RISING TIDE’S Summer Trips, 2013

Before leaving for Martha's Vineyard, Ken brought the "girls" (from left to right, Tammy, Jamie, Eri) of our family to Brown's Island in Marblehead.

Gay Head cliffs in Martha's Vineyard (notice the red sand in the water)

Nina (with the water), Harry, Tom, Sally, Jean, Ken waiting for the bus on the Vineyard

My favorite picture, in Aquinnah looking down from a steep hill, to the shoreline and the crystal clear water about 100 yards from us

Tyler and Joel with ice creams and purchases getting ready to board the ferry for the mainland

I made stuffed quahogs from the ones Tyler gathered in Cape Poque

Our Hull boating friends (Harry, Sally, Jean and Tom) got us motivated to head out to Martha’s Vineyard in July. They are on the boats BREWSTER and EDGECOMB, and got a head-start on us. The pictures they were sending were of the great numbers of fish they were catching in Vineyard Sound! Ken wasn’t about to let a little rough weather divert him from our goal, to anchor in Lake Tashmoo outside of Vineyard Haven. After one night in Onset on the way, we ducked into Hadley’s Harbor for lunch when the weather blew up. Ken is usually very happy to stay in Hadley’s for multiple days, but after lunch he determined that the wind had lessened and we were off for Tashmoo, only about another 90 minutes when the current in Wood’s Hole and Vineyard Sound is cooperating.

The Hull boaters were still using up their fish bounty so shared it with us that night. The next day we all headed for the farmer’s market and Blueberry Festival on the island. We sat in the shade and each had a bowl of blueberry cobbler. I should comment that the weather in the Vineyard, and everywhere in the Northeast, had been, and continued to be, sweltering hot. It didn’t matter if we were on an island or on a boat. Most people coped by standing in the water, covered up to waist-deep or more, and sheltering with a broad-brimmed hat or by finding good shade and a breeze. But it still was HOT! It turned out that the buses that run all over the Vineyard are another somewhat cooler way to go. They are not air-conditioned, but with the windows open and the bus moving, the fresh air was welcome. We took buses around the island the day of the Blueberry Festival and almost every day after that.

Other activities we got involved in were hiking in Felix Neck Sanctuary (the women) and more fishing (the men). I made chowder from the last of the fish caught earlier in the week and distributed a container of it to each boat. We walked to Vineyard Haven and dinghied to the beach at the opening from the Lake to Vineyard Sound. After the Hull boaters moved on, we contacted Bill and Marilyn Adams, friends from Cohasset, and had dinner with them at their Edgartown house. Later in the week we had a chance to see Bill and Marilyn again at a boathouse/guest house with dock that they watch for their friends. It was one of the coolest afternoons of the week, sitting near the water, in the shade, talking (although in the sun it was still in the mid-90s).

Our nephew Tyler Wilson, who just graduated from a university in Washington State, was in the area after completing a month-long solo bike trip from Toronto to Durham, NH. Our niece in Durham drove him down to Massachusetts and he connected up with my brother Joel and the two of them came out to the Vineyard on an early ferry one day. By this time we had moved our boat to Lagoon Pond, on the other side of Vineyard Haven, and we met the ferry and had breakfast at the Black Dog Bakery. Our plans for the day included a boat trip to Cape Pogue, outside of Edgartown, some shopping in Vineyard Haven, and dinner for all of us at the Offshore Ale brewery in Oaks Bluff. Pretty much a perfect Vineyard day! Joel and Tyler departed on a ferry at about 8 pm, and Tyler was on a plane back home to Oregon two days later.

After 10 days on Martha’s Vineyard we left to start heading home. We stopped in Pocasset, and anchored off of Bassett Island and our friends Barry and Susan from Mattapoisett joined us in their boat. We had one additional night in Pocasset and had dinner at the Chart Room. On our last night we jogged (in our boat) over to Marion and my brother Jon and his wife Debbie drove over, picked up pizza from the Wave and we all ate in RISING TIDE’s cockpit. Jon and I went to Rochester for “game night” with our mom that night. The heat and humidity finally abated as we headed back to Cohasset.

