End of our 2017 Maine adventure

All good things must come to an end - or at least a pause.  Back in Rockland, Latitudes was hauled out of the water at the boatyard.

We began the arduous task of unpacking the boat and backing the car for home.  It's always hard - what do we take, what do we leave, what have we forgotten.  You can see the pillows in a ziploc bag on the sofa.  Taking all precautions against mildew next spring!  Bottles and bottles of antifreeze line the foot of the sofa.  We used over 30 gallons to winterize Latitudes.  That's the tail end of one of the sails peeking out from under the table.

Smokey was her usual helpful cat self.

To help you appreciate the unpacking joy, take a look at the picture of Latitudes on the hard.  We use the 6 part pulley hoist (that we use to lower the dinghy motor) to lower the heaviest bags down initially. Then we haul out the rest of the bags from the interior of the boat and put them in the cockpit, where the yellow cover is over the instruments.  From there, we move them to the outside back of the boat.  Then down the boat steps.  Then down the ladder,  Then into the car.  Endlessly, it seems.

With last spring's mildew problem being still fresh, we did everything possible to cut that down this winter.  Linens, etc, in sealing bags, 4 huge tubs of "damp rid" inside the boat, 3 bottles of lestoil concentrate in bins in the sinks, and 3 jars of VERY expensive gel that is "guaranteed' to keep down mold and mildew" (and highly recommended by friends).  We have asked that larger ventilation vents be cut in the shrink wrap when it is done.  Fingers crossed!

Car packed with bags and an unhappy cat, we left for home, 1000 miles south.  Luke had a great suggestion - to stop in Wiscasset for one last Maine lobster roll.  Red's Eats had a line of at least 30 people, so we stopped across the street for an equally good and not quite as expensive roll, at Spragues.

We stopped at a pet friendly hotel for the night, had a nice dinner at Friendly's, and settled in.  Smokey is never really happy in strange hotels, but this was worse for some reason,  By 4:40 a.m. she began crying, caterwauling, and pacing.  We got a very early start to our final push home....

And we are home!  Smokey is happy, Luke is happy, and I am certainly happy.  Vacation is fun but there is truly no place like home.

Castine and Holbrook Island

Our last port of this season was to the town of Castine, anchoring in the neighboring Holbrook Harbor.

Castine is the home of the Maine Maritime Academy and a beautiful little town.  The Academy has acquired the schooner Bowdoin, the first sailing ship to successfully navigate the dangerous Arctic waters.  She was built in 1921 specifically for that purpose to do exploration and scientific studies of the Arctic.  A wonderful, short article about her is here  https://www.bowdoin.edu/arctic-museum/biographies/bowdoin.shtml
Here is a picture of her in the Arctic

And now.

She is the official ship of Maine and also the training sailboat for the Academy.  It is awesome to stand beside this schooner and know her past!

Castine also has ancient elms.  These magnificent trees were saved from blight in the 1930's and now each is tagged with it's own number.  Many are as old a 150 years! Think of what they've seen...

Back to Holbrook Harbor, we decided to take a walk along the paths on Holbrook Island.  The island was left as a public trust by the last living resident of it.  An old barn starts the walk.

Some paths meander along the shore side.

Others are long and straight - straight through the pine forest!  I don't believe they needed the red blazes on the trees to mark the path; there is no way to wonder about where the trail is!  I have never seen a forest so dense and so lacking in under growth.

We left early the next morning and sailed to Rockland in preparation for having Latitudes pulled for the winter here.  Almost in Rockland, we passed the beautiful schooner Heritage, full sails billowing in the light breeze. We were impressed that for several miles we we were able to sail apace with this much larger and more heavily canvassed ship.

We had some sail work to do, too.  Both the jib and the main had to come down before we are pulled out of the water. Getting 'm down is easy - gravity helps a lot. However, folding them in an organized pleat so they can be rolled up is a lot of work, especially on the relatively limited open deck space that we have. We also needed very light winds to keep the sails under control. Our forecasts had a lull in the wind at noon, and we jumped at the opportunity.

Don't be fooled by that beautiful blue sky.  This morning broke gray, 55 degrees, with the promise of rain and wind in the early afternoon.  Boy, did it come.  The wind is howling, rain is coming in waves, and Latitudes is bouncing and swaying at her anchor.  But she is well anchored.  We check on a regular basis and we are secure.  The forecast is for a change in wind direction and velocity at midnight.  It should be much calmer and tomorrow should be a nice sunny day.  Luke and I are ready for the calm - Smokey couldn't care in the least!