Geoff Schultz's BlueJacket Sailing SiteGeoff Schultz's BlueJacket Sailing Site2008-10-08T07:48:33ZGeoffrey W. Schultzhttps://www.geoffschultz.org/Sue's Birthday!https://www.geoffschultz.org/Log_Page.php?id=1301Ahoy from Marlborough, MA!
I thought that people might want to know that Sue is experiencing one of those double-digit turning birthdays today. Anyone wanting to say happy birthday to her can reach her at sue@geoffschultz.org or 774-245-2605.
Being the trouper that she is, we're headed back to the boat today to finish winterizing the boat and we're going to celebrate her birthday this weekend.
-- Geoff...2008-10-08T00:00:00Z2008-10-08T07:48:30ZPortsmouth, RI - Terminus of this Voyagehttp://www.geoffschultz.org/Log_Page.php?id=1299Ahoy from Portsmouth, RI, the terminus of this voyage!
I'm happy to report that we're "home" and that this year's trip is done. It's been 9 years since BlueJacket was back in her home waters and it feels nice to be there.
We stayed in New Bedford/Fairhaven longer than expected. On Saturday morning we pulled the anchor at about 7 AM and headed out of the well protected harbor. The forecasts had the winds building out of the SW starting around noon and we wanted to get to Newport before it got too n...2008-10-06T00:00:00Z2008-10-06T19:47:50ZNew Bedford/Fairhaven, MAhttp://www.geoffschultz.org/Log_Page.php?id=1298Ahoy from New Bedford/Fairhaven, MA!
Today has been a long day which started with us leaving Provincetown shortly after 7 AM. The forecast was for 10-15 kts gusting to 20 kts out of the SW, which was pretty much the direction that we were headed. We watched the weather on the TV before departing and they said that rain was headed our way. The winds were lighter than forecast and we had a better wind angle than expected, so we got to motor-sail for a while. Then the rain came and the wind shifted to being on...2008-10-02T00:00:00Z2008-10-02T22:10:34ZProvincetown, MAhttp://www.geoffschultz.org/Log_Page.php?id=1297Ahoy from Provincetown, MA!
If you live in New England, you probably know our current location as "Ptown", which is at the tip of Cape Cod. It's a very eclectic location that's also steeped in lots of history. But, before we delve into all of that, let's talk about out trip here.
We left the Cottage Park Yacht Club in Winthrop, MA just after 7 AM on Monday. Sue's been in a rush to get the boat back to RI, but I wanted to cross the Stellwagen Bank to do some whale watching. The weather was fine for the tri...2008-10-01T00:00:00Z2008-10-01T22:39:13ZWinthrop, MAhttp://www.geoffschultz.org/Log_Page.php?id=1296Ahoy from Winthrop, Massachusetts!
After looking at the weather for last weekend and our proximity to home, we decided to pull into the yacht club where a friend of ours has their boat. They have extremely reasonable dockage rates and it was very close to home. So, bright and early on Thursday we left Salem harbor and headed to Winthrop. It was a quick trip and by 10:30 we were secured to a dock at the Cottage Park Yacht Club. We spent an hour+ cleaning and unloading the boat of lots of stuff that we won't ...2008-09-29T00:00:00Z2008-09-29T17:05:00ZSalem, MAhttp://www.geoffschultz.org/Log_Page.php?id=1294Ahoy from Salem, MA!
We had an outstanding 5 mile motor this morning from Manchester by the Sea to Salem harbor. :-) We were also quite happy to pick up a mooring ball for the discounted price of $20. I guess that we were off season and didn't need to use the launch service, so he discounted the ball from $30. Hey, everything helps!
We had decided to take advantage of a spectacular day and explore Salem, MA. We've been there before to tour the Peabody Essex Museum (which is excellent and I strongly recom...2008-09-25T00:00:00Z2008-09-25T06:48:35ZManchester by the Sea, MAhttp://www.geoffschultz.org/Log_Page.php?id=1293Ahoy from Manchester by the Sea, Massachusetts!
We definitely knew that we were close to home when we rounded Cape Anne and could see the Boston skyline. It was also pretty apparent when we were in Portsmouth and could watch the Boston TV channels. It feels good to be getting close to being home. The days are definitely getting shorter and the nights are getting colder, but it's a lot warmer here than it was in Canada!
We had a nice sail yesterday from Portsmouth to the tip of Cape Anne, which is where Gl...2008-09-24T00:00:00Z2008-09-24T17:54:48ZPortsmouth, NH, Mainehttp://www.geoffschultz.org/Log_Page.php?id=1292Ahoy from Portsmouth, NH!
