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From RI to Acadia NP ME and back

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ruachwrights
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USA
258 Posts

Initially Posted - 09/29/2015 : 12:38:22

True Captain�s logs are kind of technical. This was an attempt to just document my journey as a basis for a longer book. Pardon the terse language and many sentence fragments. It should still give you a good sense of the journey, however.

Sabbatical Sailing Trip Captain�s Log
Captain�s log: 6-3-15 60 deg. Inland 40-50 on water. Cold E. Wind. Partly cloudy. Owen (My son) and I Sailed from Pleasure Marina in Warwick RI to Cuttyhunk Island MA. Departure 10:15 arrived at 6 pm. Actual sailing occurred from Brenton Reef to entrance of the Sakonnet River. Wind was south in Narragansett and East: wind on nose whole time. Waves were short and choppy at entrance of Buzzards. Rough! Called George the harbor master. No free moorings available so I anchored at NE area of the pond. No one on moorings. Ate burgers and then got ready to go inland. Dinghy engine started but died. Unable to restart despite a half hour of attempts. Played cards and slept like a baby.

Thankful for Owen who was happy and loved the burgers. Also there was a beautiful full moon.

6-4-15 Clear and bright. Temp in mid 60s. Tried to start dinghy engine. Tried to get fuel but no attendant. Left for Kingman in Bourne around 10:30. Terrific sail in South Easterlies at 5-6 kts boat speed. Arrived in Kingman around 3 or 4. Saw Emily the 35 footer we used to sail as a part of Windpath as we returned. Rented expensive mooring. Waited for Claus. Owen had an appetizer. Claus arrived. Owen drove Claus's car home. Claus treated me to dinner. Good to be back where my experience of Ocean sailing began. Not able to sleep well.

Thankful for Owen. Thankful for memories of playing with three year old Brynn on Bassets I nearby. Glad to be on Narragansett Bay where things are a bit more down to earth than snobby MA. Thankful for friendship with Claus.

6-4-15 40-50 in morning. 50 n.m. journey. Clear in morning. Cloudier by afternoon. Motored through canal going over 10 kts. in places. Favorable impact on time line. Coast on Sandwich side dominated by power plant and high sandy cliffs.
Decided we had time to stop at Plymouth. Long, beautiful approach to Plymouth. Very cool to sail past Mayflower! Town dock very user friendly. We re-fueled at dock. We were given a free mooring for an hour where we ate lunch. On way out there were a couple of whale watching tours. Set sails near light house on Island for downwind sail to Scituate. Beautiful beaches near Duxbury. Big broad, rolling swells on approach to S.H.
Scituate Harbor is small. We used Scituate Boat Club dock as guest of Sandy Haze. We cooked steak and corn. Kids were playing on rocks reminding me of my own when they were small. Claus got engine of dingy started and let it run for a while. Couldn't get it started again after stopping engine though. We may need new kill switch lanyard. Slipped on top of companionway steppes and cracked some ribs. Must be careful of my rubber muck boots when wet. We were put on an unoccupied mooring. Frannie McMillan, an old friend of the Sprague�s and owner of Cedar Point is trying to keep us on the down-low because guests are only allowed for one week in harbor. Jenny drove us home. I am tired and sore!

Thankful for friends and only minor injuries. Thankful for the kindness of strangers.

Scituate MA to Harpswell ME

Friday July 10
Got ride from Claus to Scituate. Ate at TKs. Kat, kids and Claus ate while I took launch to boat. Pulled up to TKs dock. After dinner wended way through guests and provisioned vessel. That night family and I stayed on the boat. Lowrance not working. Also no propane. I left the propane switch on which drained battery and ran propane out. Good thing there were no sparks. All slept well.

Saturday July 11
From Scituate to Isle of Shoals NH
Dingy engine trouble in morning. Did get engine started eventually. Got coffee at Lucky Finns. Topped off Gas tanks. We headed due north. After a while electronics started working again. Winds were 3 knots so we motored. Figured we needed to pull into Gloucester to get more fuel as there is no fuel in Isle of Shoals. Decided to cut through Gloucester neck using Blynman Canal. Very crowded but quaint. Two bridges needed to be raised. Made it through canal by two off of Wingaersheek beach. Lost dingy engine trying to avoid motorboat while raising sail. A nun grazed the stern seat mounted engine and tore it off the plate fashioned from 2x4 s. We were very upset. Downwind sail to Isle of Shoals at 3-4 knots. Arrived Gosport Harbor by 8. No moorings available. Anchored in 33� of water. Heard that holding was poor. Set alarm for every two hours. At one point Hajime nearly collided with a hand built row boat as the anchor radius lengthened in the ebbing tide. Brynn was having a waking dream about a boat collision just before I went on deck to witness the boat attempting to puncture our hull.

