by Betsie Betsie No Comments

Every once in awhile we express to one another our gratitude for the beautiful weather and calms sea we have had in Maine!  It’s certainly been beyond our expectations.  With the exception of the first couple of weeks, the days have been sunny and mild, with only a bit of rain (altho things are very dry here).  When John and I were building this boat we added the enclosed fly bridge with the anticipation of cruising in the north.  Despite the primarily fair weather, we don’t regret our decision.  It has proven to be a good addition, especially on windy and cooler days and for allowing optimal visibility (ie. lobster floats).  This morning the temperature was 56 when we awoke.  I put on leggings and a fleece top, later adding a lightweight vest.  Bear in mind that it is August 26th!  But, don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining!  However, with only 6 years of full-time Florida living, we have become wimps.  I said to John, “you might want to record my earlier comment about being chilly, and play it back to me on future August 26ths when I complain of being too hot”!

For all of you boaters reading this, you know that weather plays a huge part in itinerary planning. We have several different apps that we use.  John likes “Fish Weather”.  We can select the location closest to where we are, get winds, gusts, temperature, rain, wave height/direction/duration.  It also gives the NOAA forecast, tide charts, and sunrise/sunset.  While we were in Rockland, and even before, he was studying up on the forecast for the days ahead.  Winds were coming, and wanting to be as protected as possible, we chose to return to the marina in Boothbay Harbor.  A mooring there would protect us from the north and west winds.  And indeed it did.  We stayed two nights.  Much to our delight we discovered another lobster dive that we hadn’t known about!

We then continued southwest to a mooring at Great Island Boatyard (near Little Snow island where we’d anchored earlier in the trip).  This too would provide us with good wind protection from the north and west.  While underway the seas were rougher than we’ve been used to on this trip.  (We got spoiled, we’ll admit!)  Certainly not uncomfortable, and no where near what we have experienced on some of our Jersey-coast trips; but we had a 2′ chop with some 3-4′ waves thrown in.  Zoey decided that she’d cozy up under my vest and await arrival at our destination!

Today we returned to Dolphin Marina in Harpswell (remember the blueberry muffins they deliver to each visiting boat every morning?) and a 3rd (but who’s counting?!) visit to Erica’s Seafood!  If you have read a fair amount of these blog postings you can tell that we are not “foodies”!  A good ol’ dive is our favorite kind of place!

After we pulled in to Dolphin and had connected to the mooring, I looked back and saw this catamaran behind us.  With the hope of not offending anyone, I would like to ask that, if you are a boater, please do not this!!  Thank you!

Tomorrow we go into Portland where we’ll meet up with some friends and former Krogen Express owners who summer near Kennebunkport.  Sadly it’s going to be a very rainy day.  Looks like I’ll be pulling out my rain gear for handling lines when we dock.

I began this post with thanks, and I’d like to end on the same note.  As we reflect back on our summer in Maine – and on all our boating over the years, for that matter – we are enormously grateful for our safety and protection, for being guided wisely, and that we have had no injuries to our limbs or digits!  This isn’t to say that there haven’t been a few bruises and mishaps along the way; but all in all, we have been extremely fortunate.  I start each day with this from Isaiah……“When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee….”.  And I end each day with thanks to my captain and my Captain for “getting us here safely”.

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