{"id":5878,"date":"2016-07-11T12:36:01","date_gmt":"2016-07-11T12:36:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=5878"},"modified":"2016-07-11T12:36:01","modified_gmt":"2016-07-11T12:36:01","slug":"thinking-about-past-maine-cruises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=5878","title":{"rendered":"Thinking about past Maine cruises"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s Monday morning and just a little over two weeks until I head to Maine aboard Pandora. \u00a0The plan is to participate in the annual cruise of the group The Corinthians<\/a>, a sailing club that Brenda and I have been members of since 1996, 20 years. \u00a0That’s a long time.<\/p>\n

Our boys, Rob and Chris, grew up sailing with other kids in the club and the week long cruise each summer was a major event for them as they loved hanging out with the\u00a020+ children that would be along for the week.<\/p>\n

This year, as we spend so much time aboard in the winter, Brenda will stay at home and I’ll go with my two friends, Craig and Rodney, fellow Corinthians, for the week of cruising in Maine.<\/p>\n

It’s been nearly twenty years since Brenda and I first cruised Maine waters aboard Elektra, our Tartan 37 and perhaps 5 years since our last trip there. \u00a0All and all, I believe this summer’s run will be my 16th. \u00a0That’s a lot of cruises “down east” and perhaps more surprising to me is that I have been around long enough to have cruised that many times anywhere, much less Maine.<\/p>\n

Back in my last life, pre-retirement, the two week run to Maine was always a rush as I assembled crew to do an overnight from Norwalk Yacht Club, where we were members for many years, straight to Camden or Booth Bay. \u00a0I had to get there quickly, rain or shine, as there was so little time to waste in getting to the business of cruising. Getting there and back home again was a delivery and nothing more. \u00a0I am happy to say that cruising is a lot less hectic now but the “leisure” of it all is tempered by the much longer runs, well that’s what Brenda would say for sure.<\/p>\n

The club cruise this year will center on Acadia National Park, a place that Brenda and I have spent much time enjoying over the years. \u00a0This post from 2011<\/a> shows some of the beauty along with another of our favorite harbors Camden and points in between.<\/p>\n

However, post or not, a few photos from our last visit there in 2011.<\/p>\n

Here’s “old” Pandora in Five Island Harbor near Booth Bay Harbor. \u00a0A lovely spot.\"OLYMPUSAnd what’s a post about Maine without a schooner shot? \u00a0This one takes guest out for day sails out of Booth Bay Harbor. \u00a0\"OLYMPUSOf course, then there’s the “big girls” that take folks out for a week at a time. \u00a0 Her captain and crew are “hot dogging” into a harbor under sail to drop the hook, under sail, to spend the night.\u00a0\"OLYMPUSAll sailing isn’t about going anywhere in particular. \u00a0This sweet Friendship Sloop, a type named after the town of the same name, was not in any particular hurry the day we encountered her.
\n\"OLYMPUSOf course, there’s really nothing more “Maine” than Andrew Wyeth, and here’s his widow Betsy sitting on the porch of her summer home on Allen Island. \u00a0The family provides a few moorings for cruisers to tie up to in the sheltered cove in front of their home. \u00a0Their hospitality is a far cry from the unfriendly locals in Florida that have worked so hard to successfully ban anchoring in many harbors in Ft Lauderdale and <Miami. \u00a0\"OLYMPUSAnd, perhaps the most Maine of harbors, Camden and a few of the schooners that call the harbor their home. \"OLYMPUSOf course, the most iconic image of all is lobsters waiting to head to market. Yum. We certainly had plenty of Caribbean lobster when we were in Cuba last winter and I look forward to a “taste test” to see which wins out. \u00a0I expect Maine lobster will carry the day.\u00a0\"OLYMPUSAnyway, my nominal departure day will be the 26th of July and that run of less than 200 miles, after our last four winters south, will seem more like a short “day sail” \u00a0and not much of a run compared to my 1,000 mile voyages from the Bahamas or Florida back to New England. \u00a0In early years, I did the run with a crew of 4, sometimes more. \u00a0This time, just two, me and Rodney. \u00a0That’s particularly fitting as we started sailing together years ago on a run to Maine. \u00a0Besides, it’s only a single overnight. \u00a0Funny how perspectives change.<\/p>\n

In any event, I am very much looking forward to reconnecting to a group of sailors that have been a part of my life for so many years. \u00a0Hopefully, Brenda and I will have time to do a bit of cruising together for a week or so prior to bringing Pandora back.<\/p>\n

An interesting rub that came up yesterday that will have a big bearing on when I’ll bring Pandora back from Maine and has to do with the nuclear Submarine USS New Mexico. \u00a0Yes, a rendezvous with a sub and Pandora. \u00a0 How’s that for a segue? \u00a0Pretty good,\u00a0right?<\/p>\n

You may recall that I “ran into” the USS New Mexico off of New London last summer and have been corresponding with representatives of the boat since then. \u00a0\"OLYMPUSThis was the post that “started it all”.<\/a><\/p>\n

A few months after that chance encounter, Damon, my contact with the sub suggested that I might be able to join them for a “VIP day sail” aboard the New Mexico and we have been staying in periodic contact since then with the hope that an opportunity might arise.<\/p>\n

Well, the opportunity to spend time aboard the New Mexico hasn’t surfaced yet (pun intended) so I decided to arrange a visit aboard Pandora and reached out to Damon and the Chief of the Boat, Norm to take some of the crew out sailing aboard Pandora. \u00a0 I sent a note suggesting that I bring Pandora to New London while the New Mexico was in port and take some of their crew out for short sails.<\/p>\n

Happily, as of last night they have confirmed that they’d like to move ahead with my offer and hope to have me visit in August. \u00a0So, that means that Pandora will be headed back from Maine\u00a0in late August. That should work well for me and I am very excited. \u00a0Details to come…<\/p>\n

Well, I had better get to work on our bathroom now as the project isn’t going to finish itself and the new shower had better be “ready”\u00a0\u00a0by the time I leave for Maine. \u00a0 \u00a0The plumber Brian is coming here mid morning to put in the pan liner and it’s never a good idea to leave a plumber “on hold”.<\/p>\n

That’s all for now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s Monday morning and just a little over two weeks until I head to Maine aboard Pandora. \u00a0The plan is to participate in the annual cruise of the group The Corinthians, a sailing club that Brenda and I have been members of since 1996, 20 years. \u00a0That’s a long time. Our boys, Rob and Chris, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","_s2mail":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5878"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5878\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5891,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5878\/revisions\/5891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}