Goowd Aftahnoon! (Said in my best Downeast drawl)

We’ve been busy since we announced our arrival in Pretty Marsh Harbor. My dad visited us from last Wednesday night till yesterday morning, and throughout that time we’ve been staying busy all day long. The weather for the most part was glorious, and we used just about every scrap of sunshine that we could. Today a few rain showers are in the area, and we’re taking a day off from hiking, exploring, sailing, or eating lobster to clean up the boat and restore some order to the chaos.

 So many tales to tell, where to begin? Perhaps where I left off….

On Sunday afternoon Sabrina and I left Pretty Marsh Harbor to test our sailing skills in the difficult waters of Maine. We cruised the Bartlett Narrows, we looked for seals, and we rounded Bartlett Island on our way back into Pretty Marsh Harbor. We sailed most of the way, getting a feel for how the tall pines and mountains shift the winds, and how to dodge the lobster buoys. On our way back into the anchorage we passed a solitary seal perched on an exposed rock that was only big enough for him. That night we anchored back in Pretty Marsh Harbor, enjoying another night of peace and quiet.

While the stories of lobster buoys are notorious, such as “You can walk across them!” or “Don’t even think about pulling in there!” we’re learning to deal with them. There may be less buoys up here since there has been a glut of lobsters this year, but I’ll try to put an honest description on them. First you need to understand how a trap is placed – most lobster traps are marked by two buoys, the “toggle” buoy, and then the brightly colored buoy that hangs 10-20 feet away from the toggle. The toggle supports the long pot warp that is tied to the trap, and will sometimes submerge in strong currents or winds, so you may only see the bright colored buoy. Here’s a good diagram. The traps are placed in deep water, 100-150 feet seems really popular, and the pot warp hangs nearly vertical. In my opinion, the most dangerous thing is to cross between a toggle and the buoy and snag that 15′ length of rope that’s right below the surface because it will likely foul a prop or snag a rudder. Following all this? Now here’s the difficult part, some traps only have one buoy, some have three, some are painted the same color, and some are mismatched. To describe the separation between buoys, in popular fishing areas you can find the two buoys separated by about 15′, if you then look in a radius of 20 feet from either buoy you can 95% of the time hit another buoy from another pot. Sometimes it looks like a field of mismatched buoys all floating about in a grid pattern, and it takes some practice to figure out which two buoys are tied together. To sum it up for our Chesapeake boaters, imagine a commercial crabber’s line of crab pots, now double the buoys, and then extend that the entire way across the Bay…. It’s not impossible to navigate, you just have to be on your toes, and the spacing is not that bad except in the most popular areas. (For those wondering, Joint Venture doesn’t have a prop shaft cutter.)

On Monday we motored around Mt. Desert Island (MDI) and up the only fjord on the East Coast, Somes Sound. We were searching for a place to anchor for a gale warning that was forecast for Tuesday night. We anchored in Somes Harbor and Sabrina went to check out the town of Somesville. What she found was that Somesville is a sleepy little town, even by Maine standards. Other than the library and a convenience store, it’s primarily a residential area. The winds were supposed to come from the southeast, and due to the moorings in the harbor we weren’t able to tuck in close enough to where I wanted to ride out the gale. We stayed there Monday night and then headed to Southwest Harbor on Tuesday.

Southwest Harbor has been our base of operations since, there’s good access to the free Island Explorer bus, water at the Town dock, three separate town docks to tie up the dinghy, wifi signals, and parking. The Harbormaster even gave us a late season special on our mooring ball for the week (anchoring is not allowed in this extremely busy harbor.) On Tuesday we were able to do laundry before the rain started, and Wednesday we spent inside, cleaning up during the early downpours.

