July 27 and 28 -- Blue Hill to Sawyer Cove to Bass Harbor

The dinghy had a lot of water in it this morning but I was able to lift it enough, hanging from the davit bar, that most of the water was able to drain out of the aft drain hole. Then raised and secured it. We had a lazy morning, with not very far to go and I spent some time figuring out a few nice spots for the next week before our big trip to Eastport. Ilene did not like the writeups of the harbors on Isle au Haut, that I proposed, so we have crossed them off our list.  The Moonrakers had told us not to miss Mistake Island, while "down east". We have been to Mustique but I had not heard of Mistake. The book gives it very good grades so perhaps on the way up or back from Eastport we will stop there instead of Roque, which is nearby.

We left Blue Hill (a Parthian shot of the hill and the YC mooring field where were moored in the foreground)

at 11: 30, headed for Sawyers Cove on the west coast of MDI. The distance was 10.3 miles which took us three hours. We were not in any hurry, the weather was nice sunny and warm, so we unfurled the genoa only, as soon as clear of the harbor. We enjoyed speeds of 7.1 to 1.8 knots depending on the winds which came very slow but at other times, sustained at 16 knots.  The winds were from the west giving beamy starboard reaches heading south. But we needed several jibes once we made the left turn. Without engine and with only the genoa this was the challenge: keeping up enough boat speed while furling our only sail, turning and running it out again. Good practice for solo racing.
Our course marked the completion of the circumnavigation of Long Island, the one in Blue Hill Bay, 4.4 miles long. We had passed east of it when heading north to Union River Bay with Mendy in the rain, north of it when heading west to Blue Hill, and today headed south and then east we passed its west and south sides to close the circle.

Sawyers Cove is a niche with about three houses on its shores, about five mooring balls, two small moored sailboats on two of them and a moored rowboat – and us.

We arrived before 3, expecting the possibility of company. But no one else came in. A quiet afternoon and evening. We thought to lower the dink and explore this cove, but no -- we are getting so lazy. Sunset over Long Island.

Next day we motorsailed to the Morris Yacht Company mooring field in the outer harbor of Bass Harbor, at the SW corner of MDI. Morris makes very beautiful yachts. It plotted as eight miles. Extreme dense fog delayed our start till 11 am. We could not even see the mooring ball in the photo above. and by 11 the tide was running north against us and the wind gave us a starboard beat, with one tack to the harbor entrance. I used main and small jib; we made about four knots, on average. But it rained, steadily. Even with foulies, I got quite chilled.

The zipper that closes the top of the Doyle stack pack (the blue cover which encloses the mainsail when it is down)  tore. I caused this by using the electric winch to haul up the mainsail before fully opening the zipper, causing the leech of that sail to jam against  and break the zipper. It is irreparable so we will have to get a new zipper installed -- a sturdier replacement. The problem is that the whole sail, enclosed in the bag,  has to be stripped from the boat, taken from the boat, picked up by the sailmaker and then remounted when repaired, which are big jobs. In the meantime, the sail is safe and can be secured by lines, but the kitties will not have their favorite perch.  And, we will have only the use of our headsails while it is being repaired.
We plan to take hikes here, visit the history museum, the lighthouse and the nature trail. But for now these plans are on hold, rain checked. Bass Harbor is almost exclusively lobster boats. It is a new harbor for us as was Sawyer Cove. We did get ashore for dinner at the only real restaurant in town, The Seafood Ketch, a warm and friendly place with lots of cheerful help. We were seated next to two elegantly dressed older ladies, (well everyone is well dressed compared to us) who live here in the summer and come from the Upper West side of Manhattan and from Pelham, near City Island.

We have made some plans: They include several harbors on Swan Island and then, on August 3, Lene’s friend, Simone and her friend, Todd, will meet us in Northeast Harbor and we will do a day sail with them, weather permitting. August 4, we will sail from Northeast Harbor to Bar Harbor to meet Bennett, who will fly/ drive there to accompany us from there to Eastport and back during the period August 5 – 13. From then on it is all a matter of heading back to New York, very gradually, this time, outside of Cape Cod Bay, via Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard.