year, now 4 years ago. I got to meet Woody and RaLay--and Mona.
When I told them of the plans to camp out at a State Park not far from the Northwest part of Casco Bay, they sailed Mona up to South Freeport and anchored on the Harrseeket River. Charlie flew in from visiting friends in Wisconsin, and I got to pick him up at the airport and meet him in person after years of being friends on this site.
Just a excerpt from the Casco Bay chart and a rough plot of our route that day from memory. Thought that I would start a new thread, but remembered this one and have re-read many of the posts from that time, which of course have a poignancy that they did not have at the time of their posting. I think that it belongs here.
Things change... relationships change, boats eventually are sold, moving up or down...or sideways... life moves on...
But the memories of a good sail in good company are precious and enduring things, and I wish that for all and especially each of you on this sail.
Here is the link to the chart for those that want to explore and zoom in and see more detail...
https://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/13290.shtml
Nice cruise, Jim, and re reading is a pleasure repeated.
Thanks for the post and connection to the original thread.
Thank you, Norm. Should have said my initial thought was to do a quick mark-up of the route and email it to Charlie. Then it occurred to me that I could post it here... (Duh! ???).
Quote from: Jim_ME on July 30, 2021, 02:15:01 PM
Things change... relationships change, boats eventually are sold, moving up or down...or sideways... life moves on...
But the memories of a good sail in good company are precious and enduring things, and I wish that for all and especially each of you on this sail.
Well said Jim...
I look back at pictures of past group cruises, the awesome times and friendships. Many have sold their boats now, others have moved... but the memories are precious.
and it was a great visit, and many memorable pics
And I met Woody and Raylay way back when they first got Mona. I watched ( and occasionally helped)throughout the entire rebuild. I have pics of Rachel using my shop to do some of the work, and even still have some wood that came off the teak decks. Sailed aboard here in Port Lavaca
before they took off cruising. Great folks.
Very sorry to have lost touch with Rachel. Still hear from Woody now and again
Here's to good memories! ;D
I'll toast that! :)