Rolly rolly

Hot Sunday

A heat wave hit the Northeast and the forecast temperature for Portland on Sunday was 33C! That’s Maine? Ok, first 24.5C waters and then sweltering heat. Luckily it came with a fair amount of wind, so on the dock things were tolerable. By the dock house it was HOT!

I left Mark and Peter on the boat to go pick up groceries. Alla and David were driving. Irina was supposed to get on the road with Mabry and Margot, so we needed to get food aboard and stowed away so that we could take off as soon as possible. It seems to be my luck this year to a) have access to courtesy cars; b) somethings goes wrong. The key to the car was not there. It took 15 minutes for the crew to figure out that the car was there, so they gave the me the spare keys and off I went. I looked at the list of products that Alla and David were bringing and got the things that seemed to be missing. They brought a bit more than I expected and so did I. Overprovisioning is a problem, but a good one to have. At least if we decide to sail to Canada, we’ll have food to eat.

By the time everyone was aboard it was hot and windy. Quite nice under the bimini (which Leo appropriately called canopy and then asked why everything on the boat has to have a special name) with the wind blowing the heat off us. Peter really wanted to cast us off, but once I saw the forces on the lines that were holding SG, there was no way I would allow him to do so. He got very upset and stormed downstairs. Other than that, casting off went smoothly. David held the bow while standing there until we started moving, I held the stern on the dock, and Mark put the boat in reverse, giving the boat some speed, allowing me to jump aboard and take over.

It was clearly sailing weather, so I gave Salty Ginger just enough throttle to be able to bring the dingy aft (Leo’s complaint about back vs aft) where it should be stowed for a passage, raise the mainsail and point the bow south. Luckily, we were half way up the tide, so a shallow place where we could have run aground read 1 foot under the keel. Oops. Captain made a forgivable mistake.

The sail

Initially we were doing really well, easy sailing with the genoa and main at 7 knots. Mark was steering. Then at the narrows at the exit from Portland harbor the wind began to do wild things. From being on the beam, the wind was in our face. Mark does not have much sailing experience, so I saw surprise on his face, “what’s going on?” Ok, we can’t clear the rocks out of the channel, so let’s tack. Mark takes us through the tack, David and I handle the sails. As we reach the other side of the channel we tack again, and then I ask to take the wheel from Mark. What a surprise! S.G. was close-hauled, then the wind shifts 30 degrees so we’re totally head to wind, then it shifts back, then it shifts in the other direction. And there are other vessels heading our way. Good time to take the helm from a less experienced crew member.

Out of the harbor, the wind was as forecasted: 15 knots out of SW, which is why I wanted to go east. Easily, Salty Ginger shoots to 8 knots and off we go. Once we cleared dangerous rocks, we could bear off and put the wind on our beam, making for a much more comfortable ride for everyone. Still making 7-8 knots on the right course.

The total proposed sail was 42 miles, so once our speed dropped below 7 knots I thought it was time to fly the spinnaker. Especially since the wind shifted to the aft quarter. Given that the crew are not experienced and it was still blowing, we had to do everything right. Mark was a bit seasick and was sleeping down below. Alla and the girls were not particularly interested in taking part. Irina was on the wheel and was instructed to keep course. David and Peter were my line handlers.

1. Hoist “the beast” while it’s still int he sock;
2. Wait for us to clear shallows to leeward so that if we have to go off the wind, we have sea room;
3. David tightens the tack line;
4. Peter (having gotten instructions from Alice) is ready on the sheet;
5. I pull the sock up;
6. Peter tightens the sheet.

We’re flying! Irina is tired on the steering, so I take over. Our speed went up to 8-9 knots, surfing to 10 on the waves, we’re headed on the right course. All is great! Until… 

The wind drops. We’re doing 5 knots. And then we get jibed. All of a sudden the wind changed direction by 30 degrees if not more. The spinnaker is pressed against the standing rigging. Shit! David and Peter help me pull the sock over the spinnaker by feeding the lines. Looks like we’re safe on the port tack. We wait a bit, all seems ok. Bam! We get jibed. Same course, but the wind comes back to what it used to be. Bam! We get jibed back. Luckily the wind is light, so we were not in danger of bringing the mast down with our mainsail, but it’s definitely not great.

The wind gets steadier, so we remove the sock again. Before too long, the spinnaker is jibed! We’re essentially wing and wing with the mainsail on the port side and the asymmetrical spinnaker on the starboard. What? I didn’t know one could fly sails in this configuration!

Our speed drops to 5 knots. Oops. We still have 16 miles to go and it’s 6pm. No go. We’re not sailing through lobster pots in the dark. Let’s check the forecast. Wind is supposed to drop. The waves are already much lower than they used to be. Monhegan island is 8 miles away, I know there are few traps there; Burnt island 12 miles away and I know there are lots of them there.

