Day 14

Left Rockland Wednesday morning around 11:00 am.  Another beautiful day.  We motored 1/2 way and sailed with the jib 1/2 way.  Reached Dix and High Island around 3:00 pm.  After 3 attempts, finally found a satisfactory anchorage thanks to advice of local lobsterman and spent a relaxing evening.  Three more boats came in after us.

Left anchorage at 7:30 am and headed for Burnt Island.  Arrived late morning so decided to carry on to Harbour Island.  Once we arrived saw that winds were going to blow us on shore so we skipped over to Cranberry Island and dropped anchor at 1:00 pm.  Excellent gourmet lunch of BBQ hotdogs :). Have discovered that the Maine housefly has some mariner blood.  There must have been about 30 that hitched a ride from Dix to here.  The salon was swarming with them.  They were also a little slow so was able to have a mass burial at sea for most of them.

We had a man overboard practice today.  Greg' s hat took a flying leap and I, now becoming a skillful helmsman, was able to deftly cut back and Greg picked it out of Neptune's grasp with the boat hook.  ( we were not under sail)

Very roly night on anchor and discovered that low tide put a shoal right  at our stern.  We left early the next morning before the tide reached low again.

Headed for Five Islands at 6:20am.  Beautiful winds on the quarter beam and we averaged 6 kts, hitting 8.3 kts a few times.  Best sailing to date.  We arrived at Five Islands and were on the mooring by 10:30am.   To our surprise, Salvation arrived from Rockland at 4:00 pm.  They made amazing time.

Day 15

We left five Islands at 7:00 am under calm breezes and smooth sea.  Through the main and jib up but continued to motor as wind was almost on the nose.  By mid morning the wind had picked up and the water was very roly with short waves which made for a rough ride.  We decided to make for our first stop of Richmond Island instead of trying to continue on to Biddeford Pond.  We arrived around 1:00pm and relieved to find it fairly sheltered.  Looks like more of the same wave action tomorrow with rain and thunder showers in the morning, so we'll plan on a short run to Biddeford Pond in the morning (about 2 hrs) and call it a day.

Used the oven for the first time and made coffee cake muffins.  They were a little burnt on the bottoms, but with practice I think I'll get the hang of baking with it.

To date, I am tied for the International Crib Championship title!





Day 16

Calling for thunder storms this afternoon so we are taking a short hop to get in to Wood Island Harbour before the weather gets bad.  Left at 9:00am for the short run.  What a nightmare.  Seas were about 8' and 5 secs apart, but some of those waves seemed a lot bigger.  It was a 2 hour run with motor only, but felt more like 4 hours. With the wind straight on, was no point trying to sail.  Salvation is on anchor, but we picked up a mooring for $35, which includes a shower.  After five days, the shower was worth every penny :).  We picked Richard and Heather up and went to shore for a walk.  Ended up on a beach with beautiful waterfront homes.  Very, very nice.  Was good to get out for a walk as well.  It doesn't take long to learn to appreciate small things....long, hot, showers; walks on the beach; and fresh drinking water...lol.

It has just started to rain a bit.  This is the first rain we've had since leaving N.S. on Aug. 16.  This is exactly what we need as everything, including us ( even after our showers) is covered in salt.  Everything we own needs a washing.

We plan to hit Portsmouth tomorrow.  If we go to the north side of the harbour, we'll still be in Maine.  If we go to the south side we'll be in New Hampshire.  We really, really want to stay in the south harbour.  It's been a long slug trying to get out of Maine.  Now we understand why some people make straight for Cape Cod.  I can't see that we would ever make this run again, even though it has been very beautiful.

In short....everyone should visit Maine, and the best way to enjoy it, is by car!!!