By late Wednesday night the weather had settled and I dinghied in to pick up my father after his drive up from his flight to Providence. Thursday we explored the park by car, driving the Park Loop Road and the road to the summit of Cadillac Mountain. We did our first hikes in the park, reaching the summit of South Bubble via a steep trail and walking the easy path back down to the car. We took turns pushing/pulling the gigantic “Bubble Rock.” The attractions along the park loop road were still crowded, and I can’t imagine how it is during the peak summer months.

Friday we motored offshore to look for whales, and spotted some harbor porpoises on our way to Little Cranberry Island, also known as Isleford. We also spotted some harbor seals pretending to be lobster buoys before they dove back under the water. We found a mooring marked “Free Town” and headed into the Isleford Historical Museum. On the short walk there we found a food truck selling lobster rolls and we decided to partake of our first lobster rolls. The museum was small and we had the place to ourselves. It’s only a short boat ride to Isleford, but it’s a world away from MDI.

Saturday was our worst weather day, and we spent it doing various inside activities. We decided to drive to the Bass Harbor Lighthouse, and on the way be passed a sign that said “Popovers and Coffee.” The sign was out front of the Common Good Soup Kitchen and they serve popovers for a donation during the summer season. They then use the donations throughout the winter to serve the locals that need extra help in the off-season. They have a great location, nearby the Seawall Campground and overlooking the natural seawall that gave the area it’s name. The popovers were fantastic, and it felt good to help out a local charity.

After popovers we took a hike down to view the Bass Harbor Lighthouse. Unfortunately it is currently being renovated, but the views of the granite cliffs were still fantastic. After the light we drove to the Atlantic Brewing Company brewery to take a tour and then had lunch at the Mainely Meat Barbecue on site. Their 15′ tall smoker made delicious smoked wings and pulled pork. We drove back up Cadillac Mountain in the rain to see if the fog cleared at the summit but it was completely socked in. From there we explored Bar Harbor and eventually made it back to the boat without getting soaked.

Sunday we drove through the remaining portions of MDI that we had missed. We took a short hike through the woods to the network of famous Carriage Roads in the Park. An early MDI property owner, John D. Rockefeller Jr. was instrumental in the development of the roads and financed the construction of 16 of the 17 picturesque granite bridges. We viewed 3 of the bridges and then headed into Bar Harbor for lunch. We had a great seafood lunch at Finback Ale House in Bar Harbor and then drove the road along Somes Sound and toured North East Harbor. We passed a sign that said “Lobster $3.75 a pound” and headed up to a residential home. The fisherman came out and sold us fresh lobster that he caught on his boat, the Ground Tender. We steamed the lobsters on the boat, and they were fantastic.

Monday was a big day, we planned to do a strenuous, challenging trail called “The Beehive Trail.” This trail winds straight up a vertical face from the beach to the summit of the Beehive at 520 feet. It’s not the longest hike, but you have to traverse exposed ledges, iron ladders, and scale open rocky areas. There are pictures before and after, but the camera was an afterthought as we clung to the cliff. Dad eventually forgave us when he saw the view and we marveled at the reflection in the small pond called the Bowl below us. For our last evening together we had a nice dinner in the Town of Southwest Harbor.

On Tuesday we dropped my dad back off at the dock and his rental car so he could start the trip back home. We had great weather and a great trip and we were glad he could join us to experience Acadia National Park. There’s a lot of photos to follow, with two cameras snapping constantly it was tough to narrow down the choices.

Like most folks visiting Boston, we did the “Freedom Trail.”  Rather than take a paid tour, we headed to the National Park headquarters in Faneuil Hall and found out that they have several different ranger guided tours that are open to the public. If there’s one thing that we’ve come to love on this cruise, it’s ranger-led National Park Tours. The rangers always seem to be history buffs, naturalists or academicians, and Boston was no exception. Over two days we took in everything the Park Service had to offer, asking questions, and getting a different perspective on history.

