Starting Our Trip South

We had some really great days for travel, returning from downeast Maine. We were able to enjoy some good sailing on clear, sunny days. The only unusual day was going from Biddeford Pool to our intended destination of Salem. It was clear and sunny with a light wind. As soon as we left the protection of the harbor, we encountered very large, steep waves, which, given our direction of travel, were on the beam. The problem was an Atlantic storm well out to sea that was generating very large seas. It was the roughest ride we have ever experienced on Ariel. We decided to stop in Gloucester and hope for improved seas the next day. The seas improved, and we moved on to Plymouth to stage for a favorable current through the Cape Cod Canal.

We really enjoyed the fast trip through the canal. The canal has bike and walking paths on both sides. We used to take our bikes there and ride along the canal, even though it was 50 miles from our home. We went through on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, so there were many people out enjoying the day.

We knew we would be in Onset through Thursday for a doctor appointment that day that Linda had scheduled. We decided to use the opportunity to do a major re-provisioning, so we rented a car for a couple of days. This was the largest food provisioning we have done since our initial provisioning over a year ago. We have started getting ready for the Bahamas.

We are now hunkered down, still at Onset, for heavy rain and occasional high winds in the northeast, including the passing of Hurricane Kyle well offshore with the highest winds on the east side of the storm.

Our plan, when the weather improves, is to push hard until we reach the Chesapeake.

Rockland Breakwater And Light

As you approach Rockland from the sea, you are immediately struck by the impressive breakwater with a lighthouse at the end of it. Impressive indeed, as we have passed the breakwater on both sides, and the water is around 50 feet MLW for most of the breakwater.

In the 1850s, several severe nor'easters caused considerable damage to many Rockland waterfront installations, businesses, and shipping in the harbor. Lack of a protective breakwater clearly prevented the harbor from realizing its potential as a commercial port and as a harbor of refuge for coastal shipping. However, despite citizen petitions and the intervention of a local Senator, Congress did not approve the construction of a breakwater until 1880. Construction began almost immediately.

Construction of the single-breakwater design was completed on November 24, 1899, but severe winter storms during the 1899-1900 season proved that the height needed to be increased. The four-foot-high cap was completed on October 15, 1901, including the base at the end of the lighthouse.  A total of 768,774 tons of stone were used for the project, and the total expenditures up to that point were $880,093.

On September 19, 1902, the W.H. Glover Company completed work on the lighthouse, and on October 20, 1902, it was equipped with a fourth-order flashing white light. On October 30, 1902, the Rockland Breakwater Light was officially operational.

Norm was very curious as to how they were able to move these massive stones into place. The lighthouse is open on weekends, and they were able to explain that sailing sloops were used to transport and then lower the stones into place.

Castine

We added a day at Castine to allow time to visit the town after the weather settled. It is a small town but very interesting. It is home to the Maine Maritime Academy, and the campus occupies a large portion of the town. On the waterfront is the State of Maine, a training ship used by the MMA. We also found the Wilson Museum, which has an incredible collection of artifacts to show the antiquity of man and his cultural stages from the earliest geologic times. On leaving Castine, we encountered a tugboat towing a barge that kept changing direction. We always give wide berth to working boats, so we were a little confused. They called us on the radio to explain. It was the tug Pentagoet, also part of MMA, performing figure-eight training exercises around some markers. Once we knew that, we were able to set our course accordingly. Thursday evening, we took a free mooring at Warren Island State Park. Anyone who likes tent camping in more isolated locations would love this place. Touring the park, we met a couple from Martha's Vineyard who come back to camp there each year. They showed us their campsite, and the interesting aspect is that the firewood is provided, and also provided is a large bag of fine wood chips to put under the tent. Some sites were set up with lean-to shelters for those who prefer that. Getting to the island is a challenge, requiring a ferry ride to Islesboro Island and then finding a boat ride to Warren Island, which is what the couple we met did.

