Pretzel the Boat Dog

Pretzel, the co-captain,....getting a bath on board.... and sound asleep in her bed at sunset! Today in Boothbay Harbor we had a momentous moment!!!!!! This morning Pretzel was put out on deck while Jane made coffee and she (the dog) walked forward and back a few times. Jane made her way forward with coffee, sat on the life raft and told Pretzel to pee. Pretzel proceeded to squat and pee!!!! Not on the mats provided for this purpose but right now we'll take almost anywhere on deck. After lots of praise Pretzel settled down for her morning nap. We don't think for one minute she is finally trained to go on the boat. She's so old and probably doesn't care where as long as she can relieve herself after 10 hours! Anyway we are happy. Got to relax on the boat for coffee and breakfast!

Boothbay Play

The first evening in Boothbay we met up with a couple from our marina in Rhode Island, Donal & Bridget Gleeson. Had a very nice dinner with them and enjoyed our last night of freedom (no dog). The next day we were fogged in with spotty rain. We did the stores, bought a few things embroidered with our boat name and just relaxed. On the way through town we spotted an older version of the M,ini. It was a replica of our first car in Ireland, a yucky green mini with the bottom rusting out. After taking this picture with Peter I don't know how we ever fit into it!!!

Boothbay Harbor

We made it!!!!!! A day earlier than planned but on this, the seventh day, we will stop and rest. Tomorrow we will assemble our kayaks and play for a few days.

We left Kennybunkport at 7:30 when the tide started racing out the river. We definitely did not want to get stuck in the mud again!!! Today was a long day but perfect weather, wind, and point of sail. Along the way we spotted a seal pop it's head up, 2 whales, and some fish or seals jumping in the water. There was no fog, wave action the best in 3 days, so we pushed onward. We lost our GPS around Seguin Island where a magnetic disturbance can affect your compass. Don't know if that was the reason but it took more than 10 minutes to get it back. Paper backup charts helped but so did 6 mile visibility!! We will post pictures from this area over the next few days.

Kennybunkport, Maine

After anchoring at 7PM in Rockport we slept through thunderstorms and woke at 6 to leave again at 7AM for Maine. Our plan was to get to Portland or Casco Bay Islands. There was some fog on leaving so on went the horn again! After 1.5 hours it started to fade, then a rain storm came over us. After checking the XM weather on our computer it was clear to keep going...no more storm cells in sight. The sun came out and it was starting to be a great trip......until the wave height increased after the Isle of Shoals off Portsmouth, NH. They were 3+ feet and rolling in from the east. By 1PM we felt like we had been sitting on a rocking chair sideways all day. Still heading for the Portland area at 1:30, we were 5 miles offshore south of Kennybunkport when very thick fog rolled in. Visibilty was cut down to maybe 1/4 mile or less. Peter was tired, we were both stressed, so made the decision to go into Kennybunkport. We are at Chick's Marina on a dock for the first time in 6 days....and not rolling!!!! We washed the boat, our clothes, and ourselves thoroughly. Then we walked into the town center for a great dinner at a local restaurant. No new or exciting pictures to show this time.

Provincetown to Cape Ann (Rockport, MA)

We spent the morning in Provincetown waiting for the rain to clear and fog to lift. After checking the XM weather and seeing the storm cells gone we decided to drop the mooring and head to Cape Ann. Jane's favorite new toy...the automatic fog horn went into use for about an hour. We actually had about 3/4 mile visibility but Jane loves hearing it so on it went. The skies cleared and we had following winds of 15-20 and an easy motor sail for most of the trip. Spotted about 10 whales along the way. Some were spouting, a few breaching, and a pair quite close to our boat blowing and floating in the sun. You can just see the back of one in the picture. There were lots of fishing boats and whale watch cruises out. We also contacted the large carrier in the picture above since we were on a course to collide but he saw us and we both were able to maneuver. Thank goodness the fog cleared!!! We finally dropped anchor in Rockport's Sandy Cove at 7 and had grilled pork chops, rice pilaf, and peas for dinner. Eat your hearts out Sarah and Natalie!!!! Our newly installed Sea Frost freezer is working great. We love the convenience it gives us. Haven't been to a store to provision since we left last Wednesday!! Leaving early tomorrow for Portland or Casco Bay.