On Monday we took a tour from Faneuil Hall to the north side of the Freedom Trail, titled “Why Boston?” Our ranger led us past Faneuil Hall, the pubs in the north end, Paul Revere’s house, the location of the Governor’s house that was burned, and the Old North Church. She explained why Boston was where the revolution began for several reasons that could be seen as we walked the old areas. We were going to continue to Charlestown and the USS Constitution, but it’s closed on Mondays. We headed back to Faneuil Hall and caught an impassioned speech from the ranger on duty regarding the upstairs meeting room. He recounted the symbolism of the hall as a place to express free speech and new ideas, from the revolution, through abolition, women’s suffrage, and present day. Later we grabbed a pint in “The Green Dragon,” mine was Guinness, but Sabrina had the delicious Sam Adam’s Boston Brick Red, only available on tap in pubs along the Freedom Trail. After our pints we headed back to a Vietnamese place we saw in Chinatown to try Pho noodle soup, it was delicious and hot, warming us at the end of a chilly day.

Our second day we knew where we were headed, so we arrived at Faneuil Hall just in time for the first tour. This was titled, “Meetings, Mobs, and Massacres,” and took us from the hall to Liberty Square, the Old State House, the site of the Boston Massacre, and the Old South Meeting House. After that we headed up to the Massachusetts State House for a peak inside under the gold dome. The interior is very impressive and we wish we would have had time to take the guided tour.

From Boston Common we hiked downhill towards Charlestown Navy Yard and the USS Constitution. We toured the Constitution and the yard and then took the next ranger tour to the the Bunker Hill Monument. This tour was titled, “Taking the High Ground” and the ranger followed the path the British took during their assault of Breed’s Hill. As we learned, the commonly referred to “Battle of Bunker Hill” actually culminated at the earthen redoubt on Breed’s Hill. We climbed all 294 steps in the Bunker Hill Monument, but unfortunately the views from the top are obstructed by the safety glass installed in the viewing windows.

From there we traversed back downhill from the monument through Charlestown. I’ve joked with Sabrina that the only things I know about Boston I’ve learned from movies like The Departed, Good Will Hunting, and The Town. So it was interesting to walk the narrow streets of Charlestown as we headed back to the North End.

Back in the North End after our long walk, we met up with our friends Ed and Val (local Bostonians.) We haven’t seen Ed since he headed back north in the spring of 2011 when I helped him move his boat “Tir Na Nog” north from Coinjock, NC to Chesapeake City. We had a wonderful dinner at an authentic Italian restaurant, sharing sailing stories, tales of adventure, and planning for voyages in the future. After dinner we headed back to Joint Venture briefly to admire the Boston skyline. It was a great evening, and we loved having the chance to get together with both of them. We hope the next time it won’t be as long between visits.

Today we’re crossing the last couple things off our Boston list and then heading out.

On Saturday morning we left Provincetown in a brisk 20 knot breeze. Running on a broad reach with full sail we were having a great sail, then it started to get a little gusty…. Once the gusts reached about 30 knots we pulled in the main, and then when the gusts got more frequent we reefed the genoa. And then we reefed it again.  Major thunderstorms were approaching the coast, and we were getting the wind along the front edge. Finally we sighted the Boston Harbor Islands National Park, and we dropped the anchor in the lee of a high bluff before the storms arrived. We had the anchorage to ourselves, and it was a wonderful place to ride out the storms.

On Sunday we woke up and made the short trip into Boston. We picked up a mooring from Boston Sailing Club off the New England Aquarium, a great location right in downtown. We quickly got ready and headed into town to check out the SoWa Open Market which happens every Sunday. It’s a trendy art and farmer’s market and the city’s food trucks also attend. We browsed through the tents, admiring the art, and looking at all the various farm fresh items. For lunch we picked the “Dining Car” and their kale flatbread pizza with grilled summer squash and goat cheese, and we also tried their flash fried cauliflower with curry aioli.

After the market, we found ourselves in Chinatown, browsing the many bakeries, restaurants, and a huge Asian grocery. We spent a long time in the grocery, checking out the assortment of exotic vegetables and the large seafood selection. Eventually we gave up and decided we’d come back with a grocery list so we were more focused.

