HOPPING DOWN THE COAST

Hopping down the Coast

Southport ~ Booth Bay 

We arrived at Southport from Rockland - not a long way, but a very pleasant boat ride through characteristic Maine landscapes. It was a good visit and a chance to meet some interesting folks we didn't get to spend near enough time with. We would have liked to spend a little more time in Southport, but we are anxious to move down the coast. We met some interesting folks including Amy, the dockmaster, who recommended a singer from Atlanta, Dick on Stranraer, a Krogan cruiser, and David and Pam, who had just seen SubDudes at the Boothbay Opera House, and are cruising on a beautiful MJM out of Annapolis. Music is always a good ice-breaker.






We left Southport on a rainy day. Since there was little to no fog, we could cruise along at 20 knots as the seas were calm. Then it started to drizzle, ramping up to full rain. Still able to make good time winding our way around Cape Small and through the passages between beautiful islands, it was the Maine we expected!

A little fog, a little rain - not a bad run.

Built from granite blocks with gravity for mortar.

We detoured to see the historic Baileys Island bridge, a crib stone bridge between Baileys Island and Orrs Island. Since it was low tide and there was only a narrow passage between stone ledges, we stalled at the entrance to call on the radio for local knowledge. Two captains kindly responded to advise on the depths we could expect.

In the rain!

We lined up AQUAVIT with the navigation marks and held our breath as we passed under the national historic register bridge crafted in  granite slabs. Then we motored around Baileys Island, with famous Cooks Lobster House, to head into Merriconeag Sound to Potts Harbor and the Dolphin Marina that so many boaters we have met have raved about.

Cook's Lobster House, Orr Island 

Harpswell and the Acclaimed Dolphin Marina 

The Dolphin Marina is on Basin Point in Potts Harbor, surrounded by the Calendar Islands of Casco Bay. Well, the Dolphin was a bit rocky during a line of storm fronts that passed by and when commercial lobster boats arrived and departed. The lobster boats seem to operate day and night. The facility was nice and the acclaimed restaurant was very nice, not the "5 star" it was touted to be, but still worth a high review.

The tide rolls out, the fog rolls in.

Since we were concerned about how the engines were operating, we took the opportunity to have a boat diver check out our props and running gear. While talking with the diver, a seal popped up right behind our boat. Micah, the diver, was as surprised as Marvin. He said he's worked around the marina for 20 years and never seen a seal there. All was in order below the water's surface and we have peace of mind knowing the vagarities of the engines are exaggerated in Marvin's imagination because we pass by so many lobster buoys.

Pearson Ensign

While Lee stayed with the diver, Marvin borrowed the marina loaner car to drive to an ATM to get cash to pay him. Along the way he checked out the most beautiful restoration job on a Peasrson Ensign at Wild Duck Boat Works in Harpswell. The owner had renovated the boat from stem to stern and had her like new, on a new custom trailer. If only....








On this gray morning, the fog was very thick. A fishing boat was moored off our bow. When the tide or current was just right, the boat's stern was only 50' away from us. But, this morning, we could barely see it.

While waiting for the fog to lift so we could leave, the smell from the restaurant bakery wafted over the docks. Just before our departure, a dock hand arrived with hot coffee and fresh baked blueberry muffins. Muffins in the morning delivered to your door is just one of the amenities that makes the Dolphin Marina so popular.

SISU 22

We enjoyed meeting two generations of boaters at the dock who had come up from Massachusetts to cruise the coastal island paradise out of the Dolphin Marina. Tom and Judy had a boat and their son and daughter in law, Josh and Jennifer, were on a 22 SISU. Their boat was similar the SISU 26 that our friends Henry and Judy had at our home port, although Hirado was powered with a small diesel. These boats seem perfect for the Maine coast.

Destination Portsmouth; Arrival South Portland Instead

With the fog lifting, we set out for Portsmouth. Although we visited this city in a rental car on the way north, we wanted to see it by sea and also catch up with Lee's cousin, Nate and Lisa, who live in the area. Once outside the protection of the islands, it started to get bouncy. Sea swells were 3 to 5 feet and in a direction that made the ride uncomfortable. At only 20 miles away from Harpswell (about an hour's ride) we decided to head to South Portland to dock at the Spring Point Marina. Portsmouth would have been a 3-hour ride.

