First stop, South Freeport!

We made it to Maine! Our original plan was to make a few stops along the way, but as we were over two weeks delayed in leaving Boston, we decided to make it a non-stop trip. On Tuesday morning, we checked the forecast one more time, filled and emptied the various tanks on the boat, and cast off. We were expecting to be underway for 24-27 hours.

Right off the bat, our autopilot shit the bed, disengaging every time it would correct course to starboard. So off it came so William could service it. This involved removing the helm from the boat for a few seconds. We are able to lock the rudder in place with or without the helm on, so it was always controlled, but still felt like we were racing the clock like a nascar pit crew. We eventually go it working and it gave us no more issues the rest of the way.

Other than that, there wasn’t too much excitement. The forecast behaved as expected. We were motoring into almost no wind for the majority of the passage. We pulled shifts overnight so we could each get a little sleep; William slept in the cockpit in case Ariel needed anything, and Ariel spent her off time giving the cats the attention they desperately needed. There were about three hours in the middle of the night when we were able to kill the engine and sail along at a pretty good clip.

Vincenzo stayed true to our expectations of him and was terrified the majority of the way. His safe space is up in the bunk in the very front tip of the boat, which is also the most uncomfortable in rolly seas. But he wouldm’t listen when we tried to reason with him, so he stayed put and also got seasick. The lesson learned here is that the v-berth door gets shut and he gets a sliver of Zofran and gabapentin before the next few passages, until he really acclimates. Nothing spectacular to report on Symen other than it appears that he has finally given up on NOT cuddling with Vinny, who is very persistent in that regard.

So we got to South Freeport without much drama. As the sun came up we got to see many seals and a handful of porpoises. On the mooring Vinny was intently watching the ducks that were all around the boat. We let them both roam a bit without harness or life vest, and they are both much more adventurous without. With time that may become the norm but for now we still can’t trust that they won’t jump or fall overboard.

We got to catch up with a couple of friends. Mike at Strout’s Point, who we met last year coming and going from the marina. He shared the story of a spicy trip to Antigua last year, and we reassured Ariel that we were NOT going the same way (they crossed the gulf stream off the coast of North Carolina, we’re using the ICW to traverse that latitude). We also hung out for a bit with Bruno, a captain we first met through our boat broker, then later helped him move his boat from Martha’s Vineyard to South Freeport. He’s a super talented artist and now shirt maker – he is making hooded dress shirts and incorporating his artwork into them in various ways. He brought a few for us to try on for size and we’re excited get our hands on some of our own. We'll post link once his site is up and running. We also got to tap into his knowledge of the local cruising grounds and updated our plans for the next week accordingly.

Overall, we had an amazing first stop. It felt like a bit of a nautical homecoming, as this is the same harbor we kept our boat in last year. There is even a mini version of a boat that looks just like ours on the exact mooring we used last year! We couldn’t stop talking about how peaceful it is here, especially compared to the two weeks we spent in Boston harbor amongst the party barges and ferries. We could stay longer if we weren’t limited on time (really what we’re limited on is good weather). But today we continue north to Monhegan Island, then we’ll spend the rest of our time in Penobscot Bay before we turn it back around.

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