I never thought that I would have considered Portsmouth, New Hampshire to be SOUTH, but after this trip, it is! On Sunday we made the 50 nm trip in single digit winds on the nose. It was so calm that the seas were glassy, but we had big swells on the beam, which made for a rolly trip. We took ourselves a few miles out of the way to Kennebunkport to view the Bush compound. There are a series of white buoys which outline the presidential security zone surrounding the compound. We ma...2008-09-23T00:00:00Z2008-09-24T17:53:30ZPortland, Mainehttp://www.geoffschultz.org/Log_Page.php?id=1291Ahoy from Portland, Maine!
Once again we motored along into low single digit winds on our way from Christmas Cove to Portland. Once again we managed to avoid all of the lobster traps in the Christmas Cove lobster genocide area. Really, I have no idea how any lobsters survive there as the bottom appears to be virtually covered with lobster traps. I wonder how many times lobsters are caught before they reach legal size and are then kept. I wasn't happy with the photo that I used yesterday, so hopefully this o...2008-09-21T00:00:00Z2008-09-21T08:17:06ZChristmas Cove, Mainehttp://www.geoffschultz.org/Log_Page.php?id=1290Ahoy from Christmas Cove, Maine!
As detail-oriented readers of these logs, you'll note that once again we're not where we claimed that we would be. Yesterday, when we headed out of Rockland, we discovered that it was an absolutely delightful day to be on the water as it had warmed up significantly since the previous night's near freeze, and we decided that we should take advantage of the wonderful weather and head further south. It was definitely one of those stellar days, with crisp blue skies and the wate...2008-09-20T00:00:00Z2008-09-20T07:27:23ZRockland, Mainehttp://www.geoffschultz.org/Log_Page.php?id=1289Ahoy from Rockland, Maine!
We had an awesome sail to here yesterday with 15-25 kts gusting to 30 kts out of the N to NE, which placed us on a broad reach. That meant we were sailing down wind and we were flying. I was regularly doing hull speed and approaching 9 kts, which is very fast for a 40' boat. I'm glad that we went to Castine on the day that we did, as had we tried to go yesterday, we would have been bashing into good sized waves for the entire trip.
We decided to pull into Journey's End marina, whi...2008-09-19T00:00:00Z2008-09-19T07:57:14ZCastine, Mainehttp://www.geoffschultz.org/Log_Page.php?id=1288Ahoy from Castine, Maine!
Right now we're in the delightful little town of Castine, which is about 17 miles from Wooden Boat, where we were yesterday. As I was writing yesterday's log, a heavy fogbank rolled in which delayed our departure until the sun burned it away. However, that allowed me to publish the photo album Acadia national park. You can find the images from there at http://www.geoffschultz.org/2008_Sailing/Photos/ME_Acadia/
After the fog lifted, we motored to Castine in almost calm winds. There ...2008-09-18T00:00:00Z2008-09-18T07:32:33ZWooden Boat Harbor, Mainehttp://www.geoffschultz.org/Log_Page.php?id=1287Ahoy from Wooden Boat Harbor, Maine!
We've had an absolutely wonderful time since we arrived in Maine! The major change is that the sun has been out and it's been warm. We've actually been in shorts and at some points were commenting that it was quite warm (of course, it's all relative). The remains of Ike quickly blew through on Monday and by mid-morning blue sky was appearing. Sue and I went into shore at Northeast Harbor to explore and get a propane tank filled. At the harbormaster's office, we inquired...2008-09-17T00:00:00Z2008-09-17T09:07:00ZNortheast Harbor, Mainehttp://www.geoffschultz.org/Log_Page.php?id=1285Ahoy from Northeast Harbor, Maine!
We're back, back in the USA and it feels good to be here! Yesterday we made the 100 nautical mile trek from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia to Maine as it appeared that it would be the only good weather window that we'd have within the 4 day forecast period. The forecast was for the winds to lighten last night and then pick up to 25-35+ kts on Sunday and Monday. Yarmouth was an OK place to stop, but I wouldn't want to get stuck there.
It rained all day Saturday, but thankfully it ...2008-09-15T00:00:00Z2008-09-29T07:35:26ZYarmouth, Nova Scotiahttp://www.geoffschultz.org/Log_Page.php?id=1284Ahoy from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia!
Yesterday was a long, tiring day, but we made the 72 mile jump from Shelburne to Yarmouth. Normally 72 miles wouldn't be that much of an issue, but in this case we needed to time our arrival at Cape Sable (which is at the tip of Nova Scotia) to match slack low tide due to the extreme currents that flow past it. You can also go off-shore to avoid those currents, but it adds 15 miles onto the trip.
We were fairly lucky with the timing of low tide at Cape Sable, as it occurred ...2008-09-13T00:00:00Z2008-09-13T08:09:11Z