Adventures With Hook

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Kittery, ME

Leaving Camp Ellis proved to be quite rocky. Poor Maddie had her first sea-sickness.
Fortunately, she recovered quickly and 10 minutes later was jumping up and down in the cockpit singing to the seagulls!
Just the same, we were happy to find our way into Kittery to meet friends Bob and Meghan Kline. They were lovely hosts allowing us to raft up to their seaworthy 30' Morris Leigh (yes, the same design as ours) and tour us around their home port. Not only did they treat us to the best pizza and ice cream in town but allowed the girls to ram-sack their blackberry crop out front of their home! Yum!

Meghan and Bob Kline with the Piscataqua River behind...
Thank you!

The two beautiful Leighs...

Entering Kittery Maine

Kittery, Maine

August

Camp Ellis (Mouth of Saco River) ME

We left Portland on a beautiful day. The winds were light 0-5 Kts but the sea swell made it a "rolly" trip. At times we'd see 10 foot swells left-over from Bill, it reminded me of a kiddie roller coaster vs. chop. Upon entering the mouth of the Saco River we were unable to find good anchorage. After some general motoring about we decided to stop at the town dock and ask where to put Hook for the night. The HarborMaster at Camp Ellis asked us "How were the seas?" Steve replied, "Not bad really." He went on to say, "Tying up for the night is $60 so let me ask you again, how were the seas?...." Steve said, "The ocean was angry, we nearly died out there." "Given your here for safe harbor then, lets call it $30" he said. What a deal!

Sunrise at Camp Ellis

Who knew Steve is at the end of the rainbow....

Leaving Portland

Portland Headlight

Camp Ellis, Saco

August

Friday, August 21, 2009

Portland, ME

It took 2 long days to get to Portland from Rockland but it was well worth it. We beat Hurricane Bill and got to spend 4 wonderful days with family. The mooring at Portland Yacht Services was only 10 minutes from Auntie Char & John. The winds at the worst were only 15-20 Kts vs. the 50 Kts they had projected but it took several days after Bill passed by to calm the sea swell. We were glad we had such a great place to stay. Thank you!

Goofy faced girls...
Maddie, Emma, Lucy, Avelyn, Abby and Sophie (in the bottom right corner)!

Our Southern Maine mini family reunion. Thank you to Ben & Melinda for hosting and to all that made the time to come. It meant alot to us to see so many of you before heading out for the year! The kids had a ball!

Lovely lunch with John's parents, Walter & Sue.
Thank you!

Enjoying Portland Harbor with Charlotte and John...

Playing in the wind right before Hurricane Bill...

Mud Warrior, Emma!

Mud flatting in Cape Porpoise. Great idea Leslie! Sorry to have missed you Dana & Wendy, we'll see you Florida!

Emma, Leslie, Madeline, & Rutley

Fort Gorges, Portland

Portland Harbor Skyline

Portland, Maine

August

Boothbay, ME

Maddie catching up on her phone calls.

Our sail from Broad Cove into Boothbay was unfortunatley a 10 hour motor sail. No wind to speak of to help us along. The ocean was choppy and confused looking. It seemed to rock us from every direction. The girls had a ball jumping on deck at the bow with the waves and dangling their feet off the edges to get wet, completely unaffected while I barfed over the leward rail for a good 10 minutes.

Our first "catch" in 6 weeks...I guess we can't rely on this form of grocery shopping yet!

Who can guess what kind of bird this is?

Ship in Boothbay in dry dock

Entering Boothbay

Hook tucked in for the night...

August 19, 2009

Boothbay, Maine

Broad Cove, ME

We did a nice short sail today with a good one hour tack on a southwest wind into Broad Cove.

Owls Head Light at Broad Cove

Thanks to the two Grammies we have enjoyed many a meal with the cockpit table from Meme and the sun awning from Nana!
It has made the hot evening meals much more comfortable...

Great sea glass "finds" on the beach today and another good but colder swimming hole here compared to the water temps at Warren Island.

August 18, 2009

Broad Cove, Maine

Monday, August 17, 2009

Warren Island, ME

We caught the current out of the Penobscot well when leaving Bangor allowing us to make good way. We passed Fort Point, our initial anchorage for the night, early in the day and stumbled upon Warren Island...

Time to swim!

We enjoyed a nice hike around the perimeter of the island. Nice wide trail with a scavenger hunt for the kids!

Our mooring at Warren Island

Warren Island was a treasure to find. It proved to be a very well kept State Park with beautiful waterside campsites. No public ferry comes to this island but we saw many kayaks come in from Lincolnville to spend the night. Fresh water, outhouses and free moorings were provided.

We're headed south!

August 17, 2009

Warren Island, Maine

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Bangor, ME

What a crazy week in Bangor! We had lots of good times catching up with friends and family and we still couldn't fit everyone in. We were happy we post-poned our trip to enjoy our class reunions but we find we are "itching" to point our bow south. It's hard to believe we have been "living aboard" for 6 weeks or so... We have been fortunate to be able to get off the boat every 3-6 days and enjoy "the mainland" in someones comfortable home or have the use of their car and showers! All this will end soon when we really leave the "Maine" nest.