aug 25th

wifi too slow for pictures.  pix later

August 25^th

Forecast each day the NE will hit but has not and today it seemed that the winds were E 20-25k. seas 5-8 feet.

I left the decision up to Ben cuz it made no difference to me if we left today or tomorrow especially cuz he is the muscles behind getting the anchor up off the deep thick mud in 20k winds pulling us away from the anchor and that there were no thunderstorms and heavy rains forecast… wind we should be able to set our sails right. 

He thought about it hard.  I was happy to see him weight the pros and cons! He said out loud (which I appreciated cuz then I can get into his head at some of his decisions why he does what he does…), “it’s going to be hard to get the anchor up…(yup, I nodded encouraging his speaking outloud!)) I wish we had one more person… one at the wheel to motor the boat forward, one cranking the anchor chain and one scrubbing the mud laden chain… it is gray and hazy so we won’t see much at Isle Au Haut… we could duff here one more day.” He looked at me for some tipping of his decisions but I was stoic… he can do it on his own.

He was silent and thought… (this was good for me to see too. There have been times he likes to jump ahead and I feel like I’m pulling the reigns in on his thoughts by simply asking questions that cause him to think it through where many times he will change his mind after more thought… or me being the captain I will explain what would make me happy and why… sounds egotistic as I write this… it’s not that way… its about safety for Pam… my comfort zone is way smaller than his… like Ben wanting to go our first night sailing with a forecast of bad weather when waiting one day will make it a nice sail instead of a nail biting sail for our first night sail…He likes to jump in and I like to have more experience so when things challenge us we are ready… I’ve had enough sailing happily and we are increasing our comfort zone with our knowledge base so I was comfortable with whatever.  I thought he was going to say quickly, “K, letz-go!”) He kept thinking then he said… “Let’s try it we can always come back in. and if we can’t get the anchor loose then we stay.”

Excellent thought process. I motored the boat… there is a fine line of keeping the boat into wind and losing way… once the boat get 5 degrees off line the wind will catch her big mass belly and swing us around fast, which happened and Ben looked back at me… I yelled through all the rain and wind noise, “Sorry, I’m getting it…”

I pulled her back into wind and kept more power… he’d yell, “stop.” I let down the throttle but I kept some power on… he never noticed that I did not “stop the engine” but stopped out “way”. We got to the chain part (we had 110 feet of line connected to 100 feet of super heavy chain) it was muddy! I came to help winch… We went slow and it self cleaned as the rushing water helped clean the chain.  At 50 feet I ran back to the motor since we were in 40feet of water.

I pulled forward and slowly edged up and Ben cranked and off the bottom it came.  Here we go.  Never once during the day did I feel like this was a mistake or that we should stay in seal bay.

We motored out of the protective bay and got a glimpse at the wind direction and waves! I turned her around… I think Ben was thinking I was taking us back.  I yelled forward and said, “Don’t worry I’m just going back in the protection of the bay to set the sails.” It was 25k now so it has 10 more knots to go out there… we reefed twice and put up the staysail.  We learned before that less sail is best… is it?... read on.

Oh before I go Ben did an excellent job of tethering on to the jack (safety) line and going up front to reef sails.  This is no small task… you pull up the main to ¾ the way up then fiddle around with re attaching the sail at a shorter size then putting back in fittings and stuff… all while the boat is bucking up and down. I’m concentrating at keeping enough power into wind so as to not get the side caught by the wind to pull us sideways as which time the wind will catch the sails and really tip us over as we speed.

We agreed on a double reef and staysail.  Out we poked our nose.  Big rocks on the left, wind at 20… we were moving into the wind 35 degrees, the boat moved 45 degrees then 53 degrees toward the rocks… Still we were only going 2 knots, we had opposite of weather helm (weather helm is having too much sail and our boat keeps pulling us up into wind hard – this was opposite?) I had the wheel all the way up into wind and we kept falling off toward the cliff like rocks… I had not enough sail to get us through the wind… I had not turned off the engine yet… I like to make sure all is happy before cutting the engine… here it seemed we had too little sail to pull us into the wind so we could not turn the other way and tack away from the rocks… (that would be into the wind, thru the wind and end up on the other side)… I gave the motor extra power and motored into the wind on a port tack. (this whole thing had me baffled and I was not understanding what just happened and why we lost steerage and why we could not get thru the wind… I scratched my head. And thought… duh we might had too little wind.

Now on a port tack… the same thing happened where I did not have enough power to steer through the winds.  Ben and I looked at each other still not sure what the problem was cuz before we thought too little sail is better than too much… He said, “Let’s shake out a reef.” I was reading his mind or he was reading my mind… He went up front again now in the full 20k winds with waves about 4 feet.  The  moment he set the first reef I could tell this is the right thing to do.  He came back in the cockpit and I feel off beautifully into away from the wind.  We were perfectly balanced.  Still only going about 3 – 3.5 knots.  Impossible with all this wind.

