I received this beautiful orchid for mother’s day. I have to admit that I killed it before Father’s day but enjoyed it while it lasted. Maybe it didn’t like the boat environment.
Foxy
Reclining
Random Orchid Photos
Sailing
Blog entries while sailing
Seguin
Fat and juicy
Loki planning the next leg of the trip
Damariscove Museum
Flaming shrub
P9160056.JPG
Damariscove collection
Shirley imagining life ashore
Boat organizer
Narrow bascule bridge with crazy current
Water Lily in the cove
The thinker on the bench we built
Autumn colors
All in all we are having a wonderful time cruising, with the cats, but last week I had a run in with a boat hook and fractured my cheek bone. I was basically OK until I blew my nose and my cheek puffed out. That was it for Tim, I was off to the Mid Coast Hospital ER, where I had my very first CT – I have the CD here for those quiet nights when we run out of NetFlix. Friends and staff couldn’t have been nicer. Cyndy picked me up from the ER and Ethan replaced the broken boat hook with one made of Ash, just like the Lousiville sluggers.
Tim was feeling a little sheepish because he thought people may have thought he was responsible for my disfigurment but when we stopped at a Marina in Maine, the first thing they suspected was that we had run aground and that I had been tossed around. Mainers!
I want to live everywhere we have been. We have been to offshore islands and beautiful coves. We’ve seen beautiful sunrises and sunsets. A few nights ago, Tim could hear seals breathing and diving next to the boat. Last night was a bit of a disaster because for various reasons cat litter went flying. Now the cockpit has never been so clean.
Where’ve ya been?
I’ve been under the radar or at least without internet for the past week. We left Salem, MA 9/3 and sailed out through the Annisquam Canal to Massachusetts Bay. We had a couple of short sailing days, to Plum Island and Harmon Harbor, NH, the home of the Seabrook nuclear plant, the narrowest bascule bridge with rip currents and power boats only.
From there we’ve enjoyed reunions with old friends. We sailed to Isles of Shoals, which is in both NH and Maine and picked up a mooring for a night. We met up with Malcolm and Carl, who were heading south after their sail in Maine. We walked around Appledore and enjoyed the garden of Celia Thaxter, which has been recreated. Star Island has a large facility for religous retreats and we had dinner there. Isles of Shoals is about 9 miles out of Portsmouth, NH and there have been some grizzly events there over the years. One is retold in Weight of Water.
Weather was forecasted to get rough so we only stayed one night and then headed back to last year’s lighthouse, Seguin Island, ME, 57 miles away. It was wonderful to head to the lighthouse from the water with that marking our destination. We saw whales and dolphins along the way. We could see the island from about 16 miles out. We spent a rocky night in the cove and walked the island. Tim thought it looked smaller than last year, kind of like seeing the bathrooms in your old elementary school. But it was great to be back there. We needed to provision and headed into Casco Bay to Sebasco Harbor. We picked up a mooring and took advantage of all the shore amenities, laundry, shower, internet, restaurants. Shirley tried to jump ship when we were at the dock, She jumped onto the dock but quickly returned to the boat. We even went for a bicycle ride and were greeted by an old friend, Ethan, who knew it could only be us on our goofy fold up bikes. We returned to Seguin and met the Friends of Seguin there because it was lighthouse day in Maine and then they were closing up the island. We reconnected with Cyndy, Connie, Dave and Linda and Jim.
We toured the lighthouse and marvelled at the wonder of the fresnel lens. We had a delicious lobster dinner and each ate 2 lobsters! It was foggy so we got to hear the foghorn and see the umbrella effect of the light. We hiked the trails and picked up the trail markers. There was even a bald eagle on the rocks. Our experience was complete. The next day we put away furniture and boarded up the house.
Yesterday we had a great sail to Squirrel Island. We went ashore and ran and hiked around the island. We are taking advantage of good internet connection this am while we charge our batteries with the generator and then we are sailing off to Damariscove Island.
Photos to follow
Moving Day
We are moving for a change. We finished all this year’s projects and winterized and stormproofed the house. Then we hauled our stuff down to the beach in wheelbarrows and took several dinghy trips out to the Boston Whaler. We moved everything onto the S/V Water Lily and ran lots of errands in town getting her in shape for the trip. It was more tiring than any day doing work on the island- the running around part.We spent a night on the mooring in the harbor. When we finally untied our mooring lines for good, it was 6:30 pm. We headed back to familiar territory and spent a night offshore. It was a full moon and we got to see it rise over the house.
