day two - the smell of bacon in the morning

Sail of anchor 5:40.  Cool.  Wearing a merino wool hoodie and a wool sweater on top of that.  Wind and tide seem like they are good for a passage up Eggemoggin Reach.  Doing 4.4 with wind over the starboard quarter.  6:00 sailing past the water marked as on the charts as The Triangles.  The wind swings around, this makes for a difficult passage up the reach.  Fall off to White Island, five seals watching from a rock.  6:20 jibe to the southeast.  6:55 jibe again off Crow Island off the eastern shore of Deer Isle.  

7:20 sailing between two unnamed rocks off of Billings Cove, headed for the Deer Isle Thorofare.  Cool and grey, the sun an orange dot in the sky.  7:40 the gps shows speed going back and forth from 2.8 to 3.9 depending on the swell.  I see two tall ships, one on each side of the Thorofare.  8:15, with Camp Island to port, do 5.0 is a puff.  Sailing by the tall ship J & E Riggin anchored behind Russell Island.  It is breakfast time and I can smell the bacon cooking in the galley.

Lighter winds in Merchants Row, as the group of islands between Deer Isle and Isle au Haut are known.   Making 1.5 until we leave the wind shadow of the islands and make 3.4 toward Fox Island Thorofare, the cut between Vinalhaven and North Haven.  9:15 the sun breaks through.  9:40 3.4 across Isle au Haut Bay towards the Thorofare, the fog horn sounding on Marks Island to the north.  

10:20 less wind and choppy.  There is a strong ebb tide running, motorsailing so we don't get carried too far to the south.  Less current below Babbidge Island, sailing again.  

11:50 have lunch of canned tuna, crackers and a fruit cup as we tack against the tide around Widow Island.  12:25 pass green marker "7" and slip onto the Thorofare.  12:45 just south of Iron Point on North Haven, in the wind shadow of the bluff.  Lots of pretty boats around.  

12:55 better wind and making 4.4 on Fox Island Thorofare, I suspect the tide is helping.  2:25 leaving the Thorofare in light wind, 1.3 on glassy water with a gentle rolling swell.  3:05 better wind inside of Dogfish Island, baitfish erupting in the water as seals give chase.  3:30 anchor down Crockett Cove on the west side of Vinalhaven.  Put up the boom tent to get out of the sun, peel back the shaded side to enjoy the view.

 26.13 NM

day one - back to the islands

Up since 4 a.m. this morning on a trip that started at 4 a.m. yesterday.  Pass through the little town of Blue Hill and arrive at Atlantic Boat Company at 10:30, odometer showing 1030 miles.  A friendly welcome from the boatyard crew, they seem to remember SPARTINA from the last couple of years.  

Rig and load SPARTINA, park the truck out of the way.  Catch my breath.  Cast off 1:00.

Raise sails just outside the mooring field, making 3.1 kts in an unusual southeast wind.  With plans to head west, I hope the southeast wind holds for a day or two.  What should have been breakfast is now lunch:  an RxBar, beef stick and a cup of fruit.  Cooler than expected.

1:24 making 4.0 as the wind swings to the southwest, Green Island light is straight ahead.  With the southwest wind comes warmer temperatures.  

Soon the southeast wind returns, cooler air and almost chilly.  2:30 light winds and motor sailing.  2:50 Naskeag Point to starboard.  I smile when I see the island to port - really a large granite rock with a few trees - is called Smuttynose Island.  I love the names of islands, harbors and coves in Maine.  3:00 wind and sailing again. 

I think of working my way south across Eggemoggin Reach but struggle in the the light wind against a flood tide.  Jibe back towards Sellers Island, an anchorage suggested a few weeks ago by friend Harris.  I tack back and forth across the tiny cove.  There is a rock in the center with a shoal running to the north.  The water is so clear I can see the bottom.  Small but protected, it is a perfect anchorage.  Anchor down at 3:30.  I take a nap.

 8.4 NM

Maine 2025 track

Here is the Maine 2025 sailing track, 

a little over 600 miles of great sailing.

Logs will begin in a couple of days.

some friends I met along the way

 

You’ll have to wait for the logs

to find out 

who, where and why. 

docked and done

 Returned to Atlantic Boat Company yesterday afternoon.  Hauled out this morning.  Twenty-nine days and a little over 600 miles of sailing.  Just a great cruise.  

Here are a few photos, still struggling with posting but good Wi-Fi helps. 

Got some hiking to do, home in about a week.  Then I will post more. 

from Casco Bay

 I have received questions about my lack of posting. It is not because of lack of effort.  I have tried multiple times to post a photograph or two.  For some reason, it will not work.  For those on Instagram, you can find several posts there under @earleys11.  

