Day 5 - Return to Terra-Firma

Day 5

This morning greeted us with fog.  As we had a Birthday Party/Family Reunion weekend to attend at Quarryedge and no useable wind in the forecast, we decided to make our way back to Somes Harbor via the "iron-mainsail."  Dan took on the task of navigating and piloting, while I tidied and did some blogging below deck.   

Leaving Burnt Coat Harbor, Swans Island

Burnt Coat Harbor Light, Hockamock Head, Swans Island

Bye Burnt Coat Harbor Light!!

Dan relied completely on the Lowrance GPS and very low visibility.  At one point, not long into the trip, we began to see dark shapes not on the GPS.  They turned out to be a large Salmon Farm and were rather creepy.

Several large salmon pens.

When we made it halfway up Somes Sound we encountered the winds that always seem to be there. 
By now we had already pulled the motor and deployed the mainsail and genoa wing-on-wing with the genny to port.   A few short bursts on the air-horn to get our parents attention as we passed by Quarryedge, but no response.   

The sky was quite overcast and the wind was picking up. The wind is almost always coming out of the south in Somes Sound so it's pretty typical to run home.

We caught an especially strong gust which pushed us forward.  The GPS indicated a SOG of 7.28mph.  Thus far we had only ever pushed 6.  Just as we were making a note of this another gust came along and knocked us down. Windfall buried her port gunwale, sea-water frothed through the lines and rigging for a moment then came head-to-wind on the starboard;  whisker pole bent in half.  

I went forward and completed the bend on the whisker pole per Dan's instructions and handed it back.  We started the motor and started prepping for mooring.  It was beautifully calm entering Somes Harbor.  We pulled up alongside the dock to unload everything including the Porta-Potty before going to the mooring.   While at the dock, I remembered I had to save the GPS data off the Lowrance to my laptop, before leaving.  

Uploading tracks from the Lowrance data-card to my laptop.

While Dan motored to the mooring to button up Windfall, I walked to pick up my car.  Dan has friends that live nearby and let him park vehicles in there driveway so that he can take extended sails.  There is no overnight parking at the Somesville Landing.

Dan rows under the dock gangway on his return from the mooring.

View of the Somesville Church from the Somesville Landing.  

That's where we Stillman kids grew up.  

Dad was the pastor there for many years.  

We lived in the parsonage next to it.

Final Leg of our Trip.
Burnt Coat Harbor, Swans Island to
Somes Harbor, Mount Desert Island