October 4

Met Tim at Yarmouth town landing at 0600. Headed to FTL and rowed out to Dasein. Motored over to Glissando and left Tim. Uneventful motor up the river to Royal River Boat Yard, though I did see one spot read 5.4 feet! In and out of boatyard quickly, then headed over to YTL to wait for Steve Morse. Stripped all the rigging from the mast, then relaxed, chatting with Tim while we waited. Steve showed up early and took Glissando first. Returned a bit after 1400 to pick up Dasein and delivered her to Tim's barn—inside this year!

October 2 | 6.8 Nautical Miles

Slept in late. Awoke to find heavy overcast, but the fog had lifted. Made tea and a bagel then headed home. Had a nice light sail most of the way. Approaching the moorings, though, the wind built. Ran down to the mooring at 5.5 knots under main alone. Picked up mooring under sail. Last sail of the season.

October 1 | 7.0 Nautical Miles

Went out for the season's last cruise—a solo one. Left midafternoon in a nice light breeze. Sailed and motored out toward Jewell Island but found the anchorage there to be full of power boats. Turned back to Cliff Island where I was the only boat in residence. Fog rolled in around 1800 or so: fast and heavy. Stayed up late reading down below. Very cozy. Nice to be out there all alone.

September 27 | 8.4 Nautical Miles

Light wind. Sailed off the mooring and beat up along boats to Princess Point at about 3 knots. Tacked and headed toward Cow Island. Wind slowly built and I cracked off a bit. Snapped a series of pics to compose a 360 degree panorama. Nice close and then beam reach at 6.5 knots out to Lower Basket Ledge. Ran to Upper Basket Ledge then gybed. Nice close hauled course back to moorings in diminishing breeze. Dropped main between Sturdivant Island and Sturdivant ledges and motored back to the mooring.

September 16 | 2.7 Nautical Miles

An odd day. I had planned to take my father out for a sail, but he had to cancel. I went down to the boat anyway where the wind seemed pretty light. I raised the main and beat up toward Clapboard into a rapidly strengthening breeze. As I cleared the lee of Clapboard I felt the full strenght of what had to be 30 knots of wind! I eased off to a beam reach and I still had the rail buried. Yikes! I tweaked my elbow a bit releasing the main sheet, and combined with the really strong wind I decided to just pack it in. I could have reefed, but decided to just bag it instead.

September 14 | 8.2 Nautical Miles

A beautiful, perfect autumn day! You know the ones: clear blue sky, crisp, cool air, and the water sparkling just so...

Left the mooring under sail at 1500. Slipped out between Sturdivant Island and Sturdivant Ledges, then beat up to Chebeague with a nice southerly. Tacked and close reached across the Hussey and halfway up to Portland before reaching off across the flats. Gybed near the Brothers, and had a nice broad reach back to Falmouth. Sailed down to the mooring at about 3 knots under main alone and picked up the mooring under sail at about 1650.

August 29 | 6.1 Nautical Miles

Yup, believe it or not it has been 3 weeks since our last sail. Coming home from our cruise I found quite a bit of work waiting for me plus we had family commitments on the weekends, and quite a bit of wet weather. Puke. I did get out a few times to check on the boat, but no sails. Sigh.

Finally, we had a day that we had cleared out for sailing. Sadly, the weather forecast was pretty discouraging: Strong winds going from NE to SE with a chance of severe weather in the afternoon. Still, we decided to head down and at least scope out the situation. Arrived on board at 1330. There were a ton of boats out, all showing full main, and the wind seemed fresh but not bad„maybe 15 or so„out of the south-southeast. After some debate and wary eyes on the skies, we decided to bop out for just a quick sail.

July 24-August 8 | Total Distance 244.6 Nautical Miles

Penobscot Bay Cruise for 2004.

July 18

Glassy calm and HOT! Picked up chart kit, logbook, and cruising guide to help with planning for our upcoming brief cruise. Also installed a padeye beneath the companionway as a strong point for harness attachment.

July 10-11 | 37 Nautical Miles Over 2 Days

Our first overnight with Gavin. A nice family cruise.