Bahamas Images

Typical hiking trail - very slow going

Near a pirate's lair - a camping area of pirates, as evidenced by non native plants and trees from seeds which fell from their belongings

Police Station at Black Point Settlement

Loraine's Cafe - tending bar

Beach Church

The center of activity here in George Town is on Volleyball Beach. This is a regular community, organized and run by cruisers. We attended Beach Church on our first weekend here, and it immediately became a hit with us. It is an actual, organized non-denominational church. So far, we have not had any actual ministers in the anchorage, but that has not diminished the quality of the message.

Arriving At George Town

Elizabeth Harbor has to be approached from the east side. Since the winds are generally from the east, we timed our arrival in George Town according to the wind and sea forecast. We moved to Little Farmers Cay to stage for going out the cut the next day, and on down to George Town. There were two other boats at Little Farmers Cay, Nikita from Seattle and Free@Last from Sidney, Australia. Both boats had young children on board and had been traveling together since Annapolis. We all departed together at 7:00 am in perfect sailing conditions. It was a fast trip, and we were generally running 7.5 - 8 knots. Free@Last caught a Mahi Mahi and invited and Nikita and us to share the catch. It was a wonderful evening, and it was fun to watch the kids, two three-year-olds and a five-year-old, keep themselves busy in the cabin while we enjoyed good conversation in the cockpit. Hamish grilled the fish on the Bar B, and it was excellent. Shortly after we anchored, Ann from Borrowed Horse brought three pounds of shark over to us. Neither of us has knowingly eaten shark (we are guessing it is probably in fish sticks and similar things), but we were willing to give it a try. We grilled about a third of it a couple of days later, and while it was a good mild fish, neither of us cared for the texture. We gave our remaining shark to Brian on Wind Chaser, as he likes shark meat very much.

Our New Winter Home

Wind Chaser left Exuma Park a day before us. They spent last winter in the Exumas, so they wanted to see some new and different places and maybe go to George Town at a faster pace than we planned. We will catch up with them later. We had some nice gatherings on the beach for cocktails. The park built a fire for us on Saturday night. After leaving Warderick Wells, we went to Black Point Settlement to do laundry. The laundromat, Rockside Inn, came highly recommended. After some bad and expensive experiences last year in the Abacos, we are very cautious. This turned out to be the very best, not only for the Bahamas, but for the US as well. A little more expensive than in the US, but not bad for the Bahamas. The equipment worked very well, and the place was spotless. We like Black Point Settlement so much that we have decided it will be our home base, the place we keep coming back to after exploring. We met Lorraine, who runs Lorraine's Cafe. We are so comfortable at Lorraine's. She has great, reasonably priced meals, free WiFi, a book exchange, and a television. The bar is self-serve. You just make up your drink or find one in the cooler and note your drinks on a pad to be settled later. Lorraine's mom makes breads, and we started with an initial order for two coconut breads. It makes the best French toast. We bought two lobsters from local fishermen who stopped by in their boat. The catch was fresh, and we didn't take long to get them in a pot of boiling water. This was our first spiny lobster, and they were very good.

Now In The Exumas

From Nassau, we left with a flotilla, as everyone waited for the same favorable wind conditions. Our first stop in the Exumas was at Allens Cay. On the way across to Allens Cay, we went through an area of coral heads and began honing our skills at reading the water (color). For about an hour, Norm stood on the bow and directed Linda with hand signals to avoid any potential coral heads. As we approached Allens Cay, all navigation was by sight, using the color of the water to determine deep water and to avoid sandbars. Allens Cay is known for its iguanas. These are friendly, and just about as soon as you land on the beach, they are around, hoping to be fed. We did not feed them, as none of the wildlife should be fed, but we noted that commercial boats bring tourists to Allens Cay, and some provided food for their guests to feed the iguanas.

After spending a couple of nights at Allens Cay, we were off to Normans Cay. Normans Cay was once held by Colombian drug lord Carlos Lehder. The remaining part now is the air strip, which is active. There is a beach club and a few vacation villas. We let our dinghy drift over a plane wreck. It is perfectly preserved and intact below the surface. The fuselage and tail, which were above the surface, corroded away. Normans Cay is just outside the Exumas Park, where all plants and wildlife are protected. We found the conch plentiful at Normans Cay.

