Late summer cruise

Jenny and I wanted to take a summer cruise like this together, but too many conflicts got in the way.  Before the summer completely ended, I found part of a week to take a few days for a trip on Magus by myself. 

Halfway Rock to the south

I did a very quick provisioning on Sunday morning, August 28, and was able to get everything to Magus on the mooring in one dinghy trip.  Shortly after noon, I left with a southerly wind, heading east to Seguin Island, a distance of about 20 (nautical) miles. I was able to sail without the engine for maybe half of the trip.  I took a mooring, walked up to the lighthouse, and tried to read before falling asleep in the rolly harbor.

Seguin Island harbor

Magus sailing by Monhegan, from the Ferry

The next day, I left fairly early to continue going east, this time almost all of the day being motor-sailing except for a short time at lunch to enjoy the quiet without the engine, sailing at about 3.0 knots.  Around that time I was passing Monhegan Island, when one of the regular ferries crossed my path.  Later, I received a text and photo from a friend of mine, Scott Gleeson, who was the captain of that ferry; very unexpected, and an example of the surprisingly small community that is Maine. 

I arrived at the harbor on Matinicus at about 4:00 pm, and picked up a mooring. The harbor at Matinicus is essentially bare rock with no holding for anchoring, and it is reportedly foul with old cars and boats. The moorings for visiting boats are attached to cables that cross the harbor, with soda bottles attached for leaving the mooring fee payment.  The day’s distance was about 40 miles, average speed about 5 knots.  

Matinicus state ferry dock 

I took the dinghy into the beach near the state ferry dock before dinner, and walked south to a house that runs a bakery during the summer. The bakery displayed their goods under a shade tent in the yard that also had a freezer with popsicles.  I should have picked up more of the offerings, but only bought a chocolate popsicle for the walk back to the harbor.  I imagined I would buy some fresh items the next morning, but I found out too late that it did not open until 10 am, which was too late for my plans.

I learned from the Postmaster that the population of Matinicus is 60 people in the summer and 30 in the winter.  She was temporary in the position, and a search was ongoing for a full-time person starting in the fall.  I passed a nice looking school on the way to the Post Office, but the Postmaster said that the school was not opening this school year because of the lack of students.  I bought a book of stamps to do my small part to help keep the post office open.  She said they sell a lot of stamps by mail.  

The island does not have much in the way of public services; all the roads are gravel, of course.  There is a private “airport” runway and heliport, both also gravel.  This airport must be helpful for some people and for emergency medical transport, since the public ferry only makes one trip per week, stopping for enough time to unload, load the return passengers and freight, then head back to the mainland for the 2 hour and 15 minute trip.  The ferry schedule times vary, since the time needs to miss the low tide at the dock.  The transfer bridge structure is small and looks old, compared to the similar structures on other Maine Islands (like Peaks.)   It was also notable that there were almost no floats at the many piers.  The tide range is about 10 feet, the same as in most of Maine, where floats and ramps are common, even for many private waterfront properties.  The general practice on Matinicus was to bring dinghies and skiffs to a dock next to a ladder, and climb up or down with the painter for tying off from the pier.  It may well be that the surge and swells in the winter would cause damage to a float, and access is needed year-round, but for whatever reason, there was only one private float that I saw in the entire harbor.   There were plenty of fishing/ lobster boats on moorings, some with floats, but very few boats were tied to piers.  

The Recycling Center

The solid waste management practices on Matinicus have no doubt improved over the years, but it is still not easy.  The town government is promoting a recycling system with a drop-off area open for a few hours on three days of the week, staffed by volunteers.  No garbage/ food waste is allowed, reminding people they can just feed that type of waste to the seagulls.  The recycling area has a big pile of old lobster warp (rope) that will be recycled.  I also noticed many burn barrels in yards on my walk; using these is discouraged, but apparently not illegal.  I don’t know what happens with demolition debris, but I bet that not much of it leaves the island.  Old cars and trucks have been a problem, but now any vehicle coming to the island is charged a disposal deposit by the town.
 

Next to the recycling area on South Road there is a library with a couple of small buildings.  It is open 24 hours a day, honor system, and there is free wi-fi within a short distance from the buildings.  There is no store or restaurant, but I saw some signs for a gift shop that was likely someone’s porch.