We arrived back at the boat to watch the sunset in the clouds over Boston while the many lights of the skyline turned on. We’ve got a lot more to do here in town, but Sunday we were able to explore one area to get started.

When we left Onset on Thursday morning we were headed for Boston. It should be no surprise to readers of this blog that instead of Boston, we were walking around the streets of Provincetown Thursday afternoon. (Weather, wind, timing, and suddenly we ended up in Provincetown.)

In a hint at the surprising things to come, we saw a seal as we dinghied around the harbor looking for a place to dock.  There are a lot of boats, so after we docked, we found the harbormaster to make sure he was okay with where we anchored and where we left the dinghy. The friendly harbormaster said that we were fine on both accounts and then filled us in on where to enjoy the festivities of the schooner regatta that was going on. We walked along the main wharf looking at the schooners that were in town and toured the boat that won the race over to Provincetown from Gloucester.

Provincetown is nothing like what we imagined. There’s a large dock full of whale watchers, fishermen, sailors, a pirate museum, and huge ferry boats. It’s akin to a cruise ship town dock, but after you get out of the hustle and bustle you’re met by artist’s galleries, easy-going locals, and small historic cottages with beautifully maintained landscaping.

After we had the lay of the land, on Friday we brought our bikes into shore and headed straight for the Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum. The monument is the largest all-granite structure in the USA, and it towers 350 feet over the tip of Cape Cod, providing breathtaking views of the harbor. The monument commemorates Provincetown as the first landing site of the Mayflower Pilgrims (they stopped there for 5 weeks before they moved on to Plymouth.) The Mayflower Compact, one basis for democracy in the New World, was written and signed in the harbor before they went to shore. The museum includes various exhibits depicting Provincetown’s past and the history of the Pilgrims during their time on Cape Cod. It also includes some cool artifacts from the over 30 arctic explorations of Donald B. MacMillan (who was born in Provincetown.)

After the museum, we biked out to the Cape Cod National Seashore because we had seen online that the Old Harbor Lifesaving Station would be open from 2-4:00. The lifesaving station was awe-inspiring, and we highly recommend it. Because of the frequent wrecks along Cape Cod (something like 3 or more a month,) the state of Massachusetts and the US Government established lifesaving stations along the entire coast of the Cape in the late 1800’s. They were called the “U.S. Life-Saving Service” and they were the predecessor of the modern Coast Guard. Their un-official motto was “You have to go out, but you don’t have to come back.” Year round the lifesaving crews ran training drills every Thursday and soon the public started to attend to watch. The Park continues this tradition today, providing demonstrations of the life-saving techniques on Thursday afternoons in the summer. The old time photos of the crews using the breeches buoy, in practice or for real, were amazing.

After leaving the lifesaving station we biked through the park. There is a meandering path that winds through the park, and we climbed over dunes, past ponds, through pine and deciduous forests, and past wild cranberries in the undergrowth.  We stopped several times to check out the visitor center and eat the picnic lunch we’d packed. The visitor center has a video about the history of the Life-Saving Station, aptly titled “Wooden Ships and Men of Iron.“

It was getting near mosquito o’clock, so we skipped the last walking trail we came across and headed back into town. After locking up the bikes on the pier, we made one last trip on foot through the town and out to the western edge. The town got even prettier, more quaint and quiet as we  left the busy downtown with servers calling out to the street from restaurant doorways, wanting to show you their menus and specials. Gardening must be a huge pastime in Provincetown, because nearly every home or inn had amazing landscaping that filled the streets with floral aromas.

With sunset approaching, we headed back to the dinghy to pack up our bikes and make the trip back to Joint Venture, where we went to bed early in preparation for our sail to Boston the following morning.

