Before dawn, lobster boats and rain.
Morning comes with frustration. I might not sail. It's not the mist, not the cold, not the fog. It's the anchor. I can't get it out of the muck. Gusts from yesterday had buried it deep in the muddy bottom. I pull and pull, even tried to use the winch. Finally cleat the anchor line as tight as I can on the bow, go back to the stern of SPARTINA and jump up and down on the tiny aft deck. With the boat as a fulcrum, the anchor comes free.
Wearing two layers, I put on the drysuit. On second though, peel the top of the drysuit off and add a third layer, the wool sweater. 7:00 sail off anchor, 2.5 tacking in Webb Cove, the around the corner better wind and 3.7. 7:35 on the Thorofare headed west. Fog teasingly begins to clear as we pass Stonington. Wind comes and goes.
8:15 west end of the Thorofare, a mix of overcast and blue skies. Making 5.7 with the south wind. 8:30 feel the sunshine for a moment. Raise CB slightly, turn downwind to the northwest. 4.6 with wind over the port quarter, 6.3 rolling down the face of a wave. Clouds moving up from the south, light rain. Cold. Grey.
9:00 Eagle Island off the starboard bow. 9:10 Bald Island ahead in the fog. North Haven Island to port. 9:35 past Bald Island, a group of islands to the north, leaving them to the port side. Low heavy overcast, 4.6 with the flood tide helping. Cross the wake of the Lobster Boat WILDEST DREAMS.
9:50 sailing over shallow rocks, choppy water with the running tide. 10:10 making 2.8 past Bear Island. Rain and fog. Jibe to the north and the wind begins to gust, 5.8 to 6.4. Large dark shape, an island, in the fog to starboard, 4.8 and pleased with the progress.
10:40 pass another island, this one with a nice little harbor. Might be Beaches Island, not sure. 10:55 rain gone, fog still here.
11:30 sailing wing and wing to the north, maybe 3/4 of a mile visibility as the fog lifts. 11:50 decide to head towards the nice anchorage just below Castine.
See a tall ship headed south. Use AIS to identify it as the STEPHEN TABER. Call the ship on vhf and get a quick response. I ask the captain if he can see me on his radar. After a moment he comes back, says "Got a nice little blip on the screen." I thank him. That bit of tin foil I added to the radar reflector is doing its job.
12:40 approaching Holbrooke Island, gusty all of a sudden. Going in the cut between Holbrooke Island and Goose Falls, the lobster boat STORMI GAYLE coming out. The boat slows down to reduce wake. I tip my hat in thanks.
1:25 tied to a mooring inside the nice little cove at Goose Falls. Boom tent up, hot chocolate and crackers.
Fog comes and goes, steady mist through the evening.
24.93 NM
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