Summary video of our two week sailing vacation from Boston to Belfast Maine

Typical day in Boston harbor

Up the mast

During our recent vacation the windex came loose. Fortunately, a low weight friend was willing to be hoisted up the mast. Here is the screw that needed tightening - thankfully and easy fix

A view of the front of the mast with the halyard and bowline used to hoist my friend

Here is the view from the top of the mast

Day 13 – Salem to Boston

Our last day was the same leg, but in reverse, as our first of the vacation. Since we didn’t need to be home until 5pm we thought we would get up at a relaxed pace. The wind was blowing all night and had not let up in the morning and since it was coming form the NE Salem harbor, which faces east, was a little rolly. We checked the weather forecast and saw that there was a small craft advisory with winds about 20kts sustained and the radar show a band of rain over Philadelphia and New York. Since they typically travel NE up the coast we expected to get wet again later. However, the strong winds were our savior as we made record time to Boston.

We dropped the mooring line at 9:30am and headed out of Salem Harbor. As soon as we turned to the south we had the sails up and continued to sail until we were at the marina. Once we passed Marblehead we turned SW and had 6-8 foot swells. Since the winds were from the NE and we were heading SW we were on a dead run to the north channel of Boston harbor. We went wing-on-wing in 20kt winds (true) and were screeching along at hull speed. At times we would surf to 8.5 kts. We made record time to the marina. We have done this trip many times and normally expect it to take 4-5hours for the 21 nm. We made it in 3h 15 mins.

As we were approaching Boston we saw the good old sites – they sent out the welcoming committee in the form of the tourist speed boat “Codzilla”.

We had to navigate around four tankers anchored in the harbor as well as an exclusion zone for the LPG tanker.

We saw the Nantucket Lightboat, that is being refurbished, downtown Boston and one big sailboat

The coastguard station,

The marina

And of course – Old Ironsides, The USS Constitution which is adjacent to our marina, “ The Constitution Marina”.

Some statistics from the trip
13 legs
470 nm in total
53 hours of engine use (ouch that hurts, but it doesn’t hurt our pocket as much as a powerboater’s)
18 harbor seal sightings
18 dolphin sightings
and we caught one meager little mackerel. Mind you dragging a lure at 5-7kts is not ideal for fishing, so I will take it as a mark of pride that we didn’t catch more because it meant that we were actually going places.

Day 12 – Kittery to Salem via the Annisquam River

Today’s trip turned out to be much drier than yesterday’s – no rain but we started with fog in Kittery. We disembarked at 8:15am to ensure we had a low current in the marina and then headed south down the Piscataqua river. The river was quiet, but after sighting a harbor seal, the fog set in as can be seen beneath.

Our radar system did a good job of helping us navigate around local fishing boats, and a sailboat that was heading upstream. We could see just outside of the harbor/river was a large radar reflection that turned out to be a tanker. This was on our intended path but the radar allowed us to divert.

After another 30 minutes the fog cleared but winds were low so we motored over to the Annisquam river. This is always a great place to come through. However, if you are doing it for the first time make certain that you do it with several feet of water above low tide and preferably on a rising tide. We just happened to hit at high tide, so it was a breeze.

Here is the northern, Ipswich Bay side of the Annisquam

We call this waterside property

Though the charts make the trip seem simple, it is east to get disoriented and think that the next buoy that you see is the next buoy on the chart. Be cautious and read their numbers to make certain that this is the case. One time coming under the fixed bridge from north to south we nearly made this mistake since the chart suggested that the next buoys are straight ahead. However, the ones that we saw were the subsequent buoys, however, with a quick check we realized we were missing a pair that were hidden to our port just beyond the bridge amongst moored vessels.

The next major issue – that’s an over statement – is that you may need to ask for the railroad bridge to be lifted (VHF channel 13). Time of day is important as if its train rush hour it may take a while. However, we have not had this problem in our transits through the river. At the bridge the river makes a 90 degree turn so it’s not possible to see if anybody is coming in the opposite direction. Listen to chatter on channel 13 to get guidance and post a bow look out.