The wind picked up… 22 … 23 … 25… 26 … 26 … 26… 26 was perfect for our boat with this sail configuration. We were going 5 k… she was balanced and by that I mean the wheel is pretty much in one spot, “top-dead-center” no fighting, no wrestling just fun sailing…

The rain picked up and it did sting my face yet I was warm… the boat was happy… the seas were only 4ft… we were not healed way over … harmony and balance… our boat can teach us that about life… too much or too little of a good thing is not really good….

We sailed and then 26k… 29… 30… 32… 32… 32k… Our sailing was out of balance again.  Well not too bad the problem was lobster pot lines!!! I’m beginning to hate them…. Oh to back up remember when we were near the rocks we had also just ran over a lobster line I cut the engine quickly and looked underneath and sure enough it was hooked on our keel.. this time all I had to do was turn the wheel and it feel off.  At that moment both ben and I were racing in our minds what to do…. We could not start the engine… we were heading for the rocks in 69 feet of water… we would quickly drop the anchor and let out 200 feet of line… then deal with the line… but we were spared that crisis and that would have been a think fast crisis…  one we think we would have been a little prepared for since we knew how to get the line off the keel from before… I digress…

32… 32… 32..  ahh that is where I left off.  32k 32 k and rising.  Now we had weather helm  each time I had to move off my perfect 38 degrees to wind to miss a lobster line the wind would take the boat flying to a beam… the boat would heal way over and the bullworks (those are the walk ways around the boat) would plough into the water as we would lay almost on our side and weigh us down the bow would dip low then jump up as I steered us back on course…) see why I’m not so fond of lobster lines anymore.  32k… 35k… 36k… ok we are way out of balance again.  The rain still hurt my face it is like sleet coming down sideways in the winter time in MN, but it was not freezing. I had been steering all day and not once did I get cold.

We were close to our desination… so we put head into wind and dowsed the sails and motored on into a quaint old fashion lobstering town. We pulled up a mooring ball.  (I love mooring balls in this condition!) We were happy to be set… I was soaking wet even though I had long underwear, jeans, turtle neck, sweatshirt with hood, rain coat with hood, bib-overall rainpants, mittens and scarf.  Once moored I got out the scrub brush and scrubbed the deck. Why not? It was perfect rain to give it a good rinse.

We went down below to pick up anything that flung on the floor and made supper… read books… talked about our day… saying at no time did I feel scared, tired, upset, fearful yet most of the day was exciting… fun… like a ride at valleyfair… physical…safe..  and a good experience and learning curve went up another notch…

Now if I can just learn about electricity I’d be happy. Ha ha ha

Got to get some work done tonight … I’m responding to emails even though we have no internet… I’m writing them and when we get wifi at Mt Desert Acadia national park (if we get it) I will send them out.

All in all a blessed day that the Lord hath made.

duff day

 Waiting for the tide to come in and push me through the two islands.

(I have 2 bars of Wifi and we ran the wifi unit up the flag pole. ha ha ha but true so you would get the text. the pictures are not coming through so I'll post those later.)

August 24, - declared a duff day!

For those of you that go to the BWCA you are excited to see this and you know what that means.  For those of you that have not traveled with us to the BWCA I shall make a short explanation. On BWCA days you canoe – portage – canoe – portage all day until you find the perfect camp site! The new kids that come with us inevitably will say after the first day, “What we are packing up and moving? This is such a nice site. Where are we going? How long will it take? I’m too tired and don’t want to pack up again…” etc.. the grumbling and confusion might continue depending on the child. We answer with, “There are places to go and things to see and excitement to be discovered!”

By the 3 or 4^th day of doing this we wake up and declare, “Today is a duff day!” the experienced kids cheer the new kids say what is a duff day?  A day to pick what you want to do… Some will hike and explore the area, some will seek out water falls to jump off of or cliffs to climb or blueberries to pick… yet some will stay at camp and read – eat – cook – play cards. 

Today is a duff day! We have slept in, read books, cooked yummy food, (Ahh some of you are wondering what is yummy… well we still have fresh food from our provisioning just a few days ago… so we have cream for our coffee! That’s really all we need to make it a great food day.  Then we look at what perishables are left? Eggs and kefir  - we had scrambled eggs with kefir and cheese with dried basil and fried onions! Yummm plus a little of ruby red grapefruit juice a luxury I’m sure I have taken for granted in my past life.  For lunch Grilled zucchini and onion put in a sandwich and grilled with cheese. (a grilled cheese zucchini onion sandwich) with potato chips and water with a lime for tasty goodieness.  Eat like kings and queens cuz soon it will be back to dried food and can food and coffee without cream.

Now is blog time and soon Ben and I will kayak in 25 knot winds but little waves cuz we are in a protected hurricane hole… we will then kayak around to find seals and land and excitement for the day…

We waited till the nights calming winds to kayak.  At dusk we set out to explore around Penobscot island in seal bay.  We did not see any seals but we did see adorable raccoons on the shore eating mussels… they tried to crack them open.  They are not as good as opening mussels as the seagulls that grab a mussel and fly up in the sky to drop them on a rock in hopes it will crack open. 

As we kayaked around we were at low tide changing to high tide.  As we paddled in against a slight tidal current through a small natural canal the water stopped and ebbed out.  We were in muck.  Muck and mud all around us.  Ben said, “Lets just wait for the tide to come up and take us through.”  It can’t be long since you can watch the tide rise 2 feet an hour so 6 inches every 15 minutes that would be plenty water for us to continue kayaking through.

The sunset was bright red with nice clouds to touch the sky with glorious beauty. We paddled in the dark.  When we set out we were not going to go around the island just go to the canal and back but who could resist.  Now here we are with out a map and many islands around us.  I remember counting on the map that there are 2 inlets and the 3 inlet is really a passage between two islands’ and that is the one we want.  I counted one… two… but was the second one really an inlet or just a bay? Now I was not sure.  Ben did not look at the map but he was sure it was not the right inlet that turned into a canal.  So north we went.  (don’t worry we were not lost just taking a path we did not expect taking.)  when we missed the passage we knew cuz we kept going along a string of islands until we knew exactly where we were… a bit further than I wanted to travel that night but exercise is exercise. 

I was tired and happy to sleep…. ahhhh

Forecast Rain - Lobster pots again!

Captain’s log – August 23, 2010. Maine US

Forecast: Rain – 15-25 knots gusts up to 35 knots (so says NOAA)

Winds NE, visibility 1-3nm (nautical Miles)

Cloudy – foggy – hazey

Ready to make the checks…

Engine – check (fuel filter good, oil full)

Bilge – looks a bit dirty? We found out you can open up the sea-cock in the forward belly and pour in sea water to wash out the lower bilge area.  Strange to open up something that is a hole that lets in water in your boat.  That inlet is for our toilet, we just took off the hose and let the water run so we could scrub out the scum.

Toilet we checked too cuz we had friends over for 4 days and our toilet was full.  Frequently I would check the head (toilet) and there would be clear sea water filling the tank! I don’t know why but is there a weird suction or siphon happening? So Ben thought why not shut off the water from outside and see if that helps. So far it is helping in the mean time I’m trying to learn to pee like a guy. Ha ha but true.  Ok we were totally not meant to pee in a cup, bucket, off a deck, in the woods or any other than a nice sit down.  I know why women wore dresses cuz then to pee standing up could be easier.  How did our foremothers do it? Pee in weather, or in the prairie, in a snow storm, then there is Sacagawea – she was with a bunch of men and no other women to chat about peeing in the woods.   I happen to have a soft bucket (the plastic collapsible type) it is easy to form to the legs so your pee does not go streaming down the leg on either side.  Well in theory it works.  Still squatting is the best way and this bucket is way cool cuz it forms to the thighs but don’t try this at home or standing up! Just trust me on this. Oh and watch out for the bucket to fold backwards and pee drip off out the back unsuspectingly.

We used our generator to charge our battery.  But still we anchored for the night and by morning it was dead again! Grrr and I say double grrr.

We switched out to our last propane tank.  We have three little ones on deck in a cute treasure-looking chest, no one knows what is in there but us and now you… Normally people have 10 gallon tanks where you can exchange anywhere or most places but we happen to have these small not common ones where you need to find a place that fills them!! Hard. But each tank has lasted one month so we should be good the last leg of the trip.

We have 31 hours on one tank of fuel, and 40 gallons left of the other one. Our first tank went fast cuz we went fast while motoring  this next tank we hope to get double or better than the last tank… I’ll keep you informed.

We got out our dingy for our friends so we all could stretch our legs on shore.  An endeavor that took about 1 ½ hrs to get out, set up, blow up, put together, place the motor in , put in the water etc… all of which parts and pieces are in the belly of the boat tucked under stuff. And another 1 ½ hrs to put away.  All we did successfully and happily for the cause of going ashore.  Now it is all tucked away again – we put it away in the rain.

I got some work done before leaving since I know it would be a while without shore power/electricity and wifi and internet and email. Meanwhile… Ben was checking where we would like to go in this weather plus now the time was after 1pm so not much time to get to places especially if those places are NE and we have a NE wind.  We decided to go back to that cute hurricane hole in Seal Bay! And today it is sunny and cool with NE crisp air.  We are lazy butts today just reading and now I’m blogging it is almost 10am.

