Left beautiful Newburyport on the ebb tide under sunny skies and 20 knot NW winds on our starboard quarter. Seas were high as we approached Cape Anne, but once we rounded it, they abated a little. As a result, we decided to sail by our initial destination of Manchester-by-the-sea, and continue past Gloucester, crossing the Gulf of Massachusetts, passing the city of Boston on our starboard, and finally grabbing a mooring in the little village of Scituate.....a distance of about 50 miles! We have northerly winds predicted for the whole week, so decided to take advantage of them, as the prevailing SW winds would be on our nose, making the way more difficult and slower.
saying goodbye to Newburyport
double lighthouses!?
Cape Anne
Boston
Scituate is a nice little town and we were met by a friendly and accommodating young lady who showed us to our mooring, then brought us in on the launch for much-needed showers at the club house, then took us in to town and picked us up again after we re-provisioned at a good grocery store! All in all, we were settled back on the boat and making dinner by 6:00pm as a result!
Scituate lighthouse; where two daughters of the lighthouse keeper 'scared off' invading British troops when they saw them coming in by boat, by playing 'Yankee Doodle' with such vigor, the British worried that there was a whole band of American soldiers waiting in the bush for them, so they turned around and went back to their ship!!
The next morning dawned bright and sunny again, with more strong winds from the north. We decided to make for Cape Cod and the canal. Again we had to time our entrance to the canal, as it is seven miles long, so one doesn't want to be bucking the tide the whole way! On the way we passed Plymouth...yes, THE Plymouth! Took a picture of the lighthouse, but the famous rock was somewhere inside the harbour, so didn't see it. Apparently the pilgrims actually made their first landfall in Provincetown, right in the 'fist' at the top of Cape Cod, but were unable to leave their ships. After about five weeks, they moved on to Plymouth where they settled and the rest, they say, is history!!
Plymouth lighthouse
Our trip through the canal was uneventful, but pleasant and fast on the westward-flowing ebb. It is a fairly wide, placid piece of water, well protected from the winds, so warm and quiet, bordered by bicycle/walking paths on either side and lined with sporadic homes watching the boats motoring by. It was quiet as far as traffic was concerned also, so pretty much had the canal to ourselves! At the west end of the canal we came out in Buzzard's Bay, a beautiful bay that reminded us somewhat of Lake Ontario...lots of water, but land within site of three out of four horizons! The water was lovely and calm, and in fact the wind had also died down to about 5 knots, so it was a nice peaceful end to our day! We anchored that night in Wood's Hole, in a harbour called Hadley Harbour, at the western-most end of Cape Cod, just before the little chain of the Elizabeth Islands begins. Wood's Hole is well-known for it's scientific community, specializing in oceanographic and marine sciences. One can only imagine hanging out at the local coffee shop and listening in on the conversations around you!!
entering the east end of the canal
transiting the canal
exiting the canal at the western end, entering Buzzard's Bay
The next morning the north winds pushed us across Nantucket Sound and on to Martha's Vineyard!! We decided we were so close, and had heard so much about it, that we really had to stop. We decided to go to Edgartown (named after the son of the Duke of York at the time..1671) rather than the much noisier and busier Vineyard Haven or Oak Bluffs. Wow!!! It was really pretty! Every street we walked on looked like some movie ideal of good old Americana!! White clapboard houses with black window shutters and white picket fences, surrounded by well-kept lawns and gardens with LOTS of trees, lining narrow, winding streets and brick sidewalks. It really was charming!! The downtown was very walkable (as was the whole town, as far as we could see) with lots of shops, restaurants, two ice-cream shops, and a coffee shop. We regretted not being there on Thursday, as one of the restaurants had some live jazz playing there both Thursday and Friday. We did find a great book store with the best children's section I have ever seen!!! Unfortunately (or fortunately??!!) we got there only about half an hour before closing, so had limited time. The grandchildren almost received a load of books for Christmas!!!!
