Happy New Year! Yesterday was a good day to be a Lake Travis sailor and a Seahawks fan. Not so great a day if you suffer from cedar fever. But I can take the bad with the good.
We had a really nice sail on Nirvana with Kevin & Edie. Nice winds. A gorgeous sunny January day. Then we made it home in time to watch the late game. My team won and is the number 1 seed in the NFC! 💙💚
We took Nirvana out for a sail in Sunday’s beercan. We didn’t win the race, but I won the latest battle in mending the jib. My latest repair held nicely in 20+ knot winds. 👍🏼
I finally got a couple of days to work on our jib. The sailcloth is in good shape for the most part. Except for the section along the leech that gets beat against the shrouds every tack, and pressed tight against the spreaders when close hauled. It has torn in several places.
After a discussion with the sailmaker at Sailrite I decided to go for a repair that replaced the first 30” or so on the leech end of 3 panels of the sail. Also patched the beat up sunbrella sun cover and made new spreader patches. And replaced a few well worn webbing strips at the head and clew as well.
It took me about 2 full days of my slow but steady mode of work. Also using PTFE thread in my LSZ-1 is a huge pain in the aft, but it’s a necessity for the UV-exposed stitching.
But it’s done and I like how it came out. And I have my living room back. Fingers crossed that it does the trick 🤞🏼
While I was doing this project, Monte was rebuilding and installing our autopilot wheel drive unit. ✅ and ✅
I’m visiting my family in Seattle. I took a break from hugging babies to attend the Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend. The rain cooperated and Noreen, Colleen, and I had a fun day.
Earlier this month, Monte and I checked something off his wish list. We booked a 5-day/4-night cruise on the Lewis R. French. The French is a 2-masted gaff-rigged wooden schooner. Built in 1871 in Christmas Cove, it is the only remaining 19th-century schooner built in Maine. It is a National Historic Landmark, and is the oldest active commercial sailing vessel in the United States. It is part of the extensive Maine Windjammer Association, taking guests on 3-6 day cruise adventures in Penobscot Bay.
The French hosts twenty guests, with a crew of five. The weather was excellent. We had a little bit of everything: sun, sporting wind, fog, light wind, and some shooting stars, thanks to the Perseid meteor shower. Guests are welcome to hoist and lower sails, sound the fog horn, steer, raise anchor, and help row one of the two wooden rowboats to shore and back. The French operates on sail only, but tows a diesel tender behind which is used to push it in and out of harbors and as an auxiliary motor in case there is no wind at all.
Kurt, Kevin, and Edie also came on the trip, which made for even more fun. We arrived one day ahead of time to explore Camden and other towns a bit before boarding our cruise. We stayed at the Lord Camden Inn, and had a great view of the entire harbor from our balcony.
We didn’t have to board the schooner until 5pm, so we had plenty of time to explore. We drove to the top of Mount Battie and took in sweeping views of Penobscot Bay, and Camden Harbor.
We also visited nearby coastal towns of Rockport, Damariscotta, Rockland, and Bath.
Our first night we slept aboard at the dock in Camden. In the morning we set off to the east, ending up anchoring at Burnt Island outside North Haven. We enjoyed a lobster bake ashore on the beach.
The next day we headed north, it was a long day of sailing, sometimes in light wind, sometimes in moderate wind, anchoring in Holbrook Harbor. We rowed ashore for a short walk on one of the islands there before dinner.
In the morning, I was happy to hear that we would sail to the nearby historic town of Castine after breakfast to grab a mooring and then go ashore for a couple of hours. I walked to the lighthouse and back, exploring the museum and the historic fort locations along the way.
After everyone was back on board, we hoisted sails again for a really lovely sail in good winds south to Gilkey’s Harbor at Islesboro.
The next morning we headed out in thick fog southwest back to Camden.
The food aboard was plentiful and delicious. The chef “OB” kept bringing up baked goods, meals, and snacks from the galley below.
Captain (and owner) Becky kept things running smoothly. First mate Alex and her deck hands Jesse and Jenny kept things ship shape and made it all look easy.