Back to yesterday.. aug 23…

We set sail and the weather was not half as bad as the weather report and the people on shore that we met kept warning us of a NE-er is coming and 30k winds will be rocking our boat.  The winds were only 10- 15k and we went wind to beam all the way except for the narrows where we motored again.

We had a first… we grew and stretched again, we learned more… and Ben is my hero again!  Let me explain… Lobster pots are everywhere in certain places – tons of them… on the top of the water you see a colorful and unique buoy specific to a certain lobster boat. (the lobster boat displays their unique buoy on their boat for all to see.) attached to the buoy is a rope/line that reaches to the bottom 30 – 80 feet typically but on this day we ran over a buoy line and it was in 225 feet of water! Normally the buoy just clunk clunks on our hull and passes… well not this time.

It stalled the boat, likely we were out far enough to drift toward shore. We dare not start the engine since the line is caught on the propeller. We pulled out the boat hook and pulled, twisted, pushed etc… nothing doing. We felt sorry for the lobsters getting yanked around but more bad for the lobster man/woman who make their lives doing this. Under each line is two big lobster “pots” metal crates, I’m sure nothing too fun to lose.

Ben was all happy to get in the water and unfowl  the line.  Me on the other hand knows the two times he has gotten the most sea sick is when he goes in the water during waves.  Not good then I end up sailing for however long that day is.  We were just starting our long day and it was rainy and cold so I was hopping to take turns.  I offered my services to swim in cold water since the other day I was fine swimming in 62 degree weather. Ben would not have it. The water this time was 58 degrees!

Last time he went in the water during a sail we tied a rope around his waist; this did not work well! It got in the way, wrapped around his legs and got tangled, not good any of it.  So this time I got our regular harness and comfortably put it on the correct way. Tied a tethered line and in he went. BRRRRR it looked cold! He gulped a big gulp of sea water by mistake oooppss. (I thought oh no that will make him sea sick.) He quickly dove down and in less than I can count to 10 it was loose and he was on deck and the best part was he did not get sea sick!!! He must have his full sea legs on by now. My hero again!

Oh I forgot... Lila again over board!

This time it was glass calm again! She came into the cabin about 2am dripping wet from head to paws and head to tail! oh my!!! she has to stop scaring us like that!!! when will she learn? atleast in calm weather she really does know where the rope ladder hangs out.  I wonder how long it took her to find it.  She was shaking like a leaf for a good hour afterwards!!! Lila Lila Lila!

Another day in paradise

         We picked up an outdoor concert at the Library in Camden.

         Here is the town.  We ate at Cappy's excellent meal. Clam Chowder! yummm!

       Here is our water taxi.  If you get a mooring ball then they pick you up and drop you off.  Fun! All included in the price of the mooring ball complete with showers too! Coin op laundry... we were in need of laundry... have not done that since Mystic almost a month ago... no worries I brought 30 pairs of underwear cuz I learned last year it is far and few between washes.  This year I have only had to wash my undies and hang them out to dry as we sailed 0nce.  (True story, I would not let Ben take a picture of my underwear.)

        Here I go into cold Maine water in Seal Cove! the temp was 62 degrees. I know this cuz our chartplotter does that too! Here I go!!!      Connie and Jeff came to visit us. Our first visitors that have stayed on our boat this year! we had perfect weather!        Jeff after a few days sailing he is sitting in the Lions chair off the stern.

        They used our kayaks and had a great paddle around a cute little island.       Hi everyone! Look at me! I'm under Maine water and waving to you-all!

         Seal Cove. See that small island and how far away we are? When the tide goes out 11 feet will drop and that island will appear to be big and our boat will be looking really close even though we are in 30 feet of water we look like we should be hitting the rocks!

         Here are the islands.  These are surrounding us 360 degrees around! everywhere you look paradise! Connie and Jeff enjoying the morning paddle.

           I must be a good Captain that while sailing our friends felt so safe and comfortable that they took a little nappy.... Or I must be incredibly boring and I put them to sleep with the rocking of the boat and my boat yarns.  Anyway I was enjoying the view!!! how could anyone sleep through the Fox Thoroughfare? It is a narrow passage between two island stretching out about 8 miles.  It was interesting to see how the boats sail in this small passage.  Of course this day we did not time the tide/current right cuz we wanted to stay longer at seal cove... so we were against the wind head on... against the current.... one cannot sail like that.  So I watched the other boats that were going our way... you pull in your jib and motor then at the next Bend you put back out your jib and turn off your motor.  I'm not proud of it but for the first time through a narrow passage I used all the tools in the box and copied the natives.

Last year we were on the boat more and this year we are seeking out land opportunities cuz these towns are just too adorable to miss... I been eating, I think, too much ice cream cuz there are pictures I cannot show you of me in a swim suit.  I'll spare you all.  I am more toned cuz the work it takes to sail can be hard... or I can let Ben do the heavy lifting and stuff.  I try to do my share.

these last few days in Maine were perfect weather!  We sailed to Pulpit Harbor a popular place, Seal Cover not so popular but I give it 5 stars our of 5! or maybe 10 starts our of 5! it was that good.

Now comes our first Big North Easter... 25-35 knots and seas 5-8 moving to 6-9 and colder.  this should last for 2 days. I'm not sure where we are going yet but tomorrow will be a long morning of pouring over charts.  We don't want to be in a bad anchorage with that kind of winds! We don't want to be trying to travel NE in those winds and it is also supposed to rain.  there are no thunderstorms coming but everyone I've talked to has changed their plans to stay in town for two days.  I know Ben does not want to do that... I'm feeling ok with leaving tomorrow even though the winds are up, visibility is 1-3, seas 5-9, if we can find the right place to sail to at the right tide.

Cell phone coverage is spotty at the islands so there might be some times I don't post but I will still try to write each day the post afterwards.

enjoying Maine wish you all were here!

peace and calm

Pam

No coverage for days

In Camden foggy and the locals say this is not that foggy. Well today we can see the islands that are just out from the bay! My friend Connie n Jeff have come to visit. We will be island hopping for a few days and cell coverage is bad again. 

If you want to get a hold of ben thru text or email you'll have to text me. His iPhone went in the water as he slipped off the boat to his waist. He just missed the rope ladder rung. Poor guy. We still have wifi at times when we have enough electricity and verizon coverage. 

The upside is he went swimming for all of us to see a totally illuminesence bay! There are big sparkles and small. We also got a bucket of water and played with the watery fairy dust lights! Good entertainment for all. 

forecast - rain - fog visibility 1-3... it's time...

      This is what it looked like as we motored out of the boatyard at Tennants Harbor.  Not scared... just another day to learn the lessons yet to be unfolded.       I'm sure you are all jealous of my nice fish hat?        Getting ready to reef. Trying to decide what sail configuration to start with.       Ben in Maine's harbor... Camden Maine One excited man.  I think this should be his next profile!       Our first morning moored in Camden's harbor... fog...        More Fog in the morning... it just keeps rolling in all morning till afternoon!

Our first day sail in the rain…

Our first sail in the fog…

Our first sail to Camden Maine…

We left Tennant Harbour which was just a quick stop to get a shower since I had not had one in 10 days.  Ben could careless about a shower but it is hard to have long hair and it be greasy which by the way was not half as bad as I thought it would be. I think I could have gone another 2 days or so.  We arrived in Tennant boatyard to get showers and to eat at Cod End a restaurant known for lobster – no frills and cheap and a bunch.  All was true!  Thanks Bill and the 2 slugs for that suggestion!

We each had two lobsters! With corn, bisquit, coleslaw and salad for $24 each! Can’t go wrong there!

I had been watching NOAA weather for marine coast and the next day was to be rainy but it also said that the winds would be 10-20knots plus no mention of thunderstorms.  So I was confident now was the time to learn about rain and wind and sailing.  Ben I think was surprised I didn’t say, “Oh dear can we wait one more day.” Like I had the last 2 times we were to leave on thunderstorm days.  I know the time is coming and I was ready … even excited … I like to learn new sailing techniques under favorable circumstances and this seemed like the perfect bad time.

Off we went in the morning… I got on all my rain gear plus long underwear… I’m amazed at how cold I get in only 60 degrees and rain and wind!!! BUT this time I had on my bib-overalls for rain… my rain rubber boots that go to the knees, with thick socks, a winter hat that I bought while in Portland, plus wool gloves with the fingers cut out… warm I was! But not too hot either… just right.

When we put up the sail Ben asked if we should reef… he read my mind… I nodded yes! Cuz it is perfect weather to reef 18 knots and in rain it will have gusts up to 30 possibly and we want to be ready for that. 

We learned a lesson that we knew was true but were too lazy to do it…. Our lesson was… here was 20k winds and we were not fighting the weather helm (the wheel turning hard into wind cuz there was too much wind) we did not fight the motion of the boat cuz the boat was in harmony with the wind… and we were traveling close to the same speed we would be if we had full sails.  Here we were reefed withonly the staysail out (not our big jib).  Perfect harmony… perfect sail…. Ready for the gusts of wind… the boat did not heel far over but was pretty upright.  Many lessons learned.  When you don’t reef when you should that should not be called lazy that should be called stupid… it is easier to reef than to fight a wheel for hours.  I guess we knew that but had not put it into practice… so I’m going to try reefing the main in calm winds to get practice… ya-know I need to figure out the best way for my tiny muscles to get that big sail lowered and tied off by myself.