The town started out as a whaling town, so there are a number of houses still being lived in that were old whaling captain's homes. One of the captains brought home a chinese pagoda tree in a flower pot in 1833 to grace the home he was building at the time, and it is still there....176 years old!!! The town is also where Herman Melville made his one whaling trip which inspired Moby Dick. Rumour has it that his captain, Captain Valentine Pease, (whose home we went to see also) inspired the character Captain Ahab. And finally, for all the movie buffs out there, Edgartown was the town where they filmed Jaws!! I didn't recognize any of it, but that is par for the course!! Apparently the chinese pagoda tree made a cameo appearance..... We really enjoyed wandering around the town, soaking up the late afternoon and early evening fall sunshine, and are so glad we went out of our way to come!!
entering Edgartown Harbour
176 year old Chinese pagoda tree!!
Captain Pease's house (aka Captain Ahab!)
very cool wind vane!
The next day we left, again with those northerlys still blowing, but under cloudy skies, and made for Cuttyhunk, at the southwesterly tip of the Elizabeth Islands. Once again, we made really good time and arrived early, only to discover the entrance way was trickier than we had anticipated and we would have to round the bottom of the island and come back to it to get in on the Buzzard's Bay side, so decided instead to push on right across Buzzard's Bay, to Newport, Rhode Island.
As we approached Narragansett Bay where Newport is situated, the sun came out and we arrived in the busy, busy harbour of Newport. There are more huge (and I mean HUGE!!) sailing vessels (100' plus) and mega yachts here than we have ever seen before in one place! The whole place is a little overwhelming to be honest, and we have decided to just stay the one night. We do prefer the little villages to the cities....one city always seems to be like the other....so we haven't even left the boat and will make our way to Mystic on the outgoing tide!!!!
After spending more days than we anticipated fog-bound in North East Harbour, we headed out on a cloudy morning with light winds. We sailed through Eggemoggin Reach on our way to Penobscot Bay. This area is absolutely full of possible anchorages and it is somewhat frustrating that we have to sail past so many of them!! The coastline here reminds us both of the west coast, as it is lush and variable in its height. We can see really high hills in the distance which I assume are the bottom of the Adirondacks? Please correct me if I am wrong, as we are somewhat limited in our ability to access information on the boat!! Although the winds were light, they were essentially westerly, so we enjoyed a nice, comfortable motor sail through the reach and out in to west Penobscot Bay. As we neared the village of Camden, we started to see schooners sailing in the Bay! What a sight! Camden has been a ship-building port since before the Civil War, and when we arrived, there were still about 8 schooners plying the waters with tourists, and then docked in the picturesque inner harbour in the evening!
leaving North East Harbour...can you see the lobster pots???
lobstermen hard at work in Eggamoggin Reach
Penobscot Bay
One of many schooners plying the waters of Penobscot Bay
Unfortunately, just as we were seeing Camden on the horizon, we were tacking through some lobster pots, and our first injury of the trip occurred!!! I was pulling in a very loose jib sheet when somehow I managed to jam my thumb in to the self-furling lip on the winch, splitting it open and causing profuse bleeding accompanied by EXCRUTIATING pain!!! I have included a picture of the thumb and the offending winch, but have refrained from exposing the full carnage of the injury, as I fear the more squeamish of my readers would not be able to stand the horror of it! Needless to say I have officially been off dishes duty for the last few days.....working on stretching that one out as long as possible!!! (Point of interest: did you know that when you type, you never use your left thumb??!!)
As luck would have it, Camden is a beautiful little harbour loaded with schooner tall ships and other smaller schooners, surrounded by lovely New England homes and a little shopping centre with lots of good restaurants to choose from. Since I had been freshly injured, we decided to treat ourselves to dinner out our first night....swordfish for George and lobster risotto for me....delish!
The town of Camden is known for their schooner-building history, having built and launched numerous 5 masted schooners and the first 6 masted schooner, so they are a real sailing town. It is also very beautiful, nestled in the Camden Hills, with a waterfall emptying itself in to the top of the harbour, and church steeples peeking through the foliage. I have included some photos for you, but they really don't do the place justice!!
After Camden, we made for Pemaquid Harbour, sneaking in before the expected winds and rain, and anchored nestled in among the lobster pots!!