Grace: Psychic daughters. The beauty of the Shoals.

Sunday July 12. Isle of Shoals to Biddeford Pool. Departed at ten. Visited Star Island. UU conference attendees were friendly. Gave me free ice and coffee. Explored beautiful writing room. We motored for a while close to the Boon Island light. People were shipwrecked on the Island over winter and resorted to cannibalism. Saw a small fin or right whale. It looked to be ten to twelve feet. A few hours later saw sharks or one shark with brownish fins in a feeding frenzy near approach to Biddeford Pool.

We moor in Wood Harbor just outside Biddeford Pool. BPYC is friendly. We get launch service and shower with mooring fee. River loves it. We eat steak grilled on boat and some corn. Owen drives from Wellfleet and picks up family on his Birthday. Love that boy!

Grace: the pleasure of sailing through a wild (animals) sea. The ability to see how a young man like River develops longer term goals and parameters like what kind of place you would like to live in, etc... The sense of accomplishment with a family in making it to your destination.

July 13
Biddeford Pool-Harpswell
Met my Dad, Isaac and Bowman (my very young half-brothers) around 9:30. No wind. Motored up close to Cape Anne approach. On way began to see porpoises and seals. Crossed over area where U-boat said to be sunk. Set course for Jewel�s Island. Dangerous, unmarked shoals on port side approach of Island. Barfing story of great grandfather while deep sea fishing divulged. Came around north side of Island with Cliff Island to port and anchored in Cocktail Cove. Beautiful, clear water though cove is somewhat narrow. Rowed ashore after lobster rolls and took trail to Punchbowl Cove which is a low tide pool and a high tide cove. Nice beach. There are WWII towers, battery and tunnels on the south end but did not feel we had sufficient time to explore. Motored past the Dolphin Marina, around point. Near south of Whaleboat I. put up sails. Gentle Starboard quarter downwind sail past Shelter I., Birch I. and Lookout Point to mooring freshly prepared by my cousin, John Blood. Shared beer and laughter with cousin and his son Henry. Watched antics of Labradoodle dog.

Grace: the power of family and place.

July 20th
Harpswell neck to Damariscove Island. Thick fog and cool in morning. Difficult carrying supplies across mud-flats. Left at 9:00. Visibility 50-100�. Pulled into the Dolphin Marina. Had coffee at restaurant, lunch on the boat. Fog lifted. Passed a gyre of sorts with logs, seaweed and much trash. Impressed with the prominence of Seguin Island and the lighthouse high on top. Passed some seals and a large creature moving through the water at a high rate of speed.

Arrived at Damariscove I. by 6:30 pm. Explored the Island. Roses were in bloom. Raspberries and blueberries were relatively abundant. We were enthralled by the freshwater pond with be birds and mists, also by the long history of the Island found in the museum. A summertime English fishing colony was here in 1601 and the Mayflower had to stop here for supplies. Now there is little evidence of man�s footprint aside from the well constructed granite cellar holes. The free mooring was also nice at the terminus of the harbor.

Grace: the Island was incredibly beautiful. The ultraviolet spectrum of dusk made the roses seem like they were pulsating. Also had a good time with Rev. Jonathan Malone. As I am a UCC pastor we talked theology long into the night. Friendship is also an important aspect of grace.

July 21
Damariscove to Tenants Harbor. Fog in morning. Set off around ten. Fog was very thick. Turned back in, hiked and ate lunch. Many tide pools in west of island. At 1:00 decided to chance it even though fog had not lifted. From one to 7:00 sailed in very thick fog. Around 4:00 seas began to build to 4�. We arrived in harbor and tied up to town dock. We were nearly out of fuel and were exhausted. Even though dock was posted with 30 min. tie up there was no one to check on us. Also no one was monitoring common radio frequencies. We walked to the general store and got supplies and gas. Dinner of steak potatoes and vegetable kabobs was fantastic.

Grace: Life itself and pushing through adversity.

July 22
Tenants Harbor to Stonington via North Haven. Clear and bright. Set off at 7:00, lost engine stuffing after checking oil. Went back into harbor to buy duct tape.� Used duct tape on inside of engine cover as solution. Motored into Bush Chanel. Wind was favorable so we sailed on Starboard tack into North Haven. North Haven seemed to be quite charming if touristy. There did not seem to be a convenient place to tie-up however.

