"How so?" I hear you ask, cautiously. Well, a boat this size (34') requires lights to sail at night, while one as short as the Rhodes (19') has a lower threshold....
September 16th: Cynthia working, cousin Heather and I set out on an adventure and picnic. Sailing with the outgoing tide, we made fast progress in the light wind, visited the seals, then anchored in the north cut through the barrier beach. Lucy and Tio eagerly accompanied us on a good long walk, sniffing and running and, occasionally, rolling in some newfound delight they wanted to share. Back at the boat an hour later, we managed to push it back into the receding water and ate cold lobster heads while the sun crept closer to the horizon.
Washing our hands, we (well, certainly I) gave a little prayer that wind would prove stronger than the waning current, that we would be able to get moving before darkness. And we did make progress, slowly, as the sun set and light grew less. We discussed whether there was supposed to be a moon that night, checked my LunaFAQ ap....and then looked behind us to see the full moon sitting on the eastern horizon. Beautiful!
Unfortunately, a full moon behind one does not really help with finding one's way through shoals and we had a choice: stick to the fast, deep channels (with possible boat traffic: I think we heard one go by in an hour) or stick to the slower water in the shoals and actually make some headway...except when we frequently ran aground. Many times I thanked my folks for getting a boat with a centerboard so I could sail or pull in less than a foot of water. And I blessed the days Cynthia and I had spent making our way through these shoals so that I could recall their contours in the dark.
Finally, we set out across the final channel, sails wing-on-wing, moonlight making them bright white. Cynthia, waiting at the shore, said it was really beautiful to see this glowing boat gliding silently and slowly across the glassy water and found the sound of our voices, carrying loudly across the water, quite amusing.
And we have NO PICTURES!
What to do?
Well, a few days later (9/24) Cynthia and I packed the car, load in the dogs, and headed to Lubec. And, yes, we got lots of pictures.... but I'll write more on that later. We did, however, go on a charter fishing trip with captain Skip Harris.... how could we resist?
Cool adventure. Love hearing about Heather. You evoke the mood so well with glowing sails and silent gliding.
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