Further Adventures Of SV Nutmeg

 6/30- Jewell Island ME    We have arrived in Casco Bay for sure. This is the land of lobster pots, rocks, and pine trees. We had plenty of lobster pots to avoid on the trip over. There was again no wind to be had so we motored. Having the autopilot was great for a while but when the lobster traps started getting close together we had to steer.  The rocky shoreline of Jewell Island appeared as waves crashing over the rocks. It’s a little disconcerting to see waves breaking right where you are supposed to be headed. The anchorage here is lined by cliffs on one side and more rocks on the other. It is very narrow and boats can only anchor in a line down the middle. Fortunately it was a Monday and there were only a couple of other boats here. This is a very popular spot on the weekends with it being close by Portland. The ten foot tide makes it feel like you just slid down a crack somewhere.     We dinghied up to the beach and took a proper walk in the woo...

 6/29- Biddeford Pool ME   We delayed leaving a while this morning due to some fog. We figured if we couldn’t see the shore we probably shouldn’t leave. It lightened up about an hour later and shore came into view. Away we go. The river entrance was filled with about 7 or 8 boats all trying to fish in the same narrow spot. After picking our way through that mess we turned down east.     There was virtually no wind so we motored the whole way. There were some bigger swells every once in a while but mostly we quartered the waves which steadied the boat a bit.     We took a mooring in the outer harbor of the Pool and took the launch into town. We went for a short walk but after a while all these 3 million dollar homes look alike. We did stop at the market which is very close to the yacht club. The prices though rival the grocery store in NE harbor as the most expensive grocery store ever.     So far the night has been quiet and we hope...

 6/28- Kittery ME    If last night didn’t make us seasick I’m not sure what will. The wind picked up a bit and blew right in the mouth of the river. So when the tide went out it produced these short 2-3 waves that were really close together. The boat lined up and took these bow on and then hobby horsed like a bucking bronco. I didn’t notice it much sitting in the salon but when I went to bed in the v-berth it was impressive. The bow of the boat was going up and down a good 6-8 feet going over every wave. What was really impressive though was that we both fell right asleep. Towards morning when the tide starting going out the wind died so that turned the boat sideways to the swell. Now it rolled side to side. At least we stayed in our bunks and didn’t end up on the floor. No mal de mer this time!     It was rainy and foggy all day. The fog was so dense it felt like it was raining when it was just water condensing out of the air. We just hung around the boat ...

 6/27- Kittery ME   We voyaged over to New Hampshire again this morning. This time the launch driver (Russ) took us all the way in to the town docks in Portsmouth. As he dropped us off at the dock I recognized the boat sitting there which was Mickey Finn. This is a beautiful wooden yawl about 48’ long. We had known the previous owners through the Cape Dory cruises. We had a nice chat with the new owner.      We walked into the town going past some gorgeous flower gardens. Everything is fresh and blooming right now. This is a very historic section of Portsmouth and there were many very old buildings. There is a section of town called Strawberry Bankes which is preserved in some way and honors indigenous peoples that were here.      We walked through the downtown on our way to the grocery store. Even on the walk back there are a lot of old well kept homes here. People seem to have some pride in the appearance of there houses. We also noticed plenty ...

 6/26- Kittery ME    It certainly was cooler this morning which was refreshing. We took a launch ride over to New Hampshire today to see what was going on over there. We walked around on New Castle Island. This is a very old community as we walked by several houses that were dated from the 1600’s. There are a lot of very nice homes here with rather spectacular gardens. We wandered down to a nice park that had a fine sand beach.      After going back to Maine we just read and napped away our afternoon. It sputtered rain off and on most of the afternoon. We are hanging here to wait out the weather that is coming this weekend. It is also considerably cheaper to stay here than anywhere around Portland. So now we wait for the nice south wind to reappear. 

 6/25- Pepperrell Cove, Kittery ME, Portsmouth Yacht Club    The morning started out great. We headed off with all three sails up on a nice close reach which settled right on the rhumb line. This was going to be great until the wind simply evaporated. The gulf was like a piece of glass. Oh well sails down motor on and into Portsmouth we went.     We did see an interesting thing on the way. We came upon an object in the water which when we got up to it turned out to be a porpoise just lying with its blow hole out of the water. We almost ran it over before it woke up and dove out of sight. It must have been a rough night last night for it to be snoozing at 10 in the morning.      We took a mooring on the Kittery side of the river which is in Maine. We did take a launch ride over to New Hampshire later in the afternoon. The currents here can be really fierce as I can attest from the last time we were here.      While it was hot al...

