Lat: 44 16.3N / Long: 068 18.4W
Lat: 44 22.4N / Long: 068 46.4W
On our trips through the waters of New England, we had beautiful sailing among the islands in shallow seas with speeds between 10 and 12 knots and steady winds.
The only thing that complicated our sailing experience were the many "Lobster Buoys" which were exposed to hundreds along the coasts resembling a real minefield.
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| The minefield of unloved buoys |
The buoys are attached to baskets that are exposed on the seabed at a depth of up to 330 feet in order to catch the popular New England lobster. The fishermen place the baskets completely arbitrary, so that for a big yacht like the Zefiro and her helmsman to maneuver through them seems more like a skiing slalom than a sailing trip.
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| Fisherman with lobster cages |
In order to avoid a collision with the unpopular buoys one person on each side of the ship had to watch out and give the helmsman signals. To navigate these areas in the dark is nearly impossible. But sometimes even careful steering didn’t help and then it was time for the "rope cutter": A very useful device mounted on the screw preventing that the lines get wrapped around the propeller.
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| Rope Cutter with its prey |
Indulging into the tender and delicate lobster meat always helped us to quickly forget the suffered hardships.
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| Maine lobsters... |
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| ...can be bought everywhere on site... |
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| ...and taste heavenly. |
During our travels we also saw whales. Unfortunately, the shy marine mammals were always a bit too far away in order to shoot a nice photo (after this experience, we finally bought a better camera). Once close to Cape Ann, we had several humpback whales on the starboard side. They jumped into the water and turned their massive bodies gracefully into the air. Our careful approach did not seem to bother them. That changed when a "whale watching" boat came up behind us at high speed: Unfortunately it cased them away.
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| Humpback whale - unfortunately not a good shot |
Hurricane "Irene“ and Smith’s Cove by Castine
Following the weather forecast, we had decided to leave Newport and head up to Maine, about 400 miles north of New York. The way up there was very difficult: because of thick fog and many lobster buoys we made slow progress. Other boats could only be made out with horn signals. After 28 hours we finally arrived at the idyllic Smith’s Cove by Castine; many other yachts had also dropped anchor there, seeking shelter.
Now it was necessary to get Zefiro storm-proof: The sails were covered and wrapped with lines, the fenders were prepared out in case other anchor dragging boats should hit us. We also brought out a second anchor. On our arrival the weather was very cloudy and gray, in the course of the afternoon the wind was growing stronger, reaching up to 30 knots, accompanied by heavy showers. A grim apocalyptic mood set in. In the night during which according to forecast we were to expect the worst part of the storm, we all held an anchor watch, following the gusts which were meanwhile coming up to 50 knots. Over the radio we heard that out at sea, the waves built up to 26 feet. Fortunately, everything went well and our anchor was holding tightly; as were those of the other yachts.
The next morning greeted us with sunshine and for the first time we could enjoy the beauty of Smith’s Cove. We went ashore and took a walk. Irene had knocked down many trees, branches were broken off but in general Maine was spared. Irene had directed herself further than expected into the country, up to Vermont. In Newport and the surrounding areas Irene had left 650,000 people without electricity and water supply. That evening we went ashore with our crew to celebrate the adventure we had overcome with a nice dinner.
After all this our route took us again south to Gloucester. All of us were looking forward to it because we are already very familiar with this town, we know where to find everything we need and we have won friends there.
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| Before „Irene“ |
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| After „Irene“ |
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| Town of Castine |
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| Castine Lighthouse |
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The former fort of Castine: It protected the colonists against the Indians, then the early Americans against the British, as well as the British against the Americans and it protected all of them against the Dutch ....
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