We arrived in Belfast just in time for slack, exactly as we’d hoped. We were lucky to score a coveted spot on the face dock, and Bob was there to catch our lines, although this time there was enough space that I would have felt comfortable jumping off to handle the lines if he hadn’t been there. It felt strange to be back, and I was definitely feeling all the emotions. It hardly seemed possible that the season was over, and I was in no rush to move off the boat and head back to Portsmouth. At the same time, we were starting to see temps falling into the 30s in the forecast, so I knew it was time.
Sunday morning dawned flat calm — perfect conditions for dealing with the jib. I got Chris up and we got moving immediately; I didn’t even stop to make coffee for fear the breeze would fill in before we could get started.
Taking down the jib is one of my least favorite tasks. Since we have four vertical battens, we can’t just drop the sail onto the deck. We have to lower it slowly, removing each batten as we go. Then comes folding, which has to happen from the foot of the sail (widest part) upward toward the head (narrowest part).
If the wind is light enough — and if the sail comes down neatly — you can sometimes fold it on deck. The other option is transferring it to the dock, but that means first removing the entire thing and trying to wrestle a mountain of slippery sailcloth piled on itself while making sure nothing falls in the water or snags on a stanchion.
Neither option is easy, and we consider the operation a success if we’re still speaking to each other by the time the sail is back in its bag.
This time, we decided to fold it on deck, and while it wasn’t exactly pretty, it worked surprisingly well. After breakfast, Chris got to work removing the main while I cleaned and packed below. Most of his day disappeared into wrestling the sail free from the Antal slider cars, but once it was finally down, we removed the battens and folded it on the dock. Compared to the jib, the main is much easier to handle because it’s already midships (which is closer to the dock) and it has horizontal battens, and for once the whole process went relatively smoothly.
Once both sails were finally bagged, we headed to Marshall Wharf to celebrate a sail removal that did not require marriage counseling afterward.
I still couldn’t quite bring myself to leave, so we agreed to head out after work on Tuesday instead. My plan was to spend our last day cleaning and taking care of a few final projects before shutting everything down for the season.
We grabbed a quick breakfast at Tracy’s Diner before returning to Windara to pickle the watermaker — which immediately went sideways. We forgot to release the pressure valve, and as the system started circulating antifreeze, the Clark pump failed spectacularly, giving the garage, and poor Chris, an antifreeze shower.
Unfortunately, antifreeze is an excellent medium for mildew growth, so I ended up taking an emergency day off work to deal with the mess. I’d been meaning to give the garage a deep clean eventually… just not while trying to move off the boat. It took the entire day, but by the time Chris finished work that evening, I had managed to empty, scrub, and reorganize everything.
Reflecting on this season, we are truly spoiled. Spending the last two months — along with our earlier cruise — exploring the Maine coast felt like an incredible gift. Looking through the photos and thinking back on all the places we visited and experiences we had, it’s hard to imagine anything better. Of course I’m sad to put Windara away for the winter, but having these past few months in exchange makes it absolutely worth the trade.
Being able to take our time, sail where the wind took us and only have a vague notion of a plan was such a luxury. If we woke up and didn’t feel like leaving — or the weather looked questionable — we stayed without feeling stressed. We added places to the itinerary on a whim and skipped others that would have made the trip feel hurried.
That’s one of the wonderful things about cruising in Maine: you’ll never get to everywhere you want to go in a single season — maybe not even in a lifetime — and that just means there will always be somewhere new waiting next year. I already can’t wait to see where next season takes us.