Our Summer Cruise 2016

 

Monday, September 5

Recovered from our lack of sleep on Saturday night (we slept for ten hours last night), we enjoyed our sunny Labor Day off with a walk around Northeast Harbor and some basic grocery shopping. It was good that we were relatively well stocked up as the small supermarket in town charges premium prices; $10 for a pint of blueberries, $2 each for tomatoes, $9 for Paul Newman's dressing.

On and off throughout the day we chatted with our "float" neighbors, Tom and Gigi, and later in the day had them over for drinks on STB when we talked about what to do in Maine next year and the best guidance to use. Turns out the "Cruising the Maine Coast" by the Tafts and Rindlaub is the best and will be on our "to buy list" for next year. Tom and I also spent time talking about some of our boat projects, especially our solar panel system, as Tom badly needs more power on his all-electric boat. He's now partway there with a new inverter but needs some more upgrades. Luckily, there is an excellent ex- Back Cove marine electrician nearby who is excellent and knows the boats intimately.

This area is a mecca for high end powerboats and sailing vessels of all types. Morris Yachts has their service center just a 100 yards away so there was a constant flow of Morrises in and out and a number docked awaiting their cleanup and preparation for hauling for the winter. The Harbor is also the home to a variety of Hinckleys although Southwest Harbor must have many more. Multi-million dollar boats abound here!

An Immaculate 50' Hinckley Yawl

55' Morris with Wood From Hull Up (a $5,000 a Year Varnish Habit?)

 

Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri, September 6 - 9

Tom and Gigi left this morning so we could move to their side of the dock for access to our starboard side for polishing and Wings joined us as their "floating dock" had no water. For these four days, we had a mix of weathers; two days of total fog and two of very hot sun. On the foggy days, after wiping the boat down (at least an hour's work), we did inside jobs:

• Cleaning
• Polishing the shower
• Vacuuming
• Laundry
• Cleaning out bilges, lockers, and other spaces
• Polishing fuel
• Changing oil in the transmission, engine and generator
• Changing filters
• Changing impellers
• Pickling the water maker for winter storage
• Flushing the air conditioning system (could have used that on the two hot days!)
• Sorting out charts, books, and other "stuff" to go home

Noon on Wednesday

One of the Many Cormorants That Have Taken Over a Nearby Decrepit Float

On the hot sunny days, we were outside:

• Cleaning windows
• Cleaning canvas
• Cleaning and polishing stainless steel railings
• Cleaned and polished the dinghy lift
• Major cleaning and polishing of the well-used barbecue
• Washing salt out of the dock lines (5 days later, they are still damp!)
• Cleaning and polishing fenders
• Compounding and polishing fiberglass

We did get some time off to go on shore to shop for essentials but saved the sightseeing for next year when we come back. A trip to the Library to buy some used books yielded a treasure - The Cruising Guide to Maine" for $4; the original edition but the rocks haven't moved as they say.

Northeast Harbor

As we were getting ready to come back, we ran into Lisa (we had met her in Halifax), took her back to their boat, and were invited back later for drinks. While we were there, we went over to a Blue Krogen Express, "Jackets II" from Jacksonville, FL, that was very familiar. It was the same boat we had seen a few years ago in Collins Inlet in Georgian Bay and then again when we met the owners in Little Current. Steven and Charlotte were doing the Great Loop at the time and we followed their blog until it petered out; they did finish after a couple of years. We spent some time chatting with them about all of our travels before dashing back to cleanup and heading to Bill and Lisa's.

They have a 2004 Kadey Krogen 48' Northsea and it was a very impressive boat. Everything about it was well finished and the engine room was a mechanic's dream with everything well laid out and very spacious. Bill was clearly a mechanic/electrician at heart and has made some significant upgrades on the electrical system with multiple inverters, increased battery capacity and is ready for his solar panels now. They will be heading south soon to the Bahamas for the winter and will be back in Maine next summer so we may get to see them again before they head to Nova Scotia.

 

Saturday, September 10

 

Northeast Harbor to Brooklin, ME - 16nm

Up early on a beautiful day to leave Northeast Harbor. Ideal weather to make the short trip and, after wiping the boat down, we left for nearby Clifton Marina to fuel up and get our last pumpout for the season. 10% discount for over 100 gallons (we just managed 105) and $5 pump outs. Northeast Harbor has no fuel but does have free pump outs.

We were soon into the thick of the lobster pot floats and there is no rhyme or reason for their reason for their placement. There always seems to be enough space between them to safely pilot a boat through but then you have to weave to port or starboard for the next. If lucky, one can hold a straight course for a few hundred yards but not to often. To complicate things, some of the floats have "toggles," a short (10') length of floating line with a small float to aid in picking up the main float. These are usually drifted away from the main float by the wind and current. Vigilance is key!!

A very scenic ride along the shoreline of Mt. Desert Island passing Bass Harbor, home of Morris Yachts, with a 145' sailboat dominating the bay.

Bass Point Lighthouse

The coastline at the Lighthouse was typical of what we were seeing along the way today. If Maine continues to be like this, next year will be a real treat.

Flye Point - Just a Few Miles from Brooklin

Atlantic Boat Company, our destination, has around 20 mooring buoys of various sizes and there were a number of heavyweight buoys open. Nothing fancy here however, they have a good dinghy dock, a shower/head, and a washer and dryer and very accommodating people. While some washing was underway, we wandered around the yard which has a number of large buildings for manufacturing and storage.

Atlantic Boat builds Duffy and BHM down east boats from 26 to 48 feet.

Duffy 37 Rigged for Tuna Fishing

Needing to get off the boat for a while, we took a walk northwest along the "main" road for a couple of miles but didn't make it to Brooklin itself. Some nice scenery along the way and an interesting timber frame house underway where we took a lot of photos to send our son ... a timber framer back home.

 

 

 

The weather held for the rest of the day as we relaxed on the back of the boat before the bugs drove us inside.

A Brief Sunset Moment - Gone in Ten Minutes

Sunday, September 11

It was a rough night with the wind moving to the southwest and the waves rolling down the bay on our beam from the southeast so we rolled and slapped. We abandoned the idea of sleeping in the main stateroom and woke early for us at 6:00am to find thick fog enveloping the mooring field. By 8:00am we could see the other boats but the sky never cleared and remained a dull grey. Tomorrow it will be sunny!!

The rest of the day continued in this vein with the boat rolling 5-10 degrees most of the time. Judy decided to oil all the teak in the salon and the combination of the fumes and the rolling were not the best while working and she had to escape to the stern cockpit for a while.

Around 1:30 pm, I just happened to check the weather and they had issued a Special Watch for much of the northern coast of Maine. About 15 minutes away, there was a line of strong winds and storms moving to the northeast and we were in the lower third. Within a few minutes, the storm hit but was only short-lived. Winds peaked at around 40 kts but the rain was intense. Within a few minutes, waves had built to around 18" and whitecaps were covering the bay.

 

Within half an hour, the clouds cleared and winds dropped; blue skies appeared by the time Stephen and I went over to Wings to give Bob a hand to lower his mast down.

Later, we had our final Sequence contest aboard "Wings" - the Guys won the season's series 3 to 2! We didn't win over the wind as it slowly increased to 15 to 20kts with gusts to 25. 1' waves are rolling down the bay from the WNW at least until bedtime - a noisy night is in our forecast.

The dinghy was pulled for the last time this year and stowed on the stern ready for the boat to be hauled early tomorrow.