By Rich
Rover is hauled out for the winter here in Annapolis and I’ve spent essentially every free moment for the last two weeks getting her winterized. The process has been about what I expected, which is to say confirmation of why it’s easier to sail these boats 1,000 or more miles south to somewhere warm than to winterize them! Here’s a short list of the task list with some details on the methods I chose: Continue reading Winterizing The Hylas 54 Is a BEAR
By Paula
We know the seasons are changing as the leaves are turning red and orange in New England. The temperatures are cooler, the sun rises later and sets earlier, and the water temps are becoming chilly. The weather is at the center of this journey and as Fall takes hold, more and more “gales” and fronts have altered some of our travel plans. Originally, the plan was to sail from Provincetown to Nantucket along the outer Atlantic coast of Cape Cod and hopefully see some sharks and maybe more whales, but hurricane Teddy had other plans for us with big breeze and waves. Instead, we chose the inside route again through the Cape Cod Canal and stopped a few days in Onset, Ma. This town is at the southwest end of the canal. A lovely anchorage and mooring field with accessibility to a gas dock and water, etc. The yacht club like all the clubs along our summer route were closed to outside guests with no reciprocity due to Covid. It was a great SUP locale but the town was not too special…not even a coffee shop…what? We left after 2 days and timed the raging 4 knot current through Woods Hole to Vineyard Haven, Martha’s Vineyard, home of the original Black Dog. This was a quick 1.5 day stop en route to Nantucket. We will be back to MV just need to keep moving again due the weather. Brian and I were able to enjoy some time in Vineyard Haven. Coffee at Mocha Mott’s followed by a long bike ride on the west side of the island. Our Annapolis friends Peter and Margaret have a home in Vineyard Haven and kindly lent us their bikes for this adventure. We had a great lunch at Waterside Market on Main Street and a nice walk to the shops. We anchored in the harbor which is good, but has a lot of ferry traffic late at night and early morning, so definitely “rolly”.
By Rich
After the gale passed yesterday, we found the breeze shifting to the west and easing somewhat, blowing around 20 with gusts to the upper 20s. With the right shift we found a terrible problem with swells bending around the northern corner of the island and coming to violently roll us on the beam. Some months ago Brian send me a link to a YouTube video showing how to rig a “swell bridle” for this situation. The technique involves tying a long line to the anchor chain with a rolling hitch, running it aft to the transom, and then easing out the chain enough that effectively you wind up a gigantic bridle that will hold the boat in the direction you choose (based on how much chain you let out from the bow). We decided to try it out, and it worked great! We were able to point the bow straight into the waves and be far more comfortable even though the waves coming off the Sound were so big they actually caused the boat to pound lightly on occasion! Check out the results in these videos:
By Rich
We are currently on a slow cruise back from Maine to Annapolis via Long Island Sound, and after dropping anchor in Stonington, Connecticut this past Sunday (September 27) we checked the forecast and saw this rather ominous graphical representation of the winds for Tuesday (September 29) night / early Wednesday (September 30) morning:
By Paula
The remnants of hurricane Laura “forced” us into Bar Harbor for 2 weeks! Certainly not a problem as there is much to do here. I find it interesting that we are in Maine and this is the 3rd tropical storm/hurricane or weather event we had to duck from or remain holed up. Hmm, bad luck, wrong place/wrong time, global warming? Who knows, anyway, we had more opportunities to trek through Acadia National Park which is awesome. To review, Mount Desert (pronounced like your after dinner treat, dessert) Island is home to SW Harbor, NE Harbor, Seal Harbor, Bar Harbor, Acadia, and many more lovely places. Mountainous and surrounded by water, what more can you ask for?
By Paula
Time flies when you are having fun! This is my excuse for being behind in blogging as we have been in Maine since the first of August. Last I left you we were heading to Portland for refuge from Hurricane Isaias. We stayed at a slip in Dimilo’s Old Port Marina in downtown Portland. This proved to be a great spot not only for weather protection, but, also for the wonderful people we met. Susan and Barry, on their Sabre 42 powerboat, hail from Massachusetts. They were a wealth of knowledge on cruising New England. We enjoyed socially distanced happy hours with good conversation and exchange of helpful tips for baking and cooking in the convection oven (more on that later). Immediately next to us was a Sabre 54 powerboat with owners Angelia and Gene and their 2 dogs, Ginger and Carolina. They planned to head to Eastport Maine which is the furthest north and east in Maine before Canada. Unfortunately for them and us, Canada is not allowing Americans in due to Covid. We looked forward to Nova Scotia, especially Brian who wanted to go to Oak Island and find the treasure (for all “Curse of Oak Island” tv show fans you would understand). Oh, well, maybe next time!! Angie and Gene rented a truck to pick up bikes for their trip. They kindly offered their truck to us for grocery shopping. This is the last Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods in Maine and even though both stores are only 0.5 miles from the marina the truck was invaluable to stock up on food and alcohol for the next several weeks. Trader Joes’ 2 buck and 3 buck chuck (cheap wine that tastes good) are onboard! Continue reading Lobster traps, Lobsters, and Lighthouses
By Rich
Literally. It was s**tty.
It all started when the seals on our windlass decided to pack it in over the weekend, leaking gear oil over the decks and into the anchor locker. Wanting to avoid getting water in the gear oil and fearing we could damage the windlass further if the oil level got too low, we motored to Southwest Harbor to see if we could get a marine shop to take the windlass in for a rebuild. Monday morning I took on the huge job getting it taken apart and removed from the boat. Continue reading My August Week Off From Work Was S**tty. Plain S**tty.
By Rich
Our WordPress website data shows that over the last six years of blogging my yacht reviews are the most popular posts with our readers by a considerable margin. The data surprised me somewhat, since I am neither an industry nor sailing professional. No matter – I love writing them and people seem to love reading them so I’m going to keep them coming! Having covered thousands of miles aboard our own 2006 Hylas 54, Rover, and as crew aboard the 2015 Hylas 56 Odette, I thought it was high time I put my reflections on these yachts down on paper for the benefit of anyone who might be interested. Moving forward, I plan to segment my yacht reviews into the following sections:
By Paula
Hello from New England! We continue to head north along Massachusetts on our way to Maine. We arrived at Cape Ann, the northernmost limit of Massachusetts Bay, which encompasses the city of Gloucester and towns of Essex, Manchester-by-the-Sea, and Rockport. Continue reading Cape Ann, Ma and New Hampshire
By Paula
Hello from Rover! When I last left you we were in Quisset, Ma. a lovely, quiet and serene location. Our next venture started after meticulous piloting so as to enjoy a favorable current. Speeding through the Cape Cod Canal at 10 knots left us on the inside of the Cape with a sail to the next port of call, Provincetown, or Ptown (did they know I was coming?) Continue reading Whales, Workouts, and Weathervanes!
