To Portland, ME

Today dawned so glorious and calm, we decided to prepare Latitudes to sail again and head for Portland.  It didn't take too long and she was sea worthy again.  The seas were a bit choppy when we hit the Casco Bay,  4-5 ft chop left-over from Irene. Notice how that red nun is being pushed over by the current and how choppy the seas are as they hit the "ledges" (rocks).

 They were soon calmed.  It was a really beautiful sail - looks just like Maine!!!

Once we got to Portland, we met up with friends Marge and Arnie.  Smoke pouts and watches when we leave the boat.  It may be a little hard to see her sweet face in the back stern port, but she's there.

Portland has more restaurants for it's population than any other city in Maine.  We belive it!  We ended up in a wonderful outside seating seafood restaurant.

You get a plastic lobster when you order.  When your food is ready, the little red guy hums, vibrates, and flashes lights.  Really tacky and cool!

After dinner, we returned to our marina only to find that they had closed the place up tight --- no way in.  Well, Smokey was on the boat and so was all our stuff.  Not to be deterred, Arnie found a weak point in the fence.  As he and Marge held it down, Luke clambered over. --- never far from an adventure!

I followed....thank God there aren't many cops around...

Back "home" and ready to head for Portsmouth, NH tomorrow.  Tonight is our last night in Maine this year...poo....

Goodbye, Irene

The wind blew, slowly lowering until around 3 a.m..  We were comfortable enough to leave Latitudes to her alarms. All is well this morning.  We have sunny skys, warm air, and relatiely calm seas.  We are grateful and glad it's over.

Goodnight, Irene

I think we've made it.  It's not over yet and the forecast calls for high winds until midnight.  But here at Latitudes, we see a gradual change in the wind direction and the speed of the gusts.  Things seem to be calming down.  Now, we still have 25+ knot winds, but that's ok!  We will still maintain watches until we are satisfied that everything is ok for the night. The highest gusts we've seen have been at 37 kts, about 43 mph, and there were very few of those.

Smoke did fine, really. She definitely noticed the more frequent boat movement and the howling gusts of wind.  I expect that she also picked up on a little tension from us.  She is a bit more needy - but we like that sometimes...she becomes a lap cat, and helps us keep watch.

So, unless something changes, we'll call it a night for the blog.  Hopefully we'll be able to call it at night here, too, before too late!   Thanks for all of the concerned e-mails - we love you all!

Wind

Just hit 30 knots.  But the rain has stopped for now and that's good.  We expect the winds to get higher and continue through Monday morning (Irene is one biggggg storm).   We continue to be comfortable enough to stay below and do stuff, with a regular cockpit check on instruments, position, anchor, etc.
 So far, so good!

Irene is slowly waltzing our way

Rain all night, heavy fog now, and winds are beginning to pick up and gust a bit, up to 23 knots. We expect 50 knots steady, with guests over 60 knots.  The latest is an arrival of the tropical storm of around 2pm, over by 10.  That's good - it's much more comfortable if you can see what's going on around you instead of depending on the GPS and radar.

Sweet Smoke has no idea what she is in for.  She is adamant about being outside when the engine is running.  We will probably run it fulltime after the storm starts, just as a safety precaution to have some control of Latitudes.  She isn't going to like the wind and rain.  Yes, we have the enclosure but that won't stop tropical force winds from blowing rain under and around it. I'll put a towel out for her to sit on and maybe she'll forgive us in a few days !

I read dad's book.  It is a nice book, kept my interest, and is a wonderful little story.  It's a quick read, only 289 pages.  I will say that I think it is more of a woman's book.  My only problem was that it took the first 50 pages before I stopped hearing my dad's voice as I read his writting! LOL!  

Rain..

Just started -we are in the outer bands of rain now -  maybe this thing will speed up and we can go through it during daylight.  I'd like that a lot better.

Still waiting for Irene

Irene is getting closer and we're waiting, along with 10 or so more sailboats at anchor in the cove with us.  Deciding to be a little more cautious, we decided to take the jib sail completely off the roller forestay, to reduce windage.  Not a hard job, just ...mmm...tedious.  And the sail is heavy.

Just as we got the monster thing laid out on the deck, along come the owners of the big, nice mooring that we had picked up the day before.  Not a problem to leave it, just bad timing.  So now we are at anchor, with a 150 ft length of 5/16 th inch chain and a 66 lb Bruce anchor, safely away from all other boats, and waiting.  When we got up this morning, it was foggy.  I thought it might be associated with the storm, but it lifted early.

However, the clouds associated with Irene began to fill the sky by late afternoon. The continued forecasts all indicate just a tropical storm instead of hurricane force winds here.  We are counting on that!  But still watching.  Rain is supposed to start tomorrow morning.  We'll just be glad when it's over.

Waiting for Irene

It is such a beautiful day.  Sunny, clear, warm.  The cold front passed through yesterday with the rain, leaving the gorgeous weather.  It's hard to believe that in 36 hours the first waves of Irene will be reaching us. The storm should hit around 1 a.m. Monday morning ---why is it always at night!!??

We are determined to enjoy it while we can.  The other anchored cruiser boat came over today and introduced themselves.  In true cruiser fashion, off we went to go exploring with them.  We are anchored in Snow Cove at Snow Island. Snow Island is a small private island, but the owners generously allow hikers on their trails.  Very nice.

As we got back to Patty & Roland's dinghy (actually a Fold-a-boat:  it does fold up!) we realized that there were mussels to be had on the rocks.  Low tide and lots of mussels.  We collected a couple of big bags full.  Here is Patty, gathering.

Back at the boat, we called the red-tide hot-line.  Sigh.  We are in 1 of only 2 areas in Maine that are at risk of red tide (causes paralysis or death....).  So, back into the water went the mussels.  Oh, well, it was fun gathering them.

Those Blue Angels yesterday?  Practicing for today's Mane Air show!  We  couldn't see the low maneuvers like the belly-to-belly passes from Latitudes, but we sure got a good show anyway.

Sun-downers with Patty & Roland, dinner, another check of the weather, and we are settling in for the night.  Even Smokey has finished with her wild evening romps up and down the boat.  Lots of mosquitos out there - she enjoyed jumping for them. 
So far we have convinced outselves that the worst this anchorage will see is  tropical storm conditions. We've done that a couple of times and aren't very worried about it.  Apparently others feel the same way.  The two boats anchored here have grown to 6-8.  We expect  more will drift in tomorrow.  Safety precautions are started - ropes around the jib to keep it from flapping open and tearing, ropes secured, most stuff brought in.  We went to the local marina today and filled up with diesel, gas, and water. If it looks like the storm will be worse, we can go to shore by dinghy (early, not after she starts!) and local friends will pick us up.  It's better to stay on the boat if we can. We'll keep you posted!

Second Post, Same Day...

This is what happens when you sit around in the rain....and have a cute cat.  Don't even bother with this one if you're not a cat person :-)

Remember the tapping-of-the-head game?  Here she is, laying in wait for an unsuspecting head to pass her way.

After a little hands on playing, I threw her a favorite catnip laced toy.  She's posing nicely with it.

THEN.  The fun begins.  She often does this routine - first, you wash the toy vigorously, getting it as wet as possible.

Next, a good face washing, using the now wet toy as a washcloth.

Face freshly scrubbed, now it's time to bite and rabbit-foot the toy.

Worn out from the fun, a good catnip fueled nap is last.

It's raining nicely, supposed to last 12 hours.  Smokey is inside, curled up in one of her nesting places, I'm getting ready to knit, Luke is messing with the computer.  It'll be a lazy afternoon unless the wind picks up.

Maine's Main Artist Island - Monhegan

Monhegan is a jewel of Maine - an island of choice for artists - local, famous, and just happy painters.  It didn't start that way.  When the Indian wars broke out in 1676, over 300 colonists from the mainland fled to the outlying islands.  First to Damariscove (earlier blog) for a few days and then to Monhegan.  We, too, fled to Monhegan, but for different reasons!  It IS beautiful!

Our plan had been to make a run from Rockland to Monhegan.  We left early but only made it as far as Tenents Harbor due to high winds and choppy seas.  But, at 6 a.m. the next day, we set our sails for Monhegan, and sailed all the way there.  It was a glorious day and a perfect day to be there.  The nice harbor master had arranged for us to use (rent) one of the lobstermen's extra moorings.  Good thing - it's a tiny harbor.  And no lobsterman takes kindly to coming back to his mooring after a hard day at sea only to find it taken by a pleasure boat.  Here is a view of the harbor - and town - from the vantage point of the lighthouse.  That tiny strip of water between the islands is all the harbor there is.

The view of shore from Latitudes.

Once in town, we remembered the narrow, unpaved streets that wander past old homes, galleries, and small shops.

Tourists (and there are plenty) come over for the day or week on ferries from the mainland.  First on most agendas is the relataively easy walk to the lighthouse.

Further into the island, through a wooded path, and wow!  THE views from the cliffs.  More tourists....

The view without them...

