July 9 -- Falmouth Foreside to "The Goslings"

First a nasty little job: we still had some pink propylene glycol antifreeze in the bilge together with a wee bit of oily stuff, salt and fresh water, and a lot of grit and grime -- and a resulting smell.  I should have done this in May. This diary does not omit the nasty bits of the sailing life. Removal of the salon table gave access and now the bilge is sweet!  Then a trip to shore to take showers. ILENE has two indoor showers, plus a third outdoor shower in the cockpit, but so far we have not used them, showering at the various marinas and Yacht clubs where the hot water supply is endless and cleaning soap scum is not needed. The Portland YC, founded in 1869, fourteen years before the Harlem, has very nice showers including stacks of their soft fluffy white towels. And while ashore we went up to the main road and turned right to visit  Falmouth-Foreside’s county store (dish washer detergent) and then went the other way to the Handy Boat dock which had a lovely restaurant and a ship store (boat soap). Normally our almost daily shore excursions are in the afternoon, after the passage, but not today.  I mentioned lobster, mac and cheese in Scituate posting, thinking it was a new invention because I had never eaten it before. But since then I have seen it on other menus. Today’s new treat, for me, was a BLT with a layer of scallops added. Yum.

Then it was off for the nine miles to the Goslings. We started on motor due to light wind but after a few minutes, the motor died! I called Lene up on deck to take the wheel, put up the small jib to try to give the possibility of steerage so we would not drift onto the rocks, and after a few minutes, shifted to the other fuel tank and she started right up with no problems for the rest of the day. I have to shift back to the first tank and try to run the engine while on the anchor before we get underway again. It is scary when things go wrong and I don’t know why. Today I "rebooted" the engine!

We changed to the genoa to help the engine and were close hauled on starboard tack the whole way, heading NE. But it was slow, about 4 knots, against a weak tide, and I made the mistake of towing instead of lifting the dink on its davit bar. I did this both because I am lazy and because the risk of big waves here in the protected bay with good weather is very remote, so tipping the dink over was not a concern. The downside however is that we are towing a big sea anchor. I have put the dink up on the bar for tomorrow’s passage.

The Goslings are two tiny islets just east of the south end of the larger Lower Goose Island. (Geese beget goslings, get it?)

This is a somewhat sheltered anchorage area in a naturally beautiful setting. There are about 30 moorings here,some visible with the only other boat here when we arrived. All but two are empty, and there is room for other boats, like us, to anchor. We were in 18 feet of water at low tide so we put out 100 feet of snubbed chain. On a nice weekend day there may be 50 boats here. Tonight though, just four. One enters from the east side through the gap between tiny Irony Island to the south and a reef called Grassy Ledge, to the north.

I went exploring, by dink, first to the north end of the west Gosling, where I cut the engine and rowed onto the beach to say hello to a group of two families led by Jim Tyler, left, camping out here in tents. You can see how low the tide is.

The Goslings' owners allow campfires on the beach, but bring your own wood, the island does not have enough of it. I did not stay for long because the tide had not reached dead low and when it did there is a sand bar between the two Goslings which might have barred the dinghy’s return. Next stop was off Grassy Ledge, where about 100 seals were lying on the rocks. Here is one group of them. I wonder if they mind that fishermen steal their food, or vice versa.

I cut the engine and rowed closer but they became afraid and jumped into the water. A home cooked dinner and a good night’s sleep.