LORD’S PRAYER LOG, Part 269:

Sunday, June 08, 2003, continued

Moored Parkers Boatyard, Red Brook Harbor, Cape Cod

We spend the day visiting with Raz and Jean Parker; Chris and I also take a nice walk in the woods on one of the local trails, where we come across several ladies slippers in bloom.

Monday, June 09, 2003

Moored Parkers Boatyard, Red Brook Harbor, Cape Cod

0755 Having found that Log 267 was only partially transmitted over the SSB/SeaWave system, we retransmit it via cellular connection.

0955 Engine start. The sky today is overcast and the wind light. Air temperature is in the low 60’s. It feels a bit raw. Based on the weather forecast, it looks like it’ll be another gray day in an unusually long string of gray days. Presumably the wind will freshen to S 10-15 kts later this afternoon and it’ll veer to W 10-15 kts sometime tonight. The westerly wind is expected to hold through tomorrow. And tomorrow is currently forecast to be clear and sunny. We are looking forward to that!

1000 Lord’s Prayer is underway, bound for Sawyers Island, Boothbay, Maine. Raz (now 89) & Jean’s son Bruce fires a cannon salute as we depart and we wave back; it has been a delightful, if somewhat brief visit at Parkers Boatyard. The next leg of our trip is 145 nm in length; we will first transit the Cape Cod Canal, after which we will cross Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts Bay and then the Gulf of Maine. It will be an overnight trip and we expect to arrive at Sawyers Island, where my brother Bob and his wife Dawn reside, sometime tomorrow (Tuesday) either in the afternoon or early evening. It has been necessary to keep the boat moving at best practicable speed on the trip north this spring, as we plan to be in Maine in time for my granddaughter, Jenny to come aboard on Wednesday (the 11th) for a week. Jenny will have just finished spending the previous week visiting with my daughter Jodie, her husband Geoff and their son Grady in Maryland when she flies to New England to join us on Wednesday; we will pick her up at the Manchester, NH airport. Jenny will turn 15 this summer; it will be her 6^th summer as a member of the crew aboard Lord’s Prayer.

1126 We start into the Cape Cod Canal with the current just turning fair.

1200 As we transit the canal I am reminded of something that Raz told me last night – The Cape Cod Canal was first opened in 1914, the same year Raz was born, the same year the Panama Canal was opened, and the same year World War I began. There’ve been a few seasons gone by since then!

1230 The flood current squirts us out of the Canal into Cape Cod Bay.

1232 We turn to a heading of 017T on direct a course for the mouth of the Sheepscott River, which is on the coast of Maine. The length of this leg is 122 nm. At the moment the wind is nearly on our nose: NE 4-5 kts, so we will hold off on setting any sails until it veers to a more favorable direction.

1401 Gasp! There is some sunlight starting to leak through the overcast. This is exciting!

1533 The weather has become delightfully clear off to the east and the sun is out warming our world. The high dunes and the Provincetown Monument at the tip of Cape Cod are clearly visible. Off to the west, however it looks like there is some low-lying visible moisture overhanging the land. The wind is calm; the surface of the water is smooth other than some gentle lumps roaming about. From time to time the radar guard-zone alarm sounds off due to the many radar-reflective flags atop lobster pot buoys that are scattered about on the water surface.

1655 An easterly wind (never mind the westerly forecast) of about 7 to 8 kts greets us as we pass north of Provincetown; we set the main and jib and find ourselves on a close starboard reach. We are hoping to spot a whale or two as we proceed north to Stellwagen Bank, where my granddaughter Jenny and I found a huge pod of humpbacks on the 20^th of June about this same time of day 3 years ago. The year before that on the 4^th of July I was sailing single-handed on a windless afternoon and motored through a group of perhaps 75 to 100 whales; they were feeding in roughly the same spot that Jenny and I found them the following year. I inadvertently passed so close to one of the whales that first time, that I had to alter course to avoid a collision. Checking the tide records for those days, it appears that on both occasions, the current was ebbing in an easterly direction, whereas at the present time today the current is flooding in a westerly direction, so we might not be in the right location as we pass over the western slope of Stellwagen Bank to see any whales today. If there are whales around (and there probably are) they are likely to be on the east edge of the bank, catching some dinner as it swirls up over the up-current side of the bank.

1720 The wind has veered ESE 11-12 kts. We secure the engine. On a starboard beam reach, our speed is 5.0 kts. There is a fogbank on the east horizon.

1810 Crossing the north slope of Stellwagen Bank and into deeper water, we’ve seen no whales; it would appear that there is no longer much likelihood that we’ll see any today. The sky remains clear overhead for the moment; and it is clear to the west as well; but the fogbank to the east is drawing rapidly closer, thereby boding a high probability of some low visibility soon.

