Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick to East Penobscot Bay, ME

We left Grand Manan Island on Tuesday 7/19/11 and motored north on the western edge of the Bay of Fundy to Head Harbor on Campobello Island. We used the eastern limits of our charts onboard. In the 18 ft. tidal zone, knowing which way the currents are flowing is more important than the clock. We saw two magnificent bald eagles as we entered Head Harbor. We tied up to a floating platform used for storing lobster traps. Though we could hardly tell, the water rose and fell with the tide nearly 3 ft. per hour. Leiby wanted to practice sailing in the currents, so we took a daysail down the western side of Campobello Island, tacking against the 20 knot wind back and forth across the Canadian/U.S. border. We saw whales as large as our boat. We left Canada on a foggy Friday morning- less than 0.5 mile visibility- nd motored through 6-8 ft. waves to Cutler, ME. With no room to anchor, we picked up a derelict ball with no mooring line and shackled our own line to it. We called a bumbling customs officer in Lubec who insisted on driving to Cutler to "eyeball" us. Bought 4 lobsters from the the Lobster Co. for dinner. Cutler is a real working fisherman's town; there are no services geared for recreational boats, but we did manage to get some water and diesel from a fisherman's warf. Everyone we met there was very friendly. On Sunday, we left Cutler and rode the ebb down the Gulf of Maine for a nice beam reach, starboard tack sail. Motored when the wind died to the Mt. Desert area and picked up a mooring in Sorrento Harbor. Ordered raspberry muffins from a Rhode Island girl who spends her summers there- she delivered them fresh and warm at 8:30 the next morning, as promised. Motored to Bar Harbor and picked up a town mooring for a few hours. Tacked across the wind to Seal Cove but could not find room to anchor, so we motored to Northeast Harbor and picked up a mooring there. Met up with Barb and Rich of  "Aquila"- great people and a beautiful boat we know from Greenpoint Landing; it was fun sharing travel stories with them. We left Northeast Harbor early and sailed wing and wing and then on a port tack through Merchant Row and past Stonington through the Deer Island thorofare. Unfortunately, having to avoid all the lobster traps does suck much of the fun out of sailing. We are now boycotting lobsters. We finally found a place to anchor between Bold and Devil Islands. This morning, we motored to East Penobscot Bay and were pleased to find relatively few lobster traps. Had a great sail north and are currently anchored near Castine, ME. Pictured: Trilogy moored in Grand Manan; the lighthouse at Head Harbor, Campobello; a bald eagle; tied to the platform in Campobello; rowing ashore in Sorrento and the muffin girl.

Portland, ME to Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick

We left Portland at around 11:00 on Friday and set out for an overnighter toward Maine's "Down East". We sailed through the night and only had to start the engine late the next morning. Travelled east most of the day on Saturday and stopped to anchor for the night at Great Wass Island. The anchorage was literally littered with many different colors of lobster traps- it looked like a living room the day after a New Year's eve party. On Sunday, we motored most of the way up the Grand Manan Channel, then we were able to motor sail on a starboard tack. We made it to Canada by around 1:00pm on Sunday. Customs was easy- a telephone call; the officer just took the boat name and documentation number, not our personal passport information. We were able to get a free mooring at North Head on Grand Manan Island. We took a hike this morning, and then a friendly fellow boater loaned us his car for the day and we were able to explore the entire island. Pictured: the sun sets during our overnighter over Monhegan Island; Leiby on the deck; Darlene on the deck; the wall showing the water line (tidal range here is 18 feet); the fishing weirs at North Head; Leiby sitting on top of "The Hole in the Wall"; the lighthouse at North Head.

Bridgeport, CT to Portland, ME

So much has happened since our last blog. After Leiby returned to Bridgeport, we sailed with a SW wind behind us to the Thimble Islands and anchored between High and Pot Island. The Thimbles consist of many islands of rocky formation. We then motor-sailed most of the way to Mystic Harbor. We were fogged in for 2 nights, but Mystic CT is a nice town in which to be stuck. On the 4th of July, the fog cleared in the afternoon and we were able to pull anchor and sail to Point Judith Harbor of Refuge on a slow, broad reach, starboard tack. We saw a spectacular show of fireworks- individual displays 180 degrees around us. The next morning, we motored approx. 3 hours to Newport, RI. We arrived in the morning as many boats were leaving after the holiday weekend and found a nice spot to anchor in Brenton Cove. Ruefus and I celebrated our birthdays together on 7/6/11. The next day, we continued up Narragansett Bay and anchored in Greenwhich Bay. We had a nice, clear sail which then turned into a challenging, foggy motor to Cuttyhunk Island in Buzzard's Bay. We then sailed to Mattapoisett, MA where our beloved dog Ruefus passed away peacefully at the Mattapoisett Veterinary Hospital after a long, brave struggle with Degenerative Myelopathy. We love you, Ruefus. Rest in peace, you are our proud boy and we miss you like crazy. We continued up Buzzard's Bay, through the Cape Cod Canal and sailed overnight in the ocean up the coast to Portland, ME. We got a slip yesterday at South Port Marine to do get provisions and do laundry. Pictured: Darlene at Captain's Cove Seaport in Bridgeport, CT; On the bridge in Mystic, CT; The crew of Trilogy on a wall at a beach in Newport, RI; Going through the Cape Cod Canal; Our approach to the Maine Coast; Storm clouds over Portland, ME; Our beloved boy giving kisses and getting kisses.