We sailed and this time we could not see more than 1 mile and sometimes ¼ mile.  I could hear the lobster boats but knew not where they were… I knew which direction but not how far… I popped on radar to see them.  I saw most but a few were not on radar… grrr I hate when that happens (why cant I be 100% at finding boats? I guess there is more to learn)… one time a sailboat snuck up on us… they make no noise, it was fine… but made me pop on radar every 10 minutes… Ben for excitement got to blow our fog horn! He is worse than a kid or as fun as kid however one looks at the excitement in a grown mans face being able to blow a fog horn. And blow he did! Of course we consulted the Eldridge book of tides and charts to see the appropriate blow pattern.

He asked me if I wanted to blow? Why would I deprive him the joy of blowing? It was more fun to watch him blow than me trying… until we were ready to enter Camden’s Harbor and Ben was in the bow looking forward and blow hard I did… just to surprise him and to show him that the kid in me is not gone or void but that I can wait my turn.  And blow I did.

Thanks to our Creator for again a safe voyage! amen

Some more pix from Damariscove

           If you look closely you can see cricket and we had a stern anchor and a bow anchor!! First time for that too.  When we went to pull up anchor Ben was ready to get in the kayak and pull up a 35 pound anchor... silly if you ask me... he will tip... now when do I keep my mouth shut and when do I say, "why not use the halyard to hoist it up?" that is a rope that is attached to the top of the mast and connects to a winch...easy for a girl... I have to think physics not muscle or finesse.  well I did just say as he was going fot the kayak.  I'll hook up the halyard to the anchor.  He said, "What a great idea, how did you think of that?" isnt he the sweetest guy.  I gave him the same answer i gave you... being a girl with tiny muscles it has to be done by physics.       This small island still has active lobsterers.       this picture is in the wrong place... this is from monhegan...        Here on Damariscove is a pond... yes a fresh water pond! weird! we did touch the water so we could taste it, cuz who would believe that there is fresh water so close to the sea water!  look at the picture!! it is maybe 20 feet apart.  This is hte reason they claim to be the first settlers cuz they had fresh water readily available for all and the livestock.       Ben's National Geographic Butterfly!

Here I could not post pictures as the wifi would only squish in one picture...

Days at Monhegan

There have been a few days now with no cell phone or wifi... that is because the island that we were on does not believe in all of those modern items.

Monhegan is a small lobstering community.  They only lobster Jan 1 - June 25th.  They all agree to conserve and to lobster when others don't.  Another interesting fact is that on January 1st, if one lobsterman is not ready the others will not lobster but help the one that needs help.  Then when everyone has their equipment ready and boat ready they go out.  Now is that true?  sounds good as a community should be.  here are some amazing pictures of the island.

       This picture pretty much sums it up. 2/3rds of the island is hiking trails and some real rock climbing.

       This is hard to see but I climbed up a steep steep hill and was very proud... My son would be proud... I think Annie would be too...       This island is very arts-zy. this woman each year runs a one week art class on painting.  I know someday I will comeback for one week to join them in their painting.  Maybe Deanna or Annie will come with me? Funny when we first arrived I saw 3 different people painting outside.  I was amazed.  This island has produced the Wyeths family - they are the ones that donated 2/3rds of the island to keep it hiking trails.       I'm glad Ben likes his photography cuz I pick blackberries when he is busy picking photos.       Here is Ben on a ledge... well I'm the photographer here can you tell?       Here is our friend the seagull so tame they eat out of your hands.  Make sure you look in the background here the ocean is as far as the eye can see! We sailed up to this island!!

Bill & his 2 slugs :)

       Bill and his 2 slugs. Smile guys!

Since the wifi is so slow I am only posting one picture.

Today the morning started out with a surprise cup-o-tea from a sailor Bill and his 2 slugs. (not to get confused with leeches as in MN) The other two guys get to hang out on his boat with him every year for a week or so. Bill asked if we knew where we were going… Well we only have ideas.  He was happy to fill out heads with more ideas!  His first idea was to sail to Monhegan Island! Great choice!

We set sail after we walked around the small island of Damariscove.  What a peaceful and beautiful walk.  There is a tiny museum there from way way back actually they say they are the first settlement. I believe them too.  The houses/cottages were old, some still standing and in use. The trail was magical with a prairie like feel.  Wild flowers of all kinds! A bird nesting area – so birds of all kinds. In the middle of the island was a fresh water pond! Who would have thought it!

We sailed a quiet sail the kind my sister would have loved to be on … if only we can summons up the right winds. We were on a 45degree angle to the wind, 8 knots of wind, but making 4 knots pretty good.  The boat glided through the water as graceful as us synchronized swimmers!

