Further Adventures Of SV Nutmeg

 8/31- Port Clyde, ME    I just couldn’t wait any longer and it came back to bite me. I was so anxious to get going this morning that I ignored the wind forecast. We managed to, barely, sail out of the harbor giving the folks at the lighthouse a photo opportunity. We put on the motor as the wind was coming on the nose to get us through the narrow part of Owls Head passage. I ran the sails out again and we sailed for about 20 minutes before the wind gave up. Back to Mr Perkins again. This time we motored through the Muscle Ridge passage. There was wind in here but I was not to be fooled again so we kept motoring until we cleared the last buoy near Whitehead. Out came the sails for another try. This time we actually sailed for about 40 minutes before it looked like we were headed backwards as the tide was against us. I gave up and dropped all the sails. Of course just then the wind picked up. If I had just waited another hour or so before leaving we would probably have had ...

 8/28- Rockland ME    This morning we were treated to another spectacular display of fog. It wasn’t too bad when we arose but got worse as time marched on. We were unruffled as we walked up the hill to the North Haven Historical Society museum. I was pretty amazed at the collection of artifacts that they have here. The tool collection is impressive and interestingly I either own or have used about 95% of the tools they have displayed. It was a very interesting visit.      The other thing that I noticed today was the traffic on this island.  We walked about a mile and a half of road and there was a steady stream of traffic both ways the entire time.      After lunch the fog had abated a bit so we headed out. It was a nice sail in about 5-10 knots of wind with several miles of visibility. When we neared the Andrew’s ledge buoy the fog closed in around us. We were still sailing along at 6 knots with less than a quarter mile of visibility. N...

 8/26- Pulpit Harbor, North Haven ME   We kind of got stuck in the Rockland fly trap again as we waited on weather one day and then the next day the fog rolled in and stayed. It was foggy almost the whole day. Then just as we were gearing up to head out friends called and said they were in Rockland.     These friends L and W were friends met down south on our trip. We went out for lunch and had a good time catching up. When we got back to our boat we looked around and decided it was a nice day still so let’s go sailing.      It was a great 10-12 breeze which shot us across the bay in record time. We were doing 7 knots consistently until we hit the thorofare. We still made into Carver Cove by 6 pm. It was unique sailing at this time of day as the light was very crisp.      In the morning we departed and headed east. Our goal was Pulpit Harbor so that tomorrow we could walk up and visit the historical society museum. We had heard abou...

 8/24- Rockland ME    We did get a fine ride across the bay on Friday. The wind was NW and so we were able to sail all the way through the thoroughfare. We flew into Rockland and it was just in time. We were expecting our daughter and grand daughter for a visit.      They arrived Friday afternoon and we treated them to a seafood dinner at the famous Claws restaurant. Our granddaughter had not had seafood before so we had an assortment. She really liked the scallops only slightly less than the French fries. This was her first time on a sailboat so she was pretty excited even for the dinghy ride. Thankfully it was a dead calm night though she kept wanting the boat to rock.     The next morning we got out for a nice day sail as she got to experience sailing for the first time. We did see a large pod of porpoises as well as a couple of seals. It turns out she had never seen a lobster much less eaten one so we went to the local dock and bought a c...

 8/21- Kent Cove, North Haven ME    We could see when we got up and everything on the boat was soaked. We literally spent the night inside a cloud. But now the sun was shining and the wind was on vacation. Looking across at the windmills not turning we knew there would be no air conditioning in Vinal Haven today.     As there was no wind scheduled for the rest of the day we motored up to the Fox Islands and into the thorofare. We pulled up to a mooring at the Turner Farms and went ashore. We have always wondered about this place. I have thought about eating here briefly. It costs $160 a plate so you can imagine how briefly I thought about it. Anyway it was a nice walk around their property and gardens.     They were expecting a bunch of boats for their event tonight so we picked up and motored a little ways east into Kent Cove where we anchored. Our friends G and A joined us and we had happy hour in the cockpit. There was lots of pelagic acti...

 8/19- Dix Island ME    We got caught in the Rockland fly trap again. We thought we would just provision and do a laundry and then head right back out. Alas the forecast called for rain and big wind on Monday so we thought we would just hang out. We walked over to the Sail, Steam and Power Museum for their Sunday afternoon jam which was nice.      Monday was not as bad weatherwise as predicted and our friend Jerome Rand had sailed into town. We did some boat chores and got some errands taken care of.     Tuesday turned out to be windless. The bay was so calm it was said that you could roll a marble all the way to Vinalhaven. It was not so bad as Murf got us some lobsters and we had a lobster cookout with the gang. We had us a bunch of lobsters and a pile of crab legs from some rock crabs that Murf caught in their traps.      So finally we managed to get out of town and we headed out on the bay. It was a nice 10-12 knot breeze a...

 8/14- Rockland ME    The day dawned bright and early this morning. With the sun shining and the wind up we shoved off. The wind was northwest so we struggled a bit at first as it was directly behind us. It was gusty enough to get us around the corner without having to jibe. Once around the corner though the wind turned west and piped right up. We put a reef in around Lincolnville which settled the ride down a bit. We were now averaging 7 to 7.5 knots just flying down the bay. In the end over the 25 mile stretch we averaged 6.5 knots hitting 8.5 once. Wow , what a ride!!     We went to Camden to have a final dinner with all the participants of the cruise. It was a good time and we all got together to brag about our exploits on the trip down. It was another good cruise. 

 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...

 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...