Sunday, July 12, 2009

Jewell Island - Quiet and German Subs Lookout


Ahoy its Matt. Today we had eggs and ham mmmm. Then we took the dog ashore and the dink was pounded by two waves. Then we left Richmond Island for good. Then I read. I felt queasy and we broke out the sea bands. when we got here I went swimming. When we took the dog ashore Grandpa and I went to a tower on the island. When we came back I swam some more. Then we had dinner. Write to you tomorrow got to take the dog ashore. PS the water was 60.8 degrees.
The rocking didn't let up all night. We had a strong south wind (15 to 20 kts) and island provided complete shielding from the direct waves but waves don't travel in straight lines, they curve around obstacles although they do lose force. Unfortunately, the south wind pointed us south and the swells curved around to hit us from the east providing the entertainment for the night for the crew and a resolution never to come back. By morning, the seas were in full force from days of high winds and to avoid a crew mutiny, the captain decided to make for Jewell Island, a quiet anchorage not too far.

The high winds had kept the anchorage from being too populated, it's usually full from weekenders from Portland. In fact, the ones here were complaining of the rough anchorage but to us it was as calm as a lake. We took advantage of the afternoon sun to go ashore and explore. The island was used during the war as a lookout point for German subs and several abandoned, concrete lookout towers remain and are open for views. Matt and I climbed one and looked out but we both agree that we didn't see any subs. Here's a photo of our anchorage.

Ann prepared a great Mex meal in celebration of the quiet anchorage and you can see form the photo how pleased Matt was. By the way, the winds were supposed to die off around noon but, of course, they did not. It's still howling 15 kts now at 8:30, ha! However, winds are okay as long as there are no swells which is true for our location tonight! Tomorrow we're off for Boothbay.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, sounds like quiet the adventure,espeicailly the last few days.We finelly had a mostly rain free weekend.Spent alot of time outside.Hopefully you'll enjoy quieter waters today.

Have a great day to all,
Love, Monique(Mom)