The daily update

Sorry that we cannot update more often.  It seems the places we like to visit are the remote ones and I cannot even establish a hotspot to make a post.  

Our latest locations:

York, Maine one night on a rented mooring

Portland Yacht Club for two nights on a mooring they gave us on a reciprocity basis given that we are members of Wayzata Yacht Club

Jewell Island for two nights at anchor, five miles from PYC

Seguin Island for two nights on a free mooring where we got to know the volunteer keepers

Monhegan Island for two nights on a rented mooring

Burnt Coat Harbor on Swans Island, at anchor, where we finally caught up with Mac who is here, with his wife Pat.  We attended the last night of the Sweet Chariot Music Festival

Northeast Harbor where we first kept Gryphon for the first summer that we had her.  We arrived here with several bags of trash we had not been able to get rid of, full holding tanks, no water and several loads of dirty laundry.  Two out of three of our propane tanks were empty and we had identified plenty of stuff we just wanted off the boat.  In one place we were pretty much able to take care of all these needs.  They put us on 40’ section of dock floating in the harbor but not connected to land which was quite handy.  I pulled the dinghy up and did some repairs and even had a hardware store nearby for material.  They provide wifi after over a week of incredibly spotty cellular service.  Then we have been invited to a potluck dinner with the Ocean Cruising Club tonight. We will hit the grocery store and West Marine on our way out of town.  We will be heading to some of the little islands off Stonington now that we are freshly supplied and unburdened.  

Monhegan

Monhegan is a bit of an odd place to visit by boat.  It is an island about 12 miles off the coast of Maine.  It is sustained by tourists ferried in from 10-3 each day, eager to see this place billed as an eccentric artists’ colony.  We were coming for much the same reason, and because of the fairy houses on the trails that Kate remembered from a visit 18 years ago with her now 21 year old niece.  The sailboat cruising guide for Maine says to come into the harbor, find an open mooring, tie up to it then go ashore and ask the harbor master if you can keep your boat on it.  That is a bit disconcerting for those left on board lest the owner of that mooring comes home, but it worked out. 

In the two days we were there several people seemed to know which boat I came off.  It was also explained to me that the entire island is private.  While they will rent you a mooring, there is no place to bring your dinghy ashore.  A local just told me to bring it on the beach and hope no one complains.  They have no public toilets.  A take-out pizza joint on the island makes their toilets available from 9-4.  When Kate and Leif tried to get them to make an exception at 4:30, the young girl at the counter said she did not know were the key was kept.  I did find that the Inn was receptive when I asked if Ruby could use their bathroom and later I just brought Leif in.  There is no place to put trash.  I did not know this when I came in one night with a dinghy full with a bag of trash and packaging from Ruby’s birthday present.  I could not find anything that looked accommodating and was not going to use someone’s personal trash given that people already seemed to be watching.  The next morning we tried again, but it turns out getting trash off the island is a local problem and I had to being it back to the boat again.  

I had not initially noticed, but when the kids got out of the dinghy in bare feet they noticed that there is glass all over the beach.  As they tried to avoid it, someone told us that they do it on purpose so the kids can collect them after they are smooth.  Indeed, from our boat in the harbor we saw a young man heave a bottle, in full view of everyone, at the rocks on the shore.

They do have some very nice trails, for which they are known, and there are indeed fairy houses.  These are built along the Cathedral Woods trail and Leif and Ruby added several more.

The Problem with Schedules

You hear it all the time. “The most dangerous thing on a sailboat is a schedule.” For a rendezvous “you can pick a time or a place, but not both.” A new friend’s parting words were “No strict dates! That’s the key!” After just 2 weeks aboard I’m realizing how right they are.

We set a goal of July 15 to move on to the boat. It was a push, especially with my participation in the 1-2 race taking up most of June, to be ready in time. But that was a land-based goal and not subject to the considerations of life on a boat. We transferred this goal-oriented schedule to boat life when set the goal of getting north to Maine straight away. We didn’t think we’d be able to hide Ruby’s birthday present so we shipped it to Maine, thereby creating a hard date of August 2 by which we needed to get to Portland. 

There are plenty of reasons we want to get to Maine. Our first summer with the boat we made three family trips to Maine so we have our favorite places. We have friends and family there. A new friend is up there on his boat. But having a schedule put pressure on us to keep moving and maybe we did so before we were ready. 

Keeping a schedule requires organization which we have not yet achieved.  We cannot go sailing with stuff lying all over the place.  During our first few days on the boat stuff was piled everywhere for lack of places to put it. Storage on a 36’ boat is limited and much of it is under couches.  We have spent a lot of time just figuring out where things should go, which things should go in easy access places and what can go in deep storage. This process is still evolving. We are devising clever storage ideas like hanging bags on hooks within cabinets.  In the mean time, however, we need to look ourselves extra time to get ready to travel and that was not built into the schedule.  

Keeping a schedule has also hindered our ability to enjoy where we are.  I had not anticipated the beauty of the coast between Mystic and Maine.  We had simply set our sights on getting north.  We did discover some great places but sometimes felt we were rushing through them. 

Most importantly we need to allow ourselves time for thoughtfulness so as not to make mistakes as well as time for recovery after we’ve made them.  On our first night off our friend’s mooring in Noank we were not thoughtful and went through a narrow channel at low tide.  We were confused between the red and green buoys and we ran aground, not hard, but still disconcerting.  In Menemsha we were not thoughtful about checking the weather.  We then needed a couple days to regroup after our rough day at anchor.

From here on I am determined to make the weather and the temperament of the crew the primary deciding factors for travel.  We really cannot commit to being at a certain place at a certain time.  While we greatly value meeting up with people and to do so we need to name a place and a time, but I am attaining an appreciation for how difficult that is..