>As the saying goes, if you don’t like the weather, wait an hour.  Actually, we didn’t like the weather yesterday and had to wait about 24 as it was rainy and cold all day, only to finally stop drizzling around dinner time.  But hey, into every day a little rain must fall.  Besides, it washes the salt off of the boat.  

It’s Thursday morning and we are here in Belfast Harbor, at the head of Penobscot Bay.  We came here on Monday evening from Holbrook harbor near Castine after a nice cozy night on one of the nature preserve moorings.   This chart shows our run from the SSCA Gam in Isleboro, up around the top of the island, over to Holbrook Harbor and then to Belfast.  All very close and way up at the head of the bay.   Note that I figured out how to make the route show up better on the chart, in red!

The preserve at Holbrook has great trails and a really terrific dock to get ashore.  The dock is particularly important as the granite rocks drop off to the water rather dramatically.  With all of the rain of late the moss is lush and the forest floor very soft and quiet to walk on.   There is quite a view from the top of the steps on the dock.  Not a lot of boats in the harbor keeping Pandora company.  All and all, a beautiful day.  Not great cell coverage though, even with the booster.

>It’s Sunday morning and we are here in Islesboro in Penobscot Bay Maine.  It’s raining and the day looks like it isn’t going to be one of those crisp clear days that we have been having so many of lately.  Yesterday was great fun as we joined in at the 20 something annual Islesboro Gam for the Seven Seas Cruising Association, a worldwide group of cruisers and liveaboards.  While we have only been members for a few years, we have begun to really enjoy the group and members that we have met.  To spend time with “regular” women who cruise great distances has given Brenda a lot more confidence and helped her see the positives of a life afloat.    There is definitely a different mentality with these folks and what their lifestyle means to them compared with the Yacht Club Set that we have hung out with for so many years.  Both groups are great fun but this group is much more low key and mostly of very modest means.  While many of them have retired early, they live simply because it allows them to spend more time doing what they want to and it seems that they are more focused on accumulating experiences and less on gathering stuff.

That’s not to say that they aren’t voyaging in impressive boats but they still seem like simple folks and are really quite welcoming and unassuming.

This is only the second year that we have joined in at the gam which was held at the summer home of a cruising couple who have been here in Islesboro for many years.  Their home is modest but wonderfully maintained and is set up in a way that they can shut it down, water and electricity OFF, for the long cold Maine winter while they head south to enjoy warm weather cruising.  They drain their water, board up the windows and just lock the door.  The heating system is filled with antifreeze so they can just walk away.   Sounds great as I have been wondering what it would be like to be several thousand miles away when an ice storm hits and the power is out for a week with know one to check on things.  Not a pleasant thought.

On Friday night we participated in a really fun event, a dingy raft-up for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres.  The way that this works, given the need to accommodate crew on the nearly 40 boats in attendance, was to have everyone tie up to the stern of a host boat in a big floating mass, meet, greet and pass their offerings from boat to boat.  Half of the fun is swapping plates of nibbles between bobbing dinks while talking to everyone tied up to you.  What was particularly amusing is that the winds really piped up so this floating cocktail party was bobbing and pitching all the while trying to balance drinks and snacks.  Relaxing isn’t the word that comes to mind, more like great fun.

As we were in the thick of the group, this shot doesn’t begin to show how many boats, nearly 40 in all, were tied together.

In the mix we met some of the most interesting people including a couple who’s home port was Anacortes Washington.  Interested, I asked them if they went through the Panama Canal.  They reply was “not yet”.  Clearly enjoying the questioning, there was a moment while they watched me try to process this answer.  After a generous pregnant pause, they volunteered a bit more information letting me know that they had crossed the Pacific and made their way through the Indian Ocean and the Suez Canal.  After spending several years in the Med they were continuing their journey and had decided to visit Maine and participate in the Gam.  All and all, they had been underway for some 9 years and after Maine would be headed south for winter in the Caribbean prior to finally transiting the Canal, the Panama one.  Hearing that, I asked if they were then going home to Washington only to learn that they still had lots to explore going up the west coast and that it would likely be a long time till they “swallowed the anchor” and moved ashore.  This is just one example of the really interesting folks that we have met through the SSCA and you can see why they are a group that we are enjoying.

Part of the tradition of this Gam is to invite a speaker to give a talk and this year’s was particularly enjoyable.  Their speaker was an author of some 18 books and what a terrific speaker he was.  James Nelson the author of several works of fiction, has also written many historical non-fiction books including his most recent title, George Washington’s Great Gamble:  And the sea battle that won the American Revolution.  I won’t detail his talk here but it’s sufficient to say that he is a very engaging speaker and the book sounds just terrific.

>For many years I have admired the work of Steve and Linda Dashew and the style of narrow slippery sailing craft that they pursued. After reaching a “certain age” they moved from sail to a powerboat and designed a very unique craft Wind Horse.  It is this very attitude of narrow long easily driven hulls that inspired me when I purchased Pandora.  In a day where it seems that it’s more about what’s down below and focused on “how many can it sleep?” to me it’s more about performance and sea keeping ability, not to forget speed.

