Our friend the Stephan Taber raised his sails and left to return it’s charter to Harbor, leaving Avocet alone in this part of Long Bay. Bryan rowed the dinghy further to a more secluded harbor to find a few boats and several empty mooring balls. Upon talking to a sailor on one of the boats, […]
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Day 11 Sun Aug 2 Finding safe harbor and boarding 1871 schooner
the Stephen Taber rowing out While Bryan moved the boat from our borrowed tie up and anchored, I joined in on a weekly jam session in front of the sail, steam and power museum. It was hosted by Captain Jim Sharp, a true salt who sang and played charming old tunes and shanties. We bought […]
Day 10 Sat 8/1 Small World
Bryan and I went for a short walk along the road by the harbor where there were vey few cars. Someone in a pickup truck motioned to us, and as we approached Bryan recognized that it was a neighbor, Bill Froehlich, from his little town in Long Island. In our conversation I asked if he […]
Day 9 Fri 7/31 Jam in Rockport ME
Our only contact in central Maine was a luthier, Nicholas Apollonio, who had built an instrument for my friend and my former student Bob Peterson. We sailed into Rockland, docking on a slip graciously loaned to us by fellow musician Gordon Bok, just outside the Steam Power & Sail Museum. Nicholas met us at the […]
Day 8 Thu 7/30 Pleasant Island
We met some sailors the previous evening who told us we could use the Port Clyde ferry mooring for the night, but were politely chased off the following morning as the ferry made her entrance. So, we sailed towards mussel ridge, and ended up dropping anchor at Pleasant Island, a beautiful rocky cove with only […]
Day 7 Wed 7/29 Arrival and Fin Whales
Bryan and I took turns manning the helm for about 4 hour shifts through the night. Fortunately for the one at the helm, there was a moderate wind which meant we could use the jib & mainsail and string up the self-steering, an ingenious apparatus which adjusts for the wind and tiller, requiring only occasional […]
Day 6 Tue 7/28 Humpback Whales
We started sailing from Provincetown across to the central coast of Maine. A few hours out, we were in an area with a natural shelf from the 80 foot seafloor to several hundred feet, called stellwagen bank, and spotted a humpback whale. As we got closer, it’s pouted and then dove underneath the boat, to rise […]
Day 5 Mon 7/27 The Rescue Operation
We were sailing towards Provincetown, Cape Ann, when I spotted a small inflatable boat. When I checked with the binoculars, I noticed there was a motor on the boat, but someone was rowing against choppy waves. I told Bryan to sail in that direction, and saw that it was a lady. I threw her a […]
Day 4 Sun 7/25 Exchange at Sea
Well, we found out why we were the only boat at Kettle Cove. Some west winds picked up, and likewise waves. Bryan tied a second anchor to pull the boat from a straight beam to the waves, so things didn’t fall off shelves, but still the boat swayed and bounced all night, meaning not much […]
Day 3 Sat 7/25 Dolphins
We left on a light breeze, so Bryan put up the spinnaker, or rather a large asymmetrical green “flasher” sail. The early morning fog gave way to sunshine. Heading east at 3 to 4 knots towards Cuttyhunk, we were soon joined by about 100 dolphins who surrounded the boat, passing us on both sides with […]