Provincetown Harbor

Arriving in Provincetown Harbor yesterday by boat was fun. It's a beautiful little spot with plenty to sightsee. Our mooring is a little like Jamestown, rolling from ferries & whalewatch boats coming & going. Not for the sensitive stomachs. Our mooring came with free launch so we went into town about 5PM. Saturday night in Ptown is extremely busy and colorful! Picked up a few tshirts before returning to the boat about 7 for our lobster dinner, compliments of Gerard...a cousin of Peter's from Kinvara, Ireland...working in Wellfleet for the summer. It was delish!!

Today we are sitting in pea soup fog trying to figure out how far it extends since the Boston weather and NOAH report do not mention fog. Peter has been charting courses we could do to get to Boothbay Wed. So, we make a dash for Cape Ann today if it clears or we do a 12 hour day tomorrow to Portland area, No one said it would be easy. Hurry up and wait for the weather to change!!!!

Cape Cod Canal to Wellfleet Harbor

On Friday morning by 7AM the wind died down so Captain Bugg decided to head through the canal while the tide was with us. There was some fog in Buzzards Bay and through the canal so we activated our automatic fog horn signal. It quickly became Jane's new favorite toy! We had a great sail across Cape Cod Bay with following winds of 18-22K plus the favorable currents. SOG in the canal reached 11k at times and across the bay we were at 8K with our 100% jib and motor sailing. Arriving in Wellfleet Harbor at high tide (2PM) the wind started gusting over 30K which caused great difficulty tying to the end dock. Wellfleet is a charming harbor but not made for sailboats!!! Low tide today was a 13' drop instead of the usual 10' because of the storm. So in the picture you can see our beautiful Kinvara "parked" at the dock. The "beach" is really as close as it looks. Peter just tested the depth and it was reading 3' and low tide is still an hour away. We will be grounded tonight and tomorrow morning for low tide. Departure will not take place until around 11-12. Wellfleet is better visited by car!!!

Peter's cousin's son, Gerard (from Ireland) is working at Mac's Seafood at the dock for the summer so he came for a visit on the boat this afternoon. After eating dinner at his place he surprised us with 2 HUGE lobsters, corn & potatoes. Thanks Gerard!!! They will make a great dinner tomorrow night.

Red Brook Harbor

After leaving on Wed. we had beautiful weather & sailing to Red Brook Harbor. Currents were with us through Narraganset and RI sound. We decided to go through Vineyard sound to follow current and through Quick's Hole into Buzzards Bay where it was slack tide. We entered Red Brook Harbor close to low tide and saw 5-6 feet register on our depth meter. Since we draw 5'6" there was a flurry of concern until we realized our transducer reads from the bottom of the hull. Stayed in Red Brook 2 nights to get our solar panels wired. Hamilton Ferris did a great job, explained everything to us, answered our questions, and even brought us a DD coffee on Thurs. morning! Thanks Ham!

Dinner on Wed. at the Chart House was delish.

Leaving Narraganset Bay

Busy waterway leaving Narraganset Bay. They were a little closer than the picture shows. Jane's comfort zone was challenged but everything was fine.

Installation of our wind generator on 7/16 & 7/17. Once leaving the dock it will help to charge our batteries. It seems to work great. There is a little bit of vibration through the radar arch but nothing we can't live with.

A Busy Week

The kayaks turned out to be a great birthday present! We paddled around the marina this week and were both happy with them. Even Pretzel liked the ride. Can't wait to use them in a quiet little harbor in Maine. Maybe we'll see a harbor seal up close.

We've been finishing little jobs on the boat to prepare for 5-6 weeks cruising in Maine. The weather has been great so far. We're expecting our solar panels and wind generator to be installed Thurs. & Fri.

Just when we thought everything was going smoothly, Our car windshield was struck by a flying stone. The impact is about the size of a quarter and the cracks expanded in all directions. AAA is coming to the marina tomorrow to fix it if the weather holds.

Saturday, July 11

Today we were up early waiting for Natalie to arrive. She was going to sail with us for the first time this summer. At 10:30 she appeared with a story to come to her car to help get our birthday presents out. Sounded like a fish tale to us but up we went to the parking lot. Well, she & Sarah had a surprise birthday party planned for us (Peter-June 28 Jane-July 16). The cookout area was decorated in a Pirate theme with balloons, treasure chest, gold coins, pirate flags, eye patches, and cake. What a surprise and a fun day. Somehow they had contacted family, friends from our schools, and boating friends. There must have been about 25-30 people to help us celebrate. Did we forget to mention that we turn 60 this year? Our girls are the greatest.