Safe Harbor

The forecast for Tuesday was for another cold front to pass, this one with thunderstorms and higher wind gusts. We decided on Smith Cove near Castine as a good, safe place to anchor and planned to stay there until Wednesday after the bad weather passed. Monday evening was beautiful, and we had the place to ourselves. As promised, around noon on Tuesday, it began to darken, and we could hear the rumble of thunder. Just before and as the first of the rain hit, we were joined in our anchorage by three windjammers. The fact that they decided on the same location gave us confidence that we are getting pretty good at selecting anchorages. We were joined by Victory Chimes. Built in 1900 in Bethel, Delaware, to carry lumber up and down the shallow bays and rivers of the Chesapeake, the 132' Victory Chimes is the last three-masted schooner on the East coast, and the largest passenger sailing vessel under U.S. flag.

Victory Chimes can accommodate 40 guests. When they raised anchor Wednesday morning to leave, we could hear the engine powering the windlass. The original anchor windlass is mounted behind the bowsprit, forward of the bowsprit heel, and is powered by an ancient engine in the forward part of the deckhouse. The original four-horsepower donkey engine soon proved inadequate; it was replaced with a six-horsepower Sea Gear engine made in 1906 by Olds in Lansing, Michigan. This is still in use. Donkey engines were a prominent feature of schooners from the end of commercial sail, when crews were kept to a minimum through the use of such mechanical aids.

Also joining us was the 92' schooner American Eagle, which was built in Gloucester, Massachusetts, in 1930. For 53 years, she was a working member of the famed Gloucester fishing fleet. She's also a National Historic Landmark. American Eagle left early Wednesday morning before I could get a picture.

Another schooner, J. & E. Riggin, was built on the Maurice River in Dorchester, New Jersey, in 1927. Charles Riggin had her built for his oyster dredging fleet and named her after his sons, Jacob and Edward. They all captained her at one time or another on the Delaware Bay. She was always known as a quick, light air vessel, and her speed was proven in 1929 when she handily won the only official Oyster Dredging Race in the Delaware Bay. She was used for oyster dredging until the 1940s, when fishing regulations changed. The Riggin family sold her, and she was converted to power to begin fishing for groundfish and mackerel in Cape Cod and Long Island Sound. In the early 1970s, she was bought by Dave and Sue Allen and converted from a fishing vessel to a passenger-carrying vessel, which is what she remains. Her engine was removed, and cabins were added below to create space for guests. The current owners bought her from the Allens in 1998. We watched the guest pitch in to operate the manual windlass.

Since both Victory Chimes and J. & E. Riggin are engineless, they are aided by powered launches, which attach to the stern. To leave the anchorage, they had to go directly into the wind, which is not possible under sail.

Victory Chimes

J. & E. Riggin

Tidal Change

We are in the inner harbor in Blue Bay, Maine. Pictured is the town dock where we land our dinghy. The actual dinghy float is lying on the mud bottom at low tide. We can only go to town a couple of hours before and after high tide. The entrance to this inner harbor has similar shallow areas that have to be navigated, making it an excellent hurricane hole, and with Hurricane Hanna on the way, this is working out well. We are on a mooring. We were anchored between the mooring area and the rocks pictured, but Linda met a couple of women out in their kayaks, and, as it happens, they both owned vacant moorings that they offered to us. One also offered their car and the use of the guest house's laundry. We were happy just to take the mooring as the laundromat was close by and we really didn't need a car. We sure do appreciate the kindness of people like this that we meet along the way.

High Tide

Low Tide

Mount Desert Island

Seals (in Somes Sound)

It is somewhat frustrating that we cannot capture, in words or pictures, the beauty and magnificence of Mount Desert Island and the surrounding area. We have been enjoying every single part of it. Acadia National Park encompasses a large part of Mount Desert Island, but not all of it. Acadia is one of the smaller national parks, but also one of the most popular, attracting over three million visitors a year. We think the vast majority do not venture off the main roadways and carriage roads, as we have met very few people on the hiking trails. We very much enjoy walking and hiking, and are anxious each day to get back to it.

We had one particularly interesting day of hiking. We had the bus drop us at Bubble Pond and planned to hike to the Jordon Pond House for lunch and then probably catch the bus to return. We had hiked several miles, some of it moderately difficult, but after lunch with a great view of Jordon Pond with North and South Bubble Rocks in the distance, we felt refreshed and ready for more hiking. We decided to hike back to Bubble Pond via a different, slightly longer route, which would take us by Eagle Lake. Little did we know the route we selected would take us to the summit of North Bubble Rock, which we had been admiring during our lunch. Many of the mountains are sparse of vegetation near the top, becoming all bare granite. After reaching the summit, the trail followed the ridge line for quite a distance as it was too steep to descend. It is very important to find and follow the trail markers as there is no obvious trail across the smooth granite surface. While there are small blue marks painted, it is really the cairns (small rock piles) that we sighted on to find our way.