Bill taught us that you can “borrow” moorings if you don’t leave your boat so if the mooring owner comes you just hop off and thank them.  But here in Monhegan there are only private mooring balls so you go and ask Sherm Stanley and he will hook you up.  He just pointed to the ball he wanted us to attach to. With as little words as possible he communicated the mooring ball to be on.  Yahoo our first free mooring ball! Wow Maine is so nice!

The island is a mile by ¾ mile and has huge cliffs on the east.  You can see sea as far as the eye can look.  Half of the island is private and “untouched” just for visitors to walk the trails.  The Wyeths … Andrew wyeth and Jamie Wyeth famous artists, you would know who I meant if you saw the famous girl in meadow sitting down and her back to you… anyway they bought it and have it for visitors use. How nice is that?

We have much to explore! We walked the tallest cliffs of the outer islands call white head cliffs.  (white cuz the birds poop on them and they are white!) tomorrow we will pack a lunch and off we go.  We are staying two nights.  There is no AT&T of course so you can’t call me… but our wifi Verizon can almost squeek out a signal to post this blog.

a picture day of Damariscove

       This is a light house we saw on our was to Damariscove. Alight house on a hill, one would think we should see sheep but nope.       We are ANCHORED!!! in this thin little narrow cove.  I was not keen to the idea... Ben was below and I said, "come up here and look there is no way I'm parking this bus in this tiny parking spot!!!" He said, "Well we will learn how to put on a stern line and have two anchors."  Welp he had a good idea and this is the perfect time to try it... no wind tonight just light and varible from the East... no traffic or other boats around to squish us more... OK... I'm game.  you should have seen Ben put an anchor in a kayak and paddle it behind us.  quite good movie if you ask me....         We walked around the island and here was a sunset.... this one is from me... I'm sure Ben will share all of his...            this is an adorable cottage that Ben took (oh yeah you all know if I don't say I take um then they are from Ben... of course)... Back in the 1890 a guy put a few cottages here and tried to market people to come for vacation. There was a dairy farm with chickens too.       Here is Cricket alll tucked in her cove with two anchors in the moon light... Good night all!

Casco Bay !!! Amazinger!

       Paul and Tim! Tim made his Kayak from a kit.  Nice job and Paul has a kayak that can come apart in 3 sections!         Seals, sunning themselves.  Look at how cute the one has her feet in the air! just like a ballerina!        Look at us. Pinch us we are sailing through islands and rocks and we are in MAINE! Who would have thought it!?         This is a typical dock (well without the crapper seat on it... we thought that was funny and have no idea the story behind it) since the tide can swing 12 feet or more their docks need to beable to go up and down!         Ben is cooking mussels.  We are so Salty now don't you think.  One step closer to the sea.         You know they are done when they crack open.        Here is my first bit! Oh My will I spit it out? nope! it was really good.       The broth is excellent.  I forgot spoons so we used the shells as spoons and excellent idea - even more Salty I'd say!       Sweet campsite the only problem with this picture is that I am on my phone.  Well I had to call my dad!  Hi Dad!!!        Note the cat, bird and proximity. Lila is not paying attention or the picture would have been way funnier.

Casco Bay!

Amazing! I know you keep hearing me say that but imagine the BWCA supersized! It is called MITA (Maine Island Trail Assc. Which we are now membes of!). All through out Maine’s coast is MITA stops, some places you can camp other are just for day trips. You get to them by boat and you leave no trace, not even your poop.  I’ve heard about places you have to pack your poop out but now I have camped on a poop free island.  I had no worries I just went back to the sailboat and easy pooping there. (although it was a good ½ mile kayak)

MITA is everything like BWCA.  Ben and I had some shore leave where we camped on Little Snow island! When we got there two guys pulled up in their nice kayaks.  They are Tim and Paul, the nicest guys you will meet! While Tim showed Ben how to harvest Mussels Paul was teaching me about the area.  We wanted to take Tim and Paul back home with us for Saturdays in the winter where people sit-in-a-circle for a few hours and think deep and light thoughts.

We ate our first mussels and they were really good.  The next night we decided to eat some more but it thundered and stormed so neither one of us wanted to cook them so in the morning I decided to make them for breakfast.  You-know you can’t waste them.  Well mussels to me, taste better when you can’t see them very well.  Funny, in the morning you could see all the veins and fatty tissue and weird mealy stuff… I still liked them but not as much.  Funny story!  I’ll get used to the looks… someday… I think? Oh it is quite the trip to harvest quahogs (co-hogs).  They spit. Well they don’t spit but the way you find them is you look at the mud (from which the water just is receding)  you will see a small fountain of water spurt up about 6 inches to 2 feet.  I really looks like the mud is spitting.  Then you dig under about 4-6 inches and there is a shell creature. Ben and I tried a quahog and they were good too, more tougher I guess.  I’d rather have a good chew than a squishy mushy texture.