We opted to sit on the rocks, drink in the views, and have lunch.  Unfortunately, the "street smart" seagulls there are quite accustomed to unprotected food.  One turn of my back and off this fellow flew, with my sandwich bag in tow.  Fortunately, a nice young man chased him down, screaming at the bird, and the rascal dropped the bag.  The seagull let us know he was displeased.

After our successful lunch, we decided to take the hike around part of the coast.  I don't mean the word "hike" lightly.  Yes, I'm on all 4's, climbing these rocks on the trail and yes, that green moss under me is a long ways down. 

But it was worth it.  More beautiful views.  This artist is taking it to the limit.  He's set up his easel on the very edge of the rocks, but it must be worth it.  I personally can't imagine dragging all of my art supplies and easel up those rocks.

We eventually gave up the hike and took the "fairy house" trail back to town.  Trail walkers have built small fairy houses all along the trail, using only natural bits and pieces.  I liked this one.

Back into town, we saw more artists.  I'm not sure what this fellow was painting, but I  can tell you that it was definitely his version of reality.  Bright and colorful, though!

Ant then ---

Can't judge a book by it's cover - by Luke

While getting the dinghy ready to go back to Latitudes for a bit, we were joined by a young man who was politely interested in the boat.  He looked at the numbers on our dinghy, which start with "VA" for Virginia, and said -- "that's a long way to come in a dinghy!" "Ha, Ha - yes it is, but we carried the dinghy on our boat moored out there". He was visiting Monhegan with his wife and child.  He asked some questions, which is not unusual for us when people find out we've sailed from VA. Then he said he also had a boat - a Cape Dory 30 ketch. OK, so that makes him a sailor, and raises his stature a bit relative to an interested landlubber. And then he says "I've also done some crewing on a 56 ft ocean racer". Stature goes up again - this guy probably knows a lot more about sailing than we do. "Yeah, I'm just back from the Fastnet Race". Stature gioes into orbit - this is a 600 mile race along the south coast of England and up to Ireland and back. It invariably runs into severe North Atlantic weather, and related disasters and safety lessons learned.  http://fastnet.rorc.org/  "That's a pretty rough race is my understanding". (Luke trying to appear knowledgeable) "Yes, in fact "Rambler", a 100 ft boat, lost her 15 foot deep keel, capsized immediately, 11crew clambered onto the hull, 5 others floated  in the water for 3 hours, all were saved". His raceboat is owned by "a prince" who sends the crew to safety school and outfits them with all of the best safety equipment available.. Just goes to show you can never, EVER judge a book by it's cover.

And, speaking of small world, you may remember this picture of "Rambler" that we took in Lake Worth on our way south last year.

We had dinner on the boat, but returned for "Jamboree" in the church.  Jamboree is an open talent show for locals and visitors.  There were over 20 performers!  Some were wonderful, others I could have done without.There were the ususal singing guitar players, some very good. There was also a young man who is an absolute virtuoso flautist playing an incredibly difficult and complex piece, and a superlatively capable young woman playing violin works. There were others who had written poetry or songs who provided balance.   But we enjoyed it.  The small old church still has gas lighting. A gentleman carefully lit each lamp by turning on the gas in each and holding a candle into the mantle.

We left before 6 a.m., needing to make it back to the mainland before afternoon winds picked up.  It was a bit breezy.  Smoke - ever becoming more and more of a boat cat - wanted to wander the decks in the wind.  She had to be restrained with her harness and leash.  Not a happy cat, but she resigned herself to watching the water sternward.  Those big ears are turned back, listening to me take her picture and wondering if I'm going to release her.

We are waaay up a creek in Casco Bay now, anchored to wait out winds and rain tonight. We are religiously watching Irene as she heads towards us.  Moorings and slips are long gone, but we are on one waiting list.  If it looks like just tropical storm winds, we'll ride it out on the boat, having done that before several times.  If she's coming in with full fury, we'll desert the boat at her anchorage, have friends pick us up nearby, and hope for the best.  There are at least 5 boats in this anchorage, all waiting.

wow, wow, wow!!!  The Blue Angels are roaring overhead!  Gotta run watch them!

Dad's book is out in paperback!

It's in print now!

http://www.amazon.com/Leahs-Journey-Home-Gil-Ballance/dp/098303575X/ref=tmm_pap_title_0

His book signings start in late September, and yes, he's excited.  So are we!

Castine/Holbrook Island/Camden/Rockland

Our visit to Castine was short, but always nice.  Castine is just a beautiful little town, full of history.  http://www.castine.me.us/pages/AboutPages/history.html will give you all you wanted to know!  The little town of 1300 (includes 700 college students at the Maine Maritime Academy) has over 100 plaques that document what happened where and when. This is one example.