We are enjoying the wildlife. We have seen at least one harbor seal most days. Our most interesting encounter was with one swimming perpendicular to Ariel, intersecting our path. We were under sail, and when we didn't stop, he turned to apparently chase us down, but we were soon out of range. Our favorite place is Somes Sound. Somes Sound is the only fjord on the eastern Atlantic seaboard. After getting settled on our anchor in Somes Harbor at the head of Somes Sound, we heard the distinctive sound of eagles nearby. We found one in a tree top very nearby and a second on a rock across the harbor. Occasionally, we hear and see a loon. 

Getting around could not be easier. There is a free bus system that covers the entire Mount Desert area. There are designated bus stops, but they will stop anywhere if you flag them down. The main transfer area is at Village Green in Bar Harbor, and since there is good shopping there, this is very convenient.

Eagle

South Bubble Rock

Jordon Pond House at the far end

Taken from North Bubble Rock (near summit)

Near Summit North Bubble Rock

Windjammers

One of the common sights along the coast of Maine is the windjammer. These are historic vessels which were once fishing schooners, coasting freighters, oyster dredgers, and pilot schooners. Today, about 20 windjammers carry paying passengers. At Swans Island, we had a couple of windjammers spend the night at anchor with us. The one pictured close by Ariel is the Nathaniel Bowditch. Designed by William Hand, the Schooner Nathaniel Bowditch was built in 1922 in East Boothbay, Maine, as a private racing yacht. In 1923, she entered the Bermuda Cup under her original name, Ladona. She won the race in 1927. Her second owner renamed her Jane Dore after his daughter.

In 1942, she was commissioned by the US Coast Guard and assigned to an offshore patrol to search for German submarines off New York Harbor. During this time, she received two citations from the Commander of the Eastern Sea Frontier, US Coast Guard, for seaworthiness in poor weather.
After the war, she got into the fishing industry as a commercial dragger out of Stonington, CT.
This schooner has a captain and a crew of five. They looked to have about 20 guests on board, spending almost all of their time on deck. Belowdecks are the sleeping accommodations and the heads. The meals were served up on the main deck.

It was very interesting watching them come into the anchorage. They sailed in, turned into the wind to slow the boat, and at the right moment let the anchor go. We enjoyed watching the guests get involved in activities on board, jumping in for a swim, or climbing the rigging.

Cruising Maine

We are now in our cruising region, namely Penobscot Bay and the Mount Desert Island area. We are making very short daily trips to our new locations, which we are doing under leisurely sail with light generally southwest winds. This gives us plenty of time to explore and still move on to a new site. This morning, we went hiking on Isle au Haut (pictures from the trail) before sailing to our current location in Burnt Cove Harbor on Swans Island. Isle au Haut has a large area, which is actually part of Acadia National Park. It is remote, so it gets very few visitors. We hiked the Duck Pond trail and had it all to ourselves.

This part of Maine is broken up by hundreds of islands and inlets. The shores are generally bold with smooth granite and a very distinct tidal zone in the 10 - 13 foot range. The islands are blanketed with spruce trees interspersed with fields of grass. The anchorages vary from busy working harbors to uninhabited coves. The weather is also varied. It can be bright and sunny with distant mountains as a backdrop, or completely fogged in when our world shrinks to just about the size of Ariel.

Weather Not Spoiling Our Time Here

The jet stream has been in a more winter-like position since mid-July. The effect in New England has been a series of cold fronts and low-pressure systems with very few sunny days. There has been a threat of rain and thunderstorms most days. We have been fortunate and have only experienced one thunderstorm, which was while we were anchored at Block Island. We have had plenty of rain, but with very little wind. It has altered our plans. We had originally planned two nights at Boothbay Harbor, but extended it to four, waiting for better weather to travel. It has not dampened our enthusiasm for Maine. We had only experienced fog on one day, and we decided to travel anyway, partly because we hoped it would lift before we reached our destination, the busy Rockland harbor, and also to build experience in case we got caught unexpectedly. We relied heavily on the radar and the chart plotter. It remained a thick fog and did not clear before we arrived. We knew we were approaching a mooring area from the radar display, and as luck would have it, we found an empty mooring right away and took it, not worrying about who owned it. As it turned out, it belonged to a bareboat charter company that was more than happy to rent it to us.

