2002 – Maine, the long way around, via Maticicus

A two week cruise to Maine in Jabberwocky, our Freedom 28, along with Paul & Sally Merry in their Luders 33, Aurora. We headed out to Provincetown on the way up, then over to Matinicus.

Burnt Coat, Frenchboro, Northeast Harbor, McGlathery, Long Cove, Damariscove Island.

Overview…
This was our second trip to Maine in as many summers. We might not have gone back so soon, but the camera failed last year, producing many rolls of 1/4 frame images. (Amazing how little real information is captured on the bottom quarter of a picture!) Nan and I will be in Jabberwocky, our Freedom 28. Traveling along with us will be Paul Merry in his Luders 33, Aurora – is two boats a rally? His wife Sally will join us in Maine; she can do without the long days of the passage but loves the island hopping once there.

We’d laid out a float plan with a couple of long days at the beginning and end for the passage up and back. Short first and last days help get rolling and come back down. The two weeks were chosen based on going out and returning through the Cape Cod Canal with the current; we from Onset and Paul from Padanarum. The rest of the trip we seemed to face adverse currents, perhaps this is a bad premise.
ME2002mb
Best quote: “We’re three lucky sailors”
Best sail: Across Mass Bay, heading SW with SE (?) wind..
Wildest sail: Merchants Row to North Haven, 20-25 knots, gusts to 35, 1 reef
Best lobster: Swans Island Fisherman’s Coop
Best shower: Brown’s in North Haven
Worst laundramat: Brown’s in North Haven

Click to see the photo gallery.

Click to see the photo gallery.

The Short Version…

Sunday, July 14
11:15 Onset
4:30 Provincetown, MA 32.5 nm.
gentle SW – sail 2 hours, motor rest
anchored, danforth (Aurura)
steak (Cash Mkt.)
3 blocks ice, 1 bag cube

Monday, July 15
8:15 Provincetown, MA
9:30 Isles of Shoals, NH 98.25 nm.
decent SW – sail 8 hours, motor 5
thunderstorms part before us
mooring, p/u
“beefaroni” (MH)

Tuesday, July 16
10:00 Isles of Shoals
7:15 Jewell I., Casco Bay, ME 148.15 nm.
no wind, then NE – motor all day
anchored, claw (three times) (Jabberwocky)
chili & rice (Nan)

Wednesday, July 17
9:30 Jewell I
8:00 Matinicus I., ME 204.65 nm.
continued light winds – motor 4 hours, sail 4, motor 2.5
add 1 gal diesel reserve; transfer another 2 from Aurora
mooring, p/u
chicken (Nan)

Thursday, July 18
10:30 Matinicus I.
5:30 Swans I., ME 232.92 nm.
light wind – motor 2.5 hours, sail 1.5, motor 3.5
11.8 gal diesel (including reserve), water small tank
drop trash $2 per bag (when room in dumpster)
mooring $20 ea
lobstah! (Swans I. Fishermans’ Coop)
provisioning (Swan’s I. general store, perhaps about to close)
2 blocks ice, 1 bag cubes

Friday, July 19
10:00 Swans I.
3:30 Southwest Harbor, MDI, ME
provisioning (Grindles Store?)
6:30 Northeast Harbor, MDI, ME 251.16 nm.
NE wind (predicted SW) – basically motor
mooring $15 ea
steak (SW market)

Saturday, July 20
12:30 Northeast Harbor
4:30 Frenchboro, Long I., ME 268.09 nm.
showers (4 quarters)
also is a trash dumpster
NE wind – motor 1, sail 3
mooring $15
lasagna (MH)

Sunday, July 21
9:45 Frenchboro
11:30 SW Harbor
raft-up with Todd Dunn on Seaquestor; joined by Paul on Aurora
1 block ice (Hinckley)
drop trash (Hinckley)
2:30 SW Harbor
8:30 McGlatherty I., Merchants Row, ME 304.06 mn.
SW wind – sail with some motor assistance (e.g. Casco Pass)
anchored, danforth (Aurura)
steak (SW)

Monday, July 22
8:30 McGlatherty I.
2:30 Long Cove, Vinalhaven, ME 322.46 nm.
SW wind – 1 reef, sail 2 hours, motor 2
anchored, claw (Jabberwocky)
steak (Merry’s SW)

Tuesday, July 23
12:00 Long Cove
1:00 North Haven, ME 327.90 nm.
up mast to replace forestay
SW wind – motor 1 hour around Crockett Neck
mooring $15 (Brown & Son Boatyard)
showers (Brown’s showers – 2 for $6)
laundry (Brown’s laundramat)
provisioning (Brown’s Market)
no trash allowed (Brown’s)
lasagna (Brown’s Coal Wharf)
1 block ice, 1 twisted D shackle

Wednesday, July 24
9:30 North Haven
1:30 Cods End, Tenants Harbor, ME
SW wind – sail 2 hours, 2 hours
1 block ice
top off diesel (half tank) and fill water
drop off trash
2:00 Cods End
7:00 Damariscove I, ME 372.71 mn.
SW wind – mostly motor 5 ours, some sail
mooring, p/u
lobstah (Cods End)

Thursday, July 25
9:15 Damariscove I.
8:30 Isles of Shoals, ME 437.60
windless – motor 10 hours
mooring/ p/u (moved once)
steak (Brown’s)

Friday, July 26
9:30 Isles of Shoals
9:15 Clarks I., Duxbury, MA 502.13 nm.
SE wind! – motor sail 3 hours, sail 8
anchored, danforth (Aurura)
Mexican Chicken (MH)

Saturday, July 27
10:30 Clarks I.
4:00 Town Pier, Onset, MA 530.33 nm.
SW wind – motor 3, sails 2, then motor
mooring 1191
pizza (Marc Anthony’s)

The Long Version…
ME2002pb

What Worked…

New this year were real sheets and blankets! A definate improvement over sleeping bags. We also have a new CD/MP3 player after the one the original owner had installed finally died last year. This provided some enjoyable evenings of suitable Cape Breton music (Rankins, Natalie MacMaster). Less exciting but worthwhile was the new holding tank which made nights in the forecabin more pleasant. A manual pumpout for the tank made it possible to empty it offshore; pumpouts being quite rare in Maine, compared to Buzzards Bay. The new chart light for the cockpit was never needed, I’m happy to say.

Best new clothing of the year was down vests from the Lands End overstock catalog. These were just the thing for cool afternoons when a sweater would have been too much. As always with Maine in the summer, it’s cool at night and you need long, warm stuff, but like anywhere it’s warm in the sun when it’s shorts and T-shirt time. Some days I’d put on and take off a fleece shirt several times in an afternoon!

As we found last year, the Mountain House camp meals were fine for when fresh food ran out. Again our combination of navigational tooks worked well: a large-scale NOAA chart for the big picture, the ChartKit for closer-in work, the Garmin GPSmap 76 with Waterways&Lights CD detail for planning and positions, the Taft Guide for good local knowledge and the Embassy Guide for phone numbers and harbor mini-charts.