Exploring Birch and Dix Islands We slipped past Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse on a flat, calm morning. The sea reflected the sky and the Camden Hills like a mirror. Warm morning light bathed Owls Head and its pretty little lighthouse as we motored around the point. The trip to the Dix Island anchorage was uneventful, aside […]
Preparing for a cruise is a major endeavor. There’s always something to be fixed, gear to load and stow, checklists to follow and provisions to buy. We spent Saturday tackling all of the above – loading in clothes, kitchen staples, and food taken from our apartment; getting the small propane canisters for our grill; and doing […]
Our sail to Calderwood was beautiful and we were surprised to find only one other boat at anchor. We anchored about in the same spot we did last year and dinghied ashore for a quick walk on the beach. I would have loved to wander the island’s interior, but with everyone talking about ticks this […]
Early Monday morning, we said goodbye to MDI, cautiously optimistic that in a couple of days, we’d be able to cross off one of our Maine cruising “must dos”. As I took in the parting views, I couldn’t help but notice how perfect of a subject the hazy mountains of Acadia would be for a […]
Our first day in Bar Harbor was foggy and chilly, and we spent a lot of time relaxing in the cockpit, watching the fog come and go. One of our goals this season is to break out all the stuff we’ve been lugging around and decide whether or not it’s worth keeping, so we finally […]
Saturday’s forecast was miserable and we were getting low on provisions, so we took advantage of the Island Explorer bus system to go grocery shopping in Bar Harbor. It would have been a relatively quick trip, but we misread the schedule and ended up waiting on the side of the road for an hour, then […]
Before kicking off my work day, we made the short hop on a windless morning past Stonington and over to Hells Half Acre. I was curious to see whether I’d love it as much on a second visit, and the answer was a resounding “Hell yes”. Windara was the only boat there, and I was […]
So many of our cruising friends told us Seal Bay needed to be on our list, and we were excited to visit a new-to-us anchorage (my only “requirement” for this trip was to get in at least one new anchorage, so mission accomplished). Tucked into the Vinalhaven coastline, the deep water channel is relatively narrow […]
Splash “We’re clear” – words I haven’t spoken in about nine months. As the mooring line slipped clear of our bow, a weight slipped clear of my soul. We motored out the channel and past the scattered lobster traps, then rolled out the jib for a lazy sail to Castine. There was patchy fog – […]
After a long winter, Windara finally launched on May 12. I couldn’t wait for her to be back afloat, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t feeling at least some conflicting emotions. What would it be like to transition back to boat life after a long period of shore life? Would I still […]