After coming ashore again in Camden, we piled into the car headed back to Portland. We bid adieu to Kurt, dropped Edie and Kevin at the airport, and then Monte and I hopped a Casco Bay ferry over to Great Diamond Island to stay with Lori and Mike for a few days in their wonderful vacationland home.
While they no longer have a sailboat, they have a new addition, a 27′ Boston Whaler that is moored at the island. We used it to head over to Peaks Island one night for dinner, and to spend an afternoon taking in a floating concert at Cow Island.
This is my 3rd summer visit to Maine, and each has been very memorable and fun.
I had a big birthday last year, and my sweet sister Fran came down to help me celebrate. <3.
She gave me a book to plan and log travel. I’m working on it! Thanks Fran!
The flooding that hit the Hill Country this month brought terrible destruction and loss of life, especially along the Guadalupe River.
The highland lakes’ series of dams were built to contain floodwaters for the lower Colorado River. They’ve been doing exactly that and now Lake Buchanan is 100% full. Lake Travis has risen to 90% full, up 38 feet in the last two weeks, only 6 feet short of full.
As someone who has spent a good part of the last 20 years on the lake that has experienced too many droughts, this brings me joy in the midst of the sadness from all the loss.
Today we went out to the lake to take it in. And it’s a beautiful thing. The docks are close to parking lot level now, which is certainly a treat. Next week the marina will move all the individual docks back to their respective locations.
We went for a long sail on Nirvana with Kurt, Kevin, Gordon, and Scott. The wind was up and we had a really great day.
It’s nice to have our lake back, for however long it lasts.
We have acquired about 3 dozen Tervis brand drinking glasses over the years. They’re not fancy, but they keep cold drinks cold, and hot drinks hot. They’re supposed to be indestructible, but over time we’ve had several crack open, some get little spider cracks that let moisture in where it’s not supposed to be, the artwork in some has become loose, and we’ve found that the newer ones often get cloudy.
Tervis has a lifetime warranty, so when we have 5 or 6 that need repair, I send them in. I sent the last batch in 5 months ago. But they just arrived bac in the mail. I was a little nervous because MY first and favorite tervis was in this batch – I’m always the sand dollar 🙂 And a couple were ones that we bought in the Bahamas and the BVI, hard to replace. Another was one of Monte’s first tervis. And, my lucky Seahawks Tervis!
They were able to reclaim the artwork from each of the broken ones and put them in brand new, crystal clear glasses.
Christmas in November! Thanks Tervis.
What the old ones looked like when I sent them in:
Monte and I just got home from visiting Lori & Mike and their new home in Maine. It is on an island a few miles offshore from Portland, Maine. Like all the other homes in the private community at Diamond Cove, theirs is a thoroughly modern restoration of a historic building from the former Fort McKinley Army Base. Fort McKinley began operating in the late 1800s, is now privately owned, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The island is amazing; beautiful, historic, full of woods, bike paths, beaches, and wildlife. How lucky they are to have found it.
We rode the ferry many times – walked and biked on several islands in Casco Bay – sampled brews and seafood in Portland and nearby towns – toured the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath, Maine – played a little cornhole – found a geocache – found an insane amount of sea glass at the beach – spied several shooting stars from the Perseid meteor shower – took a historic tour of the island – boarded a sunset cruise on a schooner in Casco bay – visited Portland Head Light. Monte and Mike even found time to complete a project in the well-equipped community woodshop on the island.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. Laura also planned a visit at the same time between trips to visit her family and it was really great to spend some time with her, too.
This time, I’m sewing a different kind of sail. Ann is becoming a grandma soon, and Shelly is coordinating a crowd-sourced baby quilt for her future grandson. She’s handing out a couple dozen quilt squares to decorate.
Here’s mine. ⛵️💙 🚼 🙃
I can’t wait to see the finished quilt.
As Monte likes to say, every time we go to the boat to cross something off the todo list, we add 2 more things to the list.
On Monday we went to the marina to install 3 new halyards and new jib sheets on Nirvana. When we lowered the jib to change the halyard, I found a 2’ long tear along the edge of the sunbrella cover. So we rolled it up and brought it home.
