The boat is loaded, work is under control, and I'm ready to leave. Departure is scheduled for 0630 tomorrow morning. As in recent years, I'll be delivering the boat up to Penobscot Bay where I'll be joined by the rest of my family. This year Heather and Gavin are planning to be aboard for 2 full weeks, and I'm scheduled to return on or about the 17 of August.

I'll see you on the other side with pictures and cruise logs!

July 12 | Maintenance Day

I spent the afternoon of July 12 taking care of some projects that had been hanging over my head. There was little to no wind, but it was a lovely day, so it was perfect for taking care of projects aboard.

First I turned my attention to dealing with a leak in our new Lavac's diaghram pump. I was irritated to find that after getting the whole arrangement installed the stupid pump was leaking. Consulting the owner's manual, I found that it is apparantly a common enough issue to be listed in the troubleshooting section! The solution was to disassemble the entire pump and seal the threaded rod that attached the actuator arm to the diaphram with the dreaded silicone. After the silicone cured, the pump exhibited no leaks.

I then tackled the always unpleasant job of changing the filters and lube oil on the diesel. There's little to report other than the usual swearing and general oily mess. Yuch.

July 8 | approx 21 Nautical Miles

We awoke to steady rain in the morning. NOAA's forecast steadfastly refused to mention the rain we were seeing. Worthless, they. Eventually the rain eased and at about 1030 under heavy overcast we prepared to depart. Outside there was zero wind so we powered down the river and along the inside route past Orrs-Bailey Island.

Along the way it occured to me that I hadn't topped up the diesel tank for a while and we decided to put in at Potts Harbor to fill up the tank. We added 10 gallons to the tank and were soon on our way. As we left the Harbor and headed for Broad Sound we encountered a solid, dense bank of fog. After stalling in the mouth of the harbor while Heather fired up the chartplotter, we continued on our way.

The fog remained dense at times, with visibility of less than 0.15 nautical miles at times. But at other times it scaled back and we could see up to a mile or so. Other times it was incredibly dense right at water level, but looking up you could see the tops of the trees on the nearby islands. Heather kept a lookout on the bow for the whole trip with a fog horn in hand, and we proceded carefully back home. The route was familiar and between the occasional glances of nearby islands combined with our electronics we had an uneventful trip home, arriving back at PYC at about 1530.

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!

June 30 | Maintenance Day

I've got two diverter valves on order from Defender. Even though I placed a Second Day Air order on Thursday, UPS claims they are going to be delivered on Tuesday. That's 4 days by my count...

Meantime I got a bit more work done, adding cleats for the holding tank, and starting on some of the plumbing that isn't dependant on the diverters: the intake loop, and the branch run to the deck pumpout fitting.

June 28 | Maintenance Day

Got a start on the head and holding tank project. Cut open the settee and figured out the fit for the tank. Also did some planning work and made some shopping lists for plumbing parts.

Of course, it was one of the hottest and steamiest days of the year so far. Temps in the mid 90s. I know some of you probably think that's just a nice summer day, but here in Maine it's about as hot as it ever gets.

June 26 | Maintenance Day

With a new Lavac Popular marine head in hand, and a lead on a quality custom-built-for-a-Triton holding tank, I headed out to the boat to take some general measurements for planning purposes. I also knew that I would need to deal with my frozen head discharge seacock before I would be able to pull the old head and install the new.

June 24 | 9.3 Nautical Miles

Headed to the boat with the family, arriving on board at 1200. By 1210 we were underway, powering away from the mooring and hoisting the main. With a blustery west wind, we had a lovely beam reach towards Portland, carrying speeds over 6 knots past the Brothers and towards Mackworth Island.

The wind eased briefly and became quite flukey for about 15 minutes or so before coming back up to a nice 10-12 knots out of the south-southwest. We rode in towards the Fore River, then took a couple of tacks up the Ship Channel before making off and squirting out the Escape Channel between Fort Gorges and Little Diamond Island. We had a nice broad reach to run back home to Falmouth and picked up the mooring at 1435 so that we could take Gavin home for a nap.

July 19 | 5.9 Nautical Miles

I was busy with work for most of the day, but it was just too lovely not to head down to the boat at least for a few minutes. I arrived onboard at 1600, and by 1615 I was underway, sailing off the mooring in about 10 knots of breeze. I had a nice sail out past the north end of Clapboard on a close reach. When I reached Little Chebeague, I tacked and continued close-hauled across the bay to the mouth of the Hussey before easing off first toward The Brothers, and then continuing to ease until I was on a broad reach back into Falmouth. The wind was beginning to lighten, with boat speed dropping first to 4, then 3 knots, and I eventually had to fire up the engine as I neared the anchorage to get back in time to pick up Gavin for the evening.

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!