Our Summer Cruise 2018

 

Sunday, June 24

Up early to continue work on Dean's inverter charger, hooking up the AC side of things which entailed working in a very cramped area behind the wheel panel that was a mass of wires. Screws were dropped numerous times trying to make connections up. Thank goodness for a ratcheting screw driver! Also did some consultation with George on his solar panel. Still no news on Dean's panel that is still in Portland awaiting delivery to Ellsworth.

Judy went swimming in Ellsworth.

With Dean's inverter hooked up late in the afternoon, we fired it up and got 120V - success! Dean's AC panel is wired significantly different from mine as far as switching the generator power and shore power so we decided that we should get one of the electricians from the yard to take a look on Monday and verify that all was good - 120V is not something to get wrong.

My next job was to modify our small spin drier that we got last year to fit in our storage area under the salon. It was about three inches too tall so had to lay on its side and be blocked from rolling. I had checked it out last year and thought it could easily be modified albeit severely voiding any warranty. Dean was horrified by the radical surgery I was about to perform with my Dremel tool but gave a helping hand when needed. After about an hour of work, the spin drier internal drum and outer case had been chopped by four inches and it all went back together as planned; and it worked!

The Smaller Version

The day finished with the last job, hoisting the dinghy off the trailer on to the back of the boat which went off with only one hitch - the $49 Harbor Freight electric winch would not turn on with the remote. After a short troubleshooting session, it was clear the control box was the problem but my spares store had a replacement. In a few minutes, the winch was up and running and Dean and I slowly raised the dinghy up in the air in several stages.

We are ready to launch!!

Monday, June 25

Launch Day came early but so did the wind and rain so we had to postpone until tomorrow. We took advantage of the delay to do a few boat jobs including replacing our fuel tank sending units which had been giving us errors from when we got the boat. The problem was never consistent but every so often we would get low readings on our fuel gauges and alarms, usually when Judy was at the helm coming into a slip or a mooring ball when she was trying to concentrate.

Installation went OK in a very cramped location, the readings on the two gauges were equal (meaning both tanks had the same amount of fuel - a good thing) but lower than actual values. I did some some checking around on the internet and resetting the instrumentation panel to factory defaults was suggested as a way to recalibrate the gauges. Not knowing what the impact of this could be, I was reluctant to go down this road without further research. At least the gauges were working and no low fuel alarms were coming in now. Will talk with Nordic Tug later and get their input.

By lunch, the rain had mostly passed although there were still dark clouds dashing across the sunny sky. I took advantage of the spare afternoon to go out with my camera in and around Brooklin and Blue Hill taking photographs that may turn into paintings one day.

 

 

 

 

 

After a couple of hours, I had the shots I wanted and headed back after washing and gassing up the car for its summer storage. The last boat job was completed - a quick coat of Duraglos - before dinner and we are all ready for a launch in the sun tomorrow.

Tuesday, June 26

 

Queen for the Day

Awoke early to a sunny morning and several milestones, Judy's birthday and our last morning on the hard with a launch scheduled for around 10:00am. After a quick polish off of the Duraglos on the hull, we were ready for Wayne to load us up on the hydraulic trailer for the short trip down the ramp.

 

Lifted On the Hydraulic Trailer

Down the Ramp to the Water on a Perfect Day

The launch was uneventful and we were soon floating free of the pads and heading down Herrick Bay to more open water. All was good! All of the boat systems were working the way they should, except for the fuel gauges - but NO alarms. It was time to test the prop cage while we were still close to home so drove straight over the floating line between a toggle float and the main float of a lobster trap. With bated breath, there were no unusual noises and we sailed over it - it works!

With no issues to worry about we headed for Bar Harbor.

