Crew Log for September 17th, 2022
Trip Summary:
Biddeford (Saco Bay) to Portsmouth Yacht Club
Trip Distance of 37.2 NM, Total Distance To-Date of 787 NM
Departed at 0800 hours and arrived at 1600 hours
We still had our eyes on the weekend weather and longer term forecast. As beautiful as the beaches are around here, our stay was brief. We had to find a sheltered spot for Sunday and be somewhere by the middle of the next week to wait out weather associated with hurricane Fiona.
When we left Nova Scotia, our plan was to play the odds and get far enough “west”, but not too far “south”, to stay out of the way of most of the fall storms. Before we left, we were reminded many times that we were leaving during hurricane season, but if our plan was right, we hopefully would avoid the worst of it. Like all sailors, evening TV watching has been replaced with pouring over Windy.com forecasts and long range weather reports.
Biddeford turned out to be a comfortable place to stop for the night. I did wake up in a bit of a panic early in the morning when I heard water rushing by the boat. When I climbed out onto the foredeck to see what was going on, I realized it was an amazingly strong, outgoing tidal current rushing by the bow and the mooring ball. It was like someone pulled the plug out of the ocean.
The other common factor in just about every mooring field we have been in, is the early morning and evening “roll” created by the passing wakes from the fishing boats. Some days, they start as early as 4:00 am and it continues throughout the day. It is not “uncomfortable” and we have gotten pretty used to it, but you do have to be aware of it as you watch the sunrise, sipping your morning coffee.
Even the “high end” moorings have this eclectic mix of working fishing boats right through to fancy yachts. We haven’t researched this yet, but so far, even the “yachties” that we’ve run into, seem to be “normal” for the most part (there of course was “Ted” in Boothbay, so I shouldn’t generalize). It is however, quite possible that it’s the time of year. Possibly the really pretentious slipper skippers (you know, the folks who lean on their boat on the dock and talk about sailing and their boat, their car, their many houses, blaa, blaa, blaa..but the boat rarely leaves the dock), are finished for the season. I digress.
It was another pretty good sailboat day. Sunny, cool, westerly winds between 10 – 15 knots. Our originally destination was York River and the town moorings. Apparently, York River were using the town moorings to boost revenue since what was “free” in Biddeford was US$57 in York River. When I called to confirm the price, I was also informed that, “there was no garbage drop off, showers, washrooms, fuel or water”. We were however, welcomed to come ashore and experience all the York River had to offer.
We pressed on and pulled into the Portsmouth Yacht Club. Most people have been to Portsmouth. It’s where every Canadian heading south pulls into for tax free alcohol. Beyond the liquor store off of I95, I’m not sure many people would know what Portsmouth was like. During our boat search, we looked at an Island Packet 32 nearby, and spent a little time exploring the area. There are A LOT of boats here.
The US Navy has a presence here. The former military prison dominates the view of harbor from the ocean side, and apparently it is not unusual to spot a submarine entering or leaving the harbor. Of course, where there are a lot of boats, there is a lot of boat traffic. On the way in the harbor Judy said it remined her of a James Bond movie. For me it was more like Mad Max on the water.
Sometimes, I have been known to exhibit a complete lack of good judgement, which would come as no surprise to anyone who knows me. Today was no different. After several long, but good days, sailing down the coast of Maine, I decided that we needed to fuel up and fill the water tanks before heading out to the mooring on the other side of the river. Neither were THAT low and neither were a priority.
Why this lacked good judgement was that the mooring was a half a mile away from the Yacht Club (and the showers). Across a busy waterway, with the possibility of a Navy submarine coming into the harbor at any time, and a 3 foot sea swell. Going back to have a shower in the dinghy was not an option and the pick up tender service was only running for another hour.
However, as the title of this blog revealed, we did manage to get a shower. Oddly enough, our boat was moored in the State of Maine, but the PYC is in the State of New Hampshire. This was the first time we’ve gone across State lines just to have a shower!
There was a bit of irony of “almost” being moored in New Hampshire, the tax free liquor State. I was out of red wine. Fortunately, our thoughtful friend Anita, gave me a 4 pack of “emergency” wine before we left Halifax. They look a lot like juice packs you’d see in a kid’s lunch box, minus the straw. However, this was an emergency, and I was glad we had them.
Portsmouth was without a doubt the most uncomfortable anchorage we have stayed in to-date. The predominate wind direction is south to south westerly, which means the sea swells roll directly into the mooring field at Pepperrell Cove Inlet. We hobby-horsed all night. We did manage 3 – 4 hours of sleep when the wind died down, but it is not a place you want ride out a storm.
We were happy to weigh anchor in the morning and head for Gloucester. But more about that, next time.
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