Further Adventures Of SV Nutmeg

 9/9- Rockland ME    That’s all folks!! We got hauled today and are sitting on the boat in the middle of the parking lot. It went about as you would expect for our reverse challenged boat. We started off fine but then drifted off and couldn’t recover gracefully. It all worked out in the end as how far in this narrow channel can you go.      Now we begin the process of winterizing and also landizing ourselves. We have been on the boat since May. Our gait may look a bit unsteady but finally boat has stopped moving. We also have to drive a car soon and we have not been faster than 30 mph in 4 months.      This may be the final post for a while. I might summarize some things in a random post but who knows. I want to thank all 3 and sometimes 4 readers who have faithfully followed us on our adventure. How you put up with my dribble is beyond me but I do appreciate it. Thanks

 9/8- Rockland ME    The forecast called for the wind to be decent between 7 and 9 this morning. We got up early to try and at least get the sails dried out. It turns out those forecasters lied. The wind was 10 knots out of the west that lasted from 7 until noon. Those bastards made me sail all the way from Holbrook on a beam reach sometimes getting up to 6.5 knots. The nerve of these people!!     Of course by noon we were not in Rockland but were about 5 miles away. We were at this point drifting faster than we were sailing. The decision was whether to continue to wait for the wind which was coming eventually from the south or to give Mr Perkins a nice workout. We figured Mr P deserved to end the season on a high note so we fired him up and burned off some carbon.     There was a huge cruise ship in the harbor today which was constantly ferrying people back and forth into town. There was close to 3000 passengers on the ship being brought into a t...

 9/7- Tom Codd Cove   Rain rain rain all day. We woke up to rain this morning along with no wind so it was an easy decision to stay put for another day. It didn’t rain real hard but it was steady all day. It was much needed around here as most of Maine has been in a drought.     Again it was a day to just while away by reading and napping. There was so little wind I’m pretty sure the dinghy never moved. We couldn’t even get out for a walk.     Hopefully the weather will clear and maybe we’ll be able to see some of the lunar eclipse. It does happen at 2 am so it may not matter if it clears or not. We hope to head out tomorrow and get back to Rockland to prepare for hauling out. Not much wind is forecasted but we’ll take what we can get. 

 9/6- Tom Codd Cove    It was a dark and stormy night as we watched flashes of lightning in the distance. That is always a good place for lightning.      The weather was all dark and dreary for most of the day. While it didn’t rain until later it kept us in suspense most of the day. We did get out for a nice long walk in the preserve. We walked past the Goose Falls bridge until we got to where we could see water, of all things.      The rest of the day we just hung out and wasted time which we have gotten good at. The sun did deign to make an appearance for an hour in the afternoon.      The storm which had been plaguing New England was finally giving us our chance. It didn’t have the bite it had by the time it got to us so we had a pretty good rainstorm but not much else. The wind has turned us around so now we face the north and it is predicted to mellow right out later. The forecasts call for more rain tomorrow so I guess we...

 9/5- Tom Codd Cove, Holbrook Island Preserve     We debated what to do this morning right up until we left. The skies were gray and threatening , the wind was blowing and we were waiting to hear from our friends. Once they told us they would meet up with us we got our butts in gear and went sailing.      The forecast called for relatively light winds for a while then strengthening. Crossing the bay from Rockland the wind was strong and the waves were bigger than normal. The ocean swells and the outgoing tide contributed to this. Anyway we were on a beam reach and were scooting right along until we got to the North Haven side where the wind died but the waves didn’t. This made it a tad uncomfortable.      Once we got behind the island the wind picked up again and we had ourselves a very broad reach. She was cruising along at 7+ knots for quite a while. The further up the bay we got the more the wind got behind us so I eventually just rol...

 9/4- Rockland ME    For a change the wind woke up early this morning. After breakfast and doing a few chores we took off. We had a nice broad reach all the way across to VinalHaven and then into Rockland. The wind had piped up in good shape as we sailed by Owl’s Head. We flew by the breakwater lighthouse posing for all the pictures being taken by folks. We get to be in many family photo albums this way.      We went into town to spend some time in the rain locker and grab some provisions. We met a friend who gave us a ride into Camden where we had a nice dinner and chat with our friends.      Our time here is running short and we are trying to see as many of our friends as we can before heading back to Vermont. We have had several nice wind days in a row after a bunch of days with no wind. There is supposed to be some rain in the forecast for this weekend but we will try not to let that ruin our sailing. 

 9/3- Dix Island, Muscle Ridge Thoroughfare    The day didn’t start out too well as Rockland had vanished sometime during the night. It was eventually returned to its normal place by noon. We were hanging out doing whatever we could find to do when I noticed the wind had reappeared after its 2 day vacation. We dropped everything and unfurled the sails.     It was a really nice sail as the wind was steady but light. This new mainsail makes sailing a breeze ( ha ha ). The boat goes so much better and without having to reef at the slightest breath of air.      We sailed down to Dix Island which is an island in the Muscle Ridge thoroughfare. It’s a nice large anchorage and the island while private has a trail around the island that you can use. As we hiked we found all kinds of apple trees brimming with ripe fruit. We loaded up our pockets with this bounty.      After this we headed over to Birch Island which has a nice beach at lo...

 9/2- Rockland ME    I think there was less wind today than yesterday which is quite a feat. We sort of lazed around until lunch time and then went into town. We went to the library took a walk and then both of us took turns in the rain box.     We met a couple on their Cape Dory 31 (Bluebird) and they came over and we had a gam. They are looking to head south one of these days also.     It was another beautiful day with temps in the upper 70’s and only a few clouds. With the high parked right over us the winds have been very light. Even the afternoon sea breezes don’t amount to much.     Hopefully tomorrow we will try to get off the mooring and get some sailing in. 

 9/1- Rockland ME   No wind again ! It’s hard to believe sometimes that the ocean could be this calm. Granted we are in a bay but it is a fairly large bay and yet the water was like a mirror this morning.     All that just to say we didn’t go anywhere today. I crossed off a couple of projects off our list to keep me busy until lunch. Then I went ashore to get some groceries.     One of the biggest problems we have as cruisers is trash. We regularly open containers into canisters and open cardboard packaging yet still it takes us about two days to fill a trash can. It is a small trash can but when we are out and about we have no way to get rid of trash. Ultimately that is what the dinghy is for.     While Maine does some recycling the boatyard has no place to put it. When we had a car here we could bring it to a facility but alas no wheels this year. It is the plastic and cardboard containers that make up the majority of our trash. I...