 

Herrick Bay to Bar Harbor - 31nm

Everything was running smoothly on the way out of Herrick Bay leaving Dean and Charlotte behind to pickup their long lost solar panel today and then head over to Bar Harbor. We needed fuel and, based on last year's experience, called around Mt. Desert sources. Dysart's at Southwest Harbor was 50 cents a gallon cheaper than Clifton in Northeast Harbor - not a hard decision as we were looking at 160 gallons to top our tanks up.

The Quintessential Maine Lighthouse - Bass Harbor Head

Dysart's is not any easy place to get into with only a one-boat fuel dock but Judy did a great job for the first docking of the season. Getting out was tougher with wind on to the dock but Judy had it in hand and the thrusters were a great help. You need to be here when it is quiet or you will circle forever!

By early afternoon we were at the College of the Atlantic mooring we had reserved just past the bar in Bar Harbor.

The College of the Atlantic Moorings

The College has a 38-acre main campus on the ocean in Bar Harbor, two organic farms, and two offshore island research stations.  Founded in 1969, COA was the first college in the U.S. to focus on the relationship between humans and the environment. Today, it limits its student enrollment to 350 students and has an impressive academic record with minimal dropouts and 55% of graduates going on to advanced degrees.

We made the short trek in to Bar Harbor and wandered around for a couple of hours. Very busy place with a large cruise ship in the main harbor doing the New England cruise. Bar Harbor is now a very popular cruise port with the obvious attraction of being on the ocean, on Mount Desert Island, and on the edge of Acadia National Park.

We made plans to attend the opening night of the concerts in the Acadia Trad Festival at the College. This is a jam-packed week of classes, concerts and jam sessions in the Irish, Scottish, Québecois, Acadian, Cajun, Old-Time and Cape Breton styles. The world-class Faculty and instructors teach programs for fiddle, guitar, mandolin, bouzouki, cello, piano, piano accordion, banjo, uilleann pipes, whistle, bodhran, dance, song, Celtic culture, and much, much more. Each night of the concerts feature members of the Faculty, students, and guest artists of extremely high caliber. Last year we went to one night but will probably go to more this time as we will be waiting for Dean and Charlotte. Today they are picking up their panel and launching tomorrow.

With some ticket swapping we managed to get tickets for the opening night and enjoyed a great evening of music.

Amazing Duo and Both Students!

Wednesday, June 27

A very sunny and hot day forecast here in Bar Harbor. While Judy took off early into Bar Harbor to go swimming at the YMCA, I got busy installing a new Furuno Automatic Identification System (AIS). I has an AIS receiver on the boat but it only tells me where other AIS equipped boats are. It doesn't tell tem where I am. The new AIS send out a signal every couple of seconds with my boat name, size, location, speed and direction of travel. Surrounding boats with AIS know exactly where I am in relation to them and whether our courses are safe. More and more boats are using AIS now and, in combination with radar, makes navigating in poor visibility much easier and safer. Installation was relatively easy as I could use the existing wiring for my old AIS. By the time Judy got back it was up and running.

Dean and Charlotte launched successfully from Atlantic Boat and arrived in Bar Harbor later in the afternoon with a new panel installed.

 

Another great concert tonight.

 

 

Thursday, June 28

The Best it Looked All Day

Woke to a very grey day which just got greyer as time went on and the wind and rain moved in

Bit Windy!!

Unfortunately, Judy had a haircut appointment booked so had to walk to town in the rain and back again - a little wet.

It was a day to do some computer work, edit photos, work on the blog, read, and do a bit of cooking. The rain was still bucketing down at 6:30 so no concert tonight.

 

Just What's Needed on a Day Like Today - Shepherd's Pie

Friday, June 29

The weather was meant to clear today but it sure didn't look like it at 8:58 am.

8:58 am

Having great faith in the weather forecast, we decided to walk in to Bar Harbor with Dean and Charlotte and play it by ear for the day. Being a very liberal arts college, COA had some interesting bumper stickers on the cars in the parking lot - one of the better ones!

 

10:21 am

What a difference but there was still some fog hanging out in the Harbor.

