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 […]
We finally made it off the dock — much later in the season than we’d like, but better late than never. Fortunately, our “patience” was handsomely rewarded. We had an easy dock departure just after slack, and decided that, since it was our first day of the season, we’d keep things simple and sail under […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 – […]
I’ve been sailing for most of my life. I started out sailing sunfish on Lake Wequaquet on Cape Cod, later graduating to faster, more tender boats like the Sidewinder 16 that Melissa not-so-affectionately named Miss Manners. Eventually we bought our first keelboat – a 1974 O’Day 23 Sorcerer’s Apprentice – named for the many buckets […]
With provisions secured, we had a wonderful sail through the Deer Isle thorofare, past the lighthouse on Mark Island and over to Calderwood Island. We anchored between Calderwood and Burnt Islands just in time for golden hour. There were more boats there than we were expecting, but we found a great spot to drop the […]
The Cape Cod Canal has been a bucket list thing for both of us for years, and we were super excited to finally do it. It was a gray, damp and chilly morning, and Chris and I were dressed for full-on winter… we even put on sneakers. But nothing could dampen our spirits as we […]
We slipped the lines just before 1900, excited to return to cruising life and explore new places but sad to leave after such a short time. The temperature was SO much more comfortable as soon as we got out from behind David’s Island – it had been almost unbearably hot all week. We raised sail […]