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More gardens and fountains in Prescott Park. |
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I left the dock at 9:45 am, rounded the first bend in the
Piscataqua River heading out, and spotted a huge tanker heading my way,
surrounded by tugs, Coast Guard vessels, and police boats. The
latter raced ahead to intercept me, blue lights flashing, to warn me to stay on the edge of
the channel just inside the buoys and out of the tanker's way -- as
if I needed that advice. |
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The tanker passing close by. |
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With no dock or mooring availability between, I decided
to push on to Saco and Marston's Marina on the Saco River, about 40 nm
up the coast. (Jul. 29) |
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Sailing was great, until at about 4:00 pm off Hampton, NH
when the offshore wind suddenly picked up out of nowhere, blowing steady
at a good 20-plus knots, the seas quickly building to white caps.
It remained howling the remainder of the trip. (Too bad the
pictures I don't take, the conditions I don't capture!) I was glad to reach
the relative shelter of Saco Bay and the tranquility of Saco River. |
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I reached Marston's Marina after 6:00 pm and tied up at
their fuel dock, as arranged. There was nobody around, so I
settled in for the night, plugged into the shore power, and had my buddy
Randy Randall aboard for a visit. He offered to drive me into town
in the morning for supplies if I needed anything; I was tentatively
planning to spend another night here, but in the morning the weather
forecast made up my mind to move on. (Jul. 30) |
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Today, the forecast said, the weather would be fine --
but tomorrow and the near future didn't look very promising.
Without seeing Randy, as soon as the dock office opened I paid my bill,
got some ice, topped of the working gas tank, then got on my way at 9:30
am: Next stop, Portland: Just over 20 nm up the coast. |
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The sea was flat, the wind light to almost nothing.
I motor-sailed much of the way to Portland. (Jul. 30) |
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In the distance, a tug towing a large barge. |
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I reached DiMillo's Marina -- one of my favorites along
the coast and a planned stopover -- at 3:00 pm, after cutting a big
corner off my route rounding Cape Elizabeth coming into Portland Harbor. |
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The next morning I awoke to dense fog blanketing the
marina and Portland Harbor. (Jul. 31) |
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Leaving the DiMillo's Marina/Restaurant parking lot onto
Commercial Street is a large billboard with a great message. |
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Today was the day for other C22 owners from the Portland
area to come by and have a look at Chip Ahoy. On the left is
Dianna Fletcher, owner of Fletcher Media. She and her husband own
a C22 they're fixing up and hope to launch next month. Some time
ago she'd
contacted me through this website via e-mail, telling me she'd like to
meet and have a look over Chip Ahoy if I'm ever in the Portland area
again. I contacted her recently told her when I was coming. |
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While she was there, I had her take this photo of me --
one of the few of me along this singlehanded trip. (Jul. 31) |
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See Chip Ahoy's complete log of the cruise
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