Portland by rental car

We had planned for Portland to be the end of the trip for several reasons. For one, I wanted to see the birthplace of Invictus -- the Sabre factory. I drove 25 miles northwest of Portland to Raymond, Maine.


















I was met at the factory by Glen Chaplin, Sabre's Customer Relations Representative. The plant operates on four 10 hour shifts per week. Since I was there on a Friday, it was closed, but Glen turned on the lights and walked me through the entire operation. He has been with the company for his entire career and knows every detail of boat construction.









I loved it all, but as a woodworker I liked the massive wood shop the best. The beautiful cherrywood interiors of Sabre Yachts continue to be one of their strongest selling points. Glen told me that they have master woodworkers that have been at Sabre for more than 30 years. I wandered among the partially finished boat furniture and Glen showed me construction details that make these boats so durable.









The massive molds for the hulls of the Sabre 38 and 42 were being prepped for a new boat. I saw a deck mold that was full with a new deck curing over the weekend. Around the corner, several boats were in final assembly and we walked through them (very carefully).








They don't make the 36 Express (like Invictus) anymore. They also don't make any sailboats anymore. I asked if they stored the molds and Glen said, "No, it's just too expensive to store them and they don't last forever anyway."

At the end of the tour, I met the CEO, Daniel Zilka who invited me and Linda to dinner. We had a fabulous dinner with him, learning about his life and the history of Sabre. Many companies like Sabre went out of business in the early nineties with the imposition of a luxury tax on boats. He managed to turn the corner and grow the company into one of the strongest brands in the industry. (By the way, the company employs 350 workers at two factories.)









Another reason we needed a car was to visit one of Linda's elderly relatives. We drove to Aunt Sally's home in Freeport. Over lunch, she regaled us with stories about her family, including their nautical roots. One ancestor was a survivor of the first recorded shipwreck in New England in 1635. We had motored by the site of the wreck (Thacher Island) on Thursday!


















We had a great time seeing her Maine home which overlooks a river that flows into Casco Bay. While we were there enjoying a sunny, warm day a cold fog blew down the river without warning. The climate here is ever changing.

And, of course, you can't go to Freeport without making a stop at L.L. Bean. We left Olive in the car while we made a quick shopping trip.






When we got back to the boat, we got out our log book and finished some of our record keeping. We have logged 1,656.6 miles, using 1,007 gallons of diesel fuel and stopping at 36 different marinas. Over our evening cocktail, we reminisced about what our favorite stops had been. We've seen so much that we are already having trouble remembering the names of some places. We agreed that at times it has felt like we were in a foreign country.

If you've been reading this blog from the start, you know this trip was a life dream of mine. I'm so fortunate that it worked out for me to realize that dream. So many things came together at the right time. I'm fortunate to have retired and still be healthy enough to make a rigorous trip like this. I am lucky that the timing worked with respect to our childrens' lives. I got lucky about the cheapest diesel prices in decades. And I'm very fortunate to have a mate that wanted to help me fulfill my dream. As she said when we arrived here in Portland, "As a distance runner, I get it...this is your marathon."











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Learnings from the first mate

From the First Mate:

What a fabulous trip. I have learned so much on this trip, which I will now share with those who have not gotten bored with our blog...

1. The most important thing I have learned on this trip is that none of us needs much to survive, or to be happy. Ron and I (and Olive) have shared only 36 feet and it has never felt claustrophobic. We have enjoyed 90+% of the ride! So we could live in a trailer if we needed to. We don't want to, but we could.














2. This next learning is really something I have always known...Ron is the best captain ever. I may have been uncomfortable on part of the journey, but I was always safe. He made my coffee almost every day. We compromised with each other and we appreciated each other.

3. Daily life on a boat takes more time than you think. Okay, first you have to deal with the captain poking on you, but then it is time to get up, make coffee, and try to get some exercise. Then you have figure out tides, weather, where you are going next, laundry, etc. I brought a lot of projects, knitting, etc, but I didn't get to as much of that as I had thought I would. I did read four books. Two of which were good enough to recommend.

4. It is different to travel by water! Parts are more stressful (tides, currents, weather) but still none of it is as stressful as TSA. And the world is so much better seen from the water. The history of our country began on the water. We have loved the history on the east coast, and we have actually felt a (little) bit like the Pilgrims as we have reached our destination.












5. When in doubt, secure the spring line first.

6. There is an awesome new app for shopping and booking marinas called DOCKWA. This will be of interest only to boating people, but if you are one, it's worth checking it out.