The last two nights on the MITA campsite is just like a day in the BWCA complete with … waking up in the morning for an early morning dip (brrrr same chilliness), having quiet read time and devotions, drinking coffee from our cute espresso camping maker, making a camp fire, going on a day trip (we went looking for seals but the wind, and the current were against us and I just didn’t have 6 miles of none stop upstream paddling in me, Ben could have done it easy) so our day trip we just paddled near some cool islands and took Lila for a little paddle. We ate our normal gorp mix of nuts. We played card games. It was all good. The only thing I missed was being able to dip my cup in the “lake” and drink clear clean water.  Sea water is not so good.

Tonight we are in what is called a hurricane hole.  It is called the Basin.  There is a cut out narrow path in the valley part of the land mass to get in from a boat.  I mean narrow for a big boat like us.  Once inside you are surrounded by hills/”mountains” trees, islands etc… you are completely 360 degrees covered around you where there are no openings to the Atlantic or bad weather.  The holding is mud which is good if it is hard enough.  Remember the Chesapeake? That was mud that was bad for holding, it was too gooshy!

The tide swings are 12 feet cuz we are at a New Moon.  So the lows are lower than normal (neap tide) and the highs are higher.  So every hour the tide rises or falls about 2 feet! That is a lot! This morning while swimming (and it was not that long) we put our towels on the rocks and just as we were getting out I noticed that Ben’s corner of his towel was in the water.  Then we sat there and watched the water rise.  It goes pretty fast! It’s better than watching wall paper dry.

Lila got to mouse all night long. I don’t think she caught one.  She also likes to hide in whatever she can crawl into.  When we were ready to leave she decided to hide.  But after a while she came.  She saw the kayaks in the water ready to shove off and down she came running.  She was not happy to go but she was happy to have us with her.

Hope you all enjoy the pictures!

Lila the mighty swimming cat & Tim/Paul Maine-ians teach about mussels

Now this is a cat that can swim!! Wow you should have seen her.  We have it on video. She swims like a water dog.  I have no doubt now that she actually swam to that boat.  (I thought maybe that boat got a little close and Lila jumped in his dinghy then the boats parted. But after today no way she swam!) She even knew to look for our rope ladder!  That is why she went swimming today so we know she knows where the rope ladder is located.  She did just fine and passed with flying colors.  Not only that but she seemed to like the water and float with Ben without getting all upset or crazy!!! Last year when Owen went in… oh my, I think Ben still has scars.  Plus he panicked and tried to climb on top of the water which just made things worse!

We are in Maine! At our designation so there is no rush.  We will see what we can see. Experience what we will experience and soak up God’s grace and joy!

This morning I did a little work from my office.  My Floating Virtual office that is on the deck.  Where I could see 360 degrees of beauty and wilderness. And islands.  Too fun!

Ben and I went exploring and we are going to sleep at a campsite tonight right across from the boat.  It should be fun except for misquitos! Yikes!!  Lila needed a little shore leave.  Well I think Ben too.  He is there now while I take a few to do some work then I’ll be over.

Today we met Tim and Paul two kayakers! They are so fun!  They taught us how to collect blue Mussels and how to cook them… so here goes.  I’ll let you know tomorrow.

More later

In His Hands

Pam

2 dolpohins; 8 seals!

        The sunrise with the crescent moon a little blurred - it is with my camera, taken by me.

        Ben kayaking in Maine between the islands, our sailboat is casting a shadow on the rocks. if you look hard you can see my shadow in the sailboat.                                 Ben being brave and checking the zinc and the propellor. The propeller needed some de-barnicaling.         How cold do you think it is by his face.  It's not that cold he was posing for the camera.        It's not bad for Ben.  I got in up to my waist, good enough for me.        Ben doing the ballet leg for synchronized swimming, I give him a 5.5.                           Darn those barnacles! 

Animal count: 8 seals, 2 dolphins!

We were again in the duldrums and here came these two playful dolphin they circled the boat 3 times and then figured we were not very fast and not very playful so they left.  Then sailing up to Snow Island, a long skinny passage… humm let me say I heard seals and Ben did not believe me. He said, “You have seals on the brain… just because you are using the “seals” meaning Rebecca’s family camping pads doesn’t mean you heard seals.”  Then I said, “There they are!!! Seals!!”  “No those are birds”  “Look again seals!” sure enough there were 8 seals sunning them selves.  So cute 3 of them had their back fins high in the air as if to say, “look at me I have beautiful flippers!”

Today was a great day sail with south winds 5-15, then the winds turned east at the time we needed to head north! How perfect is that.  The winds were light so it took us an enjoyably slow sail up north.

There is internet but very slow. I’ll post this and call it a day.

We are anchored among islands, rocks, and Ben has his music playing sweetly to give this evening a peaceful calm as the sun sets.  Good night all Blessings and Health to you all.  All means All.

Pam