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220090 tn?1379167187

A sailing story

Here is a log from our cruise to Maine in the summer of 2006:
July 15:
I forgot how wonderful the fragrances of New England can be.  Our first stop was Block Island and we went for a long walk as soon as our anchor was secure. The privet and honeysuckle are in bloom and the island is full of their fragrance.  We walked up to Mohegan Bluff to admire the view out over the open Atlantic.  The Bluff stands about 200 feet and has a lighthouse at the edge.

We have not gone very far; we are in Menemsha now.  The weather has been dreadful; we have about one nice day for every five rainy ones.  Our destination is Maine, so we have to get going soon even if the weather is not ideal.  We will go through the Cape Cod Canal on Monday and head to Boston for two days.  We will visit with my last remaining uncle for a day and then head to the Isle of Shoals for a visit.  I have always wanted to see them.  We have sailed by, but never stopped.  Anita Shreve wrote about them in her book, The Weight of Water.  

We expect to be in Maine the end of next week.
8/2/2006
We are finally in Penobscot Bay having arrived in Rockland harbor late yesterday afternoon.  We had an arduous sail, having experienced most of what Maine weather has to offer; we started with light winds and crystal clear air, moved to moderate winds, sailed into a fog bank with 200 foot visibility and ended with 30 knots as we entered Rockland Harbor!  All this while dodging lobster pots, some with toggles: two pots tied together with a line between them on the surface.

We sailed past Pemaquid point with good visibility.  I spent many a day in my early childhood sitting on the rocks of Pemaquid with my family and watching the sailboats, so this has special meaning for me.  My uncle had a summer place in Maine and we made a trip to the coast at least once a week for lobsters and a view of the magnificent shore.  The view of Pemaquid brought back fond memories of a time when the adults made all the decisions and life was simple.

Penobscot Bay is a special place.  As soon as you enter it you experience something different from the rest of the New England shore.  There are great granite bluffs with beautiful stands of evergreen at the top.  The water is a deep blue with heavy surf crashing on the granite creating lots of foam and spray.  You can feel the power of the clash between the immovable granite and the strong surf.

We plan to spend a couple of weeks here visiting friends and cruising the offshore islands.

8/15/2006:
We are currently anchored in a harbor at Camp Island, a small island that is part of the archipelago that makes up Merchants Row.  This is the best cruising we have seen so far; the islands range is size from less than an acre to 100s of acres.  They are the same granite with a stand of pine on top.  The water is deep almost to the shoreline, so we can wend our way through them.  We saw a bald eagle and many seals and porpoises.

The weather has been spectacular for the last couple of weeks with crystal clear days and cool nights.  We bought lobster from a co op and fresh blueberries and strawberries from the local market.  The lobsters were great and the blueberries not to be believed!  The local berries are tiny and each one explodes in your mouth with this incredible taste.

We spend a wonderful few days anchored off of a friend’s house on Somes Sound in Mt Desert Island.  We drove around the island seeing magnificent gardens and the spectacular natural scenery of Acadia.

We had planned to start a slow trip back towards home today, but the wind is blowing hard out of the Southwest and that is the directions we are going.  We will leave tomorrow, sailing gradually towards the Vineyard, spend a few days there; then, we go to Newport, Block Island and back to Westport.


23 Responses
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220090 tn?1379167187
I am doing ok.  I am at week 34 and suffering from the prolonged interferon craziness.  I haven't lost it yet, so that is a good thing.

Yeah, Big SUR is sure romantic.   My wife used to fly out and visit me for the weekend once a month, back in the late 80s, when I was working in San Jose.  Some guy tried to pick her up on the plane and told her about a hotel in Big Sur called Ventana; have any of you heard of it?

He made it sound so wonderful that we decided to try it out for a weekend even though the rates were astronomical!  It has clothing optional hot tubs and that is pretty wild for us east coast conservatives.  When you first arrive you notice that no guests are around.  When you realize how romantic it is you know where the are - LOL.
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Avatar universal
Andiamo.....great story! i was tasting the lobster as you described another great journey.

and as for all you other landerlubbers..............arrrrrgh......... beware of the dark sails on the horizon revealing the crew of the "BlackRose".  she cruises the seven seas ready to dump all suspected vomiting polluters of mother ocean to a sure and deep very wet sleep.

merry christmas to all and to all a good rest

Whrose
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Avatar universal
Howdy! So you conceived your first kid camping in da Big Sur eh?? That's cool. I conceived a case of poison oak on my wang there camping. I wasn't quite fully "street smart" to how much poison oak they have there and handled some brush and wood for our fire in the darkness. Then I drank some beer by the fire. Then I had to pee. Here's a simplified flow chart for clarification: Hand --> wood--> 4 beers around the campfire---> hand---> wang holdage---> pee --> shake --> 1 day later---> Not good. ;-)

Anyway you ask about a lump on my neck?? Hmm, don't remember that one. I had a bad drug rash and maybe some somewhat swollen lymph nodes on my neck, but nothing too bad on the neck. I think you might have me mixed up with someone else. Anyway my neck is doing fine, other than the pain I get in iot from this thing called work. ;-)
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Avatar universal
Andiamo, how are things going for you.  Hope this finds you in good spirits, sounds like you are okay though.  Must let me know when you do the west coast.  Good Luck on getting the new boat and hope you find what you want.

BIG SUR!!!!!  LOL  It is just wonderful there.  I conceived my first child camping in Big Sur on April Fools Day! LOL  
The coast is just beautiful up there.

Mremeet, how did the lump in the neck turn out for you.

Cajun
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220090 tn?1379167187
Slight exaggeration - LOL.
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86075 tn?1238115091
he he he he....spit take over here....ha ha ha!
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220090 tn?1379167187
I spent a year working in San Jose and I often went to Big Sur on weekends.  I love Monterrey and the Redwoods south of that.  I love California and would live there in a minute if my wife would agree to leave her family on the east coast.

I was once anchored in Provencetown harbor on the cape during some rough weather.  I watched a whale watching boat return with a full load of sight seeing people not used to rough weather. The took fire hoses and  power washed the boat after the sick people staggered off of it.  It sounds like I might need some of that with you guys on board -LOL.

Performing on my fair lady might be fun to watch, but if they did it in Florida they probably need a good supply of defibrillators with all the geriatric folks watching.
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315996 tn?1429054229

And meanwhile. . . . the Ribavarin Factory Rep walks around saying:
"Aargh! Thems that die'll be the lucky ones!"

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212705 tn?1221620650
Very funny...got me lol!
We should get a book together..all of us.
Something like...A day in the life of a Hepper..........
'steada sitting here making no money...I think it would be a big seller.
All we need is to edit what's already here.
I want in...it was MY idea!

gotta go get a patent..now that I opened my mouth....bebacksoon
y
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86075 tn?1238115091
I think Andiamo would come by and pick us all up...then Mystermeet and I would be arguing so much and so fervently....blah, blah, blah and double blah...., that we'd take in our heads from the side, and start barfing IN the boat...at which time, the rest of the crew would start to barf, because of the smell and the nausea...(political discussions are apt to cause that) so it turns into a type of Barf Conga Line...with everyone slip sliding all over the place, and then getting REALLY annoyed with us...so me and Mystery are voted off the main ship and made to go on a little skiff that is trailing along after the main ship... we then provide lots of entertainment for the main crew, because we're seen choking each other and falling out of the boat....then saving each other, and then choking each other again, ad nausem....
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Avatar universal
Andiamo, dude you gotta do the west coast when you're better. Big Sur is MAGNIFEECO. Kinda rocky though, don't wanna get too close. Also when I initially read your comment "...just returned from Orlando where we went to see a friend perform in My Fair Lady" my twisted brain interpreted it as "just returned from Orlando where we went to see a friend perform on My Fair Lady." Only a single "o" replacing a single "i" in that whole sentence, but boy what a difference. ;-)

And sure 4c I can come by and pick you up, but you have to promise not to attempt to convert me to socialism. I know you're a card carrying member ;-) And elaine of COURSE we'll swing by and pick ya up! My god you're the sweetest lady on earth, how could we not pick you up??
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220090 tn?1379167187
Hey guys, we just returned from Orlando where we went to see a friend perform in My Fair Lady.  It was great and even better to see a good friend up on stage and getting a standing ovation.

I propose two sailing trips; one up the west coast and one up the east coast.  I have a good supply of Stugeron - the absolute best motion sickness drug - so no barfing over the side - only lots of fun.

We did actually sell our boat and we are looking for another one now.  Hopefully with less teak and less maintenance as a result.

So climb inside your washing machine, put it on the spin cycle and get used to the motion.  That will approximate the feeling of an ocean voyage on a small boat.

Sailing is often described as:

a) Slowly going nowhere at great expense.
b) Standing in a cold shower tearing up 100 dollar bills.

Eric
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315996 tn?1429054229

I visualize this: Foreseegood and mremeet arguing over whatever, me running around making wise cracks like the parrot on the pirates shoulder, jmjm out in the water floating on Jenna, and Andiamo, treatment junkie that he is, sneaking below deck to get an IFN fix. Everyone else, RODL.


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212705 tn?1221620650
Sorry guys....we are not travelling that far. Either you catch some planes or forget about it. Now, once we're all better, Eric and his wife, Mafalda and I...they may bring someone nice for me to meet  ; })...we are going sailing and  (no barfing on side either!)  that's gonna happen, right , Andiamo? I'm holdin' on to that dream.
Eric, are you still contemplating giving up the boat? I hope not.
Thanks for the story.
Y
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315996 tn?1429054229

Andiamo comes out to the West Coast he will never go back . . . .

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86075 tn?1238115091
I wonder if I'm the only one who smiles when they see your name, at the risk of sounding corny?betcha I'm not...
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86075 tn?1238115091
hey, if you come by here, swing by and pick me up!!! me and scratchy can barf over the side while you guys are pulling ropes back and forth...:)
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Avatar universal
Hey ever run up and down the California coast? Maybe start out in San Diego and head on up to San Fran and beyond? Now THAT would be cool. I've driven the coast enough times, must be even better to follow the coastline by sea.
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Avatar universal
Thanks for the stroll down memory lane - or waterways. Take sleepytime tea when you want to sleep. It works really fast.
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220090 tn?1379167187
The boat is a 44 foot sloop, built in Finland.
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315996 tn?1429054229

My brother has a big sailboat in the marina by the San Diego airport. Says he will take me out to Catalina Island to go skin diving but I kinda get seasick really easy.



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144210 tn?1273088782
Lovely story. Wha' kind o' boat ye got thar skipper?
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220090 tn?1379167187
I haven't been posting much these days.  I am very sleep deprived and having trouble reading let alone writing.  So, I decided to hunt for an old log and post that rather than have to write anything new.
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