July 6-12

During this week we had a lot of work done on the boat in preparation for our cruising South. We now have a freezer which keeps ice and even froze leftover chicken overnight!! Yeah...maybe ice cream? We also installed a new quiet electric toilet with fresh water flush. This is important because the standard systems flush with salt water. This can smell because there are living organisms in the salt water which remain in the intake piping and can cause "oderifis emanations". So far the new system works perfectly. Now we have to monitor our fresh water usage. We also had our radar dome moved onto the mast with a horn under it for hailer/loudspeaker capabilities. We thought it would be used for automatic fog horn capability but we found out that our VHF radio does not have fog signals and would have to be upgraded. Maybe they make a CD of fog signals? So we still have to use the hand held fog horn for now. Now that we have added energy hogs to our boat we really have to watch our consumption. Peter has decided to forgo showering & shaving until he reaches Florida in Dec. Will someone please meet us at the dock with a razor and aftershave? Jane has decided to use Peter's share of hot water and energy and may have to move into the forward cabin for fresh air.

The next project will be 2 solar panels, a wind generator, and 4 new batteries to boost our charging mode.
We hope this to be done next week so we can finally leave for Maine by the weekend. Wish us luck!!

June 29-July 5

Weather did not improve after Peter's birthday. We spent Monday cleaning, doing laundry, and grocery shopping to get ready for our trip to Block Island for the 4th of July. Unfortunately we had to have our Lexus fixed on Tuesday (bright sunny day) after hitting a pot hole and damaged the tire. So Wednesday we left the marina at 7:30 to sail to Block Isl. One hour later we had to duck into Newport for a few hours to avoid a thunder & lightening storm. By 10:00 we were headed out Narraganset Bay again only to be turned back with another storm. So we picked up a mooring in Newport for the night. Thank goodness....because we experienced the worst storm ever. By the time it was over later that afternoon, southern Rhode Island had received 6" of rain and there were lightening strikes. Thursday was not much better. We exited Newport Harbor to thunder & lightening again so decided to come back to the marina. We did have a really nice dinner with friends and hit the bed early. Friday morning we left at 6:30AM for Block Island again. The only blip in the weather window was patchy fog. We had rather dense fog outside Narraganset Bay going around Point Judith then it cleared up until we reached Block Island. Within 1/2 mile of the entrance channel there was zero visibility fog. We had to rely on our radar and fog horn to "see" boats around us. Once inside the pond at Block the fog cleared. There were no moorings available so we held our breath and anchored in 25Knot winds. Our boat held us the entire weekend. A dock neighbor also came in so he rafted with our boat and our anchor held us both throughout the weekend. After cocktails together we grilled our food and ate dinner. The fireworks display was awesome on a crystal clear night with an (almost) full moon. The pond was packed with boats but everyone was in such high spirits because it REALLY was the beginning of summer. This was the first sunny weekend since the beginning of May. We left at 9:30AM Sunday to return to the marina. What a fabulous sail. Pure blue, sunny skies and winds of 13-18Knots. It was just perfect. We could almost envision being in the Bahamas!!

On June 25th we left the dock (finally!) and sailed to Dutch Harbor. While there Peter took some snaps of the boatyard preparing to launch a wooden boat. From Dutch we sailed a short distance to Wickford Cove. Our mooring was pole to pole (see pic) which was new to us. On approach Jane set up lines fore and aft but could not figure out how she was going to loop around the poles.On our second approach to the mooring poles we discovered lines clipped to a wire which we could take and attach to our boat. It was so much easier than we had expected. Another first under our belt now. Wickford is a beautiful little harbor town full of antique & gift shops. We visited the kayak center and now think we will buy kayaks for our 60th birthday. On Saturday we left Wickford and anchored in Narraganset Bay to watch the air show taking place from Quonset AFB. We saw the Blue Angels, Red Devils, sky divers, and large cargo carriers. It was quite a show and the entire afternoon was sunny and warm!! On Sunday Peter woke up a year (and decade) older. We had a group from the dock join us for a surprise pizza party. There were balloons flying from the boat so he could not hide his birthday from anyone who passed by!!