Sunday, July 19, 2009

To Seal Bay - A Glorious Sail!


Ahoy it’s Matt. Today I woke up and read in my book and we had danishes. Then I pumped the dink out. Then I read in my book. Then we left Rockland and headed for Seal Bay. I read for the whole day. On the way out of the break water we put up the sails and sailed the whole way. We saw two windjammers and a ferry. On the way through the last stretch of the sail we saw two ospreys. Then when we got here I went swimming. The water was 61 degrees berrrrr for you. Then I read for the rest of the afternoon. Write to you tomorrow. PS I finished the book and there are 381 pages and I read it in three days.

Today was one of those days that you live for in Maine. The wind was out of the southwest at 10 to 15 kts, the sky was blue, the sun was warm and the seas were flat. Our destination was Seal Bay. Coming from Rockland, the sail was a glorious broad reach until entering the Fox Island Thorofare, the narrow stretch of water between North Haven and Vinal Haven islands just east of Rockland. Through this passage you get to dodge lobster pots, other boats and moored boats while adjusting your sails due to a variable wind direction due to surrounding land, quite fun. As we approached the thorofare, a windjammer out of Rockland gradually overtook us with a full set of sails flying, what a sight! A second windjammer approached as we headed out of the Thorofare, just beautiful.

The Seal Bay anchorage was practically empty. It’s a Sunday night but still one would expect to see more cruising boats but not today. Since high tide coincided with Hoolie’s nighttime relief, we decided to try a circumnavigation of Penobscot Island, one of the islands in Seal Bay. It can only be done at high tide since the path dries out at low. Along the way Ann snapped the sunset picture and we made it back to the boat before dark.
Unfortunately, I do not have an internet connection here so please forgive the late post. As we head further east, internet access becomes less of a probability. However, I’ll always write the blog daily (as will Matt) but publishing it on the web may be more sporadic.

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