We spent New Year's Eve at Normans Cay and celebrated with pizza on Wind Chaser, but we were back aboard Ariel by 7:30 pm.

On New Year's Day, we continued on to Warderick Wells in the heart of Exumas Cays Land and Sea Park. This park covers an area of 176 square miles. The entire area is a no-take zone. Nothing can be removed, living or dead. This area has great snorkeling, and the island has some very interesting walking trails. We were assigned a mooring in the north mooring field, near the park office.

We have been traveling with the same group of boats more or less since Nassau, so we are getting to know many of our frequent neighbors.

On mooring 

Nassau

Our original plan was to clear into the Bahamas in Bimini, rest there, and then continue on to Nassau for a brief stop before entering the Exuma chain. The weather windows to cross have been few and brief. Our window would only stay open for a couple of days, and knowing that if we did not continue on, we would be held up in Bimini, we decided to bypass Bimini and continue on to Nassau. We passed just north of Bimini, crossed the bank, and then entered the Northwest Channel and then on to Nassau. We arrived at Nassau just a few hours before the window closed again. This is our first time in Nassau, and we are glad we have the opportunity to see what it is all about. We are anchored in the middle of the harbor formed between Paradise Island and the city of Nassau on New Providence Island. We are at a position east of the cruise ship docks and south of Atlantis, and west of the bridges that connect to Paradise Island. Three or four cruise ships arrive daily, sometimes as many as five. They stay just one day. We ventured to the cruise ship dock part of town, but didn't find anything of interest to us. It was mostly luxury goods for the cruise ship crowd.

We spent an afternoon at Atlantis. We had permission to land our dinghy at a small dock in front of the Dockmaster's office. The marina caters to the very large luxury yachts. The aquarium is fascinating. We walked through the casino and past all the shops. We concluded with a walk on the beach, which was packed with vacationers.

The end of town east of the bridges is where most of the marinas are, and it is an area we like. It is where the locals shop. We needed just a couple of items at the grocery store and found the supermarket to be as well-stocked as is typical in the US.

We met many cruisers at a weekly luncheon organized by BASRA (Bahamian Air Sea Rescue Association). It was at the Green Parrot, an extremely cruiser-friendly restaurant. They provide a dinghy dock and free WiFi. BASRA also runs a radio net in the mornings to provide a weather update and a chance for cruisers to connect.

Fantasy Island (Windchaser in foreground)

Aquarium

Brian and Jan

A Fast Run To Miami

Upon returning to Fernandina Beach after three weeks away, we found Ariel in good condition, meaning the birds had not made too big a mess. The very next day, we were on our way south again. Our buddy boat, Wind Chaser, had left the same marina a full week ahead of us, so we were determined to do our best to catch up or at least not have them wait too long in Miami for us.

Along the way, we visited with Barry and Susan on Swan while anchored in Cocoa Beach and with Iain and Jan on Jocks Lodge while anchored in North Palm Beach.

After leaving the Palm Beaches area, the waterway was all new to us since we did not go any further south last year. The stretch between the Palm Beaches and Port Everglades has 21 bridges that must open to allow passage. Almost all of them are on a fixed schedule, so timing is very important. We found the bridge tenders to be very pleasant, and the schedules worked out to be very accommodating. We would do this stretch again without hesitation. We went outside for the last leg, departing from Port Everglades and returning via Government Cut in Miami. There is one fixed bridge in this stretch that we cannot get under.

Miami is an exciting place. There is ample room to anchor, and everything is easily accessible by dinghy through the extensive system of waterways and canals. It is just amazing to watch the cruise ships arrive and depart. They arrive around 4:00 am and depart the same day around 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm.  We spent an afternoon at South Beach after finding a canal that took us all the way there. This is a place we both wanted to visit.

Next stop - Bahamas

Miami Skyline

One of many cruise ships

Holding Up In Fernandina Beach

We went on a mooring at Fernandina Beach and then, for the weekend, rented a car. Enterprise offers great weekend rates at 1/2 the normal weekday rate. We had a great visit with Linda's sister, Dale, and her husband Steve in Palatka, Florida. We also made our last major provisioning for the winter months in the Bahamas. We had to take inventory and begin keeping records of our food stores in each compartment. They are not always visible, so it is good to know what is actually available.