 6/25- Sandy Bay, Rockport MA   We crossed by the twin lighthouses that mark the end of Cape Ann in Massachusetts thus entering the Gulf of Maine. With nary a cloud in the sky we set off this morning hoping to do some sailing. We motored for an hour then sailed for an hour then motored for an hour. Anyway you get the picture. The wind was light and until the sun got high in the sky it was very pleasant.      Once we rounded Cape Ann and headed for shore it was like someone turned a heat gun on you. Last night the wind blew off the ocean and made for a relatively cool night for sleeping. Today, however, the wind was blowing over the land which was experiencing a heat wave. The breeze was like a blow torch.     It was, in fact , so hot that Alayne went swimming. Well let’s just say she got wet. That is the first time on this trip for either of us. I did manage to take a dip yesterday.     Rockport is home to a place I always called Mo...

 6/23- Scituate MA    Well we woke the sun up this morning. In what turned out to be a gross miscalculation I figured we would need a couple of hours to get through the canal. It turns out we did the whole thing in forty minutes. I had dragged poor Alayne out of bed way too early.     The corner where you join the canal from Onset has always been problematic and today was no exception. A fisherman decided to drift right across the opening as we approached. When the current hit us we turned right at him and it was all I could do to miss him. He was probably cursing at me but by that time we were so far down stream it didn’t matter. We were about the only ones in the canal so we just shot down the middle.     Once in Cape Cod Bay the water turned to glass. We ran into a bit of fog but there was no wind to be found. Due to our early start we pulled into Scituate around 11:00am. We almost had to wait for someone to clear off our mooring.  ...

 6/22- Onset MA   The wind was again the reason we decided to stay put for another day. There had been small craft warnings issued for Buzzards Bay. The bay here was frothing with white caps most of the afternoon. It made for some pretty wet dinghy rides. I felt kind of bad for a lot of the folks that showed up here hoping for a repeat of yesterday only to find they were not going anywhere. The beaches were considerably emptier as the wind from over the ocean was chillier.     The other reason we hung out today was to time the canal currents. The flood began too late in the day for us to get anywhere once we got out of the canal. By waiting a day it gives us a chance to do it in the daylight. Flood begins somewhere around 2 am and the ebb starts at 8:30am. So we hope to rise with the sun and catch the last of the flood through the canal.     With it being the solstice and a new moon the tides will be rather high and so will the currents. Hopefully...

 6/21- Safe Harbor Onset, Onset MA   Happy solstice today to everyone. It was a beautiful sunny day unfortunately with just a little wind. We motored out through the hurricane gate saying goodbye to New Bedford. We got out past the point and we ran up the head sail. We drifted along for about a half an hour until the wind filled in a bit. I think the fastest we got was 2.7 knots. That was fine as it was very pleasant just bobbing along. We did this until around noon then we packed it in and called for Mr Perkins.     We were also reminded in this stretch why we don’t like to travel on Saturdays. There is a long channel that leads to the canal and there were plenty of boats to fill it up. It was the first nice weekend day in quite some time so I’m sure it was the first time out for a lot of these folks.      The current was flooding strong as we neared the turn off for Onset. This turn has thrown me before. I mean literally thrown me as the current...

 6/20- New Bedford MA    The wind was fierce this morning as it had been all night. I never sleep all that well when I have to listen to the mooring lines creaking and squeaking. It didn’t let up much this morning either. At least the wind turned a more NW which gave us a break as we were behind the dock in that direction. We took the opportunity to get in the dinghy and get to shore.      We walked into New Bedford over the bridge and into the old part of town. The cobblestone streets and old buildings made this an interesting walk. We ended up at the Whaling museum.      The museum was enlightening as to the actual size of these things. I know what a 60 foot long object looks like but to think that was a living being was just incredible. The most amazing part of all this to me is that us puny humans decided that they needed to hunt and kill these monster beings. Then to do it with these tiny (comparatively) harpoons in these again tiny row ...

 6/19- Pope Island Marina, New Bedford MA   We got up to guess what this morning. I couldn’t even see the boat next to us. Everything on the boat was dripping water. It may not have rained but you could hear the water droplets landing on the deck. Even inside the cabin stuff was just covered with moisture.     We waited a bit and then said what the heck and took off. We did get to sail most of the way as the wind had a bit of a push in it. It kept looking like it wanted to clear up but we became an advertisment for virtual buoys. We must have gone by a half dozen buoys and never saw a one. Again the best we could figure was a little under a 1/4 mile visibility.     As we neared the channel for New Bedford we went by several buoys that we only saw when we were within 100 yards or so. Once we cleared the last set of channel markers miraculously the skies cleared and it became a bright sunshiny day.     New Bedford has this big breakwa...