 

Encouraged by the change in weather, we took the Island Explorer bus to Jordan Pond in the National Park. LL Bean, the outdoor company based in Maine, is one of the main sponsors of a fleet of buses that covers almost all of Mt. Desert Island with a number of routes. The buses are free (donations accepted) and significantly reduce the amount of traffic on the island's narrow roads.

 

Jordan Pond and Bubble Mountain in Background

Jordan Pond is a great example of a glacial tarn or lake covering 187 acres and over 150 feet in places. Visibility has been measured to 60 feet. It is the water supply for Seal Harbor and has limited access. On the shores of the Pond sits the Jordan Pound House on the site of an 1800s house that burned down in the 1970s. It was rebuilt as a Visitor Center and restaurant and is a major attraction in the Park. The restaurant is famous for its popovers served with butter and jam. (These are the same as large Yorkshire puddings)

Charlotte and Dean treated us to lunch here and, of course, a popover each.

 

At Jordan Pond House

The Jordan Pond route is the most travelled route on the Island and, unfortunately,the Pond's in the middle so it was standing room only for the 30 minute ride back to Bar Harbor hanging on by our fingertips.

Today's concert was the final and featured a large percentage of the students and most of the Faculty. An excellent concert - probably the best of all and only $10 a seat and desserts on clearance for $1. I need to figure out how to add video on here so you can hear some of the music. The concert concluded with a large group playing on stage with a contra dance on the cleared main floor.

Scottish Champion Fiddler Leading the Final Set

 

The Contra dance - Like Some English Country Dancing - with a Caller Calling the Steps

So ended a great week in Bar Harbor!

Saturday, June 30

Bar Harbor to Cross Island - 48nm

Off early for a run to an overnight anchorage in Cross Island, just across from the Cutler Naval Station. The skies were reasonably clear with some light fog but good sun; should burn off later in the day.

 

Petit Manan Lighthouse

A Typical View of the Low-Lying Offshore Islands as We Head Downeast

We traveled close to the coast line passing numerous low-lying islands/rocks for several hours before we turned north into Machias Bay and our destination opposite the Cutler Naval Station. Light fog shrouded the coast in several places and we often lost sight of Carrie Rose which was traveling further offshore. Not too many boats come this way and we saw none today!

 

Cutler Naval Station

The Naval Station is a unique location, the site of the US Navy's very low frequency (VLF) shore radio. The station provides one-way communication to submarines in the Navy's Atlantic Fleet, both on the surface and submerged. It transmits at a frequency of 24 kHz and input power of up to 2 megawatts, and is one of the most powerful radio transmitters in the world. Its coordinates must be programmed in to a few missiles so we hope the Cold War is over!

The current Cutler Naval Station was built in 1960 and became operational on January 4, 1961. As with all VLF stations, the transmitter has a very small bandwidth, and so cannot transmit audio (speech) but only coded text messages, at a relatively low data rate.

Each array consists of a ring of 13 tall metal masts connected at the top by a network of horizontal cables. The cables form six diamond-shaped "panels" radiating from the central tower in a hexagonal pattern shaped like a snowflake. The two arrays normally operate together as one antenna, but each is designed to function independently to allow maintenance on the other array. The central tower of each antenna system is 1000' tall. It is surrounded by six 900' tall masts, placed on a ring. The entire array is over 1 mile in diameter.

It is visible from miles away and was shrouded in fog as we approached with just the tops of the towers visible. As we closed, the fog vanished so we got a good view as we rounded the north side of Cross Island to a small protected cove we had anchored in last year with George and Cynthy.

The only sign of life was an Outward Bound boat anchored just offshore with the crew of young kids on the beach. The Outward Bound School uses an abandoned Coastguard building on the Island for some of their activities. There were also a number of locals on their Carolina Skiffs, a very popular dinghy with lobster men.

 

Carrie Rose as the Day was Ending