With that background, I enjoyed my limited explorations of the island. The few cars that passed were not going too fast and the drivers waved.   Everything was very dry, since this part of Maine is in a serious drought condition.  There were lots of apple trees full of apples, though.  I didn’t see many people, and those I did seemed to be mostly visitors like myself.  Matinicus is definitely an unusual and remote location.  For a good pile of island photos, more artistically called a photo essay, see this LINK. 

I only spent one night, and left fairly early for Round Pond.  Once I was out in the open ocean in a good swell and chop, trying to sail to windward, the roller jib came unattached at the head of the sail and slowly dropped onto the deck.  It would have gone more overboard than it did except that I noticed it promptly, and stabilized the situation.  It took awhile to get it all on the deck and secured.  I imagined that my attaching knot had released, but it was actually the thimble fitting on the wire halyard of the furler that had failed and opened up.  I tried to get it fixed in Round Pond with no luck, so it will need to to be repaired after I get back to Freeport. 

 I hanked on a smaller jib for the rest of the day, but needed to motor-sail most of the time, with the course being so close on the wind.  Since I was motoring, I took a course through the rocks of Muscongus Bay; I would not have likely done this in the days before GPS and chartplotters, buy it was very easy and scenic with this equipment.  The day’s distance was about 30 miles.  

I arrived in Round Pond and picked up a mooring owned by Padebco Marine at about 4 pm, after they had closed, but their phone message said some of their moorings were available and I found one.  The fee was the highest of this trip at $40, still not that bad, but there were also no shower or other facilities included.  I had a lobster and clams at the Round Pond Lobster Coop dock for a good price.  They had a very limited menu with no salads or even cole slaw, so I made my own from vegetables from our garden in my provisions.  It rained overnight and the next morning, but it stopped before noon.

I had planned to spend another night there, but realized the distance to Freeport was going to be hard to do the following day.  Since the weather was nice, I left for a scenic motor-sail around Pemaquid Point, past Boothbay Harbor, to the east side of the Sheepscot River to Cape Harbor.  Here is a short video.  

Newagen Inn

By 3:30, I was on a mooring at Newagen Seaside Inn; total distance about 16 miles.  Newagen is a great place, and I greatly enjoyed their heated pool.  I was not planning to bother my friend who lives next to the resort since I had not given him any notice and needed to leave early the next morning, but he saw me in the harbor and called me.  Jay and his wife Cindy invited me over for drinks and appetizers while we watched the sunset from their deck for a very pleasant evening.  The last time I was here in 2020, Covid was in full swing, and we were not able to have nearly as nice of a social visit.  

The next day (Thursday) was forecast to have fairly strong winds from the west, so I got an early start, knowing it would be a bumpy ride.  I took a chance of taking the shortest route, even though I would cross the mouth of the Kennebec River, north of Seguin Island.  It was close to high tide, but there was still a current running out of the river, and combined with the west wind that had now picked up to 15 knots, there were very confused seas and a nasty chop that knocked Magus around quite a bit. Everything on the chart table ended up on the floor, and the deck was covered in spray.  After a half hour of bad conditions, I was still bashing into the wind and waves for another several hours. Here is a short video after the worst of it.  

Even Casco Bay was very bumpy until I approached Eagle Island and Broad Sound, where the conditions smoothed out considerably.  I made a grilled cheese sandwich with tomato for lunch; the autopilot is great.  

I was back on our mooring in Freeport at about 3 pm, very happy to be home.  Jenny picked me up soon thereafter and we went for a refreshing swim at Winslow Park just down the street from our house.  The next week, the weather changed, and now it feels like Fall.

Little Mark Island; almost home 

 

Spring 2022 launch

This was the first year ever that Magus was stored on the hard for the winter in Maine.  The Royal River Boatyard is very close to home, so I could easily check on the cover set-up on occasion, although it basically held up fine.  

Being on the hard, it was possible to paint the hull topsides, which was needed.  I may add more details, but we did the best effort since we bought the boat in 2008.  Meaning, the old paint finishes were removed to the gel coat, with epoxy filling as needed, and then given a good two-part polyethylene primer and surface finish; Interlux Perfection.  New bottom paint, zincs, all that.

The launch happened before the end of June, in time to take the boat to DiMillo's in Portland for Echo and her friends to stay on the boat for a few days over the July 4 holiday.