July 10 | 18.1 Nautical Miles

Finally! After more than 2 months with the boat in the water, we managed to get out with the family for an overnight trip.

The Usual Stuff

We arrived at the boat around 1015 on Saturday morning. The forecast was calling for southwest winds becoming north in the afternoon with a chance of showers or thunderstorms. While Heather stowed gear we discussed a destination. Because of the weather I was considering sticking around the local area and maybe just going for a daysail and then dropping the hook over at Chebeague. However after some discussion, we decided to head to Snow Island.

There was still no wind to speak of—maybe 5 knots—so at 1045 we dropped the moring, hoisted the main, and started motoring. We followed our usual route out Chandler's Cove, past Hope Island, and across Broad Sound to the ubiquitous Little Mark Island. Along the way we passed a sailboat race that was being hosted by the yacht club. We noticed, too, that our favorite guy in the world had turned his boat house on Hope Island into a Bush/Cheney billboard. As if the place hasn't become enough of an eyesore.

Gathering Gloom

As we were crossing Broad Sound we noticed some ominous looking clouds building over Brunswick and Harpswell. Just the direction we were heading. We kept a wary eye on the clouds but continued on our way. All the wihile Gavin was standing at the port coaming pointing at everything that he could see, as if to say "What's that? What's that? What about that?"

As we passed Little Mark Island there seemed to be a slight breeze building, so I unfurled the jib and we enjoyed a nice sail for about 15 minutes or so, until we turned downwind at Charity Ledge for the run in along Orrs-Bailey. The wind was still pretty light, and running before it with the slight roll that was following us in quickly killed our headway. With the darkening clouds we decided to try to hot-foot it in before we got hit by a squall.

By this time Gavin was down below taking a nap. We were still enjoying the last bits of sun before we slipped beneath the storm clouds. Heather enjoyed these few moments with her book, but I soon had her scurrying about putting everything below and getting my foulies out, as I was becoming convinc ed that we were shortly going to be getting very wet. I took a moment to snap one last picture of the storm clouds as we passed the cribstone bridge connecting Orrs-Bailey before the rain hit and Heather and Bailey scurried below leaving me to get wet.

As the storm hit we experienced a good strong gust of wind from the southwest along with a sudden deluge of rain. I guessed the gust was about 30 knots or so, and I quickly ran the mainsheet out as the boat surged ahead at 6.8 knots over ground. Presently however, the wind started to ease veer around to the north. This, of course, is the direction we were heading, and so the rain was being driven right into my face. Peachy.

Afternoon Relaxation

The rain lasted for about 45 minutes—just exactly long enough for us to finish the trip to Snow Island. As we were passing Pole Island and I was starting to think about rounding up to drop the main, the raind lightened and stopped. Perfect timing! I dropped and flaked the main, and we headed over to find a spot to anchor. Within a few moments we had chosen a spot and set the anchor in about 15 feet at low not far from the local moorings.

Once we were settled and the rest of the family was relaxing in the cockpit, I spent some time finishing the installation of Gavin's "crib" which really is nothing more than a leecloth arrangement for the starboard settee. Then we tried to get Gavin to go down for a nap, as he had only slept for about 40 minutes all day. This was not to be, however, and eventually we decided to just let him stay up, thinking that that might help him sleep in this new location overnight.

Meanwhile, Bailey and I went ashore on Little Snow Island for a bit of exploration. Plus I figured Bailey might need to—ahem—heed the call of nature. We wandered about for a bit, but they must feed the mosquitos something special on Little Snow... they were HUGE and presently they chased us back to the dinghy. The way they pursued us reminded me a bit of a cartoon skit where the swarm of bugs takes the shape of an arrow or something. We were 3/4 of the way back to the boat and there were still mosquitos tailing us!

Once we shook the pursuing bugs Bailey and I motored around the anchorage for a while checking out the boats in the area. I also took the opportunity to, of course, snap a couple of shots of Dasein floating peacefully in the harbor. Click here for another view. Eventually we returned to the boat.

Early Turn-in

By the time we got back, it was about 1630. Soon, one of our neighbors rowed over and hailed us with the ubiquitous "Is that a Triton?" We had nice chat for a few minutes before he rowed away to visit with some other cruisers.

