July 23, 2008

The Outliers

We left Camden with a decided turn towards the southwest and Boston to a rendezvous with family at the end of July. The moment is bittersweet as we are working toward leaving Maine, a place we have truly enjoyed cruising while looking forward to family holiday in Boston, yet another city we have never been too.

The weather has been very settled with a nice SW flow generating 5-10 knot winds. While these are all headwinds for us going back down the coast, the upside was the ability to visit some of the more remote islands of Maine. We started with a stop in Muscle pass at Home Harbor, then on to Matinicus, from there Monhegan. Both Matinicus and Monhegan have about 40 year round residents, with Matinicus being the farthest offshore inhabited island in Maine. The islands have developed quite differently though with Matinicus clinging to a fishery economy while Monhegan has embraced tourism.

Matinicus lacks for even a store and although there was a Post Office on our trip to shore we noted it was completely burned down. Other than a provision for moorings in the rather tight and rocky harbor there are very few facilities. Landing by dinghy was against the wharf requiring all to scramble up a 10 foot ladder. We hiked to the south of the island seeing our first sand beach in Maine, which we had all to ourselves even though this was Sunday on the 4th of July weekend.

Monhegan has several more services, though not necessarily for the cruising sailor. They welcome 5-6 tourist boats a day and cater to them with shops and restaurants. Hiking Monhegan took us to an old tug boat wreck along a very rocky coast which Jake had a blast climbing. Both islands were beautiful, remote and rewarding. We were lucky to have settled weather allowing us to anchor at these rather exposed islands and take in all they had to offer.

From Monhegan we worked our way into the Boothbay harbor region and into Sheepscot bay picking our way among offshore and tight inter-island passages to make way in the headwinds. From Sheepscot we took a nice pasting trying to round Cape Small putting Jake over the lee rail green with seasickness. Nikita was found in Sebasco Harbor Resort where 2 days of a salt water swimming pool and lobster feasts allowed the captain to recover credibility with the crew.

With Sebasco we enter Casco bay, the last of Maine’s great sailing regions, which ends in Portland. Weather permitting we will spend the next week exploring Casco before heading for Boston via the Isle of Shoals.

July 12, 2008

Quick Notes on Blog

Just a couple of quick house keeping items. Due to our very sporadic access to the Internet we post when we can, however, we are almost guaranteed to have very slow access when we do have access. As a result we have done a few things; 1) photos are all in links on the right hand side bar - they do require a separate log-in to snapfish but once you have set this up you can easily get in 2) we appreciate all the comments left here on the site, please continue, but note that we usually cannot respond because of slow Internet access.

July 11, 2008

Camden

The week up to and through the 4th of July we departed Isle au Haut eventually reaching Camden by the holiday. We left Isle au Haut on a very foggy morning sailing NNE through the Merchant Island chain up to Eggemoggin reach eventually stopping in Bucks Harbor. Our radar and chart plotter worked well during the trip, though it was unnerving to see a intra-island car ferry turn from a purple smudge on our radar screen into a live moving object only 100 yards off our bow before we could see it.

Bucks Harbor was outstanding, packed to the gills with boats, but very scenic with great services. We pushed on the following day to Isleboro Island, mooring eventually at the Warren Island state park. We spent two days there hiking the trails and having camp fires and cookouts in the evenings, to which the kids very much enjoyed.

Our last stop during the week was Camden, which has a marvelous harbor. Many of the cruise schooners leave from here as well, which adds an even more nautical air. There is a park right at the head of the harbor that held a free concert during the weekend that we all enjoyed. For the 4th, while the fire works were a bit disappointing, we celebrated with a lobster dinner and way too much wine. By the end of the evening the kids had lobster claws doing god knows what with them while mom and dad let chaos reign. We were handed our check without further inquiry as to further dining needs.

We snagged our first and hopefully last lobster pot while sailing in Eggemoggin reach. It was a float and toggle and I mistakenly sailed in between rather than around. The attaching line wrapped our rudder and hung in the bottom most “hinge”. After trying to pull it out resulting in a bent boat pole, I had the pleasure of going in the water and yes the water is still 56 degrees. I warned Rae Ann that the policy is for whoever is at the helm at the time of the snag to go in to correct matters.

What it Takes

I have put together a quick summary of “what it takes” to cruise. Now to be fair this is really a 2 month snapshot and things will change as we gather experience and cruise different locals. I will then update at later points to track how we “evolve”.

Water – This has, and maybe should be expected, become our most delicate resource to manage. We have 120 gallons of storage plus 15 gallons in three jugs. We are using about 15 gallons per day, sometimes a shade less. So we have just under 10 days of usage. Usages are daily drinking, our primary beverage is water, daily dish washing, showers every second day, laundry once per week in a hand crank machine, occasionally rinsing from swimming in the salt water (been too cold in Maine to make this a habit).

Compare that to the average onshore usage of 70 gallons per day/per person and our usage is pretty good. I expect as we get to warmer waters we will use more for the rinsing of salt water but should get some offset from less need for showers.

To get water on board we either go alongside a pier or use the water jugs and ferry back and forth with the dinghy.

We have not started to use our water maker yet, which is a maintenance and longevity issue. We plan on starting to use it once readily available sources of water are not available, e.g. the Bahamas.

Electricity – We have thus far used much less than I expected. In harbor we are using about 50 amps per day, much less than the 150 amps anticipated, though 50 amps of this is as a result of not running the water maker. While underway we use much more, which as I will explain later is a non-issue. The 50 amps is largely refrigeration followed by diesel heating, lights and then radios (vhf in particular for weather reports). With 350 amps of usable battery bank (700 amps total) this gives us 7 days between charging. As we progress to warmer climes the heater will not be used but the refrigeration will run more, probably a direct offset. The energy efficient lights, which include a led powered anchor light are very efficient. The least efficient is our HP lap top, a real power hog.

