Bryan climbed up the mast to take a photo. I saw a big splash in the otherwise calm ocean, and a little while later I saw a small seal floating by with a bite taken out of it. We learned today that there is a Great White cruising around the bay, unfortunately for a lady […]
The previous night’s tropical storm left us with some cool weather and a fine sailing breeze. From Long Cove we went to North Haven, and snaked through the lobster pots and lobster boats on the Fox Island thoroughfare. We had a beautiful sail to Stonington at 6.5 knots and were heading towards Coombs islands when […]
In the morning I rowed out to the wider bay where we had been previously anchored, to see if any texts had come in about the progress of the hurricane as it moved up the east coast. In the center of the bay I can occasionally get a few seconds fo signal, enough to receive […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