No more over-sheeting the jib against the spreaders, please. It’s not the America’s Cup…
Yesterday I laid it out and mended it; should be good for a while. I ripped off the sunbrella cover, sandwiched the tear between 2 layers of new adhesive-backed 6 oz dacron, sewed it down several times, and then sewed the sunbrella back down.
One step forward…
Monte and I are both truly sad to hear that Jimmy Buffet died last night. Like millions of other people, we spent time talking this morning about the times we saw him live in concert, when, where, and what great shows they were.
We went to the boat this morning to do a few chores. Afterward, we walked up the hill to the marina’s restaurant and ordered cheeseburgers and margaritas to toast his passing.
After being hounded mercilessly by SiriusXM for a few months by email, text, and phone to renew our trial subscriptions from the new cars, which have both expired, I reactivated it today just to listen to Radio Margaritaville.
🍔🍹🌅⛵️🏴☠️
RIP Jimmy. Thanks for all the music.
At the end of July, I flew up to Portland, Maine, to join Lori, Mike, and Louie aboard S/V Trident. They have been on board together since June, making their way from the Chesapeake up to Maine. I joined them for the two-week cruise along the coast and islands of beautiful Maine, ending up with a visit to Acadia National Park (’cause, you know, goals).
Friday & Saturday – Austin to Portland to Boothbay Harbor
I flew into the Portland airport. After several unsuccessful tries, I finally found an UBER driver that agreed to take me the 90-minute drive to Boothbay Harbor. Mohammed was at first reluctant but finally agreed to drive me, and we had a great talk along the way.
The first night in Boothbay, we dinghied to the Lobsterman’s Wharf for the first of many lobster dinners I indulged in during my stay. In the morning we taxied to and from the grocery for provisions, loaded everything up, ready to head out the next day.
Sunday – Boothbay Harbor to Monhegan Island
We sailed to Monhegan Island. Its beautiful, sheltered harbor has only a few visitor mooring balls, available on a first-come-first-serve basis. We snagged one and enjoyed a great hike up each of the two hills – one led to the Monhegan Lighthouse, and the other to the Monhegan Brewing Company. I logged a geocache along the way, earning my Maine badge! 🙂 (’cause, you know, goals…) I even found a few pieces of sea glass where we beached the dinghy.
Monday – Monhegan Island to Matinicus Rock to Camden
Lori & Mike raised the dinghy and we dropped the mooring line early the next morning. Lori graciously added a long side trip out east to visit the remote Matinicus Rock, home to the largest colony of Atlantic Puffins in Maine, and Razorbills and Arctic Terns as well. We didn’t stay long, but I thoroughly enjoyed seeing these rare birds. Mike saw a shark, we think it was a blue shark, along the way.
After seeing the Puffins, we headed back to the northwest to the vibrant harbor of Camden and grabbed a mooring ball before sunset, for two nights.
Tuesday & Wednesday – Camden to Rockport to Isle au Haut
Camden Harbor has hundreds of moorings. We explored both sides of the harbor, checking out their wine bars, and bakeries. On our second day there we went ashore for a short walk, and ended up walking the 2 miles or so to neighboring Rockport. Along the way we stopped in to the Camden-Rockport Historical Museum. We grabbed a taxi back to Camden in time to clean up for a nice dinner ashore. The next morning we left Camden, and headed to the southernmost portion of Acadia National Park, an island called Isle au Haut. We anchored there for one night. We took a long dinghy ride to their town dock, and walked down the road to the Acadia National Park Ranger Station for our first official park visit. We visited the lovely Shore Shop Gifts store and bought some ditties, and then picked out 3 big lobsters from the local lobsterman to boil on the boat for dinner.
Thursday – Isle au Haut to Seal Cove to Burnt Island
Bad weather was in the forecast for the next few nights, so we all took one last dinghy ride to shore for a morning walk along the rocky beach and then we said goodbye to Isle au Haut and made our way to a sheltered anchorage. Along the way, we stopped and anchored in Seal Cove for lunch, a beautiful undeveloped place, but we didn’t spy any seals. After lunch, we headed to and anchored off of Burnt Island (near North Haven) for two nights. We were the only boat there, so we had the entire island, its trails and coastline, and a pair of osprey and bald eagle nests, to ourselves. We explored the island at the end of the first day, and spent a rainy second day aboard the boat, doing boat chores.
