The weather lately has been atrocious – high winds, lots of rain, and some pretty gnarly storms. We were glad to not be on the water last week, when several boats dragged and one of the American Star cruise ships broke free from the docks in Rockland. This weekend wasn’t nearly that bad, but it was still an inauspicious start to our cruise.
Saturday was off and on rain and winds, so we decided to get a late start from home. We arrived before the rain and had just enough time to get all our gear (and Jack) aboard before the showers started. We had a late lunch ashore and went up to Carousel, a local wine and cheese shop we’d been meaning to check out. We picked up a nice wine and Basque goat’s milk cheese for dinner and headed back to Windara. We had a front row seat to the Celtic Festival fireworks, which they held despite a pretty heavy rain.
Sunday started with a trip to The Only Doughnut and a massive provisioning trip to Hannaford. We came in under last year’s total of $550 ($487), but we noticed a lot of our usual staples have gone up in price. I love the process of getting Windara ready for a cruise, and it always surprises me how fast she swallows up all the provisions and gear. The wind was UP and continued to build into the early afternoon, so after we got things put away, we took some trash ashore and headed to Left Bank Bookshop (Chris forgot to bring something to read, and you can’t set sail without a good book!).
Around 4:30, the wind finally started to drop, so we jumped into high gear and got Windara prepped for departure – halyards stowed, instruments uncovered, cushions put away, pee pads out for Jack, and anything that could become a projectile while sailing safely stowed. Departure was easy, and it felt good to finally cast off the lines and start cruising. We had a lovely downwind sail under jib-only, and at times we hit as much as 8kts. It was a quick sail and we were anchor down in plenty of time to enjoy the rest of our wine and the sunset, plus grill up some tuna steaks.
Tuesday night the wind piped up and heavy rain moved through. Fortunately the wind never reached the forecast strength and the thunderstorms stayed away, so aside from a restless night listening to the gusts, it passed without incident.
Wednesday was foggy and chilly, and the schooners Mary Day and American Eagle joined us in the anchorage. The sunset was amazing – fog rolled in on either side of the cove as storms to the north sucked in all the air, making for a windy evening. But the ribbons of fog scudding along were stunning as they were lit gold by the setting sun, and I hope the guests aboard the schooners enjoyed the magic as much as we did.
Ever since our last season in the Bahamas, we’ve kept crossing paths with Acadia, who I follow on social media, but we always seemed to be headed in opposite directions. This time we finally spent enough time in the same anchorage to get together, and it was great to finally meet in person.
Although we’ve anchored in Smith Cove several times, we’d never really explored it by dinghy, so we finally decided to change that. Monday morning we puttered around the south end, spotting a seal, two eagles, and several pretty little coves. After work we headed the opposite direction, weaving between half-submerged rocks and little uninhabited islands. On another outing we explored the eastern cove and found the town dock. Finally, we headed to the beach just off our usual anchorage and discovered another access point into Holbrook Island Sanctuary. We didn’t venture far—the mosquitoes had other ideas—but now that we know it’s there, we’ll definitely be back. I even found a handful of ripe blueberries, which immediately had me looking forward to blueberry season all over again.
