Back in Connecticut

The ten day trip back to Stratford, Ct. with stops in Boothbay and Portland, Maine; Provincetown and Martha's Vineyard, Mass. and Newport, RI was accompanied with some good winds.

Provincetown afforded the most entertainment including "drag karaoke".

Vineyard Haven on Martha's Vineyard was a better experience than last years stop at the other end of this Island at Edgar Town. Especially nice was the remote town of Menemsha where on can gorge on Lobster on the dock.

One of our less stellar takeaways from here is my new Mac Book Pro computer becoming water logged courtesy of a gentle local soul offering us a ride back to our harbor  in his truck. Seems the dinghy he had in the back of his truck was filled with water and our back packs got immersed with both Macs in one. So this is being composed on my new MacBook Air which is much smaller and lighter to rival Cin's iPad for schlepping to coffee Shops.

Spent 4 or 5 days in Newport and once again fell in love with this very nautical town. The supper sailing yachts are second to none and we once again saw "Isabel", John Kerry's $7MM yacht that we were dock mates with at Harbor Island in the Bahamas last spring. BTY even Isabel is small compared to the mega yachts moored here.

Newport afforded us a chance to hook up with Jon and Nancy before we headed south and they layed up their Tartan 43 for the winter deciding to be land based in their homw on Martha's Vineyard until spring.

Then the best of all as we arrived in Connecticut we were greeted by this:

HD is on to Annapolis for the Sailboat show as ther crew returns via land for Sophia's first Birfday Party and sailing with Chrissy and Sophia for 9 days in the Chesapeake. FUN!

Maine!

We've been cruising the beautiful coast of Maine since our last Blog. Joined the scheduled cruise of the Tartan Owners North East (TONE) in Gloucester, Ma and headed to Sebasco with 14 other Tartans. Had heavy fog on the way up so stopped for two days at Kennebunckport where the shopper had a field day.

                                            I woke up one morning and saw this. I can't explain

Camden is a very beautiful town among very beautiful towns and harbors. Certainly a favorite. Mainiacs are especially friendly, honest and welcoming. Camden was our last stop with TONE and we met up with our sister ship and friends from the Vineyard, Jon and Nancy Newman. They talked Cin into hiking Mount Battie while the captain attempted to get the non working generator looked at

                                                        Thats a seal in the fog.


We had the pleasure of Ali and Phil joining us in Rockland for a two day sail with some good wind, although brief. Explored secluded Seal Bay where Cin harvested mussels from the shore and she and Ali cleaned the barnacles off and spiced them up to cook on the grill.

                                                             Cin harvesting mussels

                                                                     I like this one!

 After some homemade pea soup the group had to stop gorging half way through the grilled fresh veggies from Ali's garden. It seems there was not a bucket available.

                                                  Happy hour at the Happy Clam

                                               Lobster on the dock in Tennants Harbor

                                         Returning from a run to the bakery in the morning

After dropping Ali and Phil back at Rockland HD we had a week to kill before HD got some needed work done so we headed for North East Harbor and Bar Harbor home to Acadia National Park. On the way we managed to snag the line of a  lobster pot three different times. It seems when there is an 11 foot tide to deal with the lobstermen add another float to their pick up buoy which creates a hazard just below the surface between the two.

We knew this ahead of time however didn't execute very well and luckily only fouled the rudder and not the much more serious propeller. The captain donned the scuba stuff and cleared the one that wouldn't shake loose. My three millimeter wet suit is very suitable for the tropics but not so warm in Maine's cool waters.

During the next two weeks  HD was scheduled to get ALL the nagging miscues by her builder and some needed maintenance  finally fixed by the very skilled group employed by Peter Johanson at Johanson's Boat Works.

While the work got done we did our best to help by staying out of the way.

Nagging issues courtesy of Tartan: 1) Program the inverter/charger to work as designed. During this process we discovered that both house batteries needed to be replaced. 2) Reattach the boom to the mast using the proper hardware. 3) Fabricate and replace the fitting that attaches the boom vang to the mast. 4) Reengineer the main sheet system,  reattach the flip flop block, repair boom damage, and install new protective covering. (Seems we have learned that all sailboats regardless of size should have control of the main sail) 5) Properly commission the Ray Marine Auto Helm to work as designed. ( Second defect discovered in this system as the hydraulics were also addressed last January after learning of their incorrect installation) 6) Reattach all twelve of the fuel lines to stop the constant leaks. 7) Fabricate and install "scupper" guards for the anchor locker water letter outers in order to prevent another rupture of the anchor locker floor allowing sea water to enter the bilge.


The  most expensive maintenance item in time and money her toe/rub rail was stripped to the bare teak and varnished with five coats. This took two men the better part of two weeks to complete while working around the weather.  The crew learned a very expensive lesson to not let the varnish get too weathered from the sun and salt and to put a single coat on every 4 months or so. They also refinish the cherry table and trim around galley sink, changed the oil and filters on the engine, fixed the generator's malfunctioning sensor switch which is how we originally got hocked up with these guys when Jonesy came aboard to get our generator going.

The boat was ready to go Friday afternoon and after a weather delay Saturday we finally left Maine on Sunday 9/9/12 and headed south seeing our first whales the next few days. It has gotten cold up here!