Further Adventures Of SV Nutmeg

 8/13- Belfast ME    The weather played a big role in today’s plans. There was no wind scheduled to blow until later in the afternoon. There were thunderstorms predicted to hit Belfast later in the afternoon. This combination of events led us to quickly scamper out of Brooksville and motor across the bay. It was truly flat calm and we had the tide with us so we made Belfast by 1:00pm.     This is an odd harbor as there is a great deal of current in the river and when the wind opposes the tide weird things happen. As the wind picked up a bit this afternoon the waves built quickly. The boat must have circled the  mooring ball 3 or 4 times twisting and turning as the current battled the wind.     We all got together for a nice meal in town before heading to the park for some music. The thunderstorm missed us but went on to ravage several towns further south. When the skies cleared and the retreating clouds were lit by the sun it was surreal...

 8/12- Bucks Harbor Marina, Brooksville ME    The spectacular weather continued this morning as we woke to crystal blue skies but alas no wind. We finally just said what the heck and departed. We motored out of the harbor and around the first nun before we ran up the yankee. It took a couple of tacks but we finally made the buoy when the wind decided to take a rest. We drifted across most of Jericho Bay at around 2 knots. Once we neared the Eggemoggin the wind picked up but it was right on the nose. We tacked a bunch of times in some rather flaky winds. Once we cleared Brooklin Boat yard we got on a long tack. Several times I told Alayne to get ready to tack as we neared a buoy but we got lifted just enough to get by. I never thought we would clear the buoy at the Benjamin River but once by the ATON the wind shifted south and we flew under the bridge on a broad reach right into Bucks Harbor.     We met up with the rest of the crews who all had similar exper...

 8/11- Swans Island ME   The wind was up early this morning but it didn’t get too far up. We waited around until 9:30 or so and thought we detected a wisp of a breeze. It was of course directly behind us which is a poor point of sail for us. After dodging a few bunkers we finally got to run the head sail out and ran wing on wing for a bit. Once we turned the corner we ran down Jericho Bay quite nicely. By the time we got near the harbor entrance the wind was steadily decreasing but we managed to sail right into the harbor.     It’s been quite a while since we have been in here so we picked up a mooring with a soda bottle for paying. We then hustled over and walked up to an old quarry where we went for a swim. The water was warm and fresh and it felt good to just lay in the water.     After a nice nap we dinghied back over to the other side for a group lobster dinner. It was a kind of unusual place. It was called lobster in the rough. The guy cooke...

 8/10- Camp/Bold Islands, Stonington ME    It was another windless morning so we went to shore and had a walk around the park. We did manage to get some boat chores accomplished. Then we just bided our time waiting on the wind. We got a little antsy and decided to head out. The wind was light but usable. It was another circumstance where we sailed in a big arc as the wind increased it slowly shifted. We mosied across the bay and once on the other side we found it confusing amongst the islands so we put the motor on.     We chugged into this bay which is between three or four islands. It was low tide so it looked like a big bowl. A couple of the islands go mostly underwater at high tide. Most of the rest of the cruise participants were anchored and we got together on a boat and had a cocktail hour.      We only did about 10 miles today and maybe less tomorrow though the forecast calls for more wind in the morning. As this bay is next to Stonin...

 8/9- Banks Cove, North Haven ME    The wind went missing again and just as we were getting ready to depart we heard some thunder. We decided to hang around until after the storm went past. It turned out to be not much of a storm just sprinkling a little. We called on Mr Perkins as there was no wind again but there was a layer of fog. The fog rose up out of the water to just about boat height. We got to practice a bit with our radar as we motored back into Rockland.      The Cape Dory cruise was getting underway tonight so we did some quick provisioning. We had a nice dinner at the Camden Yacht Club.       The wind was again slow to wake up. Once we left it was a nice if somewhat slow sail across the bay. We sailed through the Fox Thoroughfare and caught a nice breeze on the other side and after a quick jibe we set the hook down in what I had been calling Mullen Bay but we found out is called Banks Cove. We met up with friends and had an...

 8/7- Dix Island, ME    We were waiting for the nonexistent wind to make an appearance when we changed plans and headed to Hurricane Island. We motored the whole way winding our way through some narrow passages and many rocks and islands. We passed by the infamous Basin which is a large bay with only a tiny entrance. You can only enter at slack high tide so we trudged onwards.     Hurricane Island is a marine research facility that specializes in educational opportunities. We took a hike through the old quarries before retiring to the boat. It was a rolly and bouncy night as the moorings are exposed to the ocean especially at high tide.     The morning proved no better wind wise so we took another hike around the island. After some lunch we decided to head out and we had a nice sail across the bay. We were close hauled the whole way but the wind kept shifting so we ended up sailing a big arc right into the Dix  Island anchorage. We met u...