We visited the Maine Lighthouse Museum in Rockland. It is neither a lighthouse nor near a lighthouse, so we were intrigued. It proved to be extremely interesting and maybe not well named. It did have a lot of lighthouse artifacts, but also a good history of the US Lighthouse Service and a lot about lighthouse keepers. The museum also had a lot about the US Coast Guard, particularly about lightships and buoy tenders, and a good section on the US Lifesaving Service. They had a nice selection of buoys and fog horns from different eras.

Over the past few months, we have kept saying we were going to Maine for the lobster and blueberries. Well, we are keeping our word, maybe not so much lobster, although we have done that, but we are definitely enjoying the blueberries as well as other fresh fruit and vegetables from the farm stands.

Whale Watching

Our plan was to sail directly from Provincetown to Penobscot Bay, but we decided to move up the coast with day trips, with the threat of storms, particularly thunderstorms, daily. We hoped to see some whales as we crossed Cape Cod Bay, heading from Provincetown to Cape Ann. It wasn't long before we had our first sighting, and our good fortune continued throughout the day. Later in the day, we came upon a pod that seemed to be spending a lot of time near the surface. We stopped and drifted to take pictures. It is unlawful to approach within 500 yards of whales, so we stayed well off and tried to get pictures with a telephoto lens. This was proving difficult as our drifting boat bopped on the waves. We suddenly realized that the whales had changed direction and were heading directly at us, approaching the port side and swimming on or near the surface. A bit or a lot of panic set in, but we decided it was best to let them avoid us, and so we continued to drift. They approached quickly and, at the very last second, slid under Ariel, resurfacing just on the other side. We were breathing a sigh of relief when we heard a loud noise behind us. We hadn't noticed, but one had paused just off our stern, no more than six feet away, and the noise was a rush of air from the blowhole. They continued on their way, as did we. It was a wonderful and unexpected experience. Unfortunately, we did not get any close-up pictures as we had a telephoto lens on the camera. These were Humpback whales.

The humpback whale is a baleen whale and a rorqual whale that sings amazing songs. It performs complex and cooperative feeding techniques. The humpback has a bulky head with bumpy protuberances (tubercles), each with a bristle. Humpbacks are the acrobats of the ocean, breaching and slapping the water. They live in pods and have 2 blowholes. The name humpback describes the motion it makes as it arches its back out of the water in preparation for a dive.

Sharing Cuttyhunk With Wind Chaser

Brain and Jan joined us for a visit to Cuttyhunk. This wasn't a planned stop for them, so we were so happy they changed their plans so we could show it off. They also like to walk, and Cuttyhunk is a great place to do so. It was very crowded in the mooring field, so we anchored in the outer harbor, which worked out well. As soon as the anchors were safely set, we went into the town docks and began to explore the island. We ended with ice cream on the pier and made plans for breakfast the next morning. If on Cuttyhunk, be sure to have breakfast at the Cuttyhunk Fishing Club, now a Bed and Breakfast. It is outdoor dining looking across the water toward Martha's Vineyard. It is reached by walking across a lawn area next to the coast. The menu is extensive, the portions large, and the food fabulous. After a hearty breakfast, we did some more walking and island exploring. We had plans to leave at noon, so we said goodbye at the town dock, and we were soon on our way. Our next stop was Onset Bay, which is just next to the entrance to the Cape Cod Canal. Onset is a wonderful small Cape Cod town. It is a picture-perfect bay. The people were friendly, with so many on vacation or at their summer homes. We stayed two nights, and it is a place we will return to.

On the way to the Cuttyhunk Fishing Club

Onset Bay

Block Island - Still Our Favorite

We are back at Block Island, and it feels like home. We stayed in East Haven until Saturday. Friday night, we had a very nice evening with Dave and Alice Droller. We took them out to Ariel for drinks, and then we went out for a very nice Italian dinner. It was so much fun spending time together. Norm knows Dave from when he worked at Bayer, and we just met his wonderful wife, Alice, for the first time.

