We're back in Massachusetts!

Friday: The wedding activities started off with a lobster bake, which we ended up being fashionable late to, thanks to Vincenzo escaping off his leash and under the cabin for a bit. I (Billy) ended up wearing just as much as I ate, but now I at least know how NOT to eat a lobster. Our AIS continued to transmit ashore, so it was nice to be able to keep an eye on Phoebe swinging on her anchor, this being the first time we’d ever left her alone at anchor.

Saturday: We went for a hike, more like a scramble, along the coastline. The wedding ceremony took place right on the beach in the afternoon and Phoebe photobombed almost every photo. It’s a good thing we left everything tidy on deck before coming ashore - below deck being a totally different situation. The food was absolutely amazing, and there was great music, but the highlight was when the DJ surprised everyone by singing one of his own songs.

Sunday: We needed to move out of Goose Cove. There was a semi-storm coming and we wouldn’t be protected there. We sailed across the bay back into Vinalhaven to anchor for the night in Carver Cove. It was super quiet and calm, and we had a lovely night.

Monday: This was an interesting day. We left Vinalhaven and headed towards Bristol. We weren’t headed there for any reason other than it was an ok distance (42 miles) and there appeared to be some areas to anchor. We go to the cove and were putting around looking for a safe place to anchor, when someone came on the radio to warn us that there are cables and other debris lying on the bottom and wouldn’t recommend anchoring there. He instead recommended we take an empty mooring that we were right next to. We went to it and pulled out the biggest pendant I’ve ever seen. Turns out we grabbed the wrong one - this one belonged to a tugboat that was due back anytime. We moved to the “right” one, but on the way I dropped our boat hook into the water. So another lap around the harbor to grab it with the gaff before we could actually call ourselves settled for the night.

Tuesday: 10/14/26 will be a day that we talk about for a while. The passage was 40 miles across Casco Bay to Richmond Island, about 6 miles south of Portland, to anchor for the night. We ended up in more strong weather, another reminder that this time of year in Northern New England can be both unpredictable and challenging. The autopilot was not up to the challenge of the big following seas, so we hand steered for the duration of the passage. With three reefs in the main and just a sliver of genoa out we still made over 7 knots. The rain pounded us all day and we were soaked to the bone. We eventually arrived at the island and were greeted by calm waters as we entered the little cove it creates in combination with the seawall that connects it to the mainland (it’s not technically an island). The anchor set first try and held snuggly all night. Again I’m happy that I spent the time researching ground tackle and didn’t cut any corners when we made the upgrades.

Wednesday: As we anchored in sand (for the first time vs mud) the anchor came up clean and easy. We were off to Isles of Shoal, a little cluster of islands on the Maine/New Hampshire border. We had a super chill day. The sun came out and helped us dry out all of our gear from the day before. We were the only boat in the harbor when we arrived and picked the mooring ball furthest in the back, which may have been a grave mistake. At around 1 am we woke up to the boat pitching violently. We looked at the weather and a storm that had not been predicted to this magnitude had developed. The little bay we were moored in, 6 miles offshore from Portsmouth, NH was getting 20 mph winds and all the waves that come with it. On top of that, as we were right up against the seawall, we were getting all of the effects of the waves reverberating back at themselves. The boat pitched back and forth to such an extreme that the bow dipped into the water every 4th or 5th wave, making the anchor rattle violently in the chock where it rests. I went out on deck to better secure it and tie a backup line to the mooring pendant - if the primary line failed, this backup line would buy us some time to react. Neither of us could sleep, but there was nothing else we could do for Phoebe. So we made tea and watched a couple episodes of This Old House, and “discussed” whether our next home would be another fixer-upper (we are currently a boat divided). We survived the night and woke up to a calm harbor, everything intact except for our sleep scores. Ariel made us a solid breakfast before we headed to Marblehead.

Thursday: This promised to be a calmer day, and we needed it. We left Isles of Shoals for Marblehead, a 35 mile trip. There was next to no wind, so we motorsailed with the mainsail up to offset a bit of the rolliness that existed from the previous night’s storm. We got really excited when we thought we saw a shark. For shits n’ gigs Ariel asked Gemini what it meant to see a shark on your birthday, and she provided a very inspiring commentary re: having the courage to take on whatever comes your way in the next year, or something similarly inspiring in a broadly applicable kind of way. Turns out it was just a sunfish, which isn’t much more than a floating blob that apparently is a superhost to a wide variety of parasites. We didn’t ask Gemini for an updated take, but we think we need to increase the frequency of onboard showers. We got to Marblehead without any drama, and had a gull escort us in. As I sat on the bow to spot lobster pots (we were heading directly into the glare of the sun and they were completely invisible from the cockpit), Ariel says to me “Oh look there’s a bird about to land behind you!” We had a little gold finch land on our boat the day before, so turned around expecting to see something similarly sized. Instead it was a monster gull. He was totally unfazed as I made a couple trips back and forth from the cockpit, and stayed put for quite a while. We got settled on our mooring and went ashore for dinner and caught the tail and of some live music. All in all a great day. We’re now in Marblehead until at least Sunday, and looking forward to getting some rest before we continue on.

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