We sailed through the channel along with a beautiful powder blue schooner into Stonington on a downwind sail. Stonington is filled with lobster boats and other work boats. We anchored in the shallower water up against the town. The town is filled with charm and tourist amenities such as a wine shop and coffee house, antique stores and ice cream store.

In the P.M. our anchorage proves to be too shallow. We tie up to the town dock. We get to sleep around 10:30 after having beer at a town cafe. In the night many lobsterman wake us up as they also use the dock we are tied up to. The accents are thick and the working men seem to have fun �razzing� us. "You betchyah!"

Grace: The kindness of strangers and the power of a hunch. Also a true encounter with the �Down East� mind-set.

July 23
Stonington Harbor to Somes Harbor. Clear and bright in morning increasingly cloudy in the afternoon. We motored through many Islands. Gorgeous rocks and pines make these uninhabited Islands seem especially beautiful. We eventually are able to put up our sails for a pleasant downwind reach. We turn corner into Somes Sound and passed South West and North East Harbor. The mountains and the sea are beautiful. We are enticed by Valley Cove to drop anchor and explore near the two hundred foot cliffs and the emerald green water. It is hard to rap my head around the fact that this water is the ocean not a high glacier lake.

We motored into Somes Harbor on the north end of the sound. There is a nice dock and a good place to anchor. A store is a half mile or so down the street to the right. There is also a village to the left although there were no places to shop. We go to the gas station, convenience store and subway to buy gas and charge up our electronics. We walk into the village and chance by a UCC minister named Rev. Victor. He�s working too much, has a cough that cannot be diagnosed and seems like a feels a bit isolated. His eyes brighten at the invitation to a Dark �n Stormy but he has plans with his partner. He gives us a key-lime pie he baked. That evening we are visited by porpoises and a seal. As we cook found dead fish placed in grill by lobsterman in morning. I lose a game of Gin and split a pie.

Grace: The natural beauty of this world, the wider church, and small pranks.

July 24
We take a bus to Bar Harbor. We have pizza. Kat (wife) and Brynn (11 year old daughter) arrive in the evening. It�s good to be re-united.�

Grace: Marriage
July 25�
We have an easy day. We drive around the Island and have lunch around 2 in Bar Harbor. We cook burgers and Hot dogs. Brynn learns how to paddle the dinghy. Kat and I take advantage of her new found learning.

Grace: Being a dad and a husband.

July 26
We drive into South East Harbor. I provision. Brynn, Kat and Jonathan leave. Oar on dingy breaks. I left my Leatherman in the car. I wait for my friend Eliot to arrive. After a while I go to the corner store to write. I run into a group of students from Pakistan. I start conversation they brighten visibly with a salaam malakum. A character of an old man terrorizes the store with half joking threats to sue and antics with an onion. What do ancient judges do when they retire? Now I know. Eliot Harvey an old teaching friend from my Winchendon School days arrives. We eat steak and grilled zucchini. We drink too.

Grace: People of other faiths, the reunification of old friends.

July 27
Somes Sound to Camden. Light wind and fog. We leave in the a.m. and head for the Casco Passage. Fog descends thick. We make our way through with close adherence to the GPS. The mooring at $41.00 is expensive. We paddle to the dock and I have a shower. We have a good dinner of steak.

Grace: Courage and being alert

July 28
Camden to Tenants Harbor. I spend the morning exploring the town. It is very upscale. The yachts tied up to the dock are truly remarkable. I end up in the beautiful library and do research about the town.

Light wind at first but then stronger from the south. We see a larger, square-masted teaching vessel from Canada. Also a three-masted schooner sailing fast. We sail into Tenants Harbor and are greeted by the launch. We pay the 30.00 mooring fee and are close to the dock. I spend time in the yacht club lounge doing a little writing. I meet some interesting people. Most are former sailors. One man from Freeport seemed to know my family as soon as I told him I was Frank Wright. He knew who Wright and Pierce Engineering was. Another guy worked out of Brunswick in the Air Force Command center. Hard to write when the conversation is so interesting.

Grace: The good fortune of family, conversation with strangers, a shared tradition.