Neat house in Pemaquid Harbour
Fort in Pemaquid Harbour
The next morning dawned bright and sunny and COLD!! With a strong north wind, we reefed in the main and headed back out to sea. As we were exiting Pemaquid Harbour, we decided to put in a second reef, just to be safe! Sure enough, it was blowing pretty hard outside, but lasted only a couple of hours, gradually dying down as we crossed the Casco Bay until there was hardly any wind as we entered Portland Maine. We tied up at the Portland Yacht Services and wandered in to town, finding a wonderful little place called The Northpoint for dinner.....felt like we had stepped in to a little Parisian Bistro! The next day was spent re-provisioning, and the following day we met Mom and Helen and Rene for lunch and a visit!! Fortunately, the weather was absolutely beautiful the whole time we were in Portland, so it was also good for wandering around the Old Port, having an ice-cream cone at Beales, and finishing off the visit with a walk along the waterfront. It was so nice to see them, and what a happy coincidence that they were visiting Maine at the same time we were!!
The following day we slipped our lines and headed out in to yet another beautiful day, making our way down the coast, past the Goose Rocks Beach where we did a 'sail-past' for Mom, Helen and Rene waving good-bye one last time, and then headed down the coast, ultimately leaving Maine in our wake, sailing right past the 18 coastal miles of New Hampshire where we took on a little hitchhiker who did a wonderful job of catching the flies that had decided to hang around before taking off again, and finally in to Massachusetts, heading 3 miles up the Merrimak River to the town of Newburyport. What a ride that was! The current from the river is about 2 knots, and the ebb tibe is 3-4 knots, so a total of about 5 knots against us, not to mention the waves and rolls at the 'sand bar' entrance to the river! Fortunately George did a great job driving and lined the boat up beautifully with the mooring ball, so I was able to grab it easily, even in the crazy current!!! It did die down at slack tide, and then the flood is not nearly as wild, but it was quite an introduction to the town!
Our original plan was to stay the one night and continue on the next day, as the weather on Sunday was not predicted to be good, however, when we woke on Saturday morning, it looked like there was fog out in the ocean and we were worried that the front had moved faster than anticipated, so we decided to stay and wait it out here. And what a good decision that was! As it turned out, the day was lovely and we went in to the town to discover that it is a lovely place! In 1811 the town suffered a catastrophic fire which destroyed most of the town, so the town council at the time decreed that the new buildings would be made with brick and only be 3 stories high. As a result a good number of the buildings downtown are made of brick from the ballast of old cargo ships!
Newburyport also became the base of operations for the Newburyport Privateers who played an important role in capturing and attacking British vessels during the Revolution and the War of 1812. After the war, many former privateers found it difficult to give up their 'privateering' ways, especially as Newburyport had a custom house where ships from all over the world would come to register their cargo. The newly minted government of the US created a 'revenue cutter' posse that were designed to be fast enough to capture the pirates eluding the government and it's taxes and thereby enforce the new laws. Eventually, the revenue cutter department and the rescue ships of the coastline combined to form what is now the US Coastguard. This union was formed in Newburyport, and last year the town was designated an official Coast Guard City.
We have enjoyed our stay in Newburyport, but must move on. We hope to sail around Cape Anne on Monday, and start making our way to Cape Cod, a journey of about 3 days for us!!
Finally, I must apologize....I have a number of pictures that I had taken for this instalment of the blog, however our computer is not recognizing the new SD card that is presently in my camera....aargh!!! So no pictures of Portland, no pictures of our feathered friend who accompanied us on our trip here, and no pictures of Newburyport!!! So frustrating! I must now find a camera shop and rectify the problem!
After spending 5 foggy days in Shelburne, we finally made good our escape after enjoying a breakfast at the local bistro, sailing in the good company of two Cape Dorys! (Another Alberg-designed boat) The two couples on them were also heading to Maine, so we decided to make the crossing with them, because, as you know, misery loves company!!! Our first day was a nice little sail to La Tour Harbour, where we found a good anchorage in time to enjoy cocktails on Dancer, a Cape Dory 36, and another beautiful Nova Scotia sunset....something we had not seen for a few days!!!
Shelburne lighthouse
anchored in La Tour with two Cape Dorys
The next day we raised our anchors at 0500, just as the fog started to roll back in to the harbour. We made our way out in the company of the fishing vessels, starting their day as well, and then turned right, heading for the infamous Cape Sable, the southwestern-most point of Nova Scotia. We were giving this area a lot of respect, as it is known for its strong currents, high seas, high winds, rocky coastline, and fog. In fact one of our pilot guide books mentioned that it has been compared to the 'other' Cape....Cape Horn! I'm not sure how true that is, as I don't ever plan to do Cape Horn OR Cape of Good Hope, for that matter, but there has certainly been a number of ships lost at this cape. As it turns out, the fog continued our whole trip around the cape and didn't let up until we were just entering the Gulf of Maine, so we didn't see a thing!!! The seas also co-operated and although were somewhat 'lumpy' and had the occasional rip tides, were easily managed by Wyvern III.
