June 22, 2010

North Haven, Vinylhaven & Seal Cove, Maine

We headed back out in to the wilderness into the Fox Island Thoroughfare and Vinyl Haven.  It is a group of islands East from the mainland about a 3 hour motor.  Very beautiful and very isolated.  It doesn’t get to ungodly cold here in the winter with the temperatures rarely going below zero and normally staying in the mid 20’s and 30’s.  It’s about the same latitude as Seattle. Once again, many similarities.  We explored the islands and picked up some clams along the way.  They were so delicious!!! 

Then the fog came in.  It was so thick.  I was just wishing it would lift and then it would get heavier and come in more dense.  Then lift a little but again more dense.  There’s not much you can do in the fog.  It was so foggy that I didn’t trust going out in the dinghy.  I would have needed a compass to find my way back.  It’s like diving and you don’t know which way is up.  A very strange feeling.  So we caught up on some organizing on the boat and I did some knitting while we waited out the fog.  It was one whole day of waiting.   

The next day, the sun came out after 10am and burned away enough so that we could navigate out of the islands.  We decided to go back to the mainland where there might be more sun, warmth and less fog.  Camden, here we come.  A 3 hour motor.

From Pemaquid we stopped at Rockland, Maine which is an actual town.  It has a marine store, groceries and a library with internet.  Always nice to catch up.   

We stopped at restaurant and gorged on mussels and steamers with our dinner.  Really inexpensive and delicious. 

A rare treat with other seafood dinners being very expensive.  Steamers seem to be like very small gooeyducks.  

 See the photo for all you people in the Northwest.  Yummmm….!!!

June 16, 2010

Rock on in Maine - Pemaquid Harbor, ME

I’m well acquainted with the phrase, ‘If you haven’t been aground, you haven’t been around’. But in Maine, I’m making up a new one…’Rock on in Maine’.

Anyone who has gunk holed here knows that Maine is full of rock ledges and rocks. And when you mention rocks to another boater, you always get the answer, ‘Oh yes…’. I was shocked at how many rocks pop up when the tide is low.

Just where I was going at full throttle in the dinghy now shows many rocks popping up all over. Our first rock encounter was when we entered this harbor.

While we were dodging small islands and rock outcroppings, I was down below when suddenly there was a huge ‘thud’. It stopped the boat abruptly.

I was thrown into the bookshelf down in the v-berth. Next time I think I’ll stay up top. We backed up and off the rock ledge and continued on our way hoping the damage was minimal.

That plus we were experiencing engine problems with fluid getting into the oil. Since we were coming in to an anchorage, we managed to catch a mooring ball and quickly turn off the engine that was starting to smoke.

As for the engine, with a few phone calls and the help of UPS and the park service receiving our package, Don is down in the engine compartment replacing the new fuel lift pump. Now, we’re hoping that the damage from the rock is minimal.

This is a great place to be stuck in. There’s a fishing co-op of friendly lobster fishermen, a fort from the mid 1600’s and a helpful park staff manning the exhibits.

After 3 days, Don fixed the engine and we were off again up the coast of Maine.

June 14, 2010

Boothbay Harbor, Maine

From Martha’s Vineyard Island, we decided to not to go to Nantucket Island because it was out of the way and we wanted to spend more time in Maine.  So we headed northwest through the Cape Code Canal which was a 1 ½ hour motor to travel through it.   

This brought us out into Cape Cod Bay.  From there we motored through the night and entered Booth Bay, Maine in the morning.   

Maine has many fiords left from glaciers that are now beautiful shores of granite.  And it has a lot of fog.  Even with radar, smaller boats would just pop out of the fog.  Fortunately it cleared as we neared land and Boothbay Harbor.

Boothbay Harbor, ME is a quaint fishing village that tourists love to visit in the summer.  A very small village with curving streets, shops and art galleries, plenty of fishing boats, about 800 lobster trap buoy markers, and restaurants that serve fresh fish and of course, lobster.  

The tides are more substantial here going from 8.6 feet to 10.6 feet, and the temperatures have been around 75 during the day and about 52 at night.   

Large, clumsy mosquitoes come out on the warmer nights.  After Booth Bay Harbor, we headed North to explore more inlets.  

June 10-12, 2010

Martha's Vineyard Island

So much of the Northeast reminds me of the Northwest. It’s nice because I’m a little home sick and this is just the thing I needed. Especially the early morning and late night smell in the air. Martha’s Vineyard is very reminiscent of Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands northwest of Seattle.

For example:

Martha's Vineyard
Year Round Population: 1500
Square miles: 87
Population is summer: 7500
Fog: lots!
Traffic lights on island: 2
Ferries: White
Houses: Mostly gray and very large
Area Clams: Steamers
Food delicacy: Dungeness crabs

Orcas Island -
Year Round Population: 4900
Square miles: 57
Population in summer: swells but not nearly as big as Martha’s Vineyard
Fog: sometimes
Traffic lights on island: 0
Ferries: Green:
Houses: Mixed and most are modest
Area Clams: Gooeyduck
Food delicacy: Lobster

Also similar to Orcas, we had 2 days of dreary rain and 2 days of sunshine on the Vineyard. I’m so happy to be on either coast…the Northeast or the Northwest. When I’m gone too long I miss it.

 June 7, 2010

Block Island (N.E. of Long Island)

Left arrow is New York City, next arrow is Block Island, Martha's Vineyard, out to the right is Nantucket, top arrow is Cape Code.