We arrived at Block on the weekend at a very crowded Great Salt Pond. We anchored in 32 feet, a much deeper area than we are used to at Block. The next morning, we called Wind Chaser to see where they were and discovered they were also at Block and actually very close by. They were on the opposite side of the big tug that has become a fixture here. With hundreds of boats, they were lost in the crowd. Sunday was a stormy day, so we stayed on the boat. (Wind Chaser is boat-centered in the picture)

New York, New York

We had a very fast trip up the East River and through Hell Gate. We picked up a favorable current at times exceeding 4 knots, just before the Narrows, which carried us all the way into Long Island Sound. We returned to Port Washington to pick up a free mooring for the night. It was too hot and humid to do much, so we just picked up a few groceries. We continued on the next day to New Haven, Connecticut. We had the wind and the current against us all day. We felt the anchorage areas in New Haven were too exposed with expected rain and possible thunderstorms forecast for the next couple of days, so we backtracked to East Haven, which is only slightly better. About an hour after we settled in on our anchor, we recognized Wind Chaser approaching. We had not seen Brian and Jan since Florida. Like us, this was not their original destination. We spent much of the next day with them walking and having a great pizza lunch at a local deli. It was raining hard at times, so we spent several hours at the deli catching up. We are both heading for Block Island next, so we expect to spend more time with them there.

Delaware Bay And The New Jersey Coast

We stayed overnight at the Chesapeake Inn and Marina in Chesapeake City on the C&D canal, which connects the Chesapeake Bay with Delaware Bay. This was to position ourselves to travel down the Delaware Bay. The current on the Delaware Bay changes direction progressively, moving up the bay, such that there is a 2 1/2 hour difference between the change at the mouth of the bay and at the point where the C&D Canal intersects. This was to our advantage last fall when we traveled up the bay, giving us favorable current all the way up the bay and through the C&D canal. Of course, this works the opposite, going the other direction, where it is only possible to get about 3 1/2 hours of favorable current, and the rest of the time it is against you. We left Chesapeake City at 10:30 am to reach the Delaware Bay at the optimum point for the trip down the bay. We decided to skip a stop in Cape May and just round the corner and head up the coast of New Jersey. Last fall, when we were just starting out, we never would have considered this option. We just cleared the shoals around Cape May when the sun dipped below the horizon. The moon was soon up, very red at first, but later a real advantage as we could see the waves, which was really nice. We pretty much had the open waters to ourselves through the night. We saw the lights of a couple of tugs with their tows, but none closer than 2 miles. The only excitement was caused by a very large commercial fishing boat returning to port. We locked it in on radar a couple of miles away, and as he approached, the radar sounded the alarm that he would be too close as he crossed our bow.  We changed course in plenty of time to pass behind him. We both slept well on our off shifts. This is a big improvement over our previous overnight trips and a sign we are getting more comfortable with night travel. We arrived at Atlantic Highlands behind Sandy Hook at 3:45 pm the next day. We had covered 185 miles (per GPS) in 29.3 hours. As it turned out, our knot meter, which records the boat speed through the water, read 183 miles, so the overall impact of the current was negligible. We like Atlantic Highlands as the town is very convenient. We decided to stay for a day to rest up before moving on. We did laundry, bought a few groceries, and went to a movie (Mamma Mia). We both liked the movie and the theatre air conditioning very much.

Time Off For Family And Friends

We are in Chesapeake City on the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal on our way to Maine. Ariel was on a mooring in Annapolis for a full month. Between the five weeks last fall and four plus weeks this spring, Annapolis seems like our new home port. This time, we were away most of the time, enjoying visits with family and friends. We returned to Ariel for a few days with the car to do major restocking and a couple of maintenance projects. We were in Annapolis for the Independence Day weekend and had a great spot to watch the fireworks from our mooring. We also saw our doctors and dentist for our checkups while we were back in Massachusetts, so we should be good to go for a while.