Today our thoughts and prayers are with Sabrina’s family as they remember and celebrate the life of Sabrina’s Uncle Tom who’s long battle with cancer ended last week. We wish we could be there and we’ll see you all soon.

Now that the rain has cleared, we have clear skies and cool temperatures. Unfortunately, there isn’t much wind, and Hurricane Leslie is sending large swells north to Maine. Rather than deal with that, we’ve decided to spend a few days in Boston. We figured there would be plenty to do in town to keep us busy through the weekend. We should have a reasonable day today, motoring through the Cape Cod Canal and up to the outer islands in Boston Harbor.

Originally we didn’t know if we’d have time to stop on the way north, and planned on stopping on our way back south. We’re going to try to meet up with our friend Ed and see what it’s like to sail around Boston Harbor. I’ve never been to Boston, but I’ve been using Rosetta Stone so I can communicate with the locals, “Pahk the cah in Hahvahd Yahd….”  Maybe Ed will translate for us.

[We’ve been hanging out in Onset for the last couple days while the remnants of Isaac sweep through bringing tons of rain. We’ve also been waiting to see which way Hurricane Leslie is going to turn next weekend. The waiting and watching may have driven me mad. They say there’s a poet in every sailor, you can decide if that is true.]

An Ode to Onset (and clean clothes):

We’re heading north, it’s past Labor Day,
but the weather is holding us south of Cape Cod Bay.

Onward we sail to the Town of Onset,
based on the guide we’re unsure what to expect.

We fill our tanks for the trip to Maine,
and the friendly dockhand points where to anchor outside the lane.

It will be an overnight stop, before we catch the tide,
the hook is down and here tonight we shall abide.

The next morning, no voyage, the wind has gone flat,
but lo and behold, we’ve sighted a Laundromat!

The weather has turned colder, hence our clothing has grown,
no longer just swimsuits that are worn all alone.

The laundry bag is large, and we cannot carry it far,
we need something near a dinghy dock, not reached by car.

Ashore goes Sabrina with our laundry in tow,
a few hours later the clothes are back – clean and stowed.

If only there was a market, or a large grocery to boot?
But what is this we see? There’s a bus route!

Tuesday on to the bus we do hop,
$1 later we’ve arrived at the “Stop n’ Shop!”

Ashore today goes the propane tank for a refill,
it’s been awhile since we’ve had a chance to grill.

This harbor of circumstance has proved its worth,
and on our way south I’m sure that here we will berth.

But I’ve not yet finished describing this place,
somewhat outside of the New England touristy rat race.

In addition to the above there are large sandy beaches,
and places selling pints, ice cream or pizzas.

But while all this is nice, I can’t tell a lie,
what we’ve enjoyed most is the free wifi!

[Side note: While walking through Onset we saw the local police station and we joked that if this was the Bahamas we could just stop in and ask about what was cool to do in town. Then we saw the sign that said “Welcome Center” and that’s just what we did. We learned a lot about the area, the bus route, and the best places to get seafood.]

Happy Labor Day, everyone! Hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend and the unofficial end of summer.

For the start of the weekend, we set up camp in Hadley Harbor for a few days. On Thursday, we made the exciting dinghy trip across Woods Hole Passage into the little town of Woods Hole. The passage is the same one Brad last posted about where we were barely moving against the current, and it is used by most boats and ferries in Buzzards Bay heading to Martha’s Vinyard and Nantucket. You can probably imagine what boat traffic is like on Labor Day Weekend. Thankfully, we landed safely and even fairly dry on the other side.

Tiny Woods Hole is right up our alley. It is home to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, the Marine Biological Laboratory and NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center and Aquarium. Each organization has done a great job of developing exhibits and educational opportunities for visitors. We were disappointed to hear that the MBL campus tours had ended for the summer several days prior, but there was still a lot to see. We enjoyed the WHOI Ocean Science Exhibit Center where we learned about WHOI’s discovery and exploration of the Titanic. There is also a lot of information on their development underwater exploration vehicles, including “Alvin” the vessel that surveyed the Titanic.