1905 The fog is upon us; visibility suddenly drops to less than a quarter mile. The wind is fair and it has freshened, SE 15-16 kts. Our speed is 5.7 kts.

2016 Sunset. We close the boat up and start the heater, as in the fog and wind it has become rather raw on deck. Visibility is less than 100 yards now.

2040 We turn on the weatherfax and set it to copy down the 2045 Navtex weather broadcast out of Boston. We already know that the NOAA weather radio forecast is calling for winds S 10-15 kts veering W late – over Stellwagen Bank, which we have, of course, crossed. We want to see if the Navtex will give us any additional information.

2050 The wind is SSE 9-14 kts; in the last of the evening twilight, we set the dual jib on the poles and leave the mainsail up. We’re on a broad starboard reach making 5.6 – 6.0 kts.

2112 The Navtex broadcast forecasts winds to be S15-20, veering W late. We douse the mainsail, since if the wind exceeds 15 kts we’ll have too much sail up with both the main and the dual jib, and it is easier to get the main down now than it will be in the pitch dark if the wind strengthens. The reduction in sail slows our speed by only about 0.2 kts.

2330 A tanker out of Boston crosses our stern left-to-right at 3/4^th of a mile. The fog has cleared and the moon, overhead, is lighting the seascape around us. The wind has veered S 15 kts.

Tuesday, June 10, 2003

Underway, bound for Sawyers Island, Boothbay, Maine

0350 The wind has strengthened to SSW 17–20 kts; we continue under the dual jib, which is spread on the poles, making 6+ kts.

0445 The wind has veered: WSW 18-20 kts. We need to take the dual jib down now, as the wind is starting to curl the leech on the port side. We come right 30 degrees to keep the sail full and make preparations for a sail change.

0459 Sunrise. The sun comes up on our starboard bow as we’re changing sail. It is going to be a beautiful clear day.

0515 We roll up the dual jib and stow the 2 whisker poles, letting the boat sail down wind at 2-3 kts under bare poles whilst so doing. Next we pull a bit of the jib out to starboard and round the boat up into the wind just enough to get the mainsail up; the jib helps stabilize the boat in roll and heading while this is going on. We hoist the mainsail with the boat on a close port reach and then head her off onto a beam reach, which we hold until regaining our original intended track-line; at which point we put her back on course, haul the jib full out and retrim the mainsail. We are now on a port beam reach under full sail making 6.5 kts. Our wind should hold (if the forecast remains accurate) until sometime well past our arrival at destination, which is estimated now to be about noon today (plus or minus maybe an hour).

0728 The wind has veered and lightened W 10 kts and our speed is off now to 4 kts. So much for the forecast!

0737 Woops! The wind just veered further to NW 12 kts; we re-trim the sails and we’re now close-hauled on port tack with about 16 nm to go to our waypoint NE of Seguin Island. Current speed is 5 kts, as we are being assisted from astern by swells, left over from the earlier winds.

0749 The wind backs slightly and strengthens WNW 15-16 kts. We’re making 6.2 kts on a close reach.

0855 The wind goes light: W 2-3 kts. We stow the jib and fire up the engine. We flatten in the mainsail to act as a roll damper in the left over seas.

0955 We attempt an email exchange using the new SSB/HF radio SeaWave system, but we are unable even to establish a connection. Maybe the time of day is not good!

1020 The wind veers NW 12-15 kts. We reset the jib and trim our sails for a close reach; but we continue motoring, as we’ll be making a turn shortly that’ll take us closer to the wind.

1107 Lord’s Prayer turns to start up the Sheepscott River. We continue motorsailing with the wind now NW 12-14 kts. We’re close-hauled and pinched close to the wind so that there is a bit of a luff in both the mainsail and jib.

1150 In Sheepscott Bay, at the mouth of the Sheepscott River, the wind veers nearly on the nose: NNW 15-16 kts; we stow the jib.

1245 We enter Ebenecook Harbor and turn north toward Sawyers Island.

1300 We drop and stow the mainsail; after which, we rig docking lines and fenders.

1312 There is a seal hauled out on the ledge (Captain Kidd’s Ledge) off Bob & Dawn’s property. The fact that the ledge is clear of the water indicates the tide is probably too low to get alongside the float. We give it a try, but touch bottom about 20 yards out from the float. Backing off, we head for the mooring.

1320 We pick up the mooring pennant and secure it to the boat; we’ll wait here for the tide to rise before moving in alongside. We secure the engine with the Hobbs meter showing 85.2 hours total accumulated time. Our position: 43 52.049 N 69 40.456 W. Since leaving home a week ago today, we’ve sailed 545 nm.