7. This might offend some folks, but I now know why Yankees don't smile as much as we do. It is cold as hell up here. It is incredibly beautiful, but it is COLD. It is 50 in June on one day, and 70 the next. The corollary to this that the people here are hearty and very friendly. More on that later.

8. You can cook anything you want on the boat. With the right equipment. Thanks to my cast iron cookware, I have made frittatas, potatoes gratin, roasted zucchini, lamb chops, burritos, etc. We will not be thinner when we arrive home. That may be because of the food, or perhaps the drinking.


































9. On this trip, we drank more than we normally do. There's something about boats that causes it!

10. On a trip like this, you meet interesting people and uninteresting people. Just like life. Enough said.

11. We have met some amazingly friendly people in the northeast. One man offered to loan us his car, one man in a shop offered to give Ron his readers when his broke, etc. So, just because they aren't smiling, doesn't mean they aren't friendly.

12. You can work from anywhere! On this trip, I was working on a project for a client in Chattanooga. On one day, we were docking in a driving rain while I was on a conference call. Not ideal circumstances, but we managed. Verizon is a sweet thing.

13. I did not wear half of the things I packed for this trip. Because before we left, we looked at average temperatures, not their swings. What were we thinking? But with American Express, this can be fixed.

14. Our friends have have enhanced our trip immensely and we thank them! To Bobby and Liz, Joan and Mac, Sarah and John, Robert and Joyce, Lou, Timothy and Nathalie, and Aunt Sally - you made our journey even better. Thank you.


































To our new friends, Brad, Henry, Heidi and Jim, Mike and Bobbi, and Daniel...thank you for your wonderful hospitality.

And Olive would like to thank her two new furry friends, Lily and Jenny.












15. You can fix almost anything with duct tape! It worked on our broken latch in the head and to secure Olive's foot bandage. And Captain Ron has a variety of colors from which to choose.

16. We never got tired of seafood. And I could eat a soft crab right now if someone would give me one. Or a LOBSTAH.












I feel like I now know a lot more about boating than I did before this trip. Being on Invictus every day for two months is a lot different than being on her for a weekend raft up. I now know her almost as well as Ron does!

I am ready go home now. I am looking forward to getting back into my exercise routine and back into my own bed. I want a hot bath. And most of all, I want to wrap my arms around my precious grandchildren. It's time for the playground, the jump park and VSM casserole.

I have truly enjoyed this trip of a lifetime. I would do it all again! Just not anytime soon.





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The horse sees the barn

If you've ever ridden a horse, you know what happens when the horse sees the barn at the end of the ride. No matter how long the ride, the horse quickens it's step in anticipation of the comfortable stable and relief from the saddle and its weight.

We awoke early in Boston on Thursday, June 2 ready to head north to Maine. In a measure of conservatism, we stopped for fuel before we left Boston Harbor. I had four potential destinations programmed in the computer. The first was a Marina in the Annisquam River. This would be a protected place if the seas were rough. The next was a resort in Portsmouth, New Hampshire (Wentworth by the Sea). The third destination was Kennebunkport, Maine and the final destination was Portland, Maine our ending goal.

As we left Boston Harbor and turned Northeast we started banging through 2-3 foot seas out of the east. Not bad, but we were wondering what might happen as we passed Cape Anne. In late morning we passed Thacher Island off of Cape Anne and could turn toward Portsmouth, Kennebunkport or Portland.









We assessed the sea to make our decision. It was rough but tolerable. I put the boat on a heading for Portland and said to Linda, "Can you take four hours of this?" She said, "This isn't bad at all. Let's do it and call it a trip."

The horse had seen the barn.

I felt the same way. For the next four hours we bobbed and bounced our way to Portland. It was rough enough that we gave Olive some Benadryl to help her with the motion. The depth was 300 feet, but it didn't prevent the lobster men from placing traps. We steered through the Lobster floats as we tried to keep the boat on course for Portland. At one point we were 18 miles from shore and could barely see any land in any direction. Invictus bobbed her way through the cold water while her big diesels throbbed below.

The temperature dropped to 58 from the cold Atlantic water. The Gulf Stream had left us a long time ago. We were now in the waters of the movie "The Perfect Storm." Today was probably as calm as it ever gets. But it still took constant attention for me to keep the boat on course. The autopilot couldn't do it, so I turned to the oldest, simplest instrument on board...the compass...and steered our way to Portland.

At 3:00 p.m. We passed the Portland Head Light, America's most photographed lighthouse. I didn't recognize it because it is sheathed in scaffolding as they rebuild her from years of wear and tear. A few minutes later we were tied up at Dimillo's Yacht Haven for the night. We were really glad to be in the relatively calm waters of Portland Harbor. The tidal range is 11 feet so we were also glad to find floating docks.