Family gathering at Mohegan Resort at Mohegan State Park in Ohio

Family Fun Day - canoeing near Mohegan at Loudenville

Kim, Michael, and Evelyn at Bay Science Center

Karns Family Reunion

Our good friend Ellie

(from our former neighborhood in Franklin, Massachusetts)

Back In Annapolis

We had originally planned a few days at Solomons, and then we would go on to St. Michaels on the eastern shore, but we enjoyed Solomons so much that we stretched it to a week and bypassed St. Michaels and went straight to Annapolis. Solomons is really laid back, and that was the attraction. The Holiday Inn has a marina, and for $2.00 each day, we had use of their dinghy dock, a place to dispose of trash, and we could bring Ariel in to one of their docks for water. Right next to the Holiday Inn's entrance drive is a strip mall with a grocery store and a laundromat. Everything is actually close by, and there are several restaurants. We arrived in Annapolis on Father's Day, and what a sight with so many boats out enjoying a wonderful day. We anchored off the U.S. Naval Academy. It was initially a little choppy with so many boats out, but as expected, it quieted down as soon as the sun set. It was a beautiful night with the familiar lights from the City of Annapolis. We were awakened to the sound of the Midshipmen out for their very early morning exercise. On Monday morning, we moved into Spa Creek, a place very familiar to us, having spent five weeks here in the fall. This time, we took a mooring for 30 days so we could safely be away from Ariel without too much concern.

United States Naval Academy 

On From Washington

We are now in the Solomons after our week in Washington. Our last visit to the Solomons was during a heavy downpour, so we didn't get to go ashore. This time we plan to stay a few days. Our time in Washington was interesting. We had some severe thunderstorms, followed later in the week by a heat wave with temperatures at 98 and the humidity near 100%. Our highlights were the WWII Memorial, as we mentioned, the Holocaust Museum (exceptional), and the Botanical Gardens. The only exhibit we paid for was the Spy Museum, and for us it was a big disappointment. We kept cool by visiting the art galleries and museums during the afternoon heat. Our return trip down the Potomac was delayed two hours waiting for the morning fog to lift. This ruined our plans to stop at different places on the way down. The river was littered with debris from the storms. This was mostly small branches, but also some very large logs that could cause damage. By late in the first day, we had cleared the debris and didn't see any on the second day. It was a long trip up and back down the river, but well worth the effort.

Enjoying Washington

We are visiting the sites at a casual pace and trying to see things we have never seen before. We won't take you through our entire itinerary, but we were very impressed by the World War II Memorial. It is new since we were last here, and it was a high priority for us. It is really well thought out. While there was a lot of controversy about the location, there could not have been a better spot. It looks like it was always meant to be there. The designers were absolutely brilliant.

Heather, Linda's sister, Lois's granddaughter, and daughter of Alan and his wife Renee, works for an architectural firm on K Street just a couple of blocks away from the White House. It was most convenient to meet her for lunch since she does not live in the city, and it was a short walk for us. We had not seen Heather in several years, so it was nice to catch up.

Later this month, her boyfriend is being deployed to Iraq.

The area is being hit this week by severe storms. We time our excursions to be sure we are back on the boat when they arrive. We have seen strong winds and have had tornado watches. This weekend, they are expected to have the first heat wave of the year, with three consecutive days over ninety degrees. In this case, it is expected to be 94.

The National Mall

We spent Sunday on the Mall. This has been the scene of so many historic protests and rallies over the years. Today, it was the site of a celebration marking Israel's 60th birthday, organized by the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington.

Washington DC

Our second and final day on the Potomac was just as exciting as our first. We passed Mount Vernon and then Fort Washington. As the Woodrow Wilson Bridge came into view, the Washington Monument also came into view in the distance. After passing the bridge, we then passed the former presidential yacht Sequoia, now a tour boat, going in the opposite direction. The Potomac is the flight path for Ronald Reagan National Airport, so soon it was one jet after another flying overhead. We made our way into the Washington Channel and followed it with the East Potomac Park to port and marinas to starboard. We anchored just across from the Capital Yacht Club. We have privileges at the Capital Yacht Club, where they are very nice and they gave us a warm welcome. The Washington Channel is the flight path for helicopters, and they are numerous. They pass directly over and not too far above our mast top. Pictured is the view from our cockpit during our first evening in Washington. We plan to stay here at least a week now that we have made the journey.

View From Ariel