Having read much about the Dashew’s work over the years, imagine how thrilled I was when we arrived in Camden earlier this week to see Wind Horse anchored in the harbor.   On Thursday morning I dropped by to say hello and had a nice chat with Linda Dashew who was sitting out on deck enjoying the view of the Camden Hills.

Interestingly, Steve keeps a blog and many of his photos from Camden two days ago are similar to the ones that I took.  His blog is well worth looking at.   Here’s his post on Camden.  Funny, he didn’t take a photo of Pandora.  No wait, his post was from the day prior to our arrival.  Yea, that’s the ticket as he would have certainly included Pandora had he seen her.

Wind Horse is known for her long narrow slippery hull.   This boat looks like it is designed to take anything, and it is.  If you check older posts you will see that they were in Arctic waters not long ago.   I guess that they have a good heater.   This boat is just so impressive.  Check out this tour of her.  It really shows what she is made of.   She’s not a lot wider than Pandora and yet nearly twice as long.    This link to their site is a video about a cruise near Greenland that they took.  There are lots of other videos there worth viewing.

You can really see just how narrow she is.  No wonder she knifes through the waves.

Speaking of narrow, this was also the style way back when this Victorian era steam yacht was launched.  So different and yet the same.  What a contrast to see them both anchored together in the same harbor.

And, a sweet clipper bow.  Certainly different than today’s focus on interior accommodations.   However, I’ll bet that she is lovely down below.

Speaking of long and narrow, as that’s the theme of the moment.  Here’s a very modern Aegis Battle Ship from Bath Iron Works here in Maine visiting Rockland for the annual lobster festival.  The color is a lot like Wind Horse and I’ll bet that she’s plenty good in rough seas.  And yes, she sleeps plenty, narrow hull and all.

I posted shots of Bystander last week but can’t resist a few more of her on dock in the inner harbor in Camden.   What a classic she is even though she was built in 2004.  I am told that between her and the
J class sailing yacht Velsheda the combined crew is in the neighborhood of 25.  Running these two boats is like running a corporation.  Actually the combined budgets might be like a small city.  No, make that a large city.  It’s nice to know that even the big guys have technical difficulties and Bystander was visiting because of generator problems.  Parked on the dock beside her was a portable generator half the size of a tractor trailer to supply power to her while they worked on her own power plant. No yellow shore power cord would work here.

I should also show these few shots of our brief visit to Stonington for lunch last weekend.  What a lovely place to visit.

It’s mostly a fishing village but there are some very nice places to have lunch such as this deck on the water where we stopped.  Good food.  We admire this sort of shade treatment and would enjoy having such an arrangement on our deck at home.

It’s Saturday and we are at the the Seven Seas Cruising Association (SSCA) rendezvous and I am very much looking forward to meeting lots of new people sharing the cruising lifestyle and seeing old friends.   I also am hopeful that we will get a tour of Wind Horse as Linda Dashew said that they will be here.  Should be a great weekend.

The sky here is just amazing.  Hard to imagine seeing clouds like this “for real”.  Put these in a painting and they would say that they looked fake.  

>It’s hard to believe that it’s been a month that we have been aboard Pandora here in Maine.   We have had terrific weather, although today’s isn’t anything to write home about (wait, I am writing home about it in this post) with winds out of the NE and building up a nice chop on the harbor’s mile fetch here in Rockland.

Today is Tuesday and it’s another work day with the specter of some decent time off on the horizon later this month.  However, I am very much looking forward to this weekend’s rendezvous of the Seven Seas Cruising Association (SSCA) on Isleboro about 10 miles north of here.  This rendezvous has been hosted by a cruising couple for over 20 years who have a home on the water there.   Their place has a wonderful view and waterfront property that faces the anchorage.

The group, SSCA, has some 2,500 members worldwide and is dedicated to the cruising lifestyle.  The group provides lots of resources including a robust website at www.ssca.org.  For the modest cost of a membership, and you can join at major sailing boatshows, there is a monthly print newsletter with lots of cruising notes, written by members from their travels around the world.  The site also includes links to many other resources worth checking out incuding the 7 seas U, that offers courses on many topics from energy use aboard boats to fitting out a water maker aboard.

On Sunday evening in Rockland Harbor I saw a boat flying an SSCA burgee that three dinks tied up behind hit.  Knowing that it meant a party, I shot over to introduce myself.  It was a great visit and I met three couples that had spent many years cruising with trips to the Caribbean islands, Bahamas and the Med among them. I learned that one feature of the gam would be a talk on “heading South”, something that Brenda and I plan to do in the next few years.  We will have to take that one in.

It will be fun to participate for the second year and now that we know more folks in the group it will be even better.  Last year there were over 50 boats, an impressive turnout.  They also have gams in Annapolis, Florida and even in Tonga in the South Pacific.  Not sure that particular one is in my future.

On another somewhat related front, I was interested to read in the New York Times today, that there is a move by some well off folks, billionaires actually, to build submersibles that will be capable of reaching the very deepest parts of the ocean.  I guess that’s related to sailing as it involves water, even if it’s on the other side of the surface.

