The Log of Spartina

Monday, September 21, 2026

day nineteen - the raft-up

A breezy morning, I raise anchor and motor up to the top of Waterman Cove for better protection. Mid-morning texts begin arriving from Matto and Bobby. They are both on their way to Perry Cove, Bobby coming down from up north and Matto coming up from Seal Cove on the east side of Vinalhaven.

10:45 I see them coming down the Thorofare. I sail to Perry Cove under mizzen and jib, we all head in together. Matto grabs a morning for TRIM, SPARTINA ties us to his port and Bobby's LAGNIAPPE ties up on the starboard side. And the fun begins.

It's a sunny afternoon gathering, I don't think I have ever seen three Pathfinders together like this. Between the three boats, we've got plenty of food, a few different kinds of beer and even a bottle of spirits of some sort. We catch up on our lives, talk about our cruises. We compare boats - Matto's was built by my friend Seth about the same time I was building SPARTINA. Bobby's was professionally built. They are all the same, yet slight variations here and there. And they have all been well-sailed. We talk a lot about sailing gear, sharing ideas and past experiences. And we talk about our appreciation of John Welsford, after all it is his design that brings us together in this little creek in Maine.

It is just a wonderful afternoon with great friends and great boats. Matto breaks out his drone for some aerials. As evening comes, we cast off and separate for the night.

Photo by Matt Jensen-Young

day eighteen - five easy pieces

Up at 5:30, calm with a broken overcast. I listen to the sound of the rushing tide. No rush to go anywhere, and my phone app show rain coming. Stay under the boom tent and relax.

Cool air comes at 8:00. 8:30 a light rain arrives with a cup of hot chocolate. 9:15 rain moves on.

9:40 anchor up, under power. Motor over to Matt's boat to say it was nice to meet him and wish him a good trip home.

10:00 sails up outside of the anchorage, a light mist falling. Motor sailing with just a hint of a breeze. 10:20 enough wind to sail, making 1.0 against the flood tide.

Soon making 0.7, blue skies sliding up from the south. I am content with a slow drift through the small islands and ledges.

12:30 clear skies and sunny, but no wind approaching Calderwood Island. 12:40 a little wind and sailing down the Little Thorofare with Simpson's Island to port and North Haven to starboard. Making 1.7. Past Simpson's Island find some wind, 3.3 on Fox Island Thorofare heading towards Iron Point.

Sail by Perry Cove, our planned meeting place for tomorrow, and then turn to the town dock in North Haven. I usually find it full of boats but today there is plenty of room for SPARTINA.

I take a walk through the village. There are some high-end inns and resorts here, but the waterfront is still seems to be a place out of time.

At the community center, which has a little cafe, I am told that ice tea is not available. The young woman at the counter says "we have hot coffee, iced-coffee and hot tea, but no iced tea."

"So you have ice," I say, "and you have hot tea," trying to channel a kinder version of Jack Nicholson's character in the breakfast scene of Five Easy Pieces. "What if I buy a cup of hot tea, and you let me get a cup of ice?" This strikes the woman as a funny idea, but she says ok. I ask her if she has heard of the movie Five Easy Pieces, but she is a couple generations too young for that. I sit at a table near the window and enjoy my iced tea.

Cast off from North Haven at 4:00, dark clouds headed our way. Afternoon wind is building and I use mizzen and jib to sail around Iron Point and turn up into Waterman Cove.

Anchor down 4:30. Skies are getting darker. My weather app has a warning for a coming storm. More clouds. Thunder. Light rain. Then the storm quite suddenly dissipates, the skies clear.

12.54 NM

Sunday, September 20, 2026

day seventeen - the Barred Islands

Quick breakfast at Traci's Diner. Back at the docks, a charter fishing captain tells me I might be waiting for wind. "I've checked with the crew, there were no complaints." As I'm casting off, he realizes I am the only one on board. The captain laughs, says he now understands why no-one complained.

Sails up 7:15 in the mooring fields with a "Good morning!" from a lobsterman motoring by. Cool, light northwest wind and not a cloud in the sky. Making 1.2 and then 2.0 against the flood tide.

7:40 leaving the Passagassawakeag River, 2.6. 7:55 jibe around Steel's Ledge just outside the red markers. 8:50 less wind, 0.2, and motor sailing. 9:55 hints of wind near Turtle Head at the north end of Islesboro. 10:05 sailing at 2.6.

10:50 off Dice Head, 1.7 approaching slack high tide. 11:10 see the tanbark sails of the windjammer ANGELIQUE coming out of Castine Harbor, and remembering when I pass that same ship a couple years ago in a fog so thick that I could not see them until they were 50 yards away. Wind stirring off Holbrooke Harbor, making 1.8 on a starboard tack.

11:55 more wind. 12:20 on a port tack, 4.0. Come about at 1:10, 3.6. 1:35 making 4.1.

A long steady run from just off Islesboro's Sabbath Day Harbor to just below Head of the Cape, wonderful sailing on a beautiful day.

