We had originally considered stopping in Boston to go to a friend’s BBQ over the weekend. However, Boston (along with the rest of the northeast) was coming under a severe heat advisory of temperatures in the 90s and heat index in the 100s. At the same time the forecast was for 2 days of moderate southwest winds. We decided to make an overnight jump to Maine. We upped anchor early Saturday and entered the canal at 7:30, enjoying the early morning mist on the water. Once in Cape Cod Bay, we had a lovely sail for a few hours before the winds shifted to the west, then the north, then the northeast, before completely dying (this was NOWHERE in the forecast). We opted to motor. Even though we were 15 miles off shore, you could feel the heat radiating off the mainland. Luckily, the winds finally showed up again mid afternoon. From the southeast originally, we went wing on wing and cruised along at 4.5 knots with almost no seas. Other than a few fishing boats at Stellwagon Bank and a cruise ship heading to Nova Scotia, we had no company. Trip had seen a whale earlier in the day, but my sighting was right at sunset, complete with the whale flashing his tail. The winds shifted to the southwest, we shifted to a broad reach, and had the loveliest overnight passage up to Portland, Maine.

Sunset Sail
Catching zzzz’s

We had made arrangements for a mooring at Handy Boat Services in Falmouth, where friends James & Jenny keep their boat. We arrived early, so took a mooring behind Cow Island (our usual stop outside Portland) where we could nap and wait to check into Handy. Unfortunately the owner of the mooring came along, but fortunately he was totally cool with us being there for another hour or so and instead spent time talking to Trip about Kalyra.

Wing on Wing

We checked into Handy and went ashore, feeling the heat even in Portland (can’t imagine how nasty it was further south). The showers were heavenly: Free with the mooring, clean, and unlimited hot water – a cruisers dream. We sat down for a drink to wait for James and Jenny, only to find out they had significant engine problems and were going to be significantly delayed getting in. We opted for takeout from the marina restaurant to bring out to their boat so we could at least say hi over dinner. Of course as we were heading out with the bags, who did we run into but former Chatham friends Bob & Caroline Knott who had retired to Maine. They only live a few miles north on Littlejohn Island, but what were the odds of running into them that night? We spent a few minutes chatting and confirming that we’d see them when we came through Portland again on our way back in a month or so, and headed out. Despite all the boat problems, James and Jenny had the table ready and beers cold from the fridge, so we got a few hours of catch up in over dinner. James ran us back to our boat, and they headed home.