Kip hiked the groceries to Kelly over two miles, round trip. I stowed the food while he settled his gear into the bunk and spaces allotted to him. We had dinner and chatted, then climbed into our bunks for the night.
About 5:30am, the dawn light woke me so we got ready for an early departure. The forecast was calling for wind and waves to be directly on our nose and that they would build through the day. Our plan was to sail early while things were more calm and beat the rougher afternoon weather to port. We only had about 9 hours at cruising speed to travel, and the plan has worked in the past, so we dropped the mooring and were off.
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| USCG protects Portland-bound cruise ship |
Our departure was noteworthy as we passed a large cruise ship and her accompanying two 50 caliber machine gun Coast Guard escorts as they were entering Portland Harbor. Kip also sighted a seal and commented on the large number of lobster pots. As we gained the open sea, we found the breeze was already 10 knots or more and the waves were consistently 4 feet or more. With these two forces pressing us in the face, Kelly was making about 3 knots velocity made good. Then the wind and waves began to increase which knocked our speed to around 2 – 2.5 knots. At that point, I decided to turn around and return to Portland. If the forecast was correct about the weather getting windier and wavier (is that a word?) directly in our face, then we'd never make our next harbor by nightfall.
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| Tug and barge |
After we turned around and had the wind and waves at our back and quarter, the ride was smoother and we raised our sails and killed the engine. It was a fine day for sailing, just not the direction we needed to sail. Then I noticed that in earlier our bouncing around, we knocked loose another solar panel support, like what happened in the storm sailing out of St. Peters, Nova Scotia. Apparently, I did not fix all the weak points and the last one failed in the rocking seas.
We dodged unforecasted rain as we picked up our mooring, then repaired the loose support. Of course, the repair involved hanging out over the stern of the boat, so if any parts were dropped they'd immediately be lost to Neptune. Thankfully Neptune didn't take anything from us that day.
As the morning wore on, we saw the day unfold with light winds, finally building to about 10 knots in the afternoon. Since it was too late to restart and make our destination, we decided to enjoy a daysail in Portland Harbor, just sailing Kelly IV back and forth with the other weekend sailors and wooden charter boats. It proved to be a wonderful time just relaxing and literally showing Kip the ropes. As a former dinghy sailor, he picked up the nuances of sailing Kelly IV quickly and was tacking smoothly as we dodged the harbor traffic and lobster pots.
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| Lobster boat using a riding sail |
On Sunday morning, we dropped our Portland mooring making our second departure, and this time we really made the trip! It was clear as we exited the harbor, but then the fog rolled in and our view dropped to less than 1/4 mile. For several hours we motored through calm but patchy fog, occasionally seeing a freighter or lobster boats a mile or so away, then entering another patch of fog and passing a buoy by only a couple hundred yards and never seeing it, except on radar.
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| Lobster boat working their port side, most work to starboard |
As noon approached, the fog cleared and the sun ruled the rest of the day. The breeze also gradually filled in, first from the southwest (directly on Kelly's bow), then sliding off to the south. We were able to gain a few tenths of a knot in speed by motorsailing with our mainsail up and we gained a few more tenths of a knot as the wind strengthened and became more southerly.
Kip sighted a fin whale just a hundred feet off our starboard bow and again only 50 feet off our port beam. The thrill was terrific as we smiled and laughed about the very cool experience of seeing the whale up close and personal.
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| Cape Neddick Nubble |
10 miles from our destination, York Harbor, I saw what appeared to be a city skyline many miles away off our starboard bow. A mile later, I realized it was the interesting outline of the Cape Neddick Nubble. This is a small rocky outcrop of an island with a lighthouse and keeper's house, just off Cape Neddick. With the rocks, lighthouse, and keeper's house all scratching distinct lines against the afternoon sky, the outline of their features first appeared to me as a distant city skyline.
As we approached York River, the harbor entrance, we found ourselves sailing amongst several other sailboats enjoying the southwest breeze for a boisterous sail in the 3 – 5 feet waves, including a small laser, just like the ones Kip used to sail.
Monday, September 5 was sunny and beautiful, but the forecast called for southwesterlies up to 20+ knots and waves 3-5 feet all of which would make for an uncomfortable bash motoring south. Instead we relaxed in port, doing some minor boat work, laundry and route planning. Our entertainment for the day was to rig the sailing gear on the Portland Pudgy and we sailed up the York River, with the flood tide until we had to drop the mast at a low bridge.
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| York Harbor, Maine |
Our trip to Rockport, Massachusetts began in the morning as we dropped the mooring and motored out of the harbor on the first of the ebb current. Although the day was a little rainy and gray, the wind was a favorable northerly with the 2 – 4 feet waves rolling us gently on our way.
We passed east of the Isles of Shoals, a group of islands about 6 nautical miles southeast of Portsmouth, NH. The waves crashed ashore only a half mile from us and that was our closest approach to the state of New Hampshire.
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| Isles of Shoals, New Hampshire |
Although the lobster pots were less evident on this leg they were still a nautical hazard to be dealt with so Kip & I took turns as lookout or helmsman, working to avoid them successfully. We also steered clear of a fishing trawler with her outriggers and nets working her gear, but she was much easier to see than the brightly colored, but frequently obscured lobster pots.
We tied up at a 2-boat floating dock, moored just off the wharf in Rockport Harbor, and met our neighbors on the dock. Steve and his daughter had sailed to Rockport from Newburyport the day before against the wind and waves that Kip and I avoided. They said it was a rough, uncomfortable sail.
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| Windeva and Kelly IV at their two-boat mooring |
The rain forecasted for Wednesday convinced us to stay in port, especially as Hurricane Katia is now predicted to turn sharply northeast and far away from us in Massachusetts. This means the weather will improve over the next few days. We are using the engine to recharge the batteries, as the gray, rainy, shorter day is limiting the power from the solar panels. I'll use the power to update the website, as we have good internet access from the boat.
Kelly IV and I have now travelled over 2349 nautical miles from Erie, PA.
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