We were going to stay at Jewell Island, the same place we anchored on the way up but the Morning Lies indicated the winds were going to be out of the north and northeast, not a good direction for that anchorage. The winds were to be 15 to 25 with gusts to 30 kts! With that we aimed for Richmond Island south of Portland. Since the winds were to gust in the afternoon, we headed out in the morning around 7:30 am. After motoring out of Boothbay Harbor, we sailed for the next 33 miles! The wind was on the starboard beam all the way, averaging 15 kts with gusts to 25. We reefed the main halfway and the jib to the fourth mark and still we routinely hit 7.5 to 8.0 kts! Since the wind was coming off land out of the north, there was very little wave action which gave a comfortable ride. We raced along with a 42 foot Catalina for awhile. They had a fully batten main up and a jib reefed to the first mark and we sailed even with them even though we were reefed much more. 
Once around the island we were in the lee of the mainland where we anchored in 15 ft. Richmond Island has a caretaker but they allow guests to come on land and hike around. A breakwater connects the island to the mainland so the anchorage is very protected. The sunset was cloudless but still nice. The night is clear and the moon is not up so we're hoping for a starry night.
0 comments:
Post a Comment