Poughkeepsie Yacht Club - Home After 10 Weeks!

Our goal of getting our topping lift repaired was not to be fulfilled. Despite having two weeks' warning, Samalot Marine only acted on the morning of our arrival to try to find a fix and couldn't locate a wire halyard (their fix to preventing chaft at the mast head) of the proper size. Since we didn't want to hang around for several days, we headed north to PYC.

For the first half of the trip it was warm but when we passed under the Newburg-Beacon bridge, the wind suddenly turned from out of the south at 8 to 10 kts to out of the north at 18 kts! That started some wave action rather rapidly and we took to the sides of the channel to avoid the worst of the wind and waves, arriving at PYC around 5:30 pm, docking with much appreciated help from Richie and Frank Niet.

Reflecting back upon the two month cruise, we took a vote on the best places:

Best Anchorage: Opechee Island. It was surrounded by small, uninhabited islands you could visit and the protection was great.

Anchorage Honorable Mention: Round Island in Merchants Row. It also had uninhabited islands to explore. Honorable Mention also goes to Mackarel Cove in Swans Island where you could sit in the cockpit and have a great view of Mt Desert.

Best Harbor: No contest, Boothbay Harbor. For $25/night, you had a mooring in the middle of town with about 100 shops and restaurants to sample. There was also a free shuttle that included passage to a Stop and Shop for reprovisioning and an aquarium to see.

Best Restaurant: Again, no contest, Lenny's at Branford. We sampled seafood up and down the coast and although some was pretty good, the clams were not as sweet nor as juicy as at Lenny's.

Best Sail: Many in this category. the sail from Cape Cod Canal to Provincetown was wing on wing all the way. The sails in Maine were good with the constant wind (no gusts) and the scenery could not be beat. The last three days in Long Island Sound were fabulous when a south wind came up for three straight days at 10 to 15 kts where we sailed from Port Jefferson to Manhasset.

Most Challenging: Those Maine lobster pots! After awhile, you learned to not to just look 50 ft ahead of you for the next bouy but to look further ahead to "see" a fairway. There was always a path through them if you looked carefully enough. It certainly wasn't planned by the lobstermen but with enough randomness in the placement of the pots, there always seemed to be a path if you could see it quickly enough. Some areas were denser than others, especially around Tenants Harbor and in sections of the Deer Island Thorofare. Upper Penobscot Bay practically had no pots.

Most Fog: Of course, that's Maine which made the lobster pots all that more difficult to avoid. Despite our best efforts, we still managed to snag two but both slid off without fouling the prop.

Most Fun: Matthew was definitely a joy to have on-board. There's nothing like an infusion of youth to get the spirits up and get you going! I think he'll be joining us next year too. Now, if he could just tell us his secret in how he swam in 61 degree water for hours at a time without freezing.....

We will definitely be returning to Maine in 2008 and at some point in time, continue on south through the ICW. It's been great fun and I hope you will all join us on our cruise next year.

Sincerely, Bob and Ann Sherer
Thanks for following the blog and hope to see you again next year!