It was a very exciting day for me because I got to speak to my favorite knitting podcaster, Kelley Petkun from Knit Picks. It was like talking to an old friend. It made me realize how much fun it is to talk to other knitters. Tim always expresses interest when I show him my lated lace stitch or spun yarn swatch …but it’s just not the same. I look forward to hearing it. It was more exciting for me than when I was on TV or the radio related to my medical practice.
We had a great sail today. It was a glorious fall day, although the wind was fairly gentle–did I just say that!! I hope it doesn’t come to get me while we sail in Maine this fall. Most of the stuff is stowed on the boat, under everything. Once again I stopped storing things when I could no longer use my head to hold up covers to storage compartments. We are at a lovely anchorage now, surrounded by wetlands and apparently all the seagulls land on only one boat.
Whaler loaded with our stuff
Rising Moon
Parting Shot
No time for time out
Cats on a Cat
Well it’s finally happened. Both cats have joined us on Water Lily. We aren’t sailing but are moored in Salem, MA waiting to go out to the lighthouse. Shirley has explored the boat and we can see her walking around the salon. Loki is social but hides when he hears anything. He also can’t figure out the steps. I think they are called ship stairs. Each tread has a cut out over the one below it that alternates so they only take up the square footage of one step. He can’t make the turn and just jumps down to the floor with a thud.
The Hurricane Barrier Shut
We were safely tucked in the boat and it was windy outside. Tim looked out to the barrier and noticed the opening getting smaller. Then we heard a fishing boat call the control people and they told him the barrier was closed until the morning. A Tow Boat called to get in but graciously accepted the news that the harbor was closed for the night. DH thought it was merely a practice run but we learned later that it was due to a tidal surge and was for real. I never slept better.
It’s too windy?
We sailed north across Buzzards Bay with tail wind and headed straight for Marion, MA. There was some fog and then when we got near the coast and of course another sailboat race was under way. Boats looked confused, heading and tacking in all directions. Guns went off and the race began and then the committee and spectator boats headed back to the harbor! We had just seen the start of the Biennial Marion to Bermuda race and boats had come out to the bay to watch them take off. We ran and explored Marion. There’s a great one class design boat here. I think it’s a Hereschoff design, very cute with a self tending jib and gaff rigged main. They dot the harbor here and in Woods Hole.
We listened to the weather reports and a gale was predicted so we headed to a mooring in New Bedford where we did laundry and went shopping. There’s a hurricane barrier at the mouth of the harbor that protects it and us and is the largest stone structure in the northeast.
We organized the boat and turned the second state room into an actual room and stowed everything that was on the bed under it. I stowed my spinning wheel, which I haven’t used once since we’ve been on the boat. I’m just too busy. We went for a run along the harbor and saw signs referring to a monument to Joshua Slocum but couldn’t find the monument. He was the first to sail around the world alone in 1895 and wrote a classic book about it. He rebuilt the boat near here.
Joshua Slocum's boat rebuilt in Farihaven, MA
The harbor is full of huge fishing boats. This morning at 6:45, I was awakened by a voice telling me and everyone on the party fishing boat via loudspeaker that it was going to rain and get very windy today. Tonight we are swinging around the mooring but are secure. He was right.
Menemsha and Gay Head, Martha’s Vineyard
We filled the water tanks and headed to Menemsha, Martha’s Vineyard. This was another beautiful island. We took a town mooring in the middle of the commercial fishing harbor and were awakened each morning by the Coasties testing out all their horns, whistles and loudspeakers. DH made a stealth move to the delight of others moored in the harbor and himself, and used a bungee cord to quiet another boat’s slapping halyard. it just goes to show you, it’s always something.
Menemsha is where Jaws and Jaws 2 were filmed but didn’t see any fins circling our anchorage. We rode our fold up bikes to the beach and Gay Head. We kept right up there with the cyclists on their 10 speeds and then we hit the food market on our way back to the boat.
Reindeer crossing
Gay Head Martha’s Vineyard
Gay Head Light
Tonight we are safely tucked into another quiet anchorage in Wood’s Hole. We’ve been exploring the Elizabeth Islands, shich are privately owned by the Forbes family. More importantly, this may be the place where Merino sheep were first brought to the United States by Mr. Bowdoin in Thomas Jefferson’s day!!! I may have to take out the spinning wheel after all. We’ve seen horses, sheep and cows and heard the wildest animal sounds last night. We awakened to winds and later rain so we’ve had a quiet day of projects and tooling around in the dinghy. DH was a good samaritan and towed in a couple on a runabout boat whose motor stalled – with our 3.3 hp engine and port a bote!
Island and North Country Life 