Upwind and downwind

Dinner for sailors

We thought we would have the same steady conditions on Tuesday that we had on Monday. But Poseidon had other plans and after 3pm or so the wind started shifting, decreasing, then increasing again, but always  on the nose. With 5-6 miles left to the Isles of Shoals and the fickle wind we decided to motor the rest of the way. We didn’t see much sea life, but a gannet surprised us.

The northernmost island, Duck island, used to be a site used as a target by the US military, so while people are encouraged not to explore it due to potential unexplored ordnances, birds and seals didn’t get the message. We swung by on our way to check out the marine life and didn’t regret it. A few seals popping their heads out of the water, some lazing on the rocks. Birds flying here and there.

Gosport harbor is a somewhat peculiar place. It’s too deep to anchor, and there are a few moorings that are maintained by the Portsmouth Yacht Club. So the game is that if a mooring is available one can take it. I’d be happy to pay for the mooring too, but that’s not an option. When we came into the harbor, 2 blue moorings were empty, so we took one. There were no boats on the horizon coming from Portsmouth, so it was clear that we were set for the night. A tuna fishing boat took the other one a few minutes later.

While we were underway, Mark cleaned the mussels and the oysters, so once the cockpit was cleaned up and we had a little break, we started cooking. Mark used a table knife and a screwdriver to open the oysters. Mussels were steamed in white wine. Sunset dinner on the boat. What could be better! Especially when the little thunderstorm passed on the horizon above Portsmouth.

Star Island

Discovered in early 1600s by captain John Smith, the Isles of Shoals did not keep his name Smith Isles. Star Island is the biggest of the group and boasts a hotel, tennis courts and a few other buildings. The morning was completely windless and warm, we had plenty of time before we needed to get into Portsmouth, so stretching our legs seemed like the right thing to do. A guy in charge of rental rowboats told us where we can tie up for an hour and off we went.

There is a perimeter loop trail which we decided to walk. Clearly marked as an easy trail, it’s impossible to miss. We even ventured onto a “more difficult” trail which offered lovely views to the south with Gloucester, MA barely discernible on the horizon.

Famished sailors, not used to walking “more difficult” trails needed food. Luckily, there was a stand by the dock that had hot dogs and lobster rolls. Peter opted for the former, everyone else for the latter. The rolls were well made: not too much mayonnaise, decent bun — summer in New England.

Downwind sail

On the way to Salty Ginger we saw a working lobster boat, so we pulled up to get lobsters from them. Alice remarked that she did not expect to see the first black man in Maine working on a lobster boat, but that’s how it was.

The wind was shy, but it was easterly for a change, that is blowing directly towards Portsmouth. We couldn’t miss the opportunity to fly the spinnaker. Alice’s eyes lit up immediately! The sail went up right away and the sailor in her was 100% focused on flying it well. Broad reach felt slow even though we were going 5 knots. I said that perhaps if we go to a beam reach we could hit 7 knots. Everyone said “Yes, let’s do it”. Indeed a few minutes later we hit 7 knots of speed and rather than pointing in the direction where we need to go we started jibing back and forth, keeping beam reach and turning about 90 degrees on each jibe.

Both kids were engaged flying the beast, helping to jibe. Alice was patiently explaining to Peter how to properly adjust the sensitive sail to keep it happy. It didn’t go without a little fight between Leo and Peter, so at some point we had to explicitly delegate who does what and when. But ultimately everyone had fun.

Portsmouth

David at the marina sent detailed explanation that we should tie up on the starboard side so that we can point the boat into the current and slowly approach the dock. The Memorial bridge opens every half hour on request. We were trying to make the 3:30 opening, but when we were at the mouth of the river with almost 3 miles left to go, we only had just over 20 minutes to cover that distance. We needed the help from the current. And we got it. The speed went from 7 to 8, then to almost 10 knots. We were at the bridge at 3:28. Perfect! Waiting for the bridge to open, I pointed the bow into the current and powered up. Just like we had to do at the entrance of the Cape Cod canal while waiting for the railroad bridge to open.

Once we tied up (having David take the lines was very helpful!), my cousin Anton called. They were staying at friends in Boston and came to Portsmouth to see us before heading south to New Jersey shore. Him and his wife with their son Leo were aboard 5 years ago in Maine waters, so the boat was to some degree familiar to them. We cooked our lobsters and had a little party on the boat before heading out into the town for a walk.

The town is cute and small. There are some historic houses and a number of restaurants. But I saw no places to provision. Oh, well, we’ll have to make do with what we have until we pull into Portland on Saturday. There was a concert in the park, so after our little walk, kids were running around on the grass while Anton and I were chatting away, having not seen one another in 5 years.

Boys crew

Alice had to go home today, so in the morning we walked her into the town, said goodbye and wished her good luck on the 100 mile bike ride that she and her wife Carla plan to do this weekend. We walked over to a small bakery to get something breakfast. While picking drinks, we asked the cashier if we could buy a case seltzer water. The owner came out and being a boat owner herself, she was sympathetic to our provisioning problems and sold us a case of black cherry seltzer water. Not much as far as provisioning is concerned, but at least kids have some diversity in drinks besides “just water”.

We followed David’s recommendation to leave the dock. 3 knots of current was pushing us towards the bridge, so we had to be on top of our game. David told us that the day before a catamaran tried to turn around in this current and almost hit the bridge. That we must avoid at all cost. I powered the boat in reverse, finding a throttle position where the boat was more or less stationary. Mark was holding the bow line to make sure the bow wouldn’t swing out. A crew member of the boat next to us helped by holding the stern line until I was sure that the boat started backing up. I took the line from him and throttled up. The first attempt at turning the boat around to point the bow into the current looked dicey, so I backed away a bit more. Salty Ginger swung her bow into the current and we were well positioned to do a 180 turn and head under the bridge once it opened.

At the mouth of the river we found light southerly winds. The forecast is for the wind to build up by early afternoon. Bow pointed north, spinnaker up, off we go!