Check Out Wikipedia for Mola Mola

While entering the Portland shipping channel, before getting to the channel between Cushing Island and Peaks Island, Marvin saw a 10 to 12' fish jump out of the water and Lee saw the huge splash. Then we saw a fin skimming the surface, but not like a shark fin. We think it was a large mola mola or ocean sunfish. After docking, we were stopped by a Maine fisheries person at the end of the pier to ask about any fish we caught. We took that opportunity to query whether it could have been a mola mola and she said absolutely. She has had many reports of ocean sunfish being spotted and they do jump out of the water.

Sea Sprite 23

We were happy to be at this marina. The staff are friendly. And another seal popped up in the marina to greet us. The marina loaned us a truck so we could go look at a Sea Sprite 23 that Marvin found on the internet. The boat was used by a sailing school and new additions to their fleet made the Sea Sprite surplus. It was priced according to the condition and would need a bit of work to bring her back to spit and polish.

Walking along the greenway that goes around the harbor, we came to a breakwater with Bug Light (also called the Portland Breakwater Light) at the end. We didn't walk this breakwater, but instead meandered through the campus of the Southern Maine Community College to a nearby beach, Willard Beach, to collect sand. Along the way, we discovered the Old Settlers Cemetery. The community college was built on a old military installation, named Fort Preble. Young college kids were attending orientation and we enjoyed seeing their enthusiastic faces and helicopter parents dropping them off.

The marina waters were bouncy. It's a large facility with breakwaters to protect it. Yet being open to the adjacent channel meant a distant boat's wake eventually hits the docks. The otherwise calm night was interrupted by a lot of movement when a ship passed by.

Willard Beach

Diverting to Gloucester

We wanted to go to Portsmouth or Newburyport to stay the night and meet Lee's cousin Nathan and Lisa. Since it was a nice day, and looking ahead at the weather forecast, Marvin wanted to push on to Gloucester. That means, instead of a 40-mile trip, we made it nearly 80 or so to the Annisquam River entrance. However, we were sorry to miss another opportunity to visit with Nate and Lisa.

The seas were long fetches of 1 to 2' swells. But on top of the swells, there were only ripples. This is unusual for Gulf of Mexico sailors like us. It was a pleasant ride, making 20 knots or so. When we were about even with Kennebunkport, but several miles offshore, we saw northern gannets, mostly sub-adults, with the occasional beautiful white bird with black wingtips. At one point, more than 20 were circling and diving on a stretch of baitfish with harbor porpoises feeding too. It was quite a commotion! When we were off of Portsmouth, again some miles offshore, we saw a minke whale surface a couple of times. That made the day a special one.



Then, there were the Isles of Shoals to pass just south of Portsmouth. About 6 miles offshore, this is a group of privately-owned islands that straddle the New Hampshire and Maine border. Probably long used by indigenous people for fishing camps, the islands became known as Isles of Shoals after English explorer Captain John Smith sighted them 1614. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the islands were quite the location for fishing as well as the arts, hosting luminaries such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Childe Hassan.



Star Island is owned by Star Island Corporation, affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Association and United Church of Christ, and is used during the summer for conferences, held in the historic Oceanic Hotel and the chapel. Shoals Marine Laboratory is located on Appledore Island, the largest of the islands. It is also owned by the Star Island Corporation. The Marine Lab is run by Cornell University and the University of New Hampshire. Day trips to visit the island are available.

Duck Island is a national wildlife refuge, home to seals.

Aid to navigation at the North end of the Annisquam 

Tidal current is strong in the Annisquam

                                                                             


Crossing the remaining miles through Ipswich Bay, we came to the opening of the the Annisquam River that cuts through Cape Ann, where Gloucester and Rockport are located. This twisty little channel is lined with houseboats and boats on moorings, bounded to the east by homes and fringed on the west with salt marshes. On the Gloucester Bay side of the river is the Blynman Canal with its very narrow, very swift channel under the "Cut Bridge" as the locals call it.

NOTE: If the blog stops here, go to the www.shoalsailer32.blogspot.com web address. A video of the bridge is loaded. The posting of a video ends the email version of the blog and there's more to the story to read following the video. 

We reserved a slip at Cape Ann Marina just in time to snag a space ahead of a busy weekend for a music festival. Oh, how we would have liked to stay, but the harbor master made us promise to leave the next day as they were booked up for the weekend. Lee observed that most of the boats in this marina are fishing boats, mostly 20-25' range, but some were larger with tuna towers and outriggers. Usually, in the marinas we have been to, there are a mixture of cruisers on motor or sail boats of all sizes with only a few sports fisherman-type boats.

