Strider's 2009 August Cruise
The only time I could get away turned out to be when Barbara had a previously planned trip to the west coast. My last long solo cruise was so long ago that I was able to go into the last big bay in Maine that the cruising guide said it had no information on. After working my way unsuccessfully about half way down the list of potential crew, I realized that repeating this experience of my youth was an appealing idea. The magazine I write for also liked it and said they wanted a story on the cruise.
This was supposed to be real cruising. All my previous long cruises in Strider were rather hard charging affairs due to the desire to finish seeing the Maine coast, ambitious schedules, science work, and my general temperament. This time, I cast off the lines with no plans or schedules other than to head east with the objective of flying the Canadian courtesy flag from the starboard spreader at some point and justify the Canadian waters insurance I've been paying for but not using.
Lots of fog and calms conspired against my intention to do a lot of easy sailing and short legs. What better to do when you can't see much than to knock off some miles? I kept telling myself I was putting miles in the bank for time to relax later but slipped back into my usual tendancy to cover a lot of ground. It was incredibly relaxing though. When I'm on the boat, I'm there, and I find it more relaxing to be moving and seeing new things than just sitting. I ended up covering 678 miles spending probably less than six hours off the boat in the entire two weeks.
Facebook Photo Album of August Cruise Photos
Click the Picture for a Google Earth File*
High points of the trip were broad reaching between the Petit Manan Light and bell at 6.5 knots in less 50 yard visibility and encountering a genuine white squall in Passamaquoddy Bay on an otherwise perfect summer day. Watch for the story of the cruise to appear in "Points East" sometime next year. The full issue now appears on line so you should can now read the story of my May cruise here..
* Note on Google Earth. Be sure you have the most up to date version. There is now a slider in the upper left corner with two movable tabs that will let you select portions of the route. You will have to move one all the way to the right and the other back to full left to see the whole route.