Halifax or Bust(ers) Ep. 8

We have had a busy week and have covered some ground … or well, water! After we enjoyed a few more days of the Classic Boat Festival in Mahone Bay Harbor (where we saw more boats anchored, moored, rafted, sailing or just motoring around than we have seen the entire time since arriving in Yarmouth, NS two weeks prior) we took in a few more special destinations within the larger Mahone Bay region of the same name as the town and harbor! We quickly learned that the good sailing is NOT around the Yarmouth/Cape Sable Island and Southern portion of the Southeastern Coast of Nova Scotia! Mahone Bay alone is reported to have some 365 islands to sail around and explore and boasts more lovely seaside towns than we had time to visit!

Here is a picture of the boys in the town of Chester in the Northern reaches of Mahone Bay. This is a very New England town–from the architecture to the summer residents!

After a night in Chester, we had a very windy sail to Big Tancook Island, also within Mahone Bay. This is a year-round island for 115 people and it has their own elementary school! We walked around the rugged cliffs and supported the local ice cream shop before the skies darkened and the wind picked up. Here is a picture of our boat within the anchorage at Big Tancook Island.

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Taking the Good with the Bad Ep. 7

Having filled our brains with old shipbuilding history for one more day at Shelburne, and after I paid a visit to the local tavern that had a wi-fi hotspot, and ‘suffered’ through a pint of local brew while doing emails, we cast our lines from the government wharf early the next morning at 5am to gain the favorable current out the harbor. Getting up at that hour should have made both Karen and I morning people. The kids were still asleep, the water was glassy calm, and we each enjoyed a warm beverage as we motored slowly down the harbor and into the ocean, just in time to see the orange ball of the sun peak over the horizon — it’s an experience to behold!

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Oh, Canada! Ep. 6

This has been another week of adventure! Last week’s update ended in Northeast Harbor, and we continued to stay there for 2 more days, partly because the weather was predicted to be on and off rain, and partly because there was so much to do on Mt. Desert Island. We rented bikes one day and discovered the joy of many miles of beautifully crafted carriage roads, first established here by Franklin D Roosevelt. They still have horse-drawn carriage rides available, but most of the trails are used by hikers and bikers.

We met another family with two boys of similar age to ours, the Windsors. This was quite a treat — some adult conversation time for us, and our kids seemed to relish some real kid play time. On our last day in Northeast Harbor, we took the Windsors out for a day sail to Little Cranberry Island, just across the harbor.

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Blown Biminis, but Bountiful Blueberries Ep. 5

The last 7 days have been very action packed. In some ways too packed.

We left Burnt Island in Muscongus Bay and sailed into Rockland harbor, enjoying a nice gental breeze and our first attempt at flying the new assymetrical cruising spinnaker! We had fun watching the knotmeter continue to increase while Karen guided us up Penobscot Bay. Our arrival in Rockland was marked by a fleet of Windjammers returning from a day’s sail. It was quite a spectacle to see all of these old ships so skillfully handled in the harbor and to revel in the splendor of their beauty. Continue reading “Blown Biminis, but Bountiful Blueberries Ep. 5”

Settling In Ep. 4

We are gradually getting more settled in to life aboard Thalia. The anxiety level is coming down, a general routine is setting in, and the atmosphere is more relaxed like we had intended the trip to be!

We spent several days this week visiting with our friends the Withee’s and their relatives in Boothbay Harbor. After a romping sail from Sebasco Harbor, and an early evening arrival, they were kind enough to let us barge in on their lobster dinner!

We also made an excursion out to Burnt Island for an enjoyable picnic…

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Milestone #3 is achieved — We Leave the Dock! Ep. 3

Milestone #3 has been met, finally! We drop lines and depart Portland for our first day underway on our trip! This day came after many preceding days of highs and lows as we wrestled with boat preparation tasks. We departed with a few tasks still to do, but revel in what has been accomplished in a little over a week at the marina. Among other things, we finished putting all of the deck hardware on, including cabintop winches, dorade vents and guards, stanchions, lifelines, bow and stern pulpits, and the bimini. We were blessed with mostly clear and warm weather for this work. A few surprises arised, including the discovery that the new windows that I had installed were leaking after the first rain. Karen and I had spent a lot of sweaty hours under the boat canopy at home caulking and mounting all 367 bolts to secure these windows, so to find drips of water coming down around a dozen of the bolts put me in a very raw mood. We spent several days removing the old windows, scraping away old caulking and recaulking (and applying much more caulk then before!) as well as using epoxy to seal the bolt heads to the top of the windows. Needless to say, we left this window re-work to the end of the week so that we could head out as soon as the agony was over.

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Milestone #2 is achieved — We Move From Land to Sea! Ep. 2

Milestone #2 was met today by us moving out of our house! This was  preceded by many exhausting days of final packing. When did we acquire all  of this stuff? I long for my college days when I could move with one small  car load! Karen had done a great job of packing most of the house and  coordinating with the moving company for our sensitive furniture and  electronics. We were fortunate also that our renter, Margarita, wanted to  use most of our furniture, and that reduced the burden of the move out  tremendously.

This morning we finished up final packing and giving away food in the fridge,  hoping to get out of the house before Margarita showed up, but we ended  up overlapping for an hour. We were all a bit quite and reflective as her  belongings started filling the rooms that we had just emptied and the reality  of our move out started to appear. It will be 13 months before we sleep,  eat and shower in our home!

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Milestone #1 is achieved — Thalia leaves our yard! Ep. 1

Karen and I talked about three critical milestones for us to accomplish before we left on our trip. The first was getting Thalia ready for the haul to Portland. The second was getting moved out of the house. And, the third was actually leaving Portland on our boat. We accomplished the first milestone today! Thalia was hauled away from our yard! Today’s work started at 5am with both Karen and I rolling on a fresh coat of bottom paint on the hull. We needed to give it a couple hours to dry before Dayton Marine showed up mid-day for the two hour haul to Portland. They showed up as scheduled, along with an escort car that is required because of Thalia’s beam (width) of 14 feet. The escort car also has a pole mounted on the front of the car that checks for height issues along the way.

 

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