Marblehead to Maine and back...
Ken Court sent the following log of his sail from Marblehead to Maine and back in July/August 2008:
I returned home Monday the 11th after two weeks in Maine. We took third in Eastern Yacht Club's overnight Classic Yacht Race from Marblehead to Castine, Maine in honor of Olin Stevens' 100th birthday (America's finest designer since Herreshoff in the 1900's). The race was a 150 mile spinnaker run. We finished in about 28 hours and had good wind except for about three hours of rolling and slating in the wee hours of the morning when squall lines left us with no wind. The race was fun and "third" is the only time we've ever placed since 1974 when Andy bought the boat. "Capella" is slow and heavy as all Bermuda 40's are. For crew we had five, the owner, my friend Andy Skinner who's 88, me at 70, and Andy's three sons who were born in the 50's. We first raced together in 1977 in the first Marion to Bermuda Race and ended well back in the pack. On that race my navigation was right on, and we crossed the Gulf Stream in good time. This year the two sons got off in Castine and one in Camden. Andy and I sailed alone from Camden to Marblehead.
After the race we had no wind and blue skies to Camden. Next leg, Port Clyde, in fog with 0.1 mile visibility. My course lines on the GPS were faultless. We powered at 5.5 knots. The next day calm, 100' visibility. We went to Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club. The next day only did five miles thru Townsend Cut to a friend's island, Little Green, where we feasted on Lobster, corn and salad. After that no fog and no wind: Falmouth Foreside (Portland Yacht Club) where we took a lay day, then Biddeford Pool (BP Yacht Club). Next day wind SSE at about 20 knots (on our nose). We motor sailed under main alone. Our next stop was York Harbor a short way up the York River in New Hampshire. The current was fair at 5 knots plus. In harbor due to the skipper's only faux pas of the voyage we became an instant sloop when he did not properly maneuver in the strong current. He throttled back and approached the mooring in a gentle turn to Port, and did not respond to my order from the bow to speed up and turn hard to Port. Fact was he probably so relieved to be in a calm harbor that he put his mind out of gear and swept broadside onto the fore pulpit of a moored sport fishing yacht. No harm done to the boat we struck other than cosmetic marks on the topsides and an 8" gel coat scrape on the pulpit.
Our starboard mizzen shroud and main stay and halyard were snagged on the other boat's pulpit. The mizzen failure was quick and classic. It broke above deck at the winch, and at the spreaders. With five knots current and a forty foot boat the strain was too great and I could not unsnag us. Fortunately Andy had found the wire cutters the day before and I cut the three wires. We then moored and I spent the next three hours cleaning up the mess. Fortunately the radar and radar reflector were not wet, only the upper 2' of the mast top. I removed and stored all the wire, parts, and radar in the Starboard deck locker, the two long mast pieces on deck, properly padded and secured to the Port stanchions. The boom and sail were stored in the forepeak and the short mast section was padded and tied to the base of the main cabin table. The skipper did not take things badly and said it was always "the captain's fault", and that if the main had been tightly furled he could have seen better forward and avoided the accident. The problem was not ahead. It was abeam to Starboard where we were being swept. Insurance will replace the mizzen.
The remainder of the trip was again windless, York to Anisquam and through the canal to Gloucester where we moored off the Yacht Club. The next day, Friday, we powered to Marblehead and moored on Andy's mooring. Once there we off loaded remaining provisions, and the five sets of blankets, linens, pillows and towels. Saturday we took the two spinnakers, the large overlapping genoa, and mizzen staysail ashore for washing and stowage. This log is longer than I had intended, but I wanted to let you know how the trip went. The weather was pleasant, some rain and thunder along the way. There was a freshness in the air that we don't have in Maryland's summer. The weather was such that I wore shorts the whole way, even when we crossed the Gulf of Maine at night. The trip was easy, all on moorings no anchoring, at 70 I'm not in favor of setting and raising anchors.