Good-bye Maine

leaving Maine

Stealin’ her away

Finally leaving Maine for home!  Happy Father’s Day! We head off a day early- and boy is there a story behind the reason for that; one that must be saved for another time.
Does the day look a bit gloomy?  5:30 am will do that. Maneuvering through the lobster pots that had grown ten fold in the past two weeks was tricky in a boat 23 feet wide. We left the Medomack River behind and made our way into the “Hungry Ocean” ( to borrow a phrase from Linda Greenlaw), which was roll-y and lumpy enought that day to require the closeness of the muti-purpose blue bucket.
After a few hours of motoring we gathered our wits and hoisted the main to smooth out the ride. Full sails and no engines came later. All three of us were delighted with the result, as the waves had calmed down which meant we could begin to enjoy what turned into a 12 hour day.
Arrived York Harbor at 5:30 pm. Was quite the day.  The 3-day forecast looked good and we rested up for another long day ahead.

Getting her ready

Sitting pretty with stack pack in the Maine haze

Working busy getting it all ready.  Our screacher & bowsprit are on now.  Ortolan has grown from 41′ to 47′!  I spent the whole week pouring over all the manuals, components & systems, while the Maine rains poured down!  Dreary, wet & cold with only lobster to eat … could have been worse!

Our Punch List is slowly shrinking from it’s 4 pages to 1.  Many Maine Cat owners leave just a week after launch – hard to believe we’ll be ready after 5!  We’re on our 3rd Garmin chartplotter & many issues are taking time to get settled.

Departure day is June 21, the first day of summer & the first day of our new life!