 6/18- Cutty Hunk MA    This morning was a continuation of yesterday’s weather.  When I looked out I could not see the shore and I could only barely pick out the boats next to me. Time to go back to bed. Except we had a rather long way to go today so we got fired up and thought about heading out. Trouble was I couldn’t see the entrance. Fortunately with our chart plotter and radar we didn’t need to see it.     Once we cleared the last buoy we put up the main sail. As there was very little wind this was more to make ourselves visible than anything else. Once we rounded the bar on the north end of the island we shut down the motor and raised the sails. This got us exactly nowhere. The booms were slatting back and forth and we were doing 1.5 knots. I had hoped it might fill in a bit but nothing doing and we woke Mr Perkins back up.      About an hour later we caught up and passed our friends from Block and they were sailing fine. So again I...

 6/17- Block Island RI    The fog was darn thick this morning though I could still see shore. It wasn’t looking like it was going to be a nice sunny warm day. We decided to brave the weather and head into town.     Alayne wanted to take a shower which was conveniently located on the other side of town. We had to walk the mile and a half to get to the only shower for transients in the harbor. You have to use tokens to get water and it was reported that while she got water it was not heated to an acceptable level.      So then we walked back past all these stores selling the same trinkets as everywhere else except these say Block Island on them. Alas you’ve heard this rant from me before.      We have to get out of here soon as there is a money leak out of my wallet. It started slow put it is picking up the longer we stay here. This place is designed to separate you from your money and it is doing a pretty fair job of it.  E...

 6/16- Block Island RI    We are in a holding pattern here waiting for the wind to change direction. It was quite chilly this morning as I didn’t want to get out of bed. The fog blew in and out as the wind continued from the east.     It took a while for someone to come and take our money this morning. Apparently they are just now getting this place up to speed. They only got the moorings in a couple of weeks ago and they are as short staffed as everyone else.       We dinghied in and went for a walk into town. For a place that’s just getting going it was pretty busy. Traffic was fairly constant even for a Monday. It eventually turned into summer once the sun came out but the wind continued hard out of the east.      When we pulled in yesterday we noticed a boat that belongs to friends that we met last year on our way south. We met up with them in town and had a nice lunch. They are headed to Maine also.     It l...

 6/15- Block Island RI   There were several reasons why we wanted to head over to Block Island today. One was I was tired of sitting on the boat in front of Watch Hill. I checked and Taylor was watching some hockey game somewhere so she wasn’t giving an impromptu concert anytime soon. Two the wind was predicted to be NE which would have given us a nice broad reach all the way across the Sound. Alas old King Neptune had other ideas and just about the time we got out of Napatree the wind shifted SE exactly the direction we were headed. Three we had to get out of Napatree while we could because of the tide. There is a very shallow, read too shallow, spot on the entrance to the bay. We could only get over this within an hour or two of high tide. High tide was at one today and two tomorrow etc so if we wanted to be able to go somewhere once we got out it had to be today.     Of course because we had to wait for the tide at Napatree it put us into the flood current at...

 6/14- Napatree Bay, Westerly RI    Not much doing today as the wind and rain pinned us right here. We barely even left the cabin as it was rainy and chilly all day. It was a fine day to catch up on all the naps I’ve been missing lately. It was too rough and wet to even consider going in to the beach so we napped and read and basically did nothing all day.      Tomorrow we hope to head over to Block Island. We are doing this mostly because the wind is forecasted to be NE which would put the wind on our beam. If all holds true it would be nice. We do have to wait until noon for the tide to come in so we can get over the bar at Sandy Point.     I have been learning a lot about tides and currents and the differences between them. The current changes do not always coincide with the tide changes. I bought a book called Eldridge which is now my bible. It gives detailed charts of currents at various times as well as current changes in different loca...

 6/13- Napatree Point, Westerly RI   We hadn’t planned to get up this early but there was all kinds of fishing activity going on next to the boat. There were at least 5 boats all cruising around with cast nets fishing for menhaden. They use these for bait. But all the shouting and motoring at 5:30 in the morning got old. It did get us off to an early start though.     The sound was glassy this morning as we exited the Connecticut River. We shot out the inlet and then had to fight the flood the rest of the day. We went by all the old haunts from the Mystic Whaler days.     The corner at the entrance to Napatree Bay or Little Narragansett Bay is tight and very shallow. Of course someone has to anchor right in the middle of what little channel there was and then a big cabin cruiser was coming the other way. It got exciting there for a minute but we entered at almost high tide so we just cruised over the shallow spot.      After anchori...