While folks that sail do their best to stay on top of the water, these guys will be going under, a long way under  in some very high tech craft.    Check out the article in The Times.

They profile three groups that are pursuing this including Richard Branson, the iconic leader of Virgin Atlantic Airlines and other businesses as well as James Cameron, the director of Titanic and Avitar.

I was particularly intrigued by Branson’s group Virgin Oceanic and their submersible, that looks more like a plane than a sub, will “fly” through the ocean to great depths.  They have an interesting video about the project.  Of particular in interest, is that the “mother ship” for the project is a massive sailing cat.  This guy does have flair and it can’t hurt his businesses to be seen as just so hip.

Another company is Triton Submarines, who boast that they are the only company building subs for yacht based use.  Perhaps there should be one on Pandora.  Perhaps not.  I have had to raise the waterline because of all the crap on board once already.  Not again.   Here’s a fun video about their deep sea project.

Well, enough messing around.  Time to get to work and it’s only a few day to the weekend.  

>I write this we are anchored off of Devil’s Island in Merchant Row near Stonington.   On Friday afternoon we had a rousing sail ahead of a stiff southerly over to Buck’s Harbor at the head of Eggemogin Reach.   The weather was fairly snotty but the wind was from the right direction for a down wind sail so off we went.  The forecast was for rain overnight, which did not disappoint, as a front came through on Friday night.  After an overcast start to the day the winds shifted to the north and the sun came out giving us a nice run down Eggemogin Reach and into Merchant Row under blue skys.

As I paid my bill at the Camden Yacht Club, one of the launch drivers said that Velsheda had come in the night before and dropped anchor off of the harbor.  Velsheda is one of the grand classic J class of racing boats from the 30s, the largest class to ever compete for the America’s Cup.  Velsheda was purchased in the 90s as a bare hull,  was meticulously rebuilt and launched in the late 90s.  She is owned by a European business man and splits her time between Europe, the Caribbean and,  it would seem,  here in New England.     The J class was never a class with many boats and as the largest yachts to compete for the America’s cup, actually raced during the depression.  I guess there were some financial winners, even in those difficult times.  In recent years untold sums have been spent by caring owners to rebuild these yachts to their former glory.  A few have also been built to plans drawn in the early days but never actually constructed.  The class has an active racing circuit and recently came together for a series in Newport.  There are actually more boats of this class sailing today than was the case in the 30s.  Check out the class association site as it has great info on all of the yachts out there including some info on Velsheda who has as one distinction among many, boasting the largest single piece carbon fiber mast in the world.  With 11 yachts total in the class, this has to be one of the most exclusive associations there is as you have to own one of these mega yachts to join.

We went by her on our way out of Camden harbor but she passed too close to get good photos.   Yachts like these really make you wonder how someone amasses the money to own one.

It was rough outside the harbor and even she was rolling as she headed in to calmer waters.

Speaking of having money.  It would seem that this yacht was the “mother ship” for Velsheda who came in and anchored while I was on top of Mt Battie the prior evening.  I could tell that she was related as she flew the J class flag from her mast head.  This yacht is a real classic.  With a major yacht like ByStander, a J class yacht and who knows what else, I can only imagine what his home is like.  Probably more than one home at that.

The yacht is named Bystander and was recently launched for her owner.  This link to a yacht charter site talks a bit about her details and notes that she is a support vessel for her owner’s J class boat.  Amazing display of wealth, however, with a sense of style.  This is a link to an interesting article about Bystander and Velsheda.

Well, back to more pedestrian thoughts and our visit to Buck’s harbor.  The course from Camden to Bucks winds among some beautiful islands in upper Penobscot Bay as this chart shows.

Along the way we passed many islands and one was packed with seals.  There must have been 50 of them on the rocks.  It’s hard to see but the light spots on the rocks are all seals.

As this photo shows, they were really working hard to keep the boat afloat.  They say that the best bilge pump is a terrified crew member with a buck.  That would apply here.  Clearly motivated.

It got a lot lower before they were able to stabilize the situation and it wasn’t until they fully plugged the exhaust that things were under control.

This is every boat owners greatest nightmare, having your boat sink from under you.  Good thing that they weren’t far from shore.  When we finally left the tide was headed out and they were assessing the damage. It doesn’t seem like the owner will be out on the water again any time soon.

While we were in Bucks one of the schooners that take passengers out for trips came in and dropped anchor.  The next morning she headed out under a solid north wind.   It’s really a sight to see one of these schooners weigh anchor and head out under sail.  They have a push boat at the ready in case of problems, but do most of their work under sail.   Looking good.

After leaving Bucks and heading down to Merchant’s Row near Stonington, we passed a number of lovely yacht charters and little sailboats including this friendship sloop with a whole gang aboard.

Well, this post has taken way too long with the weak cell coverage in the area so perhaps that’s enough for now. On with my day as we have to head back to Rockland for better cell coverage and the beginning of the work week.