The trip is going very well.  Arrived Casco Bay this afternoon.   I am at a mooring at Great Diamond Island.  Will head into Portland, which is in sight from here, tomorrow for resupply, laundry, etc.  Will begin sailing back east on Sunday. 

stuff

 How it all disappears into a small 

open boat I will never know.

Pathfinders on rough waters (Lorenzo really loves his coffee)

I came across this photograph the other day and really loved it.  I suspected it was friends Enrico and Lorenzo sailing their Pathfinders on the Mediterranean.  I wrote to confirm this with Enrico, his reply is below.

If anyone wonders about the seakeeping ability of the Pathfinder yawl, the photograph should answer your questions.

From Enrico:  

Yes, it's Lorenzo (on Astrid, right) and my wife Silvia and I (on Isfuglen, left). Last day of MIRAVAR 2024, rounding Cap Benat, Hyeres archipelago, south France. Only 4 boats of the fleet decided to go, while the other 7 boats decided to stay more sheltered. The wind was not exceptional (I estimate 20kn) but the waves were quite impressive, built by the wind that was blowing non stop for 2 days and 2 nights. We sailed downwind all the time, which simplified the situation a lot. Get this: while Silvia and I were managing to survive, Lorenzo (single sailing) was able to prepare a coffee in his moka coffee maker..  What a seadog! :-)

You can read about that day, plus the entire sailing raid, at Enrico's blog here.  It is also worth visiting Lorenzo's blogs, one about sailing his Pathfinder ASTRID, another about the MIRAVAR sailing raid (which Lorenzo has organized for many years) and a third blog about NEWYD MARINE, Lorenzo's business that specializes in CNC kits for John Welsford-designed sailboats.  If you live in Europe and want to build a Pathfinder, he is the guy to talk to.

Thanks, Enrico and Lorenzo, for showing what a Pathfinder can do!

tracking URL

 Here is the link to the tracking url, or just copy and past the link below.

https://maps.findmespot.com/s/PBB9

Had hoped to be sailing on Friday, instead I will be waiting for a new main sail to arrive.  If I get the sail by Friday, I'll rig it Saturday, and be on the road Sunday.  Hope to be on the water on Monday.

sailing MARIAH

It was an invitation I could not refuse.  I had texted Harris to ask where he kept his Arey's Pond custom built Caracal MARIAH.  I told him I just wanted to know where it was so I could just go stand on the dock and take a look.  Instead, he told me to meet him at his house, we'll go sailing.  How very nice!

I have long been a fan of catboats.  The Marshall catboats, Mengers and Arey's Pond boats have always caught my eye.  The single-masted gaff-rigged boats in the 18 and 19 foot range seemed like they would be perfect for cruising.  If I ever get a boat with a cabin, it might well be a catboat.

The Caracal, a recent design (MARIAH is hull #4), seems like the perfect mix of traditional design (cold molded hull) and some high-tech features (carbon fiber mast) built by true craftsmen.  It is a beautiful boat, as are all the Arey's Pond designs.  Yes, well out of my price range, but I can still admire them, can't I??

I admit I did not know Harris very well.  We had crossed paths a couple of times over the years, once in St. Michaels and then just a couple of years ago at the Downrigging Festival in Chestertown.  When I heard he was having a Caracal built, I sent him a note asking about modifications he was making to the design.  The list he sent me was like he was reading my mind.  An extended cabin, extra port hole up forward, slightly deeper cockpit and auxiliary diesel, just to mention a few.  With a stove on board, and two bunks, it will be perfect for a little cruising.

The fact that I had met Harris just briefly over the years did not stop him treating me like an old friend.  I had received several invitations to group sails he often organized in the fall on the James River.  I suspect he knew that I was not much for group outings, but the invitations kept coming anyway.  Plus through small boats, we had a ton of friends in common.  It was almost like we knew each other already.

The wind was light as we started our five or so hours on the water.  It gave us plenty of time to talk about MARIAH and his life-long experiences with catboats - he had sailed on a classic Fenwick Williams catboat since he was a child, eventually cruising on it with his own family.  So MARIAH was a return to his life-long love affair with catboats.  

 

After lunch at a waterfront restaurant, we headed back up the James.  A very nice breeze filled in from the north giving us a beam reach back to his marina.  Big gaff-rigged main filled with wind, MARIAH heeled nicely as she held a true course up the river against the tide.  It was just a wonderful day.  A beautiful boat, great lunch and an enjoyable conversation with Harris.

Thanks, Harris, for a great sail on a beautiful catboat.  Congratulations on MARIAH.  Enjoy!