 6/12- North Cove, Old Saybrook CT    We finally got a day to go sailing so we were up early. We were not as early as some though as we passed by Bay Explorer on our way out of the channel. The wind as it turned out was directly behind us. This is not a good point of sail for us but I put a preventer on the main and poled the Yankee out and we went wing on wing. We followed the rumb line for nine hours.     It was a pretty nice day and the wind was good and we were averaging 4-5 knots. As the wind picked up so did the waves and it got a little bumpy. Once we neared the CT shore the waves were not unsubstantial. So now I had to derig everything which turned out to be a lot easier than I thought. Also as we neared the shore the current turned in our favor and we flew along.      Of course this only lasted until we hit the inlet and we were hammered to a stop. We eventually plowed through and turned up into North Cove. This is a harbor of refuge...

 6/11- Port Jefferson NY   We didn’t have far to go today so we lazed around and had a nice breakfast. We were only going about 20 miles to Port Jeff. The reason for this is that the anchorages on the CT shore would be pretty exposed to the south wind that is predicted to pipe up later. The really good reason is that hopefully tomorrow the wind will blow SW and we can sail across the sound.     Port Jeff is where we had one of our biggest misadventures. This happened some 25 years ago so the statute of limitations has expired. We were motoring up the sound watching the building clouds when we started getting warnings on the radio. We were racing to get into Port Jeff before the storm hit but we were way too late. It hit just as we entered the channel. The weather service later said that they clocked 70 mph winds. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t that bad but I had to put on my swim mask in order to see anything. Alayne and the kids were down below while I struggled to ...

 6/10- Northport NY    It wasn’t raining when we got up this morning so we decided to head out. It rained on us a bit as we motored up the sound as the wind was light. The chop was up also as the tide opposed what little wind there was. As we turned in to Northport harbor we happened to look back. That’s something we shouldn’t have done. The sky was black as could be and we were still an hour away from the mooring. We sweated it out but the storm just past by us to west and we didn’t feel a single drop.      We called on the radio to get our mooring assignment and we couldn’t figure out what the guy was saying. I don’t know if it’s me or what but these guys either talk really fast or mumble but I have a hard time decifering the directions. I think it must be the solar flares are interfering with radio reception.      Anyway we totally misconstrued what he said and we drove all the way down the slipway. He also confused us by thinking the numb...

 6/9-Port Washington NY    Well today was fun really just a blast. The biggest excitement came first thing in the morning when the water taxi guy came by and took me in to fill a jug of water. I did meet a couple on the who are Loopers. They have been stuck here for a week waiting for the Erie Canal to reopen.     We have met a lot more of these Loopers this spring. It seems there are lots of folks making this trip around the eastern US. This couple has taken almost 2 years to get here from Florida with numerous breakdowns along the way. I applaud the spirit to keep on with the adventure after so many set backs.     Apparently the Erie Canal was closed because a bank collapsed near a lock due to some local flooding. All these Loopers have been backing up all the way down the Hudson while they wait for it to open. We have heard it will be open soon so all these folks can continue on their journey’s.      The fog was low and thic...

 6/8- Port Washington NY    We finally had a day of sailing. We had all three sails out today as we had a tacking fest. We beat up through a whole fleet of runabouts fishing for stripers. We managed to turn a 6 mile trip into a 10 mile sail with all the tacks we had to do. That was fine as we hadn’t done this in a while and we were a bit rusty. We finally cruised down the bay and took a mooring at Port Washington.     There was a steady stream of boats going by us all afternoon. I was amazed at the amount of boats traffic there was. There were all kinds of boats from little 19 foot sailboats to a monstrous catamaran that made the people on deck look tiny.     We took the water taxi into town and walked around a bit. These water taxis are amazing in how they can keep track of where everyone is going and coming.     There is a wind event coming tomorrow along with some rain. The wind is not so strong but it is coming directly fro...

 6/7- City Island NY    We slept off the effects of barely sleeping the last two days and awoke fairly refreshed. We did a bunch of boat chores before heading into shore.      We watched as the yacht club was launching a couple of boats. They have a railway that they use with an engine that is almost 100 years old. It is all run by volunteers at the yacht club and launching is included in your dues. It’s a pretty sweet deal.      We walked down the main street which is pretty much the only street. They must have blown the budget on dead end signs because every side street was a dead end at the water. There was a street fair going on so we walked around before doing some provisioning at the local market. On our return to the boat it started to pour and we got soaked. I guess we should have taken the launch.      We then visited with our new friends on their Cape Dory 31 and the they came over to our boat. It was fun talking to a...