July 29
Tenants to Boothbay: Light air in morning. We motor through a very tight island passage near Port Clyde. In the near glassy sea we pass a series of beautiful islands ending with White Island and a high beautiful place just beyond it. We cut in on a nice reach to Booth Bay. We tie up to the town dock after some hassle with trying to tie up to an incorrect dock. Elliot gets off and hitch hikes south to make sure Chris (his wife) doesn�t have to drive too far. I consider mooring but then decide to anchor off of Mill Cove. There does not seem to be any real place to anchor however. I set a stern mushroom to keep me from swinging into other boats. I go to town in search of a gas station. After climbing many hills I find a gas station. Also I go to a Vietnamese restaurant and have an ice coffee. Later I walk into town and have a beer.

At 8:30 I take dingy back to Hajime. She rests. The water is glass. The moon is full. I am full of love for this world peaceful like liquid, calm light.

Grace: the moon, being alone.

July 30th
Boothbay to Harpswell
Conditions: sunny calm, fair. Winds 8kt SE by 2pm. Crew: my uncle, Captain David Wright of the Merchant Marines. Left at 9 a.m. - arrived by 3:30 p.m.
Good voyage with pleasant company. Dave seems in his element. He also likes the French Press Coffee and the afternoon Dark �n Stormy. Put up sail near Cape Small and put away sail near winding channel on approach to the islands. Dave arrests my attention with stories of what it is like to be a sea captain and work your way up to such a position. We moor in Harpswell with enough water to float the dingy to the rocks instead of drag the stuff over the flats.

Grace: finding a shared love of something with family. Seeing your family from the perspective of someone else in the family.

Sun August 16: Harpswell to Wells ME
River and I arrived the day before via a pleasant ride on the Concord Coach Lines. Fair winds S.E. 3-8 kts. Left Harpswell ME at 10:00 with Dad, Isaac and River. Electronics dead until battery begins to charge. We motor to the Dolphin marina and have to wait for fuel dock space. We get some coffee. We cast off the marina and motor past Jewels I. on the outside and move on eventually to Cape May. Wind picks up past five kts so we sail for forty minutes or so on a beat. Wind dissipates so we motor on past Biddeford and on to Kennebunkport, ME. Just for kicks we motor just inside the Presidential Security Zone are not attacked by Navy Seals or stinger missiles. We arrived in Wells via the scary, narrow rock jetty and tie up on the town dock. We had permission to spend the night there for only $15.00. Katie meets us and we have dinner at the nearby restaurant.

Grace: Being able to stick together and share a few laughs even when tired.

Mon. August 17
Wells ME to Annisquam MA.
In a.m. met a man who took me into town and bought me gas. I gave him the 15.00 to give to the harbor master. People here are very friendly. I have a sense that they do not get very many visitors like me.

We leave at 8:00 a.m. and head due south through the Isle of Shoals. At Isle of Shoals we raised sail and sailed a few hours to the mouth of the Annisquam River.
We free dove on the dingy engine in the number 4 nun from Wingaersheek after anchoring. There was 13� of water and the current was swift. No engine. We moved boat and dove on #6 nun out in shallower water and less current. After several of my attempts and then River�s attempts, River found the engine squarely under the nun. He hooked the bungee hooks attached to a line to the engine and I pulled the engine up.
The engine was filled with mud, worms and crabs. I washed it out with several gallons of bottled fresh water and put machine oil in the engine by spraying down the spark plug opening and turning the engine slightly. Good thing there are YouTube videos to teach you how to pickle an engine.

We motored into the Annisquam River and tied up to the Lobster Market and Marina. Fuel dock and marina was closed so I borrowed the hose to do a better job of hosing down the engine. We spent the night on dock for free.

River and I walked around the town and went across the gorgeous pedestrian foot bridge. This part of town is hushed and affluent. The Annisquam Yacht Club who charges a mere $60.00 a night for their moorings shimmers like something from The Great Gatsby.

Grace: The persistence of a dream (to raise the engine). The great skills of a child developing into maturity (River). A marina that has no one around after seven.

Tues. Aug. 18. Fair and calm. Left Annisquam at 6:30. The river was quiet and beautiful in the mirror morning. I noticed a proliferation of houseboats. We radioed the bascule RR bridge and had to wait for an Amtrak to cross. We sailed through the town bridge behind a bigger yacht into Gloucester. We bought more fuel at a place without many facilities. We bought a couple gallons and the moved boat. Everything looks run down as you might imagine a schooner port twenty years after the age of sail.

We tried to dock at the main town dock but there is not enough water. We moved to St Peters Landing in the center of town. It was hard to maneuver through all the boats, but we had a good place to get ourselves situated once we were there.