Our landing here was emotional because it was the goal we had set when we planned this trip a couple of years ago. We hugged in the cockpit with tears in our eyes.

We went to dinner and Linda ordered her long-promised lobster roll. Over dinner, we reflected on our trip. We talked about the best parts and the worst parts. We marveled at the lack of boat problems. Invictus can take anything we throw at her. We also marveled at how much we learned -- about lots of different things. Boats, weather, history, dog psychology.

Most of all, we marveled at how well we had gotten along in a very small space. As one friend said to us, "You can't have a fight because there is no place to get away from each other!" This is definitely a trip that takes teamwork and we enjoyed doing it together.

So the boat trip is over. Now we will start the process of shipping the boat home and getting ourselves home. It looks like flying is cheaper than renting a car. So, the CMO is going to have another new experience...flying in a jet. Break out the Benadryl.

We've got a couple of days before the yard can lift the boat out of the water so we are renting a car to explore the greater Portland area. Hopefully, we'll also have some time to blog about what we've learned. And the CMO wants to post one more time, too.





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Northward to Beantown

Thursday, May 31

We pulled out of Plymouth with our heads swirling about myth versus fact. But enough about the past...what about the present. The weather forecast was good for our 43 mile trek to Boston. However, we have learned to be wary until we see for ourselves.

We idled out past the the last buoys of Plymouth harbor and turned North toward Boston. The sun was out and the waters were calm (1-2 foot waves) so we enjoyed a great ride into Boston Harbor. The skyscrapers of the city provided a great backdrop to the ferry boats that crisis-crossed our path into the Charles River.



































We pulled up to Constitution Marina at 11:15 as the thermometer climbed into the 80s! We tied off and started stripping off clothing that we had worn for weeks. Every inch of Invictus was wet and dank from the big rains in Plymouth. She, and we, cooked in the Boston hot sun. The CMO was sunning on the aft deck. She looked at us with those dog eyes that say, "Why didn't we come here sooner!"

I have to pause here and say that, in truth, Olive's passion about my life dream is waning. I think the squirrel chasing of Martha's Vineyard reminded her of life at home. We've worn the flesh off of her right rear paw. She's peeing on artificial grass on the bow. The seas have been rough, the water cold and she's wondering what's next. Maybe she's worried that we are gong to the Bay of Fundy. The Chief Morale Officer is losing her ability to raise our morale. It happens.

To that end, we decided to leave her on the boat while we walked the "Freedom Trail" from North Boston to the Boston Commons. We had some sober moments studying the monuments to the lives cut short by the "insurgents from the South."









On the way back to the Marina we found some little markets to provision the boat. Quincy Market has evolved into an endless string of corporate fast food outlets, which is sad. We found what we needed in basement, ethnic groceries along the way in the North End.






On Wednesday, one of Linda's favorite co-workers from Harvard Pilgrim Health Care came to the boat for lunch. He brought lots of alcohol and sweets, but we would have loved him anyway. What an accomplished guy. He's written a book about Boston history that is being converted into a screenplay. He's already working on a science fiction novel. Wow. No wonder she liked working up here.






Later, Linda's former in-laws came by for cocktails on the boat. Then we walked a few blocks to dinner under the obelisk commemorating the defeat of the British. We had a great evening talking about current affairs in Boston and Chattanooga. Chattanooga seems to be winning in the past few weeks.









As warm and inviting as Boston was, the trip must go on. The weather forecast says the winds will be out of the East tomorrow, which will blow cold air over the land and cool everything down by 20 degrees. It will also stir up the seawater for our trip to Maine.

We went to bed wondering what Thursday would be like. I had loaded four different routes into the trip computer so that we should have options based on what the North Atlantic had in store for us.


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Cape Cod

Without a weather forecast, we would have loved to stay another day in Martha's Vineyard with the Mandel's. But the weather service was calling for rain on Monday all over the region. Sunday was going to be good travel day and we needed to take advantage of it.

We got up early at the Mandel's and they took us to the grocery for provisions. Then we hugged them goodbye and boarded the water taxi out to Invictus. She was in great shape with her fridge completely defrosted. We fired up the fridge, reloaded it with food from the cooler and untied from the mooring ball a little before 9 a.m.

Our trip for the day was going to take us through three distinctly different bodies of water. First, we would go northwest In Vineyard Sound then take the cut into Buzzard's Bay at Wood's Hole. Both of these big bodies of water were relatively calm and the sun was out bright.