2:00 Western Island to starboard, Navionics showing rocks and shoals reaching out farther than I expected, keeping neighboring Pond Island off the bow.

2:05 reach Pond Island with light wind, feel like we're crawling over the shallows. 2:30 on a starboard tack across a tide line, the ebb flowing north to south but seems to be wrapping around the two islands. Confused waters sailing south, keeping the Black Ledges to port.

3:00 off Beach Island. 3:15 tack. 3:25 tack. 3:40 tack. 3:50 tack. One last tack at 4:00. 4:10 main and jib down, under power through the channel and past the rocks into the Barred Islands anchorage. 4:25 anchor down.

Eating dinner, a man motors over in a dingy from a larger sailboat in the anchorage. "Is it Steve?" he asks. "Yes," I tell him. He introduces himself, Matt Murphy, editor of Wooden Boat Magazine. He tells me he is a friend of John Welsford's and recognized SPARTINA coming down the channel. We have an enjoyable discussion about the Pathfinder design and sailing Maine. He invites me to visit the Wooden Boat School if find myself in that area. I thank him for coming by, tell him I look forward to visiting the school.

I begin hearing from a couple of other Pathfinder sailors, Matto on TRIM and Bobby on LAGNIAPPE. We're spread out around East Penobscot Bay, looking for a place to get together. Perry Cove seems like the place.

23.51 NM

Saturday, September 19, 2026

day sixteen - "that's gorgeous"

The day begins with a man off a large power boat tied up nearby asking how I did in the rain last night. He asks with a certain smile that makes me wonder if he is expecting me to say it was uncomfortable or wet or whatever. I respond with my own question. "Did it rain last night? I didn't notice."

Breakfast at Traci's Diner, eggs over easy, potatoes, bacon and toast. A nice change from protein bars and beef sticks.

It is a day of chores...groceries, laundry, shower, the log book.

As I walk back to SPARTINA from Traci's, I see a beautiful schooner in the parking lot. FELICITY has apparently been out of the water for a couple of months and she is about to be rigged and put in the water.

Off to the laundromat and, after that, a trip to the local co-op to resupply on food - some bottled iced tea, nuts and dried fruit. Then a walk along the harbor. Each time I come and go from SPARTINA, I see the progress on FELICITY. A crane comes in to drop the masts in place, then a rigger up in a harness runs wire stays and rope halyards. It is a several hour process that draws a crown.

Afternoon I'm back at the pub for iced tea and a chance to catch up on the log book.

I'm in the parking lot by the harbor master's office as they back FELICITY into the water. The rigger, who seems to be running the show, stands on the stern of the schooner and calls out instructions to the tow-truck driver and a guy in a skiff.

At one point he turns around, looks towards SPARTINA and says to no-one in particular, "that's gorgeous!" and then goes back to work. I smile.

Late afternoon I am pleased to be tied up near the beautiful FELICITY. The man on the power boat, the one who asked me about the rain, invites me over for a beer with him and his wife. It is a nice afternoon. Then back to the pub for dinner.

day fifteen - north

Up before 6:00, glassy calm morning on a favorite creek. Straighten up the boat, tuck away sleeping gear, break down the boom tent.

I motor over to Rich on KELLY RAE, thank him for pointing out the free mooring. He asks where I am headed today, laughs when I tell him that I am not sure. I expect to head north, but don't have a specific destination in mind.

Outside of Pulpit Harbor I am surprised to find a light southwest wind. Sailing at 2.2, headed north and aiming for the south end of Islesboro. I sailed this same path once before in a thick fog and my memory tells me there is a series of small islands - Goose, Saddle, Lasell, and Lime Islands - that lead from Pulpit Harbor to the cut between Middle Island and Islesboro. On this clear morning I can see that the string of islands is in fact a couple miles to the west, reminding me how disorienting thick fog can be.

8:50 a decent wind over the port quarter, 3.0. 9:35 Pendleton Point at the south end of Islesboro off the starboard bow, Middle Island ahead. 10:00 past Pendleton Point, Minot Island to port and less wind, making 1.0.

10:00 motor sailing at idle speed, Cradle Cove to port and a group of youngsters getting ready for a race.

Still not sure of where I am heading. Could be Turtle Head Cove at the north end of Islesboro. Maybe Belfast, or possibly the nice anchorages near Castine. Plenty of time to decide.

On Gilkey Harbor a seal makes a series of leaps from the water. 10:50, rounding Spruce Island, can see the ferry dock and beyond that West Penobscot Bay.

Pass the ferry dock, turn north in light wind, motor sailing. 11:20 no wind at all, motoring at idle speed. Getting hot. Debating going to Turtle Head Cove, a very nice anchorage, versus Belfast, which has laundry, showers and a grocery store. 12:50 wind, sailing. Then no wind.

2:15 wind and headed for Belfast. There is a channel into Belfast, but instead I wind my way through the mooring field, enjoying all the boats along the way. 2:45 main and jib down, under power to the dock. Tie up by the boat ramp, walk to the harbor master's office where I am pointed to a dock where I can spend the next two nights.