Island hopping

 Seguin Island

After a slow breakfast we unfolded the dinghy and lowered it into the water. This has become a well-coordinated exercise for Sasha and I. The seats come up from the “storage cabin” (since we’re just 3 we have that luxury), we assemble the dinghy, attach her to a line coming high up out of the mast, then Sasha winches it high enough for me to push her over the lifelines and then it goes into the water. 10 minutes max and we’re ready to go.

Seguin island is home to Maine’s highest lighthouse as measured by the position of the light itself. The light was commissioned by George Washington and underwent 2 reconstructions in the 19th century and subsequent automation by the Coast Guard in the 1980s. It also has a very old 1st order Fresnel lens, apparently the only one in operation north of Virginia. The wooden rails for the trolley that was originally used to haul coal from the little cove up to the lighthouse are still there, but no longer operational.

We took a walk on the trail to the north tip of the island. It was dry and the smells coming from the grasses, hip roses and other plants were amazing. When we came back to the lighthouse and went into the museum, the island keepers heard us and came out to greet us. We given a tour of the lighthouse itself, looked at the lens and the view from 180 feet above the sea. The visibility was pretty good, so we could clearly see the surrounding islands, the mainland to the north and (presumably) outline of the mainland to the west.

The keepers reside from June till September and they were happy to have some company. They were also surprised that there were no other boats in the cove. After all, it was a federal holiday!

Since we were not yet set on our next destination, we asked whether or not they recommended the Boothbay Harbor. The answer was a pretty clear NO. It’ll be crowded and noisy, and it is July 4, so probably double all of that. We were pointed to a couple of potentially interesting spots and we continued our walk.

When we made it to the cove, Julia grabbed the keepers’ dinghy which was secured and fell onto the rocks, hitting her side. Luckily it wasn’t anything serious. She put cold cans to ensure that there would be no swelling and rested in the cabin. While Sasha was attending to her, I jumped for a quick swim. Naturally, the water was chilly, but the sun was out, so warming up was easy. And there was an osprey sitting on its nest on top of a pine tree.

Sailing further east

The forecast indicated that the wind will eventually die down and that Friday will be foggy and windless. But Saturday, when we need to get back to Portland, the wind will be strong coming from the south, so we should be able to make good time heading west. All of a sudden we had a plan: sail to Monhegan island, spend Friday walking around instead of sailing and then figure out where we spend Friday night.

On the way there we went by Damariscove island. The little cove always looked precarious to me, and the light keeper confirmed it, but said that it should be doable and the island has nice trails. So we decided to check it out. There were a couple of sailboats in the cove and a motor boat was entering at the same time. Ok, too crowded, we move on.

Wildlife

The nice wind that we had in the early afternoon kept dying, so we kept only the mainsail and turn on the engine. It’s not as much fun as sailing, but we already had a splendid sail, so we couldn’t complain. All of a sudden I spotted weird-looking foam to our port side. And then again in the same place. Whale! For a whale it was small. It showed us its fin, sent the spout up, but then was generally shy and swam away as we tried to circle to take another glimpse of it.

Shortly thereafter Sasha spotted the fin of a sunfish. Now that creature was not shy at all. Despite the fact that we had the engine on, it didn’t seem to mind us. As were doing circles around it, it swam closer to the boat, it swam behind the boat. What a treat!

Monhegan island

Julia was the only crew member who had not been on the island before. We picked up a mooring outside of the harbour to avoid being rolled by the seas that have not calmed down after the winds of the previous couple of days, unfolded the dinghy and went ashore for a short walk. Julia’s side was still not feeling well, so we came back to the boat and let her rest.

While the guys were cooking steak for dinner, I tried my luck with the fishing rod and manage to catch 3 tiny cod which I let go. I wanted mackerels.

After a beautiful sunset we were surprised by the fireworks. The mooring we were on was the closest to the house from which the locals were celebrating the Independence Day. Since we were so close to the action, we brought up a fire extinguisher into the cockpit. Just in case. Luckily we didn’t have to use it. Local boaters were burning flares and it was quite festive.

In the morning my fishing luck was much better: within minutes I got 10 little mackerels, let the smallest 2 go and put the rest into the fridge for the evening. After coffee onboard we took the dinghy ashore and had breakfast at a cafe before going on a walk around the island. After a little while I left Sasha and Julia to enjoy the nature at their own pace and went on the perimeter trail to get my pulse up a bit.

The fog made it impossible to see the anything other than the island itself, but it made the scenery no less dramatic with the sea far down below the steep cliffs. The cutest thing I saw was a baby gull guarded by its parent. Its grey speckled feathers made it blend with the rock on which it was standing and as soon as it saw me, it tried to hide below a little edge. I tried to aim the camera from a different direction, but the chick moved again to hide from public view.

Monhegan Brewery did not disappoint with their beer, but for lunch we went to the cafe in the Harbormaster building. Julia took a lobster while Sasha and I enjoyed the fish sandwiches accompanied by the Monhegan Pilsner.

Back onboard I went for a swim. Not that it was hot outside, but I just felt like it. And then I went back to the Harbormaster office to pay for our mooring. On the way there I chatted with James on a pretty sailboat who had just pulled into the harbour with his wife and a dog. I mentioned that we stayed on a mooring north of the main harbour and it was less rolly. He thanked me for the advice and I went on to the Harbormaster.

Then began the confusion. The woman at the cafe said “I think it’s 20 bucks, I’ll take your money and pass it along”. But then it turned out that the mooring we were on was not a town mooring, but a private one and she had no idea who it belonged to. “I guess you can stay there, but if you get kicked off, come back to the harbour.” I relayed my findings to James on the way back to Salty Ginger and we had a lovely conversation.

As I started to write down notes about our adventures, I heard a dinghy which was clearly heading to us. It was James who said that the mooring that we were on was the one that was assigned to him. He was very apologetic about the confusion (that ultimately I created) and I assured him that we will move so that he can take the mooring that was promised to him. We took one of the other two free moorings. Once James moved their boat, he came over again and offered a bottle of wine for making us move. I protested, but he was insistent and ultimately I gave in. It was a very nice red wine that we had with steaks that evening.

Our dinner was scrumptious: mackerel sashimi and ceviche as appetizer and the steaks with couscous as the main course.

Foggy sail

The midnight rain did not wash the fog away. We woke up to half-mile visibility with decent wind, as forecast. After a quick breakfast we left the mooring, motored out of the protected cove and set sail. The close-hauled course that we were on put us on the rhumb line to Portland. We could go around all the rocks and dangers on the same course. It was a fast sail. Only sometimes slowed down to 5 knots, but usually the speed was at least 6 knots and on some waves we surfed down at 8.5.

The only issue was the visibility. We were happy when it was half a mile and rather uncomfortable when it was reduced to a hundred meters. Making out the navigational marks was tough. They would appear as grey outlines all of a sudden, just enough time to ensure we didn’t hit them.

Back in the Portland harbor there was no fog. In fact even on the water it was shorts and T-shirt weather. We spotted a working lobster boat who said they’ll be happy to sell us lobsters. The sails were rolled in within minutes and for $40 we got 6 lobsters and 2 crabs. What to eat for lunch was solved.

Docking in 20 knots of wind was not easy, but thanks to the dock staff we avoided a hard hit on the dock and after tying up we at the lobsters and the crabs with the remaining Monhegan IPA under the shade of the bimini. What a lovely adventure!