We met up with Brian and Jan from Wind Chaser. We also met their son Cory. He is stationed at the Submarine Base at Kings Bay, Georgia, and has an apartment in Fernandina Beach. We compared plans with Brian and Jan, and we all agreed to travel together this winter. We will visit the Exumas and explore some of the islands between the Exumas and the Turks and Caicos. Brian and Jan will keep Wind Chaser in Fernandina Beach until after the Thanksgiving holiday.

Iain and Jan from Jocks Lodge arrived a week later at Cumberland Island, so we took Ariel to Cumberland Island after dropping our mooring. It was extremely windy, but we all made it in for a walk. We had quite an international group for our island touring. Jocks Lodge is Canadian. We were joined by a couple from a New Zealand boat, Long White Cloud, several years into their circumnavigation. They are extremely interesting and have so many wonderful experiences to share. We were also joined by a couple from an Australian boat, Tacu Tori. They purchased the boat in the US and are now traveling with Jocks Lodge. They will visit Cuba with Jocks Lodge and then continue on to Panama to cross to the Pacific Ocean and on to Australia.

Our plans have changed. We put Ariel in a slip at Fernandina Harbor Marina so we could go north.  Our dear family friend, Annette Newland lost her long battle with cancer on November 17, 2008.   We will be there for her celebration of life service and later we will spend Thanksgiving with family. We expect to be away for three weeks, and then after returning, we will move quickly to Miami to rejoin Wind Chaser for our crossing to Bimini.

Submarine leaving Kings Bay as we were returning from Cumberland Island to Fernandina Beach.

A Different Experience

This year's journey south is so much different than our first trip last year. Our plan was to go outside (along the coast) most of the way, but the wind conditions, both in direction and strength, have kept us inside on the ICW most of the way. We are now in Fernandina Beach, having finally gone outside at Charleston and re-entering at the St. Marys River.

We also experienced the skinniest water ever in a stretch of South Carolina. We knew it would be a potential problem since we would be passing this known problem spot at an absolute low tide. For a 1/2 mile stretch, we had continuous depths less than 5 feet. We soon ran aground, and for the first time ever, we could not get ourselves off on our own. We were resigned to wait on the rising tide to lift us off, but almost immediately, a local guy out checking his crab traps offered to try and pull us off. Not only did he pull us off, with some difficulty, but he gave us guidance on deeper water. In this case, the deeper water was 3 additional inches, but enough to keep going. It was extremely nerve-racking, as we occasionally felt Ariel bog down as the keel ran along the bottom.

We were extremely happy to go outside and hope to continue traveling along the Florida coast. The windows for outside travel have been short. As it was, the seas were building rapidly under strong east-to-northeast winds as we entered St. Mary's.

Dewees Creek - one of our favorite places to anchor - north of Charleston

Fort Sumter

 

Ready For The Push South

High winds were forecast, so after leaving Elizabeth City, we selected South Lake just off the Alligator River as our secure anchorage. It is a very desolate place with the only visible sign of human development being a flashing white light atop a tower in the very far distance. No other boats joined us, so we were indeed isolated. The winds picked up just as it got dark, increasing quickly to a sustained 30 - 35 knots with higher gusts. Without lights or moonlight, it was not possible to see the shoreline. We both monitored our GPS position for a couple of hours to ensure we were not dragging our anchor. We were held in this location for three nights and two days with consistently high winds. When we finally retrieved our anchor, it was confirmed that it had buried itself quite deeply.

Our next stop was Belhaven, NC. We like this town a lot. It is really made up of working folks, but it offers the basic essentials we need. We find everyone extremely friendly. We stayed a day to pick up our mail, do laundry, fill our propane tank, and pick up a few groceries. At the post office, they already had our package out front, waiting for us to stop by. What a treat compared to our experience in West Palm Beach last year.

Our insurance held us back until November to keep us out of the hurricane area, but now we are free to go, so we are serious about moving south as quickly as possible.

