Old Lyme, CT to Tenants Harbor Maine

We had a great visit with the Robin, Rick, Kyle, and Eric in West Hartford. When Robin dropped us off in Old Lyme the sun came out for the first time in days. 

We set the alarm to get up bright and early.  The early part worked.  The fog was as thick as we have ever seen but we decided to leave anyway as the tide was with us.  Between the tide and the several inches of rain that were all trying to leave the river at the same time the current was very strong.  As soon as I uncleated the last line the boat was gone even though Bill had the engine in gear trying to hold it against the dock.  He had to circle around to get me.  The first time the boat was pushed off the dock again, the second time he was more aggresive and I was able to grab the shrouds and swing aboard.  All this before the first cup of coffee!  Our next obstacle was the Amtrak bridge.  The bridge tender was great and opened it before we were in sight.  If he had waited until we could see each other we would have been in trouble because the visibility was under 100 feet and current was pushing us, and all the trees and other debris in the river, at about 4 knots toward the bridge.  The rest of the day was thick fog all the way into Sakonnet Harbor.

The next morning we had a brief view of the harbor before the fog came in again.  In the afternoon the sun came out just as we were coming into Onset.

We left Onset midmorning to catch the tide through the Cape Cod Canal. The wind was on the nose as usual for the beginning of our trip across the Gulf of Maine so we spent some time tacking until the wind shifted. It was a very cold, dark, cloudy night.  The radar was a good investment.  The digital thermometer on deck reading 47 degrees was depressing, especially when the wind shifted so it was behind us making the dodger useless.  Brrrrrrrr.

We made a huge mistake my telling lots of people that RONDO never picks up lobster pots.  As soon as you say something like this outloud you are automatically doomed.  In case you couldn't guess where this story is going we picked up a lobster pot about 6 miles south of Monhegan.  Luckily it sheared the line so Bill didn't have to go for a swim.  Unfortunately the line was wrapped around the prop so the engine was out of commission.  On the plus side we had enough wind to slowly sail.  We called Stuart at Lyman Morse in Tenants Harbor and asked if he had a mooring and if he would stand by in case we needed help picking it up.  We sailed into the harbor and sailed onto the first mooring we came to then Stuart came out in the whaler and towed us to the correct mooring. 

My mother and Bailey met us at the dock and Bailey remembered us.  We are happy to be home.