The North Wind log starts on June 5 after an enjoyable couple of months of planning and preparation. The general plan was, after commissioning at Brooklin Boat Yard, to cruise the Penobscot Bay region for about ten days before crossing the Gulf of Maine, transiting the Cape Cod Canal and arriving in Sippican Harbor later in the month in time for the Tabor Academy reunion:
North Wind -- June 5, 2008
Brooklin, ME, Commissiong Day for the season
Betsy and George spending the morning loading gear aboard and stowing the mountain of possessions. After a rainy night, the morning is overcast but dry. By noon most of the gear is stowed, there is enough blue sky to make a Dutchman's britches, and we are tired and ready for lunch. Finished inflating the Zodiac & sandwich from General Store as reward.
We had driven up the night before and had loaded a good deal of the gear from the truck, trying to dodge the raindrops. After a cozy night spent wedged into the jumble of stuff, we were happy to have a dryer day to finish up.
1250 - Underway from BBY float with GW aboard. BW in truck. Both bound for Rockland to rendezvous at the town landing.
Partly cloudy, light Northerly, warm.
1400 - West end of Reach, motorsailing at 6+ kts for the last hour. Boat is generally behaving well.
Note two problems. 1) The engine is running hot ~230 deg. at 1300 rpm and light load (good sail assist). Thermostat? Breathing? 2) Board is firmly jammed up-can't make it budge.
1535 - Little Spruce Head abeam. Made ~5 kts with no apparent wind on run from Reach @ 1300 rpm. Now making ~ 6.5 with light breeze on stbd beam.
Because Rockland is such a convenient place to provision, change crew and generally take care of cruising necessities, this route of just under 30 miles has become something of a milk run for North Wind. However, this was the first time doing it single-handed. It worked well, but this was a long and hectic day. It depended heavily on the cooperation of the weather.
1700 - Has been nice all day, but looks murky ahead over Rockland. Breeze dying & shifting aft.
1720 - Lowering sail & furling.
1805 - Rockland breakwater abeam - sky had cleared & Betsy says I can come alongside for loading.
1835 - Alongside public landing Port side to. Sun is shining, very still & lovely. "Rendezvous" getting a coat of varnish nearby--nice old party boat.
1940 - Leaving the town dock with provisions aboard, but with the news that Lynn's flight is delayed & she and Marcia expect to arrive ~9:30 am tomorrow (Fri).
1955 - Anchored just south of the shipping channel - anchor light going. Hors d'ouevres before dinner.
It was a busy first day and we accomplished a lot to load the gear, get the car and the boat across the Bay to Rockland in the afternoon, load provisions (Betsy had been to the grocery store in Rockland while I was sailing over) and all. The only fly in the ointment was that Lynn and Marcia were delayed arriving. But that problem would take care of itself the next morning. Then we would be off for the weekend with them. I was particularly looking forward to this because Marcia was aboard for the first trip from Brooklin to Cape Cod when we had first bought North Wind three or four years ago. Since then she has done some day sails on the Cape, but no cruising. It was a first for Lynn, but she seemed game.
Our plan for the weekend with Marcia and Lynn is to do a loop around Penobscot Bay, staying Friday night near Castine and then somewhere in the East Bay before putting the girls on the road back to Boston and New York on Sunday afternoon.
The problems with the boat--high temp readings for the diesel the centerboard stuck up were still on my mind. I rather suspected a problem with the sensor or temperature gauge for the first one, since I was keeping a close eye on the engine itself on the way over and there were none of the other signs of overheating. As for the centerboard, it usually takes care of itself after only a few minutes and I was a bit troubled that it was hanging up for so long. I was hoping that it would be possible to do something while we were in Castine and thus be able to keep to our schedule. My plan was to call Rick at the yard first thing in the morning and see what could be done over the phone.
In truth, we had made rather too many commitments to specific rendezvous with busy people and there wasn't much slack in our schedule for breakdowns or bad weather. So I was a bit anxious about that. We have had good fortune (and a very good boatyard), so things have worked out well over the past few years. North Wind is a lucky vessel and we fell asleep that night hoping for the best.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment