June 17, 2008

Maine and the Economy

Maine, at least the coastal part we are cruising, has a fair amount of summer vacationers and much independent fishing (mostly for lobster) as the pillars to their economy. The impact first of high fuel prices has pinched the local fishing fleet, and although we have no comparison, those that do say that the actually number of lobster traps in the water is way below normal because of this. While a little early in the summer season, the mooring balls and marinas are sparsely populated suggesting the pinch is being felt for the summer set as well.

Provincetown to Maine

At 12:30 am Thursday morning Rae wakes me to inform me that our radar is indicating an object within 2 nm of us and that she can hear the blow hole of a whale – she wants to know what to do? The wised captain of many a sea voyage, gets up, turns off the radar alert function, advises to not hit the whale and goes back to sleep.

200 nm and 30 hours (our personal longest single sailing leg to date) brought us to Mt. Desert, Maine. Along the way we had 10 separate whale sightings, one seal, one bald eagle and some very beautiful country. Our first trip to Maine, and although we had very high expectations based upon what we had heard and read, those expectations have been far surpassed. The country is very rugged, rather unspoiled and populated by very nice people. We hit a glorious three days of sunshine so we got in some hiking, canoeing and general exploring. Now we get a better taste of Maine weather with some rain and fog for a few days.

We left Provincetown on Wednesday morning arriving Thursday afternoon in Mt. Desert. For the most part we were able to sail, although with the shifting winds we had several sail changes to make it work. The seas were rather calm with the occasional North Atlantic roller lifting under us to remind us we were walking the edge of coastal and ocean sailing. The kids did great, spending the entire day Wednesday whale spotting with us and then taking their normal night time, awaking Thursday morning with not a complaint. Probably repeating past posts but Nikita is a nice sailing boat and that certainly helps keep the crew happy as we roll along with a nice turn of speed and comfortable footing.

We will spend the better part of the next six weeks exploring the Maine cost moving back southwest before meeting my parents in Boston at the end of July.

June 10, 2008

Provincetown

A quick trip into South Dartmouth and some very excellent service by the team there had our Duogen regulation issue resolved. I spent an afternoon sanding and refinishing all of the wood areas burned by the fire, not new looking but in much better shape.
 
After a couple of days we sailed to Onset which is just west of Cape Cod Canal, from there on to Provincetown through the canal. The canal transit was easy and interesting. The sail through cape cod bay was spinnaker weather with flat seas. Provincetown is very interesting, as the first landing spot of the Mayflower, retains much history. There is a considerable fishing fleet in the harbor as well. Weather has been ideal with enough sun to make even the 60 degree water feel warm enough.
 
Rae Ann has adopted the nickname "Cookie" so designated as her current employ has become short order cook for the crew. I have become "Mr. Fixy" as I go from one problem to the next, this week is is a leaky dinghy.
 
Weather permitting we are going to Maine this week which will be about a 30 hour sail.


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June 01, 2008

Nantucket & Fire

From Block Island we sailed onto Cuttyhunk another of our favorite destinations and also the furthers “down east” we have sailed. Cuttyhunk has about 50 year round residents and some more summer residents and as one of the only accessible islands in the Elizabeth chain gets a fair amount of cruising traffic. The following morning we set sail for Martha’s Vineyard, but having caught the currents (by design I might add) which gave us a 2kn boost and taking advantage of following winds and seas we saw 10kn sog, everyone feeling well, we kept on a truckin’ all the way to Nantucket.

Nantucket is a former whaling capital of the U.S. turned now to a summer retreat for wealthy New Englanders. A stunningly beautiful island with a great waterfront, sandy long beaches and only the Atlantic Ocean to sea. Navigating to and fro can be quite challenging as one needs good clear weather to navigate the many shoals in the area. The weather has been fitful alternating between gales and near calms. We have rented bikes to tour the island and go to the Atlantic side beaches. The only disappointing part has been that the former anchorage has been filled in with mooring balls, a recurring theme we find, thus one is stuck paying $40/night for a mooring ball or anchoring in a usually remote, poor holding and shallow part of the basin, which is unattractive in an area of high winds, shifting directions and strong currents, like Nantucket.

Writing the next part I must state that I am still numb, the possible outcomes are almost always catastrophic on a boat due to the amount of flammable material. Why we were so lucky and what it means is still out of reach to me. The first night we were in Nantucket the winds picked up to 20-25 knots. I had deployed the wind generator on arrival and although the regulator was acting a little funny in the early evening, by 11:30pm all seemed find and we were getting a healthy charge from the wind generator. At about 12:30 I smelled the unmistakable smell of burning “something” I was also awakened by the change in sound. I could not hear the wind generator any longer. Rushing up on deck, I took down the wind generator, then flew to the aft cabin, where the kids were sleeping. Rae Ann was awake by now and back there with me. We moved the kids to the forward cabin and opened the port aft bunk finding that the wind generator regulator had completed melted down, burning the wood bulkhead where it was attached. Over the next 24 hours, I cleaned up the mess, cut away the burnt wires and removed what was left of the regulator (very little). Several phone calls later and digging through the debris the cause was identified as the regulator which was rated for 10 amps, while the wind generator is rated to go as high as 25 amps. Speaking with the company that installed the generator and regulator they accepted responsibility, stating they thought that they had installed a 25 amp regulator. The only markings on the regulator were on the back of the equipment which was screwed against the bulkhead, therefore un-accessible unless one took the wiring installation apart. The damage for the moment seems to be burnt wood and electrical wiring, although we still need to test the wind generator but suspect the built in rectifiers saved it. Of all the possible outcomes from a fire on a boat of this nature it is hard to imagine anything better. Of all the possible reasons for a fire, well this makes me want to do physical violence.

We will be making our way Buzzards Bay in the coming week to affect repairs.

Cutting the Lines

Well they are nice dock lines so we just untied them. After much early week hustling to get the remainder of our critical item departure list checked off (no such thing as ever having complete the list), we headed out. We stopped first at Fishers island to stage for tides to make the run to Block Island. We spent the balance of the week in Block, a favorite haunt of ours from sailing vacations past. Neat feel though as one gets a little ocean roll in Block Island Sound on the way across. Very early season so an un-crowded anchorage… for good reason though as the weather remains a little cold. We also enjoyed another grounding, this time on the way into Block Island Great Salt Pond, the channel had clearly filled in from the starboard side, so as we sailed through this narrow cut we felt a slight bump and then back into deep water. By the end of the weekend the coast guard had remarked the channel farther to port as I sure we were not the only ones.

The sailing has been great with winds 15kn or higher and directionally keeps us running downwind to the NE. We have had some bouts of sea sickness, Rae Ann has overcome it by taking Sturgeon and has seen a notable difference. With the kids, they vary between not feeling well and then sitting in the cabin watching a video for 2 hours is very lumpy seas, go figure.

Short & Sweet

A very un-nautical week 3 saw Dave go back to Switzerland and Rae Ann with kids in tow spend a few days with friends. The saga of the water heater continued when it started to randomly leak again on Monday through the same fitting. After some part hunting another repair attempt was made. Given I am writing this two weeks later, this time everything seems to be fine. All and all good to see friends and colleagues and finally get one problem resolved.