This Holland American liner came into Portland before breakfast.
Underway from 11:30 to 4:45 for the 23.9 miles. We had good
tide the whole way but the problem was light wind from behind. We averaged
less than four knots until 2 pm, when we slowed to 1.9 knots, gave up on sailing, rolled up the sails and used
the engine. We did add the genoa a few brief times thereafter but without much effect from it. We passed the
same sights we had seen on the day we got to Portland from Portsmouth, but took
photos of a few lights that we neglected to note on the way up:
Bug Light inside Portland Harbor,
Cape Elizabeth Lighthouse, not active, about three miles south of Portland Light,
and Goat Island Light, at the entrance to Cape Porpoise Harbor.
I managed to get a lobster pot trapped on our propeller. “Whap, Whap,
Whap!” and I quickly put us in neutral. In all of our travels in Maine we have
been caught on the rudder several times, and managed to slip off, but never on
the propeller. If enough turns of the cord are
wrapped, this can make the propeller shaft into a large spool and do considerable
damage to the prop and even to the hull!
What to do: lower the dink to give access to the swim platform and
ladder, take off clothes, put on goggles, take knife in hand and plunge in. No
time for that wet suit this time. The water was painfully bracing. I made one
mistake that I will not repeat if this happens again: I cut the taut line connecting the heavy metal box 160 feet down on the bottom to our propeller on my first immersion. In essence I cut our "anchor" line, which was a mistake! Because then the boat started to move by virtue of
the wind on its freeboard and stack pack. Next time, Roger, cut away the wraps
of cord around the propeller first, before cutting the umbilical cord. I asked
Lene to put the rudder over hard and this slowed us. Fortunately it was a
rather warm afternoon and sunny. I am truly sorry to have cost a lobsterman a
considerable investment of capital, but there was no other way and they do consider some such occasional losses as a cost of their doing business.
The other interesting thing was that we were temporarily
infested with literally several hundred black flies. Fortunately they were of the
non-biting variety. We had experienced larger brown non-biting flies in the
Savannah River, but they just flew away after an hour. And I picked up
thousands of June bugs when I helped bring "Sea Leaf" north with Bob a few years
ago. But these guys just hung on. After safely set on our anchor, snubber set, sails wrapped up properly etc., we went below, closed the
screen doors and killed about 50 of these pests that were trapped inside the cabin. The
fly swatter gave up its life in the effort. We let others go, by briefly opening the screens for those who were near the screens.
In 2008, I sailed home from Portland in six days with
the help of Jim, KC and Art, who replaced Lene as crew. This was before Whitty and Alfie were born. Our first stop
had been planned for Isles of Shoals, but unlike today, in 2008 we found ourselves beating into strong southwesterlies
and with an adverse tide. We calculated that we were not going to get to Isles of Shoals before dark so we researched and hung a right into Cape Porpoise, which I had not
heard of before. The channel is well marked by four reds and two greens and
once inside there is sufficient anchoring room. Much of this small harbor is buoyed for lobster boats but we managed
to find adequate space last time and this time as well. There is very little protection from wind, which blows across
the low ledges that surround the harbor, but the ocean waves do not get in.
There is a dock where one can buy lobsters, but, as in 2008, we did not go
ashore. I think that the residents would agree that Cape Porpoise, only about three miles from Kennebunkport, is a convenient safe stopping place but not a destination.
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