The Duogen, once past the regulator issues, has worked very well. While underway we use nearly 11 amps to power all of our electronics (instruments, chart plotter, radar, radio and auto pilot). The Duogen in water mode offsets all of this providing for essentially energy neutral sailing.

While at anchor, with 10 knots of wind the Duogen provides about 25 amps during the day. At 15 knots of wind it will net charge our batteries offsetting the 50 amps we are using. We, for obvious reasons, try to anchor in quite places so we tend to get the 25 amps or less, however, the offset is highly appreciated.

Finally, with our high output alternator (rated 120 amps), by motoring in and out of port/anchoring, we put back much of what was used during a reasonable port stay and keep the batteries topped up.

All and all our electricity system seems to be very well balanced if not surplus.

Fuels – We have three types of fuel on the boat, diesel for the boat’s main engine, gasoline for the outboard engine on the dinghy and propane for cooking. While we have not filled the boat yet in the two months I estimate we are using about 1/gallon per hour in our boats main engine. Given the superb sailing characteristics of the boat our engine use is limited to port maneuvering and very light/no wind days. With 120 gallons of storage we go along way. Given the price of fuel, we are pleased.

We have a 5 hp Honda 4 stroke outboard with a 3 gallon tank. We use the dinghy A LOT, as a primary mode of in port transportation ashore, for the kids to play in and to ferry supplies from shore to the big boat. The 3 gallon tank will last about 2 weeks.

Lastly we carry 20 pounds of propane in two 10 pound tanks. We use about 10 pounds per month, at about $10/refill. We cook most meals aboard so usage is relatively high.

Money – Always a delicate subject, because everyone will tell you that you spend what you have. More pragmatically the cost of cruising is dependent upon two big factors 1) where you cruise and 2) personal choices about anchoring verses fee based moorage and eating out verses cooking on the boat. The east coast of the U.S. is expensive from a cruising perspective, especially because during the summer season demand outstrips supply so there are hefty premiums for all boating related activities. There is also an issue in finding anchorage room so one gets forced into paying for moorage quite frequently. We have always preferred anchoring and cooking our own food so those personal choices were obvious. We are getting better at anchoring/finding tucked away spots so hope to bring down moorage costs. So far we have spent a little more than $2,000/ month, which is less than we expected of $3,000/month. This excludes any charge for the payment on the “boat”. Our monthly expenditures are in-line with others’ experience.

Beer – One of best ways to limit water consumption is to drink beer. I have read many cruisers note that one needs to consume at least 2 quarts of water per day. I say consume this in beer and save the water. Counter arguments are that beer is not a replacement for water, to which I say double your beer consumption then. Sadly, Rae Ann has struggled to keep Nikita properly provisioned in this manner. In Camden I found a T-Shirt that read “Out of Beer” – “Life is Crap”. I now wear this in protest.

Last thing you need a boat too.

July 05, 2008

Isle au Haut

After leaving Blue Hill Bay we made our way south to the “Merchant Row” islands, stopping at Camp Island, Stonington and Isle au Haut, where we spent a number of days. There are literally a hundred islands in an area no more than 6 miles by 6 miles, to weave between, anchor behind and explore. While most are privately owned and thus limited in access, the few areas that are public, like Acadia National Park on Isle au Haut are truly magnificent.

We experienced our first “fogger” day(s), defined in Maine (really a term that is used officially by the national weather service) as fog thick enough to reduce visibility to well less than one mile. The worst, “fogget” we have thankfully not yet seen, where one is not able to see the bow of the boat. Cheating heavily using chart plotter and radar, we were able to navigate rather smoothly (knock on wood) , though still unnerving to see a radar blob tract towards you and appear no more than 500 yards away for the first time as an inter-island ferry.

We were able to get some hiking in while on Isle au Haut. Rae Ann was attacked by a 9 inch (length) by 1/16 inch (diameter) green snake. Only quick thinking on my part saved her, although I could not save her leg. Isabelle took her first swimming lesson… after a particularly frustrating dinghy trip of trying to keep both kids in the dinghy, I tied it off to the back of the boat and got up on deck. Both kids elected to stay in the dinghy (life jackets were of course on), which I was more than happy to allow. About 5 minutes later we heard Jake say “oh no Isabelle” I went to the back deck to see her in the water. I fished her out and still get credit from Isabelle for “saving her”.

Blue Hill Bay

We have spent the past week exploring Blue Hill Bay, taking in various anchorages never farther than about 15 miles apart. Blue Hill bay is a bit off the beaten track, but has been perfect with weather a little less than ideal for gunk holing and exploring. We have taken the dinghy up Union River about 6 miles and through the intricate Blue Hill harbor.

The sailing has been very good, using SSE winds of about 10 knots we have been able to close reach and broad reach from anchorage to anchorage. The waters are very deep and relatively speaking problem free. Nice gooey mud for the anchor as well.

The seal population up the bay is rather fantastic, they hang out on the ledges in the afternoon and sun bath. In the mornings and early evenings they will cruise around, particularly if the tide is running and snatch in a few fish. In the Union River we saw about 10 seals, one in a group of 4 cruising together.

It looks like we have high pressure moving into the area towards mid next week, which hopefully will bring a touch warmer temperatures and a little less clouds/rain. We expect to move out of Blue Hill bay and begin exploring the Merchant island “group” down to Isle Au Haut over the next week.

Begging for bad karma now… seems the dinghy has been repaired. The third patch, on which I used 5200 seems to be holding very well. Now on to the SSB which in speaking with Icom seems to have problems working with the tuner. I guess by the end of 2 years everything will be working.