As we passed through The Hospital ( a passage north of Seal Island, off the southwest coast of Nova Scotia) and headed in to the Gulf of Maine, the fog lifted....just in time for us to see the big, black squall headed our way!! The winds had been predicted to get to about 20 knots that day, so we put in a first reef in anticipation of the winds building, especially with the ominous sky. No sooner had we done that, but the winds did, indeed build, pushing the seas up with it, and it started to rain. The winds quickly reached 20 knots, so we hove to and put in a second reef, as things didn't look like they were going to get any easier!! Indeed, the wind increased and the waves built to about 3 meters. Fortunately, George is an excellent helmsman, and he was able to find a good point of sail which essentially kept us on our track ( we had about 150 miles to sail, so didn't want to get blown too far off our destination!) with the wind at about 60 degrees off our bow coming from the north, and the waves at about 45 degrees off the bow. It continued to be very rough with the occasional wave breaking over our bow and into our dodger, but Wyvern handled it well and we were fairly well protected by all our cockpit canvas. By the time we had the boat organized, George had gotten soaked from rain and sea, so he went below and I took the helm to give him a break. The system continued for about 3-4 hours in total, and actually broke the repair job that George had done to our wind anemometer back in Kingston, so if it climbed to any more than 25 knots, we were blissfully unaware!!! Finally, about 3:30 in the afternoon, we could see the clouds breaking up on the western horizon and sunshine!!! Slowly the winds died down to about 10-15 knots, the rain stopped, and the seas even calmed down. We shook out the second reef, as there was only the one low predicted for that day, and settled in to enjoy a lovely sunset, (red sky at night, sailor's delight...) some supper, and the star-filled, moonless night. The Cape Dorys had also weathered the storm well, and we were able to watch them as they progressed across the gulf with us.
after the storm!!
At about 10:00pm, the wind and seas picked up again, this time with a slight northwest direction to the wind, making for a pretty rough passage. Once again, the seas picked up to about 3 meters, and the wind felt about 20-25 knots, but the stars stayed out, which was a nice distraction from the waves crashing in to our boat!!! This weather continued until almost day-break, but once the sun was up, we could see the island of Mount Desert, Maine, rising up out of the sea, and the closer we got to land, the calmer the seas became! It was so nice to see the sun, although the wind was cool! Carefully we wound our way through the myriad of lobster pots along the coast of Maine, and eventually made our way to North East Harbour, where we picked up a mooring and waited for customs to come and clear us in to the United States of America!
Mount Desert Island
flag 'quebec', awaiting customs
North East Harbour
Needless to say, we were pretty tired from what turned out to be a fairly physical crossing, but all in all, we had fared fairly well, and good old Wyvern had stood up to probably the roughest weather she has had to contend with so far this trip. We will check all our standing rigging (the wires holding the mast up!) to make sure not too much was shaken loose, but other than the broken anemometer, a nut coming off the staysail boom (screw stayed in, though, and a second didn't come loose at all, so the boom stayed put!!), and finding seaweed wrapped around the bottom of some of the shrouds (!!), Wyvern seems to be as good as ever!!
We have been enjoying our first landfall in the US. A large part of Mount Desert Island is made up of Acadia National Park, so lots of hiking and biking, with a free bus service sponsored by L.L. Bean that we can catch here in North East Harbour and it will take us all over the island! Our second day we went in to Bar Harbour and met Guy and Pika for lunch, as they have caught up to us again, and had a lovely visit. Yesterday I hiked up to Jordan Pond House (a distance of about 6 miles there and back) and really enjoyed being back walking in the woods for a while!!
Today we are fogged in and gale force winds are predicted for tomorrow, so looks like we will be here for a couple of more days, and then we will make our way to Penobscot Bay as we start to head down the coast of Maine, with a plan of getting to New York City, and then re-evaluating from there as to whether we will continue to head south and then to the Bahamas, or head up the Hudson and make our way back to Lake Ontario for the winter. We will see how the weather treats us, how the boat holds up and how WE hold up!!!!
