July 7 | approx 19 Nautical Miles

Heather was keen to get out for an overnight one last time before the—as Gavin is calling it—"Big, Big Sailing" after she finishes the Bar Exam. So we decided to head out up to the Basin on the New Meadows River where Heather's parents were also spending the night.

We left around 1100 and had a really nice sail most of the way up there, with speeds varying between 3.5 and 5.5 knots. We arrived around 1600 and Heather and Gavin, along with Bear and Jere immediately headed off to Sheep Island in their dinghy to visit with some old family friends while I put the boat away and relaxed. Soon a light but persistant rain began to fall. I put up the awning and spent a couple of hours reading.

Eventually Heather and company returned, and we retired to New Directions for dinner. The rain broke for a while, and we returned to Dasein where we were serenaded throughout the evening by an amusing selection of music from a wedding reception taking place ashore. The bride was even accompanied by a bagpiper as she walked serenely down the hill to the reception!

Our shakedown cruise came to a soggy conclusion as we arrived in Falmouth at the same time as a thunderstorm. But despite that, the shakedown cruise was an unqualified success!

We had made plans for a shakedown cruise to Snow Island with Heather's parents for Father's Day Weekend. Heather's parents had just taken deliver of a Nonsuch 30 that they were boat-sitting for friends for the summer and were looking forward to taking her out for a shakedown of their own.

Dasein and crew are back safe and sound from Cruise 2006!

The cruise was a resounding success. We had great weather for the whole trip, with only two days of rain and zero days of fog out of 18 days on the water!

9.5 Nautical Miles | Portland Yacht Club

There's not much to report from this final day. I slept in til 0730, then enjoyed a lazy breakfast of fried eggs and thick-cut sourdough toast. And, of course, coffee. The weather wasn't great—cold and grey—so I decided to just get ready and head out. By 0815 I was underway, powering in basically still air.

20.0 Nautical Miles | Ash Point Cove (Potts Harbor)

Though I could have easily gotten back to Falmouth today, and part of me wanted to do so, I decided that I should savor the last night of the cruise aboard. I decided that I wanted to get close to home so that I could relax in the morning and then have a short jaunt home so that I could get in at a reasonable hour. My first thought was Cliff Island, but the weather forecast for overnight was calling for northerly winds at 10-15 knots which would be untenable at Cliff.

12.7 Nautical Miles | Harmon Harbor, Sheepscot River

Now that I was practically back in home waters, I felt that I could afford a short day, since I didn't really need to be back to Falmouth until Friday. After tossing some ideas around, I decided to just poke on over to Harmon Harbor. Harmon Harbor is a remarkably peaceful and friendly spot, and its a great place to stop on the way to or from Casco Bay.

21.9 Nautical Miles | Witch Island, Johns Bay

The weather forecast was calling for increasingly strong southwesterlies as the day went on--exactly the direction I would be going in all day. After toying with a few options, I narrowed my choices down to two: Harbor Island or Witch Island, depending on just how strong the wind had gotten when I reached Davis Straits.

31.1 Nautical Miles | Long Cove, Tenant's Harbor

It was time to start working my way back towards Falmouth. Too bad the clouds were clinging to the hillsides, spitting rain. After waking early and seeing the dreary weather, I rolled over and got another hour or more of sleep.

Lay Day | Bucks Harbor

The family portion of the cruise was over and it was time to think about heading back towards Falmouth. I still had six days before I needed to be home, but I didn't want to have to put in too many very long slogs into a southwesterly to get there. But the forecast for the day was for "rain, heavy at times, chance of precipitation: 100%" so I wasn't planning on going anywhere until the next day.