Next we were headed into the Cape Cod Canal. This is a man-made canal (300 yards wide, 42 feet deep and 7 miles long) that allows you to cut off that long arm of Massachusetts (Cape Cod) that sticks out into the North Atlantic. The swift current in this "ditch" is legendary among boaters. We left early from Edgartown to make sure that we were going through the canal WITH the current. And on this day it was running 4.5 mph. There is a strictly enforced boat speed limit of 10mph, so we're were moving at 14.5 mph from west to East into Cape Cod Bay. Halfway through our passage we came upon a huge ocean-going tug pulling an immense barge into the current. His prop caused a set of three foot rollers that went behind him for a quarter mile.

Since it was Memorial Day weekend, the number of boats in the canal was huge. It was quite a show as we made our way toward the last big
big body of water of our trip. When we got to the Eastern mouth of the canal the wind was blowing hard from the Northeast. (At the other end, it had been blowing from the Southwest - a 180 degree swing). The wind was pushing all the water toward the end of the canal while the tide was pulling the water in the opposite direction. The resulting confused waters hit us quickly. As soon as I turned the boat northeast we got hit by a series of huge waves -- the biggest of the trip so far. I guessed that they were 6-footers but the talk in the Marina later that afternoon said they were much bigger, more like 8-10 feet. Here's all I know -- it was scary as hell. Linda was down below and she said later that she and Olive left the sofa a couple of times headed for the ceiling.

I thought seriously about turning around but decided to stick with it for a few more minutes to see if it would get better or worse. Fortunately, it got better. Not a lot better, but better. For about a half hour we slammed Invictus into wave after wave. Olive's tongue was out (the snake) and Linda was picking things off of the floor of the boat.

The further we got from the bottom end of the bay, the calmer it got. Finally I was able to go a little faster as we got about ten miles from Plymouth -- our goal.

The harbor at Plymouth is protected, but very shallow. Of course we should have remembered that from our third grade civics lessons. The protection from the Atlantic is why the Pilgrims chose it in the late fall of 1620. The shallowness was the reason that had to get off on a rock -- hence, Plymouth Rock.












We also learned in the museum the next day that they were really headed to Virginia but they ran out of beer. Seriously. We were almost out of bourbon so we could relate. I love America's drinking history.

We decided to walk through the town, see the Rock and buy some bourbon before the predicted rains arrived. We grilled a steak on board and enjoyed a nice dinner knowing that we wouldn't be able to leave here until Tuesday at the earliest.

Next stop, Boston!

The Vineyard

On Thursday (May 26) we slipped out of Cuttyhunk Harbor to make our way to Martha's Vineyard. We had to wiggle our way out thru a very narrow, shallow opening between CuttyHunk Island and the next island to the east. The chart showed the last buoy as green but it sure was red to our sight. I hugged it close and as we got right on it we could see that it was rusty red, but had a little patch of green paint on it. By the time we passed it the depth had increased to 10 feet so we were safe.

It was only 20 miles to Vinyard Haven Harbor. The sun was out and the sound was relatively calm so we arrived at the Black Dog Wharf just after lunch. As we were entering the harbor my phone rang and it was the harbor master asking when we would arrive. Talk about service. We pulled up to the best spot on the entire island...our stern was 100 feet from the porch of the Black Dog Tavern.

















We enjoyed strolling (shopping) in Vineyard Haven. It had a really nice vibe. Boats were being prepared for the season and the shops were obviously preparing for the summer crunch. But we were way ahead of the crunch. Linda decided that she needed a pedicure, so I got out the boat bucket and she went to work in the afternoon sun.











We went to dinner at the Tavern and ordered a LOBSTAH. We had fun getting every last morsel of meat out of it. After dinner we went 100 feet back to the boat and turned up the stereo and played country music for the Vineyard locals. We are so far east that the sun sets early and we were in bed fairly early by vacation standards.

We enjoyed another sunny morning in Vineyard Haven and walked to the grocery store for ice and bottled water. (It was only a few hundred yards from the boat so we didn't have to carry it far.). Olive had a celebrity moment, too. She got to sniff THE Black Dog. Of course he got to sniff her, too. She'll be bragging about it at Play Dog Excellent when she gets back home.





But it was time to head for Edgartown to put Invictus on a mooring ball for a couple of days so that we could go ashore and stay with our friends, the Mandels.

We made the 10 mile trip in about an hour. The Harbourmaster told us to pick any blue colored ball. We had made our reservation on-line, so our credit card had already been charged for 2 nights. We packed the contents of our little fridge into the cooler that was packed with ice. We were using the stopover for a much needed defrosting of the fridge.