Thoughts going through my head:

1. If we go to Burnt, we risk wrapping the keel or worse the prop in a lobster trap line in the dusk. We risk dropping anchor in the dark with traps around us. No good.
2. If we go to Monhegan, and the updated forecast is true, the waves should drop over the next few hours and we should be ok spending the night on the mooring. Chances of all moorings getting take is zero because of the forecast (anchoring there is out of question).

Decision: we go to Monhegan.

The island

In the morning, Irina told me “art requires sacrifices”, a play on a Russian saying «красота требует жертв» (beauty requires sacrifices). The island is lovely, but one of the reason Peter and I though it’d be interesting to come to the island is the large number of art galleries.

We pick up the mooring, of course all guest moorings are available. The wind is still out of the south, the waves are tolerable. Not nice, but tolerable. We start cooking the dinner, all is ok. One has to brace every now and then, but it’s tolerable. We start cleaning up as the wind starts to die down. The current turns us beam to wind and the boats swings 20 degrees to port, then 20 degrees to starboard. Things fly, but nothing gets broken. BIG OOPS! The captain made another mistake!

We play a game, but then at 10:30 everyone is tired, it’s bumpy, so we all go to bed. I can’t fall asleep feeling guilty, waking up periodically due to the mooring hitting the side of the boat. I see the dawn break, I hear Irina’s breath: she is not sleeping. Oh, boy! This is a terrible start to the trip!

At 5:15 the boat turns beam to waves and gets rolled violently again. David was in the galley trying to prevent the cutlery from making noise. Too late. Everyone is awake.

Of all the people who complained the least was Peter. He probably got a bit seasick before we pulled into the harbor and fell asleep at around 7:30. Everyone else got maybe 5 hours of sleep. Irina, surprisingly giddy, says: “I don’t know what everyone else is doing, but I’m going ashore.” I was pretty sure that David was up for that too. Mark, who usually sleeps in overhears the suggestion and says, “I’m in.”

The four of us row ashore. I row back to pick up the kids and Alla. Everyone wants to abandon the ship. Oh, boy! In haste, the kids throw pencils and notebooks into the backpack. I realise we’ll need sunscreen. Alla too. In case we’ll have internet I take the iPad and the camera. With 5 sleepy people aboard, the engine will be much easier. With the waves still on the beam of SG, I successfully place the engine in its place. Everyone aboard. Off we go.

By 6:00 all of us are on the island. Sunrise is beautiful, everyone is sleepy, no breakfast before 8. Peter, who didn’t have anything to eat since lunch the day before is hungry. I feel bad for a decision that was in hindsight absolutely wrong. The waves take a LONG time to calm down after 20 knots of wind. Not a few hours. MANY hours. The tidal current between the islands WILL turn the boats around unless there is enough wind to resist it. WHAT WAS I THINKING?

Everyone is in good spirits. That’s a plus. We walk up to the lighthouse, find benches and grass where we lay down and take short naps. 8 o’clock we descend into the village, have breakfast. At 9 we’re at the bakery, talking and playing cornhole (throwing sacks into holes in the boards).

After a while, we get organized and depart on the walk on the southern tip of the island, the same walk we did with Frank, Sasha and Pasha 2 weeks ago. The weather is no longer sunny and warm, a layer of fog settled so it’s no longer hot. Kids sort of rebel at the Lobster Cove: they stay there to draw.

We slowly process along the coast, frequently stopping to take pictures, to eat raspberries and the now ripe blackberries. By the time we reached the cliffs, Irina is worried because the kids are not catching up. 

We turn towards the village and as we reach the houses, we see birds running around. Turns out, some time ago one of the locals brought pheasants onto the island and they roam around. In the winter a few of them get eaten.

The agreement with the kids was to meet up at the brewery at 1pm. As we turned up the road to get there, we see the three walking towards us. Turns out, adults did not follow the directions we gave the kids: instead of taking every left, we took a few rights and mostly lefts. The kids already checked in on us at the brewery and were happy, even if a bit surprised to see us.

Lunch on the hard as opposed on the swinging mast (we saw SG from the hill) was a nice treat. We had sandwiches and some beer and then went to the town to check out the art. It wasn’t particularly inspiring, so at 3 we were on the boat.

Fishing: no success. I was the only one swimming. It was not warm. It was windy!

Quiet cove

The wind was piping from the east. We wanted to go almost north, so we were all good to go. Main went up while we were still on the mooring. David cast us off and we headed downwind to get out of the passage between the Monhegan and Manana islands. We jibe, and point north. 5 knots under mainsail alone. With a partially rolled genoa, we’re off at 8 knots.

5 miles later at the Eastern Egg Rock we glance guillemots, but spot no puffins and continue sailing through the labyrinth of lobster pots. At 6 we’re at anchor in a quiet cove between Harbor and Hall island. The boat is steady, cooking is easy and the wind is still piping. Time for games after dinner!