Something Old, something New … Tuesday August 28, 2012

It rained during the night and was all overcast when we got up.Another shower passed through as we were eating breakfast.  As Gloriahad a migraine, our departure was delayed for a couple of hours.Setting off finally at the Crack of Noon, we motored out of Seal Baypast the site of the mis-adventure from the “Dreamcatcher” days.  Evenlooking at it again today we couldn’t pick out exactly where westarted off or where we wound up.Once out of the bay we hoisted just the main sail for a down wind runto Deer Island.  As we got further out a swell (what is so swell aboutit?) started to build.  In a short while the wind started to diminishleaving us feeling at the mercy of the waves.  We restarted the engineand brought in the mainsail to attempt a motor- sail.  After a bit wethought there was more breeze and let the main out again and slowedthe engine down.  Sadly we soon encountered an area of fierce lobsterpot density.  Without the power of the engine we didn’t have themobility that we needed to negotiate this stretch of water and thus weexperienced Something New.  Yes, we ran over a pot.  Mike had thepresence of mind to take the engine out of gear.  However when heleaned over the side he could see that the rope was caught on theprop.  Now when this would happen to us in the little boat it justwasn’t a big deal.  If we had caught the pot on the centerboard, wewould just lift up on the centerboard and voila.  Similarly, if therudder got caught it would pop up and the pot would float away.Sometimes this led to a loss of steerage at bad moment but usually allwas well.  A pot caught on the prop is another thing.  We decided totry to steer back the way we had come in the hope of freeing the rope.Pulling in the main, we tried to double back on our tracks.  Luckilyit worked.  We avoided having to dive under the boat to free the rope. While we were headed to windward we took down the sail.  This initself was plenty exciting as the swell was causing the boom to flailfrom side to side as Mike was trying to tie down the sail.  Probablyshould have had the harness on for that job.  We continued under poweralone and negotiated the Deer Island Thoroughfare. Passing Stonington,we began to realize that there were some very dark clouds over theland. We rounded the southeast corner of Deer Island and headed intoWebb Cove.  The first rumbles of the thunderstorm were heard as wewere trying to set the anchor.  We managed to get squared away—evengot the sail cover on before the storm hit.  Thunderstorms—SomethingOld.

The good news we got today from Tash is that she is finally back under way. Presumably the car is fixed and she is one her way to Las vegas to stay overnight with a friend and then on to Claremont.

Gloria

Deer Island Thoroughfare

Schooner off Stonington, ME

Stonington, ME

As the storm passes - Webb Cove near Stonington, ME