Friday, August 14, 2009

What a Sail to Pickeriing Island!


The morning was calm but the sun was bright. Some fog lingered for awhile but the sun quickly drove it away. Richard and I took Hoolie ashore as Ann prepared breakfast. I snapped a photo of the boats in the anchorage faced in all directions from the tidal currents. That’s one of the problems in Maine, the wind usually dies at night so a boat can swing in a circle around its anchor so if you’re within two anchor rode lengths of your neighbor, you’ll probably meet during the night. Cruisers used to a pointing wind at night like on Long Island Sound usually run into trouble in Maine. Unfortunately, the only cure for anchoring too close is experience. As we sit in Pickering Island anchorage, there’s a boat that’s too close off our port side. As he was anchoring, he wouldn’t look our way as I stood on the bow glaring. He’s aware that he’s too close but he anchored anyway. It’s the second time he anchored tonight, the first time we knew he was too close to shore and eventually he found that out too.

Back to the morning, the wind started to build in by 9:00 and we set out and shortly set the sails. The wind was just enough for an enjoyable sail, about 8 to 10 kts and we sailed the entire distance to Pickering Island, about 20 miles. It was just a perfect sail with the full sun, warm temperatures, no storms and flat water. The scenery was fantastic as usual with Mt Desert in the distance and the greens of the surrounding islands. The sailboats were out in force at last and made a pretty sight against the hills of Penobscot Bay.
We grilled pork ribs on the back of the boat as we wined and admired the sunset, what a life! Saturday we’re headed back to Rockland for Richard’s return trip. We’ll be by ourselves until the Bunches arrive on Friday. I think we’ll just sail.

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