About 10 years ago, we visited the Cape Ann Marina by land when we came to Boston looking at a Hake Seward 32 sailboat. We knew we wanted to cruise more and our aging Freedom cat ketch, although a great boat, was not quite comfortable enough to cruise in. So the option would be to invest in upgrades or get a new boat. Only a few boats are acceptable for our area's shallow waters and the Seaward was one that fit our need for a shallow draft. A 4-foot draft requires us to watch the tides to go out daysailing, which is not conducive to using the boat on a whim. The waters of Apalachee Bay are shallow and have a significant tidal range for Florida.

So we considered the Seaward, with its 3' or less draft (with the centerboard up) and looked at several before we decided that it just wasn't the right boat for us. When we saw a Shannon Shoalsailer come on the market in nearby Choctawhatchee Bay, we decided to look at her, although the asking price was over our limit. As it turned out it, everything fell into place for us to take Anseo and relaunch her as Bay Breeze. We are so glad we did, especially when recently we saw our boat in a boatyard next to a Seaward 32. There was quite a difference! After Sailors Wharf finishes some work, Bay Breeze will be even more perfect for our needs.

We walked to town and enjoyed the community flower garden lining the harbor walk. Memorials to the fisherman and mariners lost at sea, as well as the wives and families of lost mariners, are prominent icons of this historic fishing community. Now, it seems commercial fishing is still a big part of the town's commerce, but restaurant and art galleries to serve tourists are supplanting the working fleet. The famous bronze of the Gloucester seaman in a foul-weather suit at the wheel is on the harbor walk, along with the names of over 5000 mariners lost at sea from the 1600s to present.

   

Gloucester wind power!

 On to Cape Cod 

 During the evening, while at Gloucester, we watched the weather closely as winds and seas were predicted to build up to a small craft advisory the next day. Our Plan A was Provincetown with Plan B being Hull, which is closer and in more protected waters. But, the morning sun came up to a clear and crisp sky and we decided to head to Provincetown.

We headed off to "P-Town", as everyone around here calls it, with slips reserved at both places just in case. If conditions became too dicey half way between Gloucester and Provincetown, we could bail to Hull. As we were 20 miles out, the seas were 3 to 5 feet with a heavy chop and white caps on top of big rollers. It was all the seas that we wanted and more, but AQUAVIT was handing it all well at 20 knots, surfing to 23 down the large swells and stalling to 17  when climbing up the waves.

The sea conditions are hard to depict in a photo.

We made the 44 nautical mile crossing of Massachusetts Bay in 2.5 hours and were so relieved when we got to the wind and wave shadow of Cape Cod for the last five miles. Pulling into the marina, refueling and being in a slip, we had made it. Nothing real dangerous, but it was an uncomfortable ride needing constant attention to steering the sea conditions as much as the course.

Lee delighted in watching a group of ~50 common eiders and a couple white-winged scoters taking shelter in the marina near our boat. If the winds were too much for these sea ducks, we get the hint.





 Weather tomorrow is predicted to be a blow with even higher seas and winds 5 to 6 feet, so we are planning to stay and enjoy the tail end of Carnival Week in Provincetown. It's downright cold in the shade and wind, but nice in the sunshine in the lee. There are more rainbow flags fluttering than we have ever seen before and the streets are filled with an interesting happy crowd. One guide book describes Provincetown has having a salty, Key West, end of the road, atmosphere. We think they're right.










It's time to catch up on laundry, blogs, and washing up AQUAVIT after a week or more without a proper cleaning. The Princeton Marina is a nice place with calm water protected by a close breakwater and wave attenuating docks.

Tomorrow we will be able to explore the town and hopeful hit the Cape Cod National Seashore to add to the sand collection, safe on shore instead of our boat on the rolling sea.

Cutting Out to Cuttyhunk

We've heard a lot about this community in the Elizabeth Islands between Martha's Vineyard and Newport, so we will head out, weather permitting, to spend a day or two there. Seems we've run out of time for our plans to visit Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. So we will be winding down Long Island Sound on our way back to New York City.


Thanks for reading!

"Sorry for writing such a long letter, I didn't have time to write a shorter one."

 - Mark Twain

08.25.2019