Ship’s log 13th May, 2026: 105 Days until departure
It’s May the first, Beltaine, May day. I generally try to watch the sun come up on the 1st of May, and for the last several years I’ve done that from Dyer Cove in Cape Elizabeth. It’s a place convenient to my very literal pied-de-terre in South Portland and where you can see all the way to the Eastern Horizon.
So, with a hot thermos of tea and a bleary face, I got up and headed over to watch the sun dawn on a new May.
In addition to this being a day when my beloved SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) celebrates the start of a new year, it’s also the day when I’m officially kicked out of DiMillo’s marina, and time to head north, bud. My mooring in Rockland is… HOPEFULLY ready? I honestly don’t know yet, as the company that services my mooring said they will “try to make it early” but that’s what they got.
So, I have 70 or so nautical miles to go, and no real hurry to get there. Time to shove off!
The first morning out of Portland, weather is clear but brisk. I’m aiming for somewhere in the Boothbay Harbor area, maybe in an anchorage in Linekin bay. I stayed in a little anchorage on the far side of the peninsula from the main harbor last summer, and dinghied ashore to a nice park. Hoping to drop the hook there after a nice sail up in some big swells off the Atlantic and East winds at 15 or so knots.
Five miles out from Portland Head Light, the seas are confused as heck. Swells coming in off the Atlantic, wind waves coming from the north. Wind is pretty hard on my nose at 20 knots or so gusting to 30 or 35 apparent, and I’m actually feeling a tiny bit nauseated… which is a VERY rare occurrence for me!
I stuck it out for a couple of hours, and finally had enough, so headed in for the lee side of the shore. I headed in to the south west side of Cape Small, where there is little South Point Harbor and a potential place to let things die down.
I got in, out of the worst of the wind and waves, and hove to (floated somewhat stationary) for a bit, looking at the radar and the forecast, and the area.
Well… there is… NOTHING in Small Point Harbor. Yes, I could hole up there… and do… not much. I can’t go ashore, can’t get supplies, and tho I have plenty of food, I kinda want the soup that I realized I can’t open because I could SWEAR I had a can opener last year, but it’s gone now.
So, in the end, I set off again, hugging the coast and largely under power, around toward Boothbay. The plan was that if need be I would pull into the mouth of the nearby Sheepscot river, but the weather let me make it (and even sail a chunk of the way) safely into Boothbay Harbor.
Boothbay and I go way back, I lived just a few miles from here for part of my childhood, and then returned during High School and early college summers working for both the Boothbay Whale and Bird Watch (no longer around) and then the Balmy Days Cruises (still going strong) as a deck hand and naturalist. Good memories, those.
Boothbay is also where we were living in ’86 when we set off on the journey I plan to duplicate… in fact, from the very Marina I’m staying at for the night! The Carousel Marina is so named because it existed in the movie adaptation of the musical (which still gets staged all summer at the Carousel Playhouse) and I manage to get them on the phone and secure a mooring to tie up to for the night. I head in via the dinghy and settle up with the owner (he gave me a nice “why the fuck are you out and about this early in the season” discount) and then had dinner at their bar, then dinghied around to the town landing, and wandered the port for a few.
Boothbay was lovely, Nice night on the mooring. I figured I would get a solid night’s rest, and then get going nice and early.
… The morning had other ideas. Pouring rain, almost no wind, and still in the low 50s.
I went ashore for breakfast. (I also stopped at the hardware store and got a can opener)
A 4 am wakeup and a cup of hot coffee got me going for 4:30 am under way. Nearly full moon made the harbor surreal and quiet, with calm seas and an easy exit. See ya next time, Boothbay!!!
Heading north was still a bit rolly, but a ton better than two days before. I got good winds, and managed to sail from about 8 am, all the way to inside the breakwater at Rockland. The winds there in Rockland can be pretty spicy, and it was forecast to come on hard later that day; I got there JUST in time and on my mooring.
Rockland, shockingly, is a place where the quarries of stone were brought to market in the 19th and 20th century. As such, big freaking hunks of stone were easy to come by.
My mooring… is an eight THOUSAND pound block of granite with a big freaking chain on it, in 17 feet of water at low tide. It’s nice to tie to a block of stone the size of a VW that is inspected yearly… good peace of mind.
I am successfully in Rockland.
…I found my mooring.
……My mooring IS IN!
………Only problem with this whole plan?
Rockland, is basically not open for business until May 15. The docks aren’t in, the marinas aren’t open… THERE’S NO WAY TO GO ASHORE.
I did not expect this.
I chase around on the phone and radio, calling local yards and marinas, asking about ideas. I dinghy to the local Safe Harbor marina, and wander the docks looking for someone, until the gal supervising there told me they were closed for renovations until as late as June 1.
I literally flag down the harbormaster in her boat and ask about ideas, and she directs me to the Sail, Power and Steam museum and their little marina. I dinghy around to them and discover that not only can I park the dinghy there for the season for just under $400, I can also park no matter what festivals are going on in Rockland (which make the town dock inaccessible)
RESULT!
Now that I’ve got a plan for a place to get ashore, it’s time to go get some books recorded, so I get a ride back down the coast and it’s time to get back to it!
One more quick stop mid-month to check on Selkie and spend the night on my way up to New Brunswick, but I’ll be back at the end of the month for more adventures!
There’s so much more of the summer, but it also feels like no time until I leave. Lots to do!!! See you all in June.
-GT and Selkie
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