We arrived in Camden yesterday and met the rest of the crew, Peter Breach, owner and captain, and Jonathan Hand, a teacher from St. John's College in Santa Fe, NM. We sat down for a glass of wine in the cockpit of Camille, a North Wind 50 and started to get to know each other. After hauling our stuff on board, and a quick tour, we walked into town for delicious lunch at Cappy's.
The weather is perfect! I could happily live in Camden in the summer. Don't know about winter.
Camille is tied up at Wayfarers Boatyard getting some repairs. There are issues with receiving weather faxes on the Furuno and the bow thrusters aren't working.
John's cousin Jackie stopped by with her daughters to see the boat, and invited us over for dinner. We accepted and had a wonderful time with them, and their chickens. Sorry, no pictures of the chickens. Jackie sent us on our way with a dozen fresh eggs and a beautiful huge garlic bulb.
August 4 Wednesday
We had an errand today that would take us closer to Port Clyde, where John's Great Grandpa Balano built a house, now occupied by his cousin Jay, so we took a detour. There was a group of people on the front porch doing math puzzles. We introduced ourselves and were invited to join them. Turns out, not a single one was a Balano relative. They were visiting for the week. We felt right at home and sat down to work on the puzzles. John took me on a tour of the house and "garage." The casket that his great grandfather was supposed to be buried in is still there, now buried under stuff. His body never made it back to Port Clyde. One story is that his crew mutinied and killed him, because he wouldn't allow them to make some extra money running guns. We went downtown to check out the general store, and I have the T-shirt to prove it.
August 5 Thursday
Stowing 5 grocery cartloads of food, wine, beer and liqueur was a challenge. I'm sure the folks at Hannifords are used to people buying up half the store. After 2 days of provisioning, we finally got underway at about 1400. It's foggy, cool out, and I just found the missing chocolate. Adventure, HO!
August 6 Friday
The Classic Yacht Race starts here today, so there are many beautiful old boats, including Gadget, once Walter Cronkite’s yacht, formerly called WYNTJE. It's a 64' Hinckley. There's a boat anchored near us with a Chinese junk style hull, two masts, a parrot hanging from the rigging and a long dining table on deck with a chandelier hanging from the mast.
August 7 Saturday
The mechanic, Paul, pulled out the alternator & regulator to take them back to the shop to be bench tested. The result was a bad regulator. Luckily he could get one overnighted, though, due to the lobster festival in Rockland, it could take a while to get here. The anchor was dragging, so we had to move and reset it. We grilled steaks on board for dinner & I stuck my nose in a book on the history of rum.
August 8 Sunday
Sunny, cool, wind W to NW, 10 kts
Chocolate offerings to the traffic gods!
Paul came out & installed the new regulator, so we we're finally able to be on our way. Halifax, here we come!
We left about 1830 with the wind on our starboard beam, and the weather, once again, perfect. I was on watch from 10 to midnight, when Peter took over. I napped on the settee for a while, then woke John for his watch. I slept more soundly than I have in years.
August 9 Monday
We had nice winds, topping out at about 25 kts, and zoomed along, nearing 12 kts over ground at one point! I took a Bonine around 7 am & it kept my gut happy all day. I should have taken a 2nd one before dinner. I wasn't much help in the galley. (Spaghetti with meat sauce.) I took my unhappy gut to bed early so John did my watch. (Thank you!! <3)
August 10 Tuesday
I joined him on his 4 am watch & feel more confident about it. We had the honor of watching a beautiful sunrise. I made pancakes and bacon for breakfast, much appreciated all around. We reached the channel into Halifax just before noon. There was very little traffic, which seems odd for a busy port.
We went up the Northwest Arm to the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron and called customs. They took our passport info, then drove out. I now have a Canadian stamp. We were told that we had to keep our US apples on board, cores and all. Once we could leave the boat, we acquired Canadian coins and did laundry. A woman at the yacht club called us a cab & we went out to eat. The restaurant was odd, American diner style with a juke box, but a very impressive menu. The food was fabulous, or at least mine was; grilled halibut on an arugula salad with mango salsa.
August 11 Wednesday
Peter called a cab to take us as far as the local chandlery, The Binnacle. I had a great time wandering around. From there we took buses into downtown Halifax. The bus driver took pity on us foreigners and let us ride for free, even gave us transfers good also on the ferry to Dartmouth, across the river. Dartmouth wasn't impressive, but the view from the ferry was nice.
There was another for Chocolate Lake Beach. Mmmmm.
We had lunch at Murphy's on the waterfront then wandered over to the Buskers Festival, where a guy was doing an escape from chains that involved dislocating his shoulder. We bought souvenirs. Somewhere between lunch and the souvenir shops, Peter's camera disappeared, probably stolen. 300 photos gone. The only other bad note of the day was that I was wearing my deck shoes & gave myself a big ugly painful blister. No, I did not take a photo of it.
We took the bus back as far as the grocery store and did some more provisioning. All stocked up and ready to go. We filled the fuel and water tanks then headed out the channel. My brother called & we talked until I started losing reception. No wind at all and there was a fog settling in. We motored at about 4 kts. The hazy Halifax lights disappeared in the pea soup fog & we were alone. I was on watch from 12:30 to 2. About 1 am I heard a loud snort nearby on the port side. "What the hell?!!?" Then, "Whale!" My whole body grinned. I heard it several more times. I'd been getting drowsy, but now was wide awake, straining to hear more. Nothing. I finally woke John up for his watch and went to bed.
August 12 Thursday
Finally got some wind, so we unfurled the sails. It died some, so we motor sailed. It picked up and shifted so we were able to sail exactly on our intended course, 110°. Whales!!! Spouting, fins, flukes, the works! I could witness that every day for the rest of my life and not lose my fascination. Also saw some dolphins.
Jonathan & I made beef stew for dinner. John was asleep. I tried to wake him as he requested, but he was out cold. I was feeling kind of crappy-forgot the Bonine again, so I took naps in the cockpit. I slept so well there that I went down & got my sleeping bag. I couldn't have slept better on the finest bed. :)
August 13 Friday