Ashore I got more fuel and River and I went to a truly Italian cafe. Coffee was expensive but delicious. Gloucester seems to have one foot in the glitzy present with galleries and high end cafes and one foot in the �mom and pop� seventies with dusty shoe stores and small clothing stores for the whole family. We pass a kind of �sanga� but River is weirded out by all the �hippy crap�.

We leave Gloucester around 10:00 a.m. and sail straight out to the horizon. On the other side of the horizon lies Scituate. It takes confidence and a good GPS to hold a straight line. Arrived in Scituate, MA around 4:00 just before the thunderstorms began.

Grace: Beauty, both in its postcard sense and in the sense of seeing a place fading and transitioning into something new.

8/28 Scituate to Cataumet, MA: Fair, light winds and full moon. River and I left Scituate at 3 p.m. We finally met Frannie who has been taking care of us while in port. We talked about the need to make boating affordable and accessible to most people. Regulations in RI are much more friendly to boaters. Not everyone who has a boat is a millionaire! Winds were lighter but there were big swells. Around Plymouth the moon rose and sun set and moon rose at the same time.

We reached the Cape Cod Canal at 8:45 p.m. Came in as current was beginning to slack. By the Bourne Bridge we were already going 9 kts. Railroad bridge closed as I was approaching so I had to turn into the current, gun the engine and wait. It took 15-20 min for the bridge to go up again.

We pulled into Bassets I. after a longer approach than I remembered and negotiating pretty big waves in the darkness. Bassets I. is near Cataumet which is township of Bourne. We set anchor under the glorious moon.

8/29 Cataumet, MA to Middletown, RI. Fair and Breezy.
Pulled up anchor in the a.m. and refueled at Kingman Yacht Club. What a busy hectic mess. We motored to the stand alone Cleveland Ledge Light and set sail. We sailed on Starboard Tack to Mattapoisett and then motored up wind. We sailed again on Starboard tack to New Bedford, motored up to the approach of Cutty Hunk and sailed off to the mouth of Buzzards Bay. Then we sailed on to Horseneck and Sakonnet Point. Waves were rough all day but, as we approached our destination, waves became a solid 5� and one washed over our stern port quarter and down the hatch. Rainbows appeared in an ice cloud.

We arrived at third Beach in Middletown, RI. Tried to set anchor but nearby �yachty� complained that we were too close.� Tried to set anchor closer in but were fouled in seaweed. We �borrowed� an unused private mooring because it was getting dark and we were hungry and grouchy. We cooked ham steak as the moon rose. Called Kat so she could pick up River for his social plans the following day. Got the renovated engine on the dingy started and came into shore. Engine light comes on after about five minutes of use so it looks like I�m going to have to have the impeller checked by a pro.

8/30
Middletown to E. Greenwich, RI. Fair and hot. Light wind.
Swam the 600 yards to shore and back. Singlehanded up the Sakonnet through the gut at Tiverton, under the new bridge, out under the Mt. Hope Bridge. Raised sail and passed Bristol and Prudence and Patience Islands. Pulled down sail and motored into Greenwich Bay. Can�t believe how crowded Narragansett Bay seems. I am overjoyed to be in familiar waters though. It seems like it has been a ling grace filled journey indeed!

Grace: Swimming and sailing alone and a sense of self-reliance tempered by lots of God given care. Seeing old things with new eyes. Safe passages and homecomings.

Rev. Vern Wright
Hajime

97 Catalina 250 TR/ WK
Hull #301
Attleboro, MA

redeye
Master Marine Consultant

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3474 Posts

Response Posted - 01/05/2016 : 11:42:19

That was fun... thank you.

Pictures maybe :) Love that area...

As-salamu alaykum...

Ray in Atlanta, Ga.
"Lee Key" '84 Catalina 25
Standard Rig / Fin Keel

Edited by - redeye on 01/05/2016 12:10:25

zeil
Master Marine Consultant

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Canada
1297 Posts

Response Posted - 01/08/2016 : 16:59:05

Thank you for sharing your cruise

Henk & Johanna
"Floating", a few off your "barnacles".
"Someday Lady" '95 C250WB #151 ('03 - 2016)
"Sea ya" 30ft Bayliner (04-2018 - 09-2018)
"Mariah" '96 C250WB #191 (05-2019 - 15-05-2023)
"Lady J" '00 C250WK #499 (05-2021 - 09-2022)

bigelowp
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1736 Posts

Response Posted - 01/23/2016 : 19:14:52

A favorite part of the world, and your cruise sounded fantastic!

Peter Bigelow
C-25 TR/FK #2092 Limerick
Rowayton, Ct
Port Captain: Rowayton/Norwalk/Darien CT

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