Dismal Swamp Canal

Last year, we were disappointed to find the Dismal Swamp route closed due to low water levels. At mile 7.3 on the Intercoastal Waterway, there is usually a choice between the Virginia Cut route and the Dismal Swamp route. We called ahead and were delighted to find the water level was at least 6.3 feet and the locks were back on four openings each day. The Dismal Swamp route is slower (no wake zone), much more scenic, and has more free docks available. There is no commercial traffic, and most powerboats avoid it due to the slower pace. The Dismal Swamp Canal has locks at both ends.  Entering the canal, you are raised to the level of the canal and, at the other end, lowered back down again. Immediately after clearing the Deep Creek lock at the north end, we tied up at a free dock with room for about five boats. We stayed three nights and got to know our dock neighbors. One night, when we had five boats staying, we had a Happy Hour on the dock. The small town of Deep Creek has good shopping from a boater's perspective. Linda made big additions to our provisioning by shopping at the Dollar General store. On the last day before leaving, three of us worked together to move our boats close to the only available water tap, and we each then filled our tanks and washed down our boats by connecting our hoses. We timed our departure from Deep Creek to the first lock opening. We were actually trapped between the lock and the bridge, which operates in conjunction with the lock. The trip down the canal was everything we could have hoped for. It was a beautifully clear day, and the canal was very scenic. The pace was purposefully slow to arrive at the lock on the far end at exactly the scheduled opening. We ran over three deadheads along the way. These are logs that have sunk to the bottom or near the bottom. They just bump along the bottom of the keel and do no harm.

Exiting the South Mills lock after being lowered eight feet, we hurried on to Elizabeth City to arrive during daylight. Our big disappointment was to find all fourteen of the free city docks filled. Elizabeth City is famous for its Rose Buddies. Friends of ours who went through about a week ahead of us confirmed the tradition is still going, even though its founder, Fred Fearing, died last year. The Rose Buddies greet the boaters and invite them to a wine and cheese party. The city mayor attended the wine and cheese party that our friends had attended. We anchored out for the night with a few other boats caught in the same circumstances. It was probably just as well, as we planned to leave at dawn to get across the Albemarle Sound before expected high winds and to find a secure anchorage.

The Dismal Swamp Canal is the oldest continually operating man-made canal in the United States. Both George Washington and Governor Patrick Henry of Virginia felt that canals were the easiest answer for an efficient means of internal transportation. In 1784, the Dismal Swamp Canal Company was created. Digging began in 1793 and progressed slowly since the canal had to be dug completely by hand. Most of the labor was done by slaves hired from nearby landowners. It took approximately 12 years of back-breaking construction under highly unfavorable conditions to complete the 22-mile-long waterway. By 1805, flat-bottomed vessels could be admitted into the canal, where tolls were charged to allay the continual expense of improvements and maintenance.
By 1820, the Canal was recognized as an important part of commercial traffic between Virginia and North Carolina. In 1829, improvements to the waterway made it possible to accommodate deeper drafts. The 1860's and the onset of the Civil War put the canal in an important strategic position for Union and Confederate forces. Wartime activity, however, left the canal in a terrible state of repair. The repairs and maintenance needed for the canal made travel difficult.  A new era for the canal came in 1892 when the Lake Drummond Canal and Water Company launched rehabilitation efforts. Once again, a steady stream of vessels carrying lumber, shingles, farm products, and passengers made the canal a bustling interstate thoroughfare.  With the 20th century, however, improvements in modes of transportation meant another downturn for the canal. By the 1920's, commercial traffic had subsided except for passenger vessels. In 1929, it was sold to the federal government for $500,000, and since then, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has operated and maintained it.

