Three distinctly different nights in Massachusetts

We made it south (a little)! We weighed several options for our return through Massachusetts and finally settled on three stops.

Leading off—Gloucester! This was our first time here and we didn’t give it a ton of time. After picking up a mooring in the inner harbor we headed to town for two important things—beer and history! We got some refreshments at Cape Ann Brewing before heading off on the Harbor Walk. 

The next day was all about timing to get to the Cape Cod Canal with a favorable current. It made for a long day (though not an early start!) of sailing and motoring, whale watching (saw a minke and a fin!), and finally getting shot westbound through the canal with Katreina at the helm. We ended the day on a Massachusetts Maritime Academy mooring at the west end of the canal. This pained me a little as a Maine Maritime grad, but the price was right—free!

Our final night in Mass was an absolute treat. We poked into Hadley Cove by Woods Hole, but as it was a pretty nice weekend it was jam-packed. Not our scene so we continued down Buzzards Bay with fantastic sailing to a spot a friend had recommended off Naushon Island, Kettle Cove. It. Was. AMAZING! It offered us protection from the forecast southerlies, soft white sand, and crystal clear (and not entirely frigid!) water. We had a great time on the beach! Then a surprise “want some black sea bass?” text resulted in a visit from an old friend and three beautiful fish! It rivaled a Bahamas day!

Now we need to get back to crazy weather planning. 50kt winds in the forecast this week!

The end of our Maine cruising (for this year!)

We awoke to an outside temp of 39F the day we left Casco Bay—let’s get south!

At the start of our trip to Maine I never would have guessed that we’d be working to avoid impacts from a tropical weather system here, but it is 2020 and here we are! With unfavorable winds and big (15-20’) swells from Hurricane Teddy in the forecast, we opted to hang in Kittery for a few days. As a military retiree, we can sometimes tie up at base marinas and we lucked out at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. They have a “COVID Island” dock that lacks power or water, but it’s in a protected cove, it’s out of the strong river current, and at $20 a day it’s a steal. We can also walk to a nice commissary (grocery store) and fill water via jerry cans. And the bonus? Two of my MMA classmates have their boat there and rowed over to say hi within minutes of us tying up! We have quite a few friends in the area, but between COVID, weather, restaurant closures, and the fact that we have to get off base to hang out, we are keeping to ourselves for the most part. Walks around base, school work, and provisioning have kept us plenty busy! 

But alas, it’s time to go and we will head to Gloucester in the morning. We had a great time thanks to many friends who helped us and visited along the way, the friendly cruising families we met, and the awesome hospitality of the people of Maine. We will be back!

Hiding out in Casco Bay

For almost the entire last week we have been on the run, hiding from 20-30kt winds every night from alternating directions every day. After an attempt to get a mooring in Freeport (none available all week!), we headed for Great Chebeague Island to duck out of southerlies. As we were setting the hook we were hailed by M/Y Rangeley—they were on a mooring nearby and owned another that they offered up for our use. They are so sweet and even offered to let us use bikes ashore!

We spent the next few days bouncing around Harpswell. We tried a few new anchorages, had a good time playing on the beach at Stover’s Point, and had to hit up The Dolphin for a day of laundry, showers, great dinner, and those blueberry muffins in the morning! The kids even grabbed the mooring at The Dolphin after casting the 1st Mate ashore to get the laundry going.

Tonight we are on a mooring in Falmouth. Our awesome friends delivered our grill part AND fresh eggs! The past few days it’s been getting down into the 50’s inside the boat at night and we have been running the heater a bit to take the edge off. We hate to admit it, but it’s time to head south. With good weather tomorrow and a tropical system gearing up to impact weather all the way up here, we are going to skip Portland and head for Kittery in the morning. 

It’s a mystery! Where are the flip flops?

The weather in Maine is turning cooler and we are wearing more clothes, so I guess if we had to lose some flip flops, now isn’t the worst time! But where did two pairs of flip flops go?

Two days ago the Captain was getting ready for a dinghy run to Erica’s Seafood in Harpswell to satisfy our lobster craving (and those yummy lemon bars!) and he couldn’t find his flip flops. As I helped look for them, I realized I couldn’t find mine, either.

Ok, this boat is only 39’ long and everything has its place. Flip flops are either in a bucket on deck, the shoe pouch in our cabin, or the dinghy. They’ve been in one of those three places for almost a year. What the heck? Having scoured the boat and our memories, here’s what we’ve got:

- We definitely had flip flops in Rockland. That’s the last place we solidly recall wearing them. 

- The kids’ shoes are still here (in the bucket on deck).

- Nothing else is missing from the dinghy (so not likely that we somehow lost two pairs of shoes out of there in rough seas, but not the loose life jacket or old line we had picked up). 

- They aren’t with the dive gear (thinking maybe in the excitement of cutting the lobster pot line they got put away).

- We don’t recall leaving them on the swim platform (we’ve done this with snorkeling gear and hiking shoes while they dry if it’s calm, but can’t honestly recall drying flip flops there ever!).

So, we really don’t know what happened to them. We may have left them in the dinghy which would have made them easier to “walk” away, but still don’t know how/when that would have happened. We did stay in a cove where another boater had reported someone coming into their boat at night years ago, but we struggle to believe that’s possible.

Whatever happened, there are two pairs of Olu Kai sandals either floating somewhere off the coast of Maine, padding someone else’s feet, or mysteriously tucked away somewhere we haven’t found yet on the boat! So if you happen to see a pair of navy blue women’s or a pair of brown men’s Olu Kai flip flops floating around, let us know! 😂

Last known photo of my flips. ☹️

The road less traveled to Casco Bay

After the exciting swim in Muscongus Bay, the peace and quiet of Linekin Bay was just what we needed. This deep anchorage allows access to Boothbay Harbor without all the craziness and boat traffic of being right in the harbor. We were socked in with fog for two nights, but we took the opportunity to make a provisioning (and thrifting!) run into town. 

As we made our way back to Casco Bay we decided to try a few new places off the beaten path on the eastern edge. First up—The Basin. The entrance to The Basin off the New Meadows River is narrow (not Great Harbour Cay narrow, but still narrow!) and littered with pots that get sucked under as the current rips through, but the reward once inside is worth the white-knuckle navigation. We saw one spot that was only 9’ deep, but then we were in! It was flat calm and we shared the anchorage with one other boat that we’d seen a few other times while in Maine. At night, stirring the water brought it to life with bioluminescence. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, we went ashore for a nice morning hike. This stop was just absolutely lovely.

The Basin

Leaving the Basin we had plenty of options nearby for the prevailing winds. We rounded Rogue Island and headed for Ridley Cove, but finding lots of floats and just not feeling it, we continued up Quahog Bay to Snow Island. Though there is a big marina just north of the island, we found this spot much more picturesque and peaceful, and we dropped the hook east of Little Snow Island. We hadn’t even been here an hour when the Quahog Bay Conservancy pump-out boat came along to see if we needed a pump! This group offers free pump-outs (though happily accepts donations) and has an oyster fishery to help keep Quahog Bay clean. I love their mission and the work they are doing! We are settled in with about a half dozen other boats for a breezy night.

Snow Island

For folks heading to Casco Bay from Boothbay, it’s easy to skip these little spots and end up in Freeport or Portland, but I’m glad we were able to take it slow. From here we are off to hide out from strong winds that are forecast to flip-flip from northerly to southerly almost every day. We also have a part to fix the grill getting shipped to a friend in the area, so we will be working on a meet-up!