Left Lockeport under cloudy skies, but no fog!! Had a good, strong NW wind to help push us towards Shelburne, however, worked against us when we turned north and made our way up the harbour to the village and the Shelburne Harbour Yacht Club! The wind stayed strong...20-25 knots...but the sun came out as we were tying up, so we had a lovely first day in Shelburne!!
historic streetscape of Lockeport
Lockeport harbour and the White Gull Marina
walking the harbour beach
town founder's home; Johnathon Lockeport
piping plover
seagull catching and eating a crab!! (not the first time we have seen this behaviour!)
Crescent beach at Lockeport
Shelburne is another picturesque and historic village on the southwest coast of Nova Scotia. It is here that a number of loyalists emigrated from the United States in the mid 1700's. A large number of free blacks also came here with a promise from the British government of land, however, the land was poor and not sustainable for farming, so a very large number of the black immigrants left and established the the town of Freetown, South Africa. Before their departure, Shelburne was a very active village and one of the biggest on the shore at the time, rivalling Halifax as the biggest and busiest port in Nova Scotia! Shelburne is well known for it's ship-building industry, making everything from dorys to tall ships here. The waterside streets have all been restored to their original state, so are very enjoyable to walk down! The town is frequently used as a movie location for historic films! I have included a number of pictures so that you can get an idea of the town!
That night after having dinner at the yacht club with the members, we made our way to the Salty Dog to enjoy some live blues played by Manitoba Al and his band! It was great!!! So neat to have good music being played and supported by a small, out-of-the-way community!! We have gotten really good 'vibes' from Shelburne! Yet another community where we wondered if THIS is where we should retire?????? On our walk, we also were invited in to Forbes and Yola Christie's workshop where Forbes makes BEAUTIFUL wooden flutes!! They are both lovely people who have moved here from the States and made their home here. Forbes took us through his whole studio, explaining every step of the flute-making process....clearly a man who loves his work!!! He has also inspired me to get my flute back out and have it cleaned and tuned when I get home! Maybe if I am really good, I can have a wooden flute in the future!! They also came by the boat the next day and we had another visit, and then, finally, they came by with some potatoes from the garden, some fresh-picked blackberries and some home-made hummus....Yola and I had been comparing the joys of home-made hummus and it's many varieties the day before! It will be such a treat, as I cannot make it on the boat without a blender, and it really is so much better than the store-bought stuff!!!
Meanwhile during our stay here, George permanently installed the antenna for our weather system, and we have enjoyed more walks through the village. Some of our favourite are the evening walks in the fog, where it is more wet under the trees than in the open spaces!! The air is so wet, the leaves are just dripping!! Since our arrival, it has essentially been rainy and foggy, with high winds and waves predicted tomorrow.
roughing it in the fog!
As a result of the inclement weather, we have stayed at Shelburne for longer than we anticipated, however, we don't want to 'rush' the next couple of days. We are approaching Cape Sable, which is the most southwestern part of the province, and has been compared to Cape Horn in terms of getting around it and dealing with the wind and waves. At this point, we are still planning on going around the coast and in to the Bay of Fundy, over to Grand Manan, and then finally to the Maine coast. However we will also watch the weather carefully, and if a good two-day forecast comes where we feel we could make the Gulf of Maine crossing to Bar Harbour safely and comfortably, we may do that, as it will get us to Maine faster, therefore allowing us more time to 'gunk-hole' our way down the New England coast!
Meanwhile, here are some photos of the historic village of Shelburne!!!
Old Shipyard, now home of the Shelburne sailing school
the Salty Dog, where we enjoyed our Friday night concert
imagine all the wharves that once projected in to the harbour on this street!
Old store and warehouse of merchant George Cox
Dory building shed, now a museum
this boat states it is for 'Pirates only!' and the rest of us have to 'Keep Off!'
the old office of the Joseph McGill Shipbuilding and Transportation Co.
home of George Gracie, founder of Shelburne's first whaling co., now a bed and breakfast
And finally, because I am enjoying a fast internet here at the yacht club for the first time in ages, so having no problem downloading photos for you, here is about a minute and a half of sailing on the Wyvern III, with wind and without fog, for you to enjoy if you wish!!