Old buildings from the 1700's line the streets.  We saw one beautiful, waterfront home for sale, built in 1695.  Can you imagine keeping that warm in a Maine winter!  A town square, a block or so away from the docks, boasts a small library, the original school house, church, and this town building, now serving as the home of the historical society.

The church is a simple building, but I really liked her wind vane.

Something else that is special about Castine is her Elm trees.  Apparently many US cities were planted with Elm trees in the 1830s. The Dutch Elm Disease was imported from France in about 1930, and subsequently wiped out most of the Elm trees. Castine has about 300 of the only remaining elm trees in the entire state of ME.  Threatened by the Dutch Elm Disease, these trees are cared for, marked with little silver tags, and an inventory taken each year.  This lucky house has 3 Elm threes. They are truly large and majestic, as can be seen in comparison to this large three story house.

In addition to wandering about Castine, we hiked around Holbrook Island, a land and nature preserve.  The island has been occupied in the past, but the one house is now used for educational programs. A few of the old farm implements remain.

Most of the island is trails through the dense forest

All trails on the island lead to water - of course!

We awoke to fog, again, the next morning.  Apparently the local yacht club was having a regatta, fog or no fog!  Who needs to see where they are going, anyway!

We waited out the fog (so we thought - again, it caught up with us mid trip) and sailed to Camden for a short visit. Camden is the home of many of Maine's schooners in the tourist trade.

And she has one VERY busy harbor!

With enough schooners to make it feel like old times - maybe

We knew the weather would be too bad to stay anchored in the rolley outer edges of this harbor, so we left once again, and went the 8 miles back into the fog to Rockland.  There we got a secure anchorage, snuggled in the SW corner from the SW winds, and slept safely through the 30 knot winds and rain.  When we awoke this morning, the sun was bright, the sky blue, the clouds white, and the waves...well...apparently ok.  Off we left, sailing past Owls Head Lighthouse.  You can see, a picture perfect Maine day!

Our plan had been to sail to Monhegan, the island artist colony about 25 miles southeast of Rockland.  Once we cleared some of the small islands and got into the early sea swells, we knew we had better make different plans.  With 5 foot swells, about 6 seconds apart, and 18 knot winds directly on our bow, it wasn't a hard decision. So, we are back in Tenents Harbor, again safely anchored out of the wind and swells, spending a nice afternoon of whatever.  Smokey's "whatever" included a serious killing of mousie, a long romp with her tail, and now a nap of deep cat sleep.  The weather, as of now, promises a nice sail to Monhegan tomorrow.  We shall try again!

Thanks!

I'm sure I don't know who all of you are, but I'm amazed to say that Latitudes Journey has received over 100 "hits" in the last 48 hours!  Wow! I hope you enjoy reading about our trip as much as I enjoy telling about it.
It's a wonderful adventure for us and we are soooo lucky to be able to experience it!

oh, Maine...

We are in Maine.  Sitting in our anchorage in Holbrook Harbor, just outside Castine, ME http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castine,_Maine  we can see the lights of Castine and the Maine Maritime Academy to our stern.  From our other 3 views, we see the tall, straight, green evergreen trees coming up from large, white boulders of stone, slowly showing more and more of the stones as the 12 foot tide receeds.  On the newly exposed rocks, seals bask, either lying on their tummies with fins and heads upraised or flat, like dead fish. They are settling in for the night.  The fog is slowly, but surely, creeping in from the seaward side of the anchorage.  It's quiet and just beautiful.  This is why we come back to Maine.

Before going on, I want to add this one great panarama picture that Luke did of the fog in Carver Harbor, Vinalhaven.  It really makes the point!

After retreiving our 3 pairs of well dried jeans from the laundry, we filled Latitudes' water tanks and set sail for Castine. Yes, set SAIL for Castine, past the Rockland lighthouse on her long jetty into the harbor.

From there, we sailed across the Penobscot Bay, towards Castine.  On our way, we passed several schooners, all plying their tourist trade out of Camden.  They are all beautiful ships.

Once anchored in the harbor, we found the seals on the nearby rocks, as interested in us as we are in them.

And the tall trees and bare boulders

Especially in the evenings, sweet Smokey has invented the most wonderful of games.  There is a small opening hatch between our cockpit and the narrow "hall" of the boat.  Smoke loves to "hide" in the cockpit and tap us on the heads as we pass her vantage point.  Needless to say, it does exactly what she wants it to do - get our attention and a bit of interactive play and, if she's lucky, a tummy rub through the port. 

We are watching the weather for the next few days.  We may stay here for a day or go to Camden.  Either one is ok with us!