We played with Gavin in the cockpit for a bit and fed him dinner, but Heather indicated that she thought we ought to turn in at the same time that we put Gavin to bed. This was the first time he had slept on the boat, and we were concerned that too much activity about the boat would hinder his sleeping. So I whipped up a dinner which we enjoyed in the cockpit beneath dramatic cloud formations.

After dinner, I took care of getting Gavin ready for bed while Heather took Bailey ashore for a last trip before bed. Once Gav was ready, we sat up in the cockpit for a few moments to enjoy the sunset. Then we went below for a book and bed. While Heather and I were brushing our teeth, Bailey got it in his head to try to get back out into the cockpit. Unfortunately the screens were in the companion way and Bailey literally bounced off the screens as he tried to leap out, crashing into Heather and landing half on her and half in Gavin's crib. I gently suggested to Bailey that he lay down and behave.

Gav had a little trouble getting to sleep—he was pretty spizzed up after his exciting day on the water—but once he did, he slept well all night long, only waking up once, and quickly settling back down. In fact, he slept better than anyone else. Bailey whimpered for about an hour or so; Heather couldn't sleep; I kept getting kicked by Heather. Sheesh, and we were worried about how Gavin would sleep!

July 11 | 18.9 Nautical Miles

It was a rather long night, especially for Heather, as she slept the most poorly of any of us. But morning eventually came, as it always does.

Morning Routine

Gavin woke up at 0545. Heather got up and fed him, then headed ashore with Bailey so that he could do his duties. Gavin played happily in his crib, allowing me to lounge for another 10 minutes or so. Then I got up as well. I was disappointed to see a solid cloud cover, as the forecast had been for clearing on Sunday. Sigh. I made a cup of coffee, and once Heather returned I prepared some toast for us for breakfast.

I listened to the weather forecast on the VHF which continued to insist that it was going to be a sunny day. Amazingly, they were right. In fact within 10 minutes or so I could see the end of the cloud bank approaching, with clear skies beyond!

Gavin played in the cockpit for a bit, but began to get fussy. As it was still only about 0730, we were a little concerned about the strains of crying baby wafting across the anchorage, and soon decided to just pack it in and get moving. We needed to get home relatively early anyway, as we were going to my parent's for dinner, and needed to go all the way out to Gorham to drop off the dog before returning to Portland for dinner. I was trying to finish up the log from the previous day, but Heather insisted that we drop everything and leave immediately. "Sometimes you have to change your plans" she said. "Yeah, yeah." Grumble, grumble. I was a bit short after the poor sleeping, but soon I was busy getting the boat ready to leave, and I soon felt better.

A Nice Sail

There was already steady breeze blowing from the north, and we had a nice run down past Pole Island. The wind seemed to be pretty strong. I'm guessing close to 20 knots, and we were just screaming downwind wing-and-wing. Exhilerating. Meanwhile, Gavin still wasn't settling down, so Heather took him below and tried to get him to sleep. Bailey, too, seemed tired and went below of his own volition for a nap, leaving me alone on deck to enjoy the day.

We decided to follow the same route home as we had come by. Once I was able to get onto a broad reach instead of a run, then boat was just flying. We had a favorable current, and were making a steady 6.7-6.8 knots over ground.

Presently, Heather came back up to the cockpit, having finally gotten Gavin to sleep. By this time we were again running along Orrs-Bailey, and it seemed that the wind was lightening up a bit. As we continued on toward Charity ledge, the wind seemed to continue to weaken. When we made the ledge and were able to come up for Little Mark Island, we were only making about 3.9 knots.

The trip through the passage by Little Mark was relatively uneventful, although we were fighting a strong current, and I wasn't sure that I would be able to lay the course on one tack. We did manage to just squeek through, though. It looked like our course would just allow us to lay Chebeague Point, some 2 miles distant, on one tack. But we had the strong current rushing out Broad Sound and continually lightening winds.There was also a haze developing. We were making about 2 knots over ground against the current, but we had plenty of time, so we continued sailing. Eventually, however, the wind died completely and we were making negative progress. We were still sailing forward through the water, but we were actually losing ground due to the current. Time of death: 1115.

We fired up the engine and motored down the length of the now oily Broad Sound. The remainder of the trip was uneventful. Gavin woke up near Basket Island, and at about that time the wind started to build out of the southwest, but as we were only about a mile from home we finished the trip under power. We picked up the mooring at 1245 and packed up the boat. Our first overnight with Gavin was a great success.