Day 45 The last of the islands
Day 45 Aug 14
45 days. Apparently that's how long it takes: we both woke up this morning and said "Let's go home." The forecast was for a favorable 10-15kt easterly wind: perfect. Of course what's really happening right now is 6kt from the NE, but at least the seas are calm and we are scooting down the coast at 7kts under motor. (The weather gods didn't get the memo that this was supposed to be a sailing trip....)
Just after leaving the anchorage our autopilot decided it needed to be recalibrated- right now! There was no do-it-later or cancel feature, and the message was the only display available on our chart plotter. Most inconvenient. Garmin may get a letter about that. Reminded me of a little kid in the back seat squirming "But I gotta go NOW!" We steered manually until we were in waters that were clear enough to go through the recalibration wizard and managed to not hit any large submerged granite things. 10 minutes later all is well.
For the balance of the day we stayed 3 miles off shore where the lobster pots aren't so thick, and did get the sails up for quite a while. We outran the fog bank that was rolling in.
Shelby went below to take a nap on Brent's pillow.
Day 45 ended with us at Jewell Island in Casco Bay. The anchor went down in the long and narrow Punchbowl cove. This small place is well protected but is a narrow corridor just wide enough for one boat and long enough for six boats. Shortly after we arrived the harbor was completely full.
The beach here has a reasonable shoreline to walk Shelby. The island has trails, which Brent walked. The trails go to gun emplacements from WWII that protected Portland harbor. Turns out nearby Portland, ME is the US port closest to Europe, and there was concern German ships would try to capture it as a foothold. The barracks, storage bldgs, concrete slabs for the guns, etc are all still visible, although decaying.
It was a quiet evening, with Yahtzee replacing Cribbage after dinner.
DAY 46, August 15
A fine breakfast and a good dog walk on the Jewel Island beach are required before getting underway this morning. A light wind over our shoulder makes for pleasant motoring southward. Today marks the end of the coastal island hopping and the beginning of the ocean trip southward towards home. We work our way seaward around Cape Elizabeth and head out into the open Atlantic. The lobster trap floats thin out quickly as we head south east and further from shore, which makes for much more relaxed travel.
Most of the day the Maine coast will be in the distance. With binoculars we can make out houses along the shore, including the Bush family compound at Kennebunkport. There is a security zone into the ocean surrounding the house, but we aren't close enough to alert enforcement today. It is miles westward of our track.
Looking at AIS shows us that a large number of yachts are using this same weather window to move out of Maine. Most of these boats are a day's journey behind us. The forecast suggests the next two or three days will be good for motoring southward before the prevailing southwesterlies return. Right now there are very few boats around us. Over the course of the day we cross paths with a few cruising boats doing what we are doing, and on the horizon we spot fishing boats and a whale watch boat. We see no whales.
Day 46 ends at York harbor. We have moved about 40 miles and have arrived with time to relax on the mooring in tiny York harbor. This will be our last stop in Maine, and it was also our first. Here is a good place to close the Maine chapter of our 2019 voyage.
45 days. Apparently that's how long it takes: we both woke up this morning and said "Let's go home." The forecast was for a favorable 10-15kt easterly wind: perfect. Of course what's really happening right now is 6kt from the NE, but at least the seas are calm and we are scooting down the coast at 7kts under motor. (The weather gods didn't get the memo that this was supposed to be a sailing trip....)
Just after leaving the anchorage our autopilot decided it needed to be recalibrated- right now! There was no do-it-later or cancel feature, and the message was the only display available on our chart plotter. Most inconvenient. Garmin may get a letter about that. Reminded me of a little kid in the back seat squirming "But I gotta go NOW!" We steered manually until we were in waters that were clear enough to go through the recalibration wizard and managed to not hit any large submerged granite things. 10 minutes later all is well.
For the balance of the day we stayed 3 miles off shore where the lobster pots aren't so thick, and did get the sails up for quite a while. We outran the fog bank that was rolling in.
The beach here has a reasonable shoreline to walk Shelby. The island has trails, which Brent walked. The trails go to gun emplacements from WWII that protected Portland harbor. Turns out nearby Portland, ME is the US port closest to Europe, and there was concern German ships would try to capture it as a foothold. The barracks, storage bldgs, concrete slabs for the guns, etc are all still visible, although decaying.
It was a quiet evening, with Yahtzee replacing Cribbage after dinner.
DAY 46, August 15
A fine breakfast and a good dog walk on the Jewel Island beach are required before getting underway this morning. A light wind over our shoulder makes for pleasant motoring southward. Today marks the end of the coastal island hopping and the beginning of the ocean trip southward towards home. We work our way seaward around Cape Elizabeth and head out into the open Atlantic. The lobster trap floats thin out quickly as we head south east and further from shore, which makes for much more relaxed travel.
Most of the day the Maine coast will be in the distance. With binoculars we can make out houses along the shore, including the Bush family compound at Kennebunkport. There is a security zone into the ocean surrounding the house, but we aren't close enough to alert enforcement today. It is miles westward of our track.
Looking at AIS shows us that a large number of yachts are using this same weather window to move out of Maine. Most of these boats are a day's journey behind us. The forecast suggests the next two or three days will be good for motoring southward before the prevailing southwesterlies return. Right now there are very few boats around us. Over the course of the day we cross paths with a few cruising boats doing what we are doing, and on the horizon we spot fishing boats and a whale watch boat. We see no whales.
Day 46 ends at York harbor. We have moved about 40 miles and have arrived with time to relax on the mooring in tiny York harbor. This will be our last stop in Maine, and it was also our first. Here is a good place to close the Maine chapter of our 2019 voyage.
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