Day 66 August 22 -- Rockland to Hurricane Island -- 9 NM

The spot on the dock where we debouched our mainsail was taken by a big schooner from Nova Scotia so we landed at an adjacent dock after negotiating around this trimaran (53 feet long by 43 wide).

Ned came over to say hello and chat a while. Doug Pope delivered our sail and helped me lift it from the dock to the deck. Cliff, from the trimaran helped me get it from the deck to atop the boom and its tack attached. The new zipper is much stronger than the old broken one. I put in some pins and battens but as afternoon approached with its stronger winds, I still have some pins, some battens and the reefing lines to reinstall. Thus the mainsail is not operative yet, but we had worn out our free dockside welcome  so we backed off and headed for Hurricane Island using the genoa. Two reasons for Hurricane. They have guest moorings and we have never been there The mooring field is on the eastern side of the island, which shelters it from the prevailing southwesterlies. We sailed SE with SW winds, battling tide and using genoa alone, at speeds of 7.2 to 2.8 knots. The need for frequent swerving to dodge lobster floats kills boat speed as well as sail trim.

It was hazy which developed to thick fog as we passed the White Islands to port, headed east between them and and then south along Hurricane Island's west side.There is a big Outward Bound camp here and we had hoped to explore the island's trails by foot. But the fog kept us aboard. I was worried that we would not be able to find the moorings but the fog thinned a bit, temporarily, and we got on.

Here is me forward fiddling in fog with the flag halyard.

The weather deteriorated with strong winds from the SSW,  which were blocked by the island, and waves and rain. The cruising guide had warned that it can get rolly here and we had a somewhat uncomfortable night and wet night. In the middle of the night I awoke with a start of fear: I had put the mooring penant's eye over the windlass capstan because the line's diameter was to thick to fit on the cleat. What if the eye jumped off the capstan? So I got up with a flashlight and a short piece of strong line and lashed around the eye of the penant, closing it on the capstan.