Houseboat in an otherwise vacant end of Perry's Creek on Vinalhaven Island

Rainbow over Goat Island Light at Cape Porpoise (the rainbow seemed to go right into the water in front of our boat) 

RISING TIDE at anchor in Perry's Creek

We played with the self-timer on our camera until we got a picture that was aimed right and had us both smiling!

We met this person on Islesboro, and he was gathering wild berries and flowers to sell to local restaurants. Lincolnville is in the background.

At Crocker Park in Marblehead, I noticed that Ken and Justin had complementary t-shirts.

About 10 days later, with awesome weather predicted, we left for Maine, with a stop first in Marblehead. We always like to take a walk in Marblehead, then while dinghing back we found Ken’s brother Pete and sister-in-law Barb on a Nordic Tug they were visiting in the harbor. We joined the group for a boat tour and cocktail hour.

We bought groceries the next morning in Old Town before we left, as Crosby’s Market is close to the dock. We did a full day of motoring and got to Cape Porpoise (part of Kennebunkport) after 8 hours. The next day we stopped in Portland for an appointment to see a Zodiac rep (our dinghy has a warranty issue) and then continued on to our friends’ mooring area in Falmouth. We had a nice boat-meal with them on RISING TIDE. That night the temps sunk to the 50s. We scrambled to find some more blankets!

The next day we were surprised to find our friends Lynda and Frank on their boat when we pulled into Tenant’s Harbor. They had time for an hour of catching up and we agreed to see them later in the trip. Our next destination was a planned meet-up with Ken’s high school friend Scott who is traveling by boat with Linda on their first cruise to Maine.  We spent two nights in Perry’s Creek, part of Vinalhaven Island. I always dig some mussels while in Maine, and Perry’s Creek has tons of them. But since Scott and Linda are not mussel-eaters, we had a pot-luck dinner of veggies, grilled pork, and a rice dish. Our second day in Perry’s Creek was wet, our first rain of either of our boat trips this summer. It wasn’t too bad so I took a hike on the Fox Rocks Trail and picked some berries (huckleberries?). That night we had our steamed mussels, and the last of our fried green tomatoes from home. Another Marblehead highschool friend is in the Creek, Barry, on a classic Crocker-designed wooden cutter.

We had one more wet day so spent it traveling to Rockland and getting ready for a fun day at the Boats, Homes and Harbors Show there. Show day was dry and beautiful, and we enjoyed the exhibits. We got to talk for quite a while with Phil Bennett (a co-worker of mine when I worked at Hood Sailmakers in the late 70s) and his wife Dorothy. Phil was on the Hinckley boat at the show. Then later that day we got picked up by more Marblehead highschool friends, Judie and Andy, and taken to their house in Lincolnville for dinner.

Their daughter Emily was there and their two dogs, one a new growing puppy. Andy sent us home with some beer from his brewery, of course.

We followed up Rockland with a few days on anchor at Islesboro Island and a side trip to Belfast. There were opportunities for walking and bike-riding on Islesboro, and we also spent lots of time bird-watching and watching the comings and goings of cruising boats and ferries. In Belfast we shopped at the Coop there and met up with Andy, Judie and Emily again for a dinner out.

When it was time to start heading home we made sure to pass by Eastern Egg Rock in Muscongus Bay and we were rewarded by seeing a dozen puffins, not on the Rock but swimming in the water. On this trip we have seen puffins twice, both times near the Rock, and this is the first year we have ever found them, after visiting this re-settlement area for probably 15 years. We also stopped in Damariscotta, about 13 miles from our coastal route, up the Damariscotta River. There’s a nice village here, lots of thriving shops, and it was a good meeting place for us to have dinner out with Lynda and Frank (who we had only gotten a quick visit with earlier in this trip).

To finish up our cruise, we called my niece Cathy who lives in S. Portland and she was able to meet up with us, along with Brandon and toddler Henry for dinner on our boat in Cape Porpoise. It was a beautiful day, one of the best, and we all had a good time. There were just two more stops, in Gloucester (we hadn’t been ashore here for years so had fun revisiting some favorite spots while we took a long walk) and Marblehead, and then we were back at our home mooring in Cohasset.