We just spent the night here.  I couldn’t even walk the one mile into the village because of my ankle.  But the harbor was interesting enough.  It reminded me of being on Lopez Island.  Everything centered around the summer tourists which were coming in with the first race series in mid June.  Even though it’s June, not much was open.

Another dark rain storm coming in.

June 6 2010

Atlantic Ocean to Montauk, Long Island, NY

It took 2 nights at sea to arrive at the northern tip of Long Island in Montauk. It's quite chilly out here in comparison to being on land. Because New York juts out, we made a straight line which took us about 75 miles out from land.

Don knew some friends in Montauk from a previous trip to St. Thomas so we arranged for a to visit with Ed and Rori. After a nice dinner at their home, we returned to our dinghy but it was so windy that we it was going to be a very wet trip. So instead of seeing us off in our dinghy, Ed and Rori invited us back into their cozy, warm house.  Ahhh…the comforts of home.

May 22, 2010

To The East Coast
Don and I traveled with my 4 suitcases to his boat which was docked in New Bern, Virginia. New Bern is a very protected dock as it is about 150 miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean. And Barry and Meps were there from Seattle on their boat Flutterby. We actually got to spend some time with Barry as Meps was in Seattle. Darn. I spent a few days getting used to the boat and each day that went by my twisted ankle was getting a little less swollen. We had the good luck of having a Bed Bath & Beyond about 45 minutes away…my favorite store! So we stocked up on a little bit of everything. That and some food, oh yes food.  Our next stop which was Oriental, NC which was where we could hook up with the Intercoastal Waterway.

June 1, 2010

ICA to Hampton, Virginia

The Intercoastal Waterway (ICW) was originally carved during WWII to transport goods in protected waters away from the Atlantic Ocean and the threat of German submarines. It starts south in Miami and goes all the way to Norfolk, Virginia. Red and green markers need to be followed from one set to the next as it weaves in and out of passageways that are often only 10 feet deep or less. One minute you are in grassy low lands on each side, the next part might have larges trees on either side.

Then it might open into a lake where you follow a snaking path forever looking for the next set of markers. In between there are bridges and a lock that must open up to let you pass. If you don't make the last opening, there are some places to anchor along the way.

All in all, it was very peaceful with beautiful song birds and the heavy smell of grass in the air. Very peaceful and quiet with only a hand full of boats passing us in the small canals.

Pictured is one of the bridges that needs to be open to pass.  We anchored three nights along the way on the way to Hampton.

After rounding a quiet bend, you suddenly come into the large, military town of Norfolk, Virginia.

Hampton is just around the corner from Norfolk. Here we rented a car and drove the 40 minute drive to Williamsburg, Virginia.

Williamsburg was the colonial capital of Virginia before the Revolutionary War. It was restored in the 1930's. There are 4,000 employees here many of whom walk around in costume of the era and talk to you as they did back in that time. The common greeting was "Good Day". It was fascinating.

We also took in a 3D Shrek movie on Imax, ate local blue crabs, drank some very good local pale ale (yes, they have good micro brews here too Seattle) and took in a history museum.

June 6, 2010

Atlantic Ocean to Montauk, Long Island, NY

It took 2 nights at sea to arrive at the northern tip of Long Island in Montauk. It's quite chilly out here in comparison to being on land. Because New York juts out, we made a straight line which took us about 75 miles out from land.

Don knew some friends in Montauk from a previous trip to St. Thomas so we got to visit Ed and Rori. When we tried to get back to the boat, it was so windy that we were going to get very wet. So Ed and Rori invited us to sleep at their house. Wouldn't it be nice if every time it was a rough trip back to the boat friends would  invite us in their house to stay over!!!

Ed also gave us a tour of the Hamptons which is a few minutes away.  Now I know where the Kennedys and Steven Spielberg hang out during the summer.

May 16, 2010

Dark Stairways in Guanajuato, Mexico

During my last week in Mexico I had the misfortune of falling on a stairway in a hostel in Guanajuato. The night caretaker would turn off the hall lights so he could sleep. At 6am in the dark, I thought I was on the bottom stair. Wrong. I sprawled out on the landing hitting a small table as I went down. I crawled back to bed and hoped the pain would go away. When it didn't, I thought I broke my ankle. We waited later in the day hoping for the swelling to go down and finally went to the hospital to get an x-ray.

Fortunately it was a very bad sprain so they put my foot in a half cast and told me to try to find a walking boot to use in a couple of weeks with my crutches. Don managed to find one by traveling to Leon by bus. Twice to get the size right. What a guy!

In Guanajuato I had the fortune of seeing one of my best friends that I hadn't seen in 14 years. Marcia and I were buddies when I lived in Santiago, Chile. She happened to be going to Mexico with her girlfriend.

With my foot, I couldn't go around town like I wanted to but I managed to spend time with her never the less. What a treat!!! After 14 years!!

Some of the many underground tunnels in Guanajuato.  The old narrow streets can't support the amount of modern traffic so tunnels have been built underneath the city.  On the right, a musical group performs outdoors across from our hostel in front of a Don Quixote  & Pancho Sanza statues.

I think this was the original 'happy face' from the mid 1600's.

One parade of many in Mazatlan.  This group carried their altars.

Trying on Frida Kahlo costumes

May 20th - One week later, my braces were finally removed. Yehh!!! It took a year to complete from start to finish. If I was in Seattle, the dentist from the same school of dentistry as my dentist in Mexico said it would take 2 years and a few months. Hmmmm…… Anyway, the orthodontist in Mazatlan was excellent!