Further Adventures Of SV Nutmeg

 8/4- Carver Cove, Vinalhaven ME    We had to sit through some pretty sloppy weather but we ripped ourselves away from Rockland. The storm yesterday wasn’t too bad but it did finally rain a bit as places around here are getting desperate for water. It was foggy and rainy and windy which made it a day we just hung out on the boat.      Today though dawned like a freshly cleaned window. The sun bright and the sky a bluebird kind of blue. I could see the islands for the first time in 3 days. So what should we do— go sailing of course. The wind was west south west which put it almost behind us. We sailed a big looping course as the wind freshened as changed direction as we crossed the bay. Once we got near the thoroughfare I doused the jib as it was doing nothing with the wind directly behind us. We sailed all the way through and plopped our anchor in the mud of Carver Cove.      Here’s where our rookie mistake happened. As we were backing down t...

 8/2- Rockland ME    When we last left you we were waiting out some bad weather which never really arrived. The morning after dawned bright and sunny but with no wind in the forecast. On leaving the cove we discovered a slight northern breeze which led to one thought — spinaker. For the first time in 2 years we said let’s go. It took me a while to figure everything out and get all the lines on the right sides but then with a whopp the sail filled and away we went.      We were cruising along at 4-5 knots until we came to Cape Rosier where the wind decided to take a break. It never really died though and we managed to keep the sail full and drawing. We were moving along at the stunning speed of 1-2 knots. I was glad just to be moving. The breeze eventually filled and and we strolled down Penobscot bay at a leisurely pace with just the spinaker flying. We now had to gibe the sail which is always a challenge with a spinaker. It went amazingly smoothly and we w...

 7/29- Tom Codd Cove, Holbrook Island Preserve, Brooksville, ME     We got Alayne back from her family reunion and we decided to head out. Of course there was less than no wind in Rockland so we decided to hang until lunch time and see what gives. We were thinking of heading over to Roche Island but the forecast had nothing but east wind in it. We instead thought we head up to Holbrook where we had a mooring and wait out this storm.      The wind piped up nicely as we left Rockland behind and we raced out across the bay. Once we cleared the buoy and turned north the wind was directly behind us. This is not my favorite point of sail but it had us going along at 6 knots in the right direction so … We got about halfway when the wind petered out and we motored onto our mooring.      We were the only boat around except for a couple further down the bay. That would change the next day as we watched about 15 other boats pour into the two anchorages....

 7/24- Rockland ME   We hung around Rockland for a while as usual. There was more bad weather predicted so we just decided to hang and wait for it to pass. We did spend a day blueberry picking up on Beech Hill and then we walked out on the breakwater to see the inside of the lighthouse. They did open it but the woman who opens the door to the lighthouse never showed.      The big storm was pretty much a bust here though I guess other places had it rough. About the only real effect was a night of rolling and bouncing. There was no wind but the wind was strong out at sea and it drove an uncomfortable swell in to the harbor.     We finally dropped the mooring lines and headed down past Owls Head and Mussel Ridge. The wind was primarily out of the west and it shot us along even through the narrow passages. We hit over 8 knots at times and hovered around 7 knots a good part of the time. Once we cleared the last buoy and were on open ocean the wind pipe...

 7/19- Rockland ME    Well the last week or so has been interesting to say the least. We ventured out and sailed across the bay to Carver Cove where we sat for a couple of days. The wind has been west and northwest for quite a long time now which is unusual. We enjoyed ourselves in Carvers as we dinghied in to a beach we hadn’t known was public. It had a nice little walk through the woods in some sort of preserve.     The wind was still west. In the morning so we put a reef in to try out the new sail. We just had the stay sail up for now as we anticipated tacking through the thoroughfare. We would have made it except for the very narrow section where we ran out of room. Mr Perkins came to the rescue and once we cleared the buoy we sailed the rest of the way. Once we were past the 26 buoy we ran up the head sail and took off for Rockland. While we were tacking out we crossed paths with another CD 36 with the same sail configuration up. It was a bumpy crossin...

 7/9- Rockland ME    The rest of our trip went pretty well. With the forecast of east wind we took off early. It was light at first but the wind eventually came around and once we cleared the buoy at the end of the harbor it was right behind us. I tried a bunch of things to get the jib working but finally just retired it. With just the main up we were doing 4.5 knots. We cruised through the dreaded Casco passage with no problem and turned up into the Eggemoggin Reach. I poled out the jib and put a preventer on the main as the wind was directly behind us. This worked for a bit but we had to adjust course around some buoys and again we just rolled up the jib. We cruised right up to Bucks Harbor where we took a mooring.      This must be the magnet place for Cape Dories as there were 3 right in a row on moorings and at least 3 or 4 others in the harbor. It was a pretty quiet night and morning.      We left a little early and just sat for a coupl...