Friday & Saturday – Burnt Island to Southwest Harbor
After the storm passed, we moved farther up the coast, to Southwest Harbor, one of several harbors on the biggest island in Acadia National Park, Mount Desert Island. After we grabbed a mooring ball for the night, we headed to shore for dinner. We ended up at Beal’s Lobster Pier for my third lobster of the trip!
Sunday – Southwest Harbor to Somesville
The next morning, we moved on, exploring the Somes Sound, which cuts up the middle of Mount Desert Island. Somes Sound was formed by glaciers many years ago and the sea filled it in when the glaciers melted. It is a rare US coastal fjard, which is like a fjord, but not as deep or mineral-rich as those found in Scandinavia. Regardless, it was beautiful, and we made our way up to the top of the sound to anchor overnight outside of Somesville.
It was a peaceful, beautiful spot. We got there early in the day, and we took the opportunity to go ashore and hop on the Island Explorer free Acadia Park Shuttle for a ride into Bar Harbor for some more provisions. The bus is a fantastic way to explore the entire park. It’s a well-run outfit with 11 different routes that you can take to visit different spots in the park.
Monday – Somesville to Northwest Harbor
The next day we headed back down Somes Sound, this time going into a slip at a marina, as there were some strong storms expected for the next few nights. Lori and I explored the downtown area, and for dinner we all walked over to the Nor’Easter Pound and Market for dinner. I had my fourth lobster of the trip!
Tuesday & Wednesday – Northwest Harbor to Winter Harbor
The next day was a rainy lay day, so we got up early to shower and do laundry. Then Lori and I donned our rain jackets and boots and took the Island Explorer bus to Sand Beach, hoping to find some sea glass. Sadly, we only found one jagged piece of recently broken brown glass. Oh, and a sand dollar! We walked the Ocean Path from Sand Beach to Otter Cliff, catching the bus to Jordan Pond, and then back to Northeast Harbor. We made the most of a rainy day and saw more of the beautiful Acadia park.
We all walked back up to mainstreet and enjoyed some beverages at the bar at Colonel’s Restaurant, then had another fine meal aboard the boat for the evening.
Thursday – Winter Harbor to Bar Harbor
The next morning, we had a lumpy sail over to the Schoodic Peninsula, getting a ball at the Winter Harbor Yacht Club. This area is home to the only portion of Acadia National Park that lies on the mainland of Maine. We went ashore, walked into town and caught the Island Explorer one more time for a ride around that portion of the park.
In the morning, Lori and I took Louie on a lovely walk down to the end of Grindstone Point and enjoyed the views. Back on the boat, we dropped the mooring and headed to Bar Harbor for the night, where we got one of the 5 mooring balls that the city of Bar Harbor maintains.
We went ashore, and I walked along the shore path and back to take in more of the beautiful sea views. We had drinks at Paddy’s Irish Pub and then went back to the boat for dinner aboard – my last night of the trip.
Friday – Bar Harbor to Bangor to Austin
Friday morning, Lori dinghied me over to the dock and we hugged goodbye. Another adventure come to a close. I grabbed a taxi & a bus to the Bangor airport, and then made it home at the end of a long travel day.
Maine calls itself ‘Vacationland.’ After spending 2 weeks there, I can see why. The Maine coastline is huge and full of rustic islands to explore. Acadia National Park is the 3rd most visited US National Park. The scenery is amazing. The free shuttles make it easy to get around without a car. The seafood is delicious. There is a nice mix of remote destinations and tourist destinations to explore. The summer weather is pleasant. The wildlife is abundant. I’ve never seen so many beautiful b0ats. This is definitely a must-see sailing destination.
Lori, Mike, and Louie were very gracious to let me join them on this part of their summer cruise. I had a really wonderful time. ❤
Monte and I crewed on Camelot for Kurt & Kevin this weekend during one of the Austin Yacht Club Summer Series races. It was a hot and steamy day on the water but we had a great time.
Sheila365 