We moved on to the Woods Hole Historical Museum where we enjoyed reading about the history of the area and viewed the Yale Workshop, a small, restored building which houses the extremely well-preserved artifacts of renaissance man Dr. Yale’s “man-cave,” as the volunteer put it! Dr. Yale was the local physician, and a descendent of the university founder. Behind the historical museum is the Small Boat Museum, housing canoes, sailing dinghies, and information about boating in the harbors around Woods Hole.

After that we went to the National Marine Fisheries Aquarium, the oldest public aquarium in the US. It is small, but packed with information about local sea life, fishing traditions and the scientific advancements made in these areas. The aquarium is home to two seals, who are usually fed every afternoon at 4:00, but their pool was closed for cleaning, so we made the crossing back through the passage JV.

After reviewing the forecasts again Thursday evening, our trip north was deterred by a forecast of strong winds and high seas north of Cape Cod. It was even a little too rough for us to brave the passage to Woods Hole in the dinghy, so we enjoyed the day on the boat in little Hadley Harbor. We actually had quite a show as boats started to pour in around us mid-morning, trying to find a protected anchorage. A kite-boarder brought his gear out from one of the houses on shore and we watched as he battled the wind and kite in gusts over 20 knots and finally hailed a ride back in from his shore party. The boats crowding in made us happy we had decided to stay and weren’t out trying to find a protected anchorage in unfamiliar territory.

While in Woods Hole on Thursday, we had learned that the Nobska Lighthouse would be open to the public in a rare occurrence on Saturday from 9:30-11:30, so we decided to take the opportunity to see it. We were happy we had arrived early when we saw the crowd of people and a little later they had to start turning people away. The light is a 4th order Fresnel lens that is automated with replacement bulbs if the active bulb burns out. In addition there is a “red sector” screen to notify boats that they are in the shoal area to the south east of the light.

We enjoyed the tour of the lighthouse and returned to Woods Hole for a more thorough look at the town. The boat restoration club was meeting at the Historical Museum, so we had to check that out. A couple of really nice gentlemen showed us around their current boat projects as we took in the scents of resin and fresh-cut cedar. We later popped into The Captain Kidd, a century-old bar, to find our alma mater Ohio University playing Penn State on the TV.  We grabbed a couple of stools, some clam strips, a few pints, and enjoyed watching Ohio’s win.

After the game, we realized we only had to kill a little bit more time before the scheduled seal feeding at 4:00 at the Aquarium. We walked over that way, and it was worth the wait. The seals are rescues that can’t be released back into the wild. Lucille can’t support herself in the wild and was found stranded three times before she arrived at the Aquarium. Bumper was the victim of a shark attack and was blinded by the resulting infection. They feed them, but they also play with them to keep them active. In addition they use the feeding to check them for medical issues and brush their teeth. It was a very cool mini show, and we were glad we got a chance to catch it.

Sunday morning we dinghied around Hadley Harbor and explored the Naushon Island area. Naushon Island was purchased by John Murray Forbes in 1856, and later the Forbes family purchased most of the other surrounding islands. Today the Naushon Trust manages the islands, and reportedly Forbes’ wealth was so great that the islands have been a summer retreat for his direct descendants since his death in 1898. The family even has their own ferry, the “Cormorant,” to bring visitors and supplies to the island. The Trust is friendly to boaters and there are many places to anchor in the protected harbor. We explored the various bays and viewed the picturesque family retreats on the shores. The Trust allows visitors on Bull Island, and Brad walked the path while I waited in the dinghy (I didn’t bring any shoes along.) We enjoyed the dinghy ride, but these bays would be perfect to explore by kayak, and if you have one and you’re in the area, we highly suggest it!

Now that we’re in Onset, Massachusetts, we have a good internet signal, so enjoy the pictures from our adventures over the last couple of days, and Happy Labor Day!