 6/6 (again)- Harlem Yacht Club, City Island , Brooklyn NY    To finish our tale from last night we rounded Sandy Hook point in the dark and just dropped the anchor and backed it down. I turned around to look for Alayne and she was already in bed and snoring. As soon as I got everything put away and in order I joined her ( except for the snoring part).     We awoke a few hours later to a dead calm wind with a steady stream of boat traffic disturbing our rest. I spent some time trying to figure out the current in the East River and the best time to leave. What it basically came down to was we were just sitting there baking in the sun so I said now was the good time to go. I turned out to be a bit on the early side but we are always habitually early anyways.     We motored through NYC which was very busy and hot. We didn’t have the strong current to just move us so we had to sit in the mixing bowl for too long.     In the end the...

 6/5- just outside Sandy Hook NJ   I am writing this as we near Sandy Hook and we have been traveling for 18 hours. It has been a fine trip as we got to actually sail for 5 or 6 hours. We had to take the sails in when the wind shrank and the waves grew. It was kind of bouncy for a while but it was not a big deal. In an hour or so we will hopefully drop our anchor at least for a little while. As soon as the tide gets favorable we will head up the East River to Long Island Sound.       I had been very anxious about this part of the trip. Sailing at night is not something to be taken lightly. So far everything has gone according to plan. I have found that the two hardest parts about sailing are starting and stopping. It is not just casting off the lines to get going but it is getting the boat actually moving. Getting out of a slip or off a mooring can be trying. Again same thing with ending your sail. The boat has a momentum to it that makes stopping hard some...

 6/4-  Cape May NJ    Well not much going on today. We took the big one mile trip from Utschs over to the anchorage. The anchorage was pretty cleared out by the time we got here so this time it was a piece of cake getting the anchor settled. We just hung out and did boat chores. Our friends Joe and Nancy showed up and we had a nice visit with them. Now all we are doing is waiting.     In order to get ready for this next section of our trip I have been pouring over wind patterns and predictions trying to time it right. I have repeatedly checked the tides and currents both here and along the way. Eventually you just have to go. There is a bit of anxiety as this is a long leg of the trip and while I can note and plan all I want we just have to step into the void. So here goes. Hopefully when you hear from me tomorrow we will be somewhere near New York City. 

 6/3- Utsch’s Marina, Cape May NJ   The day started well before the day started if you get my drift. We had a tide to catch. It was another beautiful blue sky day and we rode that tide most of the way down the river. The key word there is most. We were about ten miles outside of Cape May and I could taste the beer that was waiting for me. Alas the current changed and we were slammed to a stop. Still we plugged along at 3 knots when we had been doing 8. It took close to 3 hours to get into Cape May and settled.     We finally turned down the inlet and headed for the anchorage only to find a surplus of boats already there. We tried a few different places but we just couldn’t make it work. We headed over Utsche’s Marina and took a slip. Even that proved challenging as you know our record with docks. Eventually we got settled and licked our wounds.      It was only slightly disappointing to find that Utsche’s didn’t give a bottle of wine with the slip. Oh ...

 6/2- Reedy Island, Delaware River DE    It was a beautiful day for a sail, cough, I mean motor. The sky was blue and cloudless as we followed the ebb tide down the Sassafras. The wind did pick up as we entered the bay but so did the ebb which slowed us right down. We motored on heading up the Elk River into the C&D canal. Here we picked up the flood current and went flying. This boat doesn’t go much faster than it did today. We were doing 8.5 knots over the ground and we chewed through the canal in a couple of hours.      When we hit the Delaware we ran smack into the flood tide so while I would have liked to keep going it didn’t make sense. We pulled in to Reedy Island channel and dropped anchor. This channel is swept by 2-3 knots currents changing direction every 6 hours or so. The entrance is tricky because it is narrow and it is guarded by long dikes which can’t be seen at high water. We came in at low water so we could see the hole in the dike it’...

 6/1- Georgetown MD   We got up this morning and that was about it. I did have a go at fixing a few little issues with a fair amount of success.     In the afternoon we went into shore and just kind of hung out at the marina. This is a nice place with these big stately trees and well maintained lawn. It was nice just sitting on the bench and watching the world go by.     We have seen plenty of wildlife here. Yesterday I was watching a pair of eagles up in a tree when one swooped down and I thought he was after a fish. Alas it was not to be and he ghosted back up in the tree. Walking along one of the pathways and I looked down and I saw what I thought was a lawn ornament. Then it blinked! It was a Maryland Terrapin snapping turtle and it had burrowed next to the path to lay her eggs. The marina says they do it every year and when they hatch the first place the little turtles go is in the pool. They then have to fish them out and put them in the riv...