Where we have been for the week

We arrived in Portsmouth, NH area on Monday night and anchored in Pepperrell Cove in Kittery,Me across the river. Tuesday was raining and we dragged the anchor in the afternoon. We reset the anchor and did not leave the boat without one of us aboard all day Tuesday and Wednesday am. Wednesday am I fell into the water and drowned my Blackberry Storm. Because we had friends coming for dinner and Barbara's Birthday on Wednesday we Rented a mooring from the Portsmouth Yacht Club. We also needed somewhere to have my replacement cell phone delivered. On Thursday the weather was lousy so we extended our rental to Friday. Friday night we broke a pump on the boat and had to have the necessary parts sent overnight to arrive Saturday so we extended our rental to Sunday. The weather was forecasted to be bad today so we extended it to Monday. Tomorrow we plan on leaving though the weather does not look great for Tuesday either. The people and the Portsmouth yacht club Staff and members have been generous in their help and hospitality. We have also met nice people in Kittery and overall enjoyed our visit here. We plan to be in the Casco bay area tomorrow night and will update the blog as soon as connections are possible. For our cruising friends we want you to know that this is a pretty cove, but you rock and roll and swing with strong currents, commercial traffic and eddys so a one night stay is probably best.
Dave & Barb

Sunday Scituate to Rockport,MA

We left Scituate Sunday for a very clear motoring day to Rockport. We had been to Gloucester before but had never ventured to Rockport as the harbor is small. One of our fellow Island Packet owners reccomended a stay at the Sandy Bay Yacht Club at the head of the harbor. I was up all night adjusting the lines because of the nine foot tide change and being on the fixed pier in front of the club and tired when we left. The people were very friendly and Rockport is interesting for its artist colony but a quick tour was enough for us.

Next leg toward Maine

Today a break in the weather forecast allowed us to liesurely run through the Cape Cod Canal and up to Scituate, MA, his is a great little harbor with all kinds of cruising ammenities closeby the water. There is also bowling and movies. Tonight and tomorrow night there is a carnival and fireworks. Plan to be here tomorrow night too as the weather looks bad and I need to have my mechanic look at the engine. We hoe that all that goes smoothly so we can leave Sunday to Gloucester for a day or two.

Dave, Barb & Packet

Finally the Dream begins

Left Monday for Cuttyhunk Island for a couple of days. Winds blew and seas rocked to get the crew queasy. Arrived about 7:00 pm and on the third try got our new anchor set and the dog ashore. Anchor held well and got a good night's sleep. Tuesday is a lay day to just relax and enjoy Cuttyhunk Island. Wind is forecasted to be from the northwest about 20 knots Tuesday night, so we will move to a mooring inside the inner harbor. Went to the dock to get fresh caught swordfish and Ice cream treat. Leaving for Onset Wednesday am. Wind for the right direction to run to Onset. All ok till wind picks up and we need to shorten sail. We learned that our newly installed Gybe EZE works great after Gybing with full main out at 20 knots.

Still at the Marina

We are still in the marina finishing projects and preparing to sail to Maine for the summer. We are trying to push to get a few more projects done and get underway. We hope to leave this weekend and will head to Cuttyhunk, MA as our first stop.