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Before Lowering

After Being Lowered

Back Together Again In Spa Creek

After returning from visiting family, we moved Ariel out of the marina and anchored nearby, still in the downtown Baltimore area. The next day, we moved to Annapolis and anchored off the Naval Academy. The sailboat show had just ended, and they were setting up for the powerboat show in the harbor, so it was busy. With all of the boat traffic, it was pretty lumpy, so the next day we moved into Spa Creek and took a mooring. Iain and Jan from Jocks Lodge, our cruising partners from last season, have been anchored in Spa Creek while Jan is working at both of the boat shows. We had dinner on their boat our first night in Annapolis, and had them over on Ariel a couple of nights later for dinner. They are leaving for Cuba as soon as the boat shows are over. Their plans will take them to Mexico, Belize, and then Guatemala. Ted and Alice from Windsong, also our cruising partners from last winter, had prepared for and had hoped to cruise again this season, but Ted developed some medical problems that will keep them grounded for a while. The six of us got together for dinner on Thursday evening, which was wonderful. Ted looked good and seemed to be on the road to a good recovery. We were so happy to see them and will miss having them out there with us. We are on our way now, having had a very fast sail from Annapolis to Solomons. A strong north-northeast wind pushed us along at 7 knots. The anchorage is extremely crowded, and we had to squeeze in.

Camryn's First Birthday

Our weekend trip to Ohio for Camryn's first birthday could not have been nicer. Ariel was very secure at Inner Harbor East Marina, and the car rental was only a couple of blocks away. The leaves were at peak or near peak as we passed through the hills in Pennsylvania and New York.

The party, which was a brunch, was really nice, and afterward we were all invited to spend the afternoon together at Scott and Pamela's home. We got to spend time with all of our grandchildren. It was a very quick trip, and we were sad to leave, especially knowing we would not see them again until next June.

Back On The Chesapeake

Our plan after Linda's medical procedure on Thursday was to immediately begin our trip to Baltimore. We need to secure Ariel for a few days so we can go to Ohio for Camryn's first birthday party. We began with heavy rain and the passing of Hurricane Kyle, which delayed our departure from Onset until Monday, September 29. We planned our departure to maximize the use of favorable currents. We left Onset at 8:45 am to time the favorable current, which carried us all the way out of Buzzards Bay and most of the way to the Harbor of Refuge at Point Judith. We have passed this man-made shelter many times, but we have never gone in. We decided to stay there to save the time it would take to move to a more protected anchorage. The swell had been running high all day from the weekend storms, and we found the break wall at Point Judith insufficient to keep the waves from breaking over the top. We had a bouncy night, and we were happy to get underway at 6:30 am to catch a favorable current in Long Island Sound. We decided to stop at East Haven, which was very calm and comfortable this time around. We were on our way again the next morning at 7:30 am to catch the favorable current. We stopped at Port Washington, one of our favorites. The next day was extremely windy, so we stayed but did not go ashore. The following day was still windy, and we knew New York Harbor would be rough, but we wanted to stage at Sandy Hook for forecasted good conditions for the weekend. We timed our departure to arrive at Hell Gate at near slack. It was rough going right from the start, and it became a very rough ride in New York Harbor as we expected. We arrived at Atlantic Highlands to find a very crowded anchorage, as we are now back in the pack of boats migrating south. Our departure the next morning was timed to arrive at the entrance to Delaware Bay at 8:00 am to catch the favorable current up the bay and through the C&D Canal. After topping off our fuel, we left at 8:15 am. It was a very smooth trip down the coast, and the wind was in our favor as we had hoped. The wind was only about 10 knots, so we had to motor sail the entire trip. We were pretty much alone the entire way. While many other boats left as well, we think they were probably making stops along the coast. We arrived at the entrance of the Delaware Bay 20 minutes early, not bad after 128 miles. Our average speed was 5.5 knots as planned. To some, this may seem slow, but we have slowed down this year to reduce our diesel fuel use. The wind was on the nose as we went up the bay, so it was a little slower than we would have liked. We stopped at the Bohemia River, which is just past the Chesapeake side of the C&D Canal. Our goal was the Sassafras River, but we would have arrived after dark if we kept going. The Bohemia River takes a bit of nerve. It is silted in about two feet over the depths reported on the charts. We gingerly looked for a spot as the actual depths were 4.9 - 6.0 feet. Our draft is now 4.9 feet, so we know we were at our limit and may have been pushing through some silt. The next day, we decided to go straight to the inner harbor in Baltimore, which was a day ahead of our plan. We are now at the Inner Harbor East Marina, which is in the center city and a great facility. When we stepped off in Baltimore, we realized we had not been off Ariel for 11 days. This trip was so much different from a year ago, but most of the difference is with us. We are much more patient and more focused on using favorable wind and current to help us.

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