We shut down all systems on the boat and disconnected the battery. Then we called the water taxi and he took us to shore where Joyce was waiting. She drive us to their cottage about 2 miles away. Olive was so happy to see their beautiful grassy yard that she was twitching and whimpering with excitement. Their dog, Lillie, six times Olive's size, shared her space very graciously. Olive spent the next two days chasing squirrels in their yard non-stop.






During those two days, Robert and Joyce gave us a royal tour of the eastern Vineyard. We ate a fabulous dinner in Oak Bluffs. On Saturday, Robert deflated the tires of their big SUV to take us driving on the beach. He had an annual permit for this. Some years there is a "breech" in the strand that separates Chappaquiddick from the rest of Martha's Vinyard, which is why they call "Chappy" an island. This year however, the strand is connected and we drove all the way around the point and back to the ferry at Edgartown. We stopped at one deserted area so the dogs could play in the sand and the surf. The CMO got her batteries recharged jumping through the deep sand and sniffing all matter of sea creatures.








We made it home in time to pick up lobsters at the local seafood market for a fabulous dinner. We rekindled our friendship with Port wine and fell asleep with the window's cracked in the cool night air.

Now we know why everyone loves Martha's Vineyard.

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Some unfamiliar names

(Author's note: We have had a string of pretty days and fun times with friends, so I haven't had time to post on the blog. Today it is raining in Plymouth, Mass. so I will catch you up on our voyage)

Wickford and Cuttyhunk, May 24 and 25.

I can't say that it was on my life dream list to spend my birthday (May 24) in Wickford Rhode Island. I had never heard of it. But it's a nice little town whose historic highway bridge is being rebuilt. The Wickford Marina is not really open for transients (that's what we are called) yet. They told us this when we called for a reservation but told us to come on anyway.

When we called on the marine radio in the early afternoon, we got no response. When we called on the telephone we got no answer. So we just picked the best slip in the Marina and pulled ourselves in. After lunch (complete with the heater in the cabin) I walked up to the Marina office. The old man in charge looked out and said, "That's where I would have put you anyway." Between his hearing aids and my southern accent, it was a difficult conversation.

On the way there, I got a phone call from Betsy telling me that her house had been burglarized in Nashville. Because of her burglar alarm, the thieves ran in and out. The only thing they got was her jewelry box. It upset us both because I had made the black walnut jewelry box for her a couple of years ago. The contents were valuable but so was the box. Oh well, life isn't about possessions.

Linda and I walked into Wickford and found several things we had been looking for. I found a jewelry store that could replace my watch battery. This is important for my job as the skipper. We also found a kitchen store that had several cooking items that we needed. Once again we saw lots of 1700s buildings and cemeteries that we enjoyed.























Linda cooked a great birthday dinner on board as the evening rain started again.

On Wednesday morning the rain had stopped and we idled over to the fuel dock to fill up the tank. As we pulled away from the fuel dock at 9:30, I noticed that a thick fog was pouring over the island in the middle of Narragansett Bay. We turned south toward Long Island Sound for our trip to Cuttyhunk. As we got to the mouth of the Bay, the fog rolled over us, too, and we had to slow down and depend on the radar to keep from colliding with other boats. We had a couple of "close calls" but never anything that we didn't see on the radar.

Wednesday's trip was only 37 miles, but I was still very glad to see the fog lift as we approached the Cuttyhunk entrance channel about 1:00 p.m. Once again, there was not response from the radio call or the telephone call, so we made our own decision about where to tie up. After doing so, we found the Harbourmaster getting on a boat to go fishing. We both agreed that he could catch up with us after he returned.

Cuttyhunk is the last island in a chain (called the Elizabeth Islands) that separate Buzzad's Bay from Vineyard Sound to the south. It was a perfect stopover on our trip to Martha's Vineyard. We both commented that it reminded us of Carribean islands. We learned that there are only 15 year round inhabitants. We hiked to the highest point on the small island and soaked in a view of Martha's Vineyard to the southeast.












We walked past the town school and both students were outside playing hopscotch with the teacher. We wondered what winters must be like there. They have plentiful fresh water from a well, but electricity is outrageously expensive (diesel generated). How different this is from the touristy hub-bub of Newport only 35 miles away.

















So, I know many of you are waiting for a medical report on the CMO's paw. She hobbled around Wickford and Cuttyhunk on her duct tape bandage. When we changed the bandage, it looked much better. She no longer yelps when you touch it. It's true, you can fix almost anything with duct tape.




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