UP at 5:30, clear skies and a light west wind. The day begins with a new set of clothes. How nice!
Tucking away gear I see a man approaching on a paddle board. It is Rossco, who arrived last night to join Matto on TRIM. We had met last year, and he had come over to hello......and goodbye. Just after dinner last night he had received a message that he needed, for reasons beyond his control, to return home. He had no choice. What a shame.
At the Town Dock before 7:00, I begin walking to the coffee shop and run in to Matto, Rossco and Freya, they join me for breakfast as Rossco waits for a ride to the airport. It was good to have some time to catch up, even if Rossco can't join the sail.
Back at the Town Dock, I am impressed by a lobsterman who has tied his LACEY ANN to the dock as the tide ran out so he could change his prop. He tells me he tied up at 2:00 am, the morning high tide, and expects to leave the dock with the afternoon high tide. I ask him how he learned to do it. He thinks for a moments, says he must have learned it when he was eight or so years old, helping his Dad do the same.
I grab a mooring just off the dock to clean SPARTINA for a couple of guests. Soon, the oldest daughter and her husband arrive, they are camping nearby. The forecast strong westerlies have arrive, we head out for a sail under mizzen and jib, a perfect morning on the water. Then lunch. And then goodbye, my second goodbye of the day.
1:20 under mizzen and jib to Somes Sound. 1:30 out of Southwest Harbor, 3.9. 1:40 raise the double-reefed main.
Solid wind on the port beam, 5.5 when the gusts roll through, 3.8 otherwise. It is a straight shot up the Sound and an easy sail on a sunny, breezy day.
2:00 turn into Valley Cove, make a handful of tack up along the shoreline to find the right spot in the anchorage. At the base of two mountains, there is a steep drop-off and I need to find the sweet spot that is not too deep, not too shallow. Anchor down 2:30.
I must have picked the prime spot as two schooners, both in the 60 to 80 foot range, try to anchor on either side of me. The first one, out of New York, makes three attempts, and for whatever reason, gives up, heads off to another anchorage. The second makes just one attempt, then heads off. And finally a large power boat comes in, looks around, then heads off. I guess I had the spot.
I relax in the shade of the boom tent, drying out some gear that had gotten a bit damp during the two storms. A light dinner before heading off to sleep.
7.54 NM
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