Cloudy weather

Harbor Island

The cove we went into on Monday was very peaceful. There were 3 other boats who spent the night at anchor. Seals were popping their heads every now and then, cormorants and guillemots made regular appearances.

One issue that gave me a pause was the forecasted wind shift from NE to SW. That would mean that the anchor would have to reset in the middle of the night. The potential issue was that once the boat would be swung around the anchor could slide down to greater depth and put us in potential peril of hitting the rocks on the smaller Hall island. I warned the crew that we may have to reanchor in the middle of the night, set the anchor alarm and we went to sleep.

The alarm went off at 1:30. The wind shifted, but was more easterly rather than northeasterly. I heard something scrape the bottom of the hull. Must be a lobster pot that we drifted over. Oh well, that’s Maine, we’ll deal with that in the morning. A couple of hours later the alarm went off again. This time the boat started to drift because there was practically no wind. No more scraping of the bottom of the hull. Presumably a good development.

The wind never shifted to SW, so we didn’t have to move the anchor. After the previous rocky night, everyone was happy with a solid night of sleep. The rain was on and off, but inside in the cabins it was warm and dry.

The 8am forecast called for the rain to stop for 3 hours and then for the drizzle or rain to restart and last until the end of the day. I called Sasha to help me find the rubber boots, so at least one crew member would be able to move around the boat when it rained. In the meantime, we got a quick breakfast and rushed to the Harbor island to explore

The owners have a huge house overlooking the cove, but they allow visitors to explore a part of the island. We’re grateful to the family for that opportunity! The path towards the cliffs was weaving between fern and raspberry bushes. Many raspberries were dry, but some were juicy and yummy. In the middle of the island we saw remainders of a bird’s wing. The rest was eaten by some creature.

The cliffs had a lovely view and the path continued further towards a little cave. It’d be better described as a narrow path under the cover of huge boulders, so going through required taking the backpack off and being careful not to hit a boulder with the head. Peter had a much easier time with that!

We then got back to the cliffs to enjoy the view and take a few pictures. David went off on a cliff with a jumping rope. Ultimately, everyone did a few jumps just because we could.

Rain cancelled

As we were on the dinghy on the way to Salty Ginger we felt a few drops of rain, but then the updated forecast was no longer calling for rain, but rather cloudy skies! Good news. Must be thanks to the fact that I found the rubber boots. Why would rain get cancelled otherwise?

We finished lunch, used the lull in the wind to roll the code-0 back onto itself (after its unintended swim it was unceremoniously stuffed into the bag), and then we set off. Away from the wind shadow of the island, we felt a nice northeasterly wind. Perfect for our intended sail to the Sheepscot river. Ultimately code-0 had to be rolled and the spinnaker was flown instead. Mark yielded the helm to David and went down below to play games with Peter. Unfortunately that made him a bit seasick and he fell asleep.

Sailing was a lot of fun! While we had the wind behind us the waves were actually rolling towards us, indicating the presence of a big weather system way south that was generating the big oceanic rollers. I don’t remember having to do so many jibes on one day except when we intentionally were jibing on our sail from the Isles of Shoals to Portsmouth. We even managed to jibe once without dousing the spinnaker into the sock. At least we know that it works! We also now know that wing and wing with the asymmetric also works. Kind of an unintended and unexpected sail setup, but why not!

When we entered the Sheepscot river, the wind started to decrease and with a mile or so left we switched to the engine to get us into Love Cove. The scenery, so typical of coastal Maine, was delightful. David was the only one who couldn’t appreciate it, being fully focused on avoiding lobster pots.

In the cove

We picked up a guest mooring maintained by the Winslow family. There is not much room to swing in the cove, so it’s hugely appreciated. One of the reviews on Active Captain said that there is (or used to be) a tradition to leave a poem as appreciation for the mooring. Our creative company will be put to good use!

Since Frank caught all those fish on Monhegan our fishing luck was zero. The only thing that bit yesterday was a little fish the size of my thumb.

Irina was determined to change that, so once the dinghy was on the water she took a bucket and a fishing rod and rowed away in search of fish. She didn’t have luck with the fish, but observed seals and a couple of dolphins.

Margot was asleep for the second part of the journey. When she woke up she took the binoculars out and started to look for birds. Margot could recognise an osprey call, and soon found one sitting on one of the tall trees. The cove is very calm and peaceful. The wind died down. The boat was barely moving.

I decided to use my time to make a soft shackle to be able to attach the swim ladder with something simpler and faster than a knot. My new little fid made that so easy! Last week I tried to fiddle splicing the line with a piece of wire and nothing came out of that. In less than 20 minutes I had a shackle and started to make a second one to provide a better attachment for the line that secures the hydrogenerator while we’re underway.

Lovely evening with fireworks in the distance was rather fresh, so we moved into the cabin to play games before hitting the sack.

Ospreys

In the morning we continued to watch the ospreys. It seemed as if the parents were trying to get the fledgling to fly. One bird was actively flapping its wings in the nest. Two more would periodically fly above and cry.

Blueberry pancakes for breakfast got everyone enough energy to continue to explore the coastal islands. What a lovely place to stay!