After passing the railroad bridge you next meet the Cape Ann marina, then there is a 90 degree turn to port and the Blynman bridge. Again channel 13 communicates with the operator.

After having safely navigated the Annisquam river we headed south out of Gloucester harbor turned SW and the wind picked up at about 2pm. We had a glorious sail into Salem harbor and picked up a Salem Water Taxi (Channel 68) mooring ball (5:15pm). Sailing in the Beverly, Salem Marblehead area is really fun. There are generally good winds and lots of boats, islands and shallow spots to navigate. When this is taken together with tacking against the wind it can be an exhilarating time. I have iNavX on my iphone which allows me to help with navigation if Yolande is at the helm. We were able to sail right up to Red Daymarker #2 to meet the launch service that showed us to the buoy.

We went into town to a local Indian restaurant “Passage to India”. It was a great meal and then we picked up a few cool ones to bring back to the boat. Sunset was beautiful and then the winds picked up. They have been pumping all night and it’s a small craft advisory for the day. Winds from the NE so we should have a great sail back to Boston.

Day 11 – Kennebunkport to Kittery

Day 11 was a wet one. We awoke to rain, we sailed and motored in rain, docked in rain and got thoroughly soaked. It was raining so hard we ended up laughing about it.

We left Kennebunkport at about 10am, headed out of the river and started to sail. The going was slow and we called ahead for reserving a slip. We decided to try a new place in the Portsmouth area. We got a reservation at Badgers Island Marina on the eastern side of the river in Kittery Maine. Darren the enthusiastic person on the phone asked us to be there by 2:30pm so that there was little current. We agreed and started to motor. The current in this river can be viscous and it flows through the marina.

30 minutes before arrival we called the marina to get instructions and started preparing Prairie Gold for the docks. I managed to drop one of the fenders overboard which gave Yolande good boat maneuvering practice including reversing in a cross current. Of course it started raining the hardest of the day when I was out on deck getting everything ready. The next hour was a real downpour.

We arrived and were shown around by Darren – the three of us were soaked.

Yolande and Phil went back to Prairie Gold, changed clothes took a nap and dried out. We walked into Kittery and found a restaurant “Black Birch”. There was a queue inside at 6pm, we put our names down for a table, and rather than stand and wait, went across the road for a little refreshment and came back 30 minutes later. Quickly we were seated at two bar seats and the evening began. Black Birch is owned by three locals who used to work together in a restaurant down the street. They decided to set up their own thing, and great restaurant this is. We had a great evening of small plates and at a wonderful price.

As we left it was really foggy

We had originally hoped to walk across the bridge that is next to the marina into Portsmouth. However, it is under renovation and closed. Apparently it was due to be completed for reopening on July 17th 2013. However, the project is not yet completed. Consequently they are working around the clock which meant the evening/night on the boat was not one of the most peaceful.

Day 10 – Portland to Kennebunkport

Breakfast in Portland was in a café called "Mornings in Paris" where we had pastries and coffee. Walking back to the boat we saw a little of Berlin, a city that we had visited only weeks before,

After a relaxing start to the day we headed out of port towards Kennebunkport. Looking back on the city we couldn’t help to notice how big the ocean liners are.

We also watched as tugs were bringing an oil tanker into port

We exited the main channel

And on the way south saw more boats that chase tuna

As we were arriving close to Kennebunkport we had to stay clear of a Presidential restricted zone – here is one of the buoys marking the territory – because of the summer residence of the Bush family.

As we came between the breakwaters we noticed that the red and green channel markers were very close together – you can see them just off our bow and there was some significant current

We docked at “Chicks Marina” (not certain why it is called that name) which was very hospitable. As we walked into town we could see the impact of low tide.

If you ever go to Kennebunkport we would advise you to steer a little clear of the main downtown and look for some of the slightly off the track restaurants. We went to a wine bar aptly named “Old Vine”. Great selection of wine and small plates and wonderful staff. Janet, was very good a mixing with the diners and suggesting different wines. Definitely a place to go back to.

Here are some shots in the evening and final Prairie Gold oat the face dock.