The following chronicles my 2008 summer sailing adventure from Westbrook, CT to the coast of Maine and back.
Friday, July 4th, 2008
Departed; Westbrook, CT at 10:00 hrs with friends Doug and Ned onboard as crew. Headed east for West Harbor on Fishers Island, NY (approx 23nm) arriving around 16:00 hrs sailing 4 hrs & motor sailing 2 hrs. We rafted along side of Ceilidh a 44' motor cruiser on our club's mooring in West Harbor. We had a nice walk from the harbor thorough the town and to the ferry dock. Later in the evening we were treated to a private fireworks display put on by the Dupont family for their friends and neighbors. I would have to say that it was better then most of the firework displays being put on across America on the 4th (maybe even better then those in Oyster Bay).
Saturday, July 5th, 2008
Departed; West Harbor at 08:00 hrs heading east for Newport, RI (approx 36nm) arriving around 17:00 hrs sailing only 3 hrs & motor sailing the rest with heavy fog for nearly the entire trip. We picked up a mooring at the Ida Lewis Yacht Club. After a nice walking tour of the Newport area we returned to Ida Lewis and enjoyed Grill Night at the club while we overlooked Newport harbor while being serenaded by a big swing band playing for the New York Yacht Club less then a mile away under a tent. Life just didn't get any better.
Sunday, July 6th, 2008
Departed; Newport at 08:00 hrs heading east for Mattapoisett Harbor, MA (approx 42nm) arriving around 17:00 hrs sailing with a fair tide for nearly 6 hrs & motor sailing the rest. Isabelle picked up a mooring at the Mattapoisett Boatyard.
They have a small light house in Mattapoisett on Ned's Point which I assume was named it after one of my crew members. Mattapoisett is a very small town and we had a nice walk down to the town pier where we had our ration of ice cream for the day. It was hamburgers on the grill for dinner as we watched a beautiful sunset.
Monday, July 7th, 2008
Departed; Mattapoisett at 08:00 hrs heading east for Provincetown, MA and the Cape Cod Canal. (approx 40nm) arriving in P-Town around 17:00 hrs.
Trying to stay ahead of the fog we reached the Cape Code Canal in just a couple of hours and we made a swift passage through the canal reaching 9+ knots over the bottom at times. We then sailed nearly dead down wind (wing on wing) most of the way to P-Town. Before picking up a mooring in P-Town's mooring field we topped to top off our fuel tanks at the gas dock.
My wife had just arrived by car and once aboard we broke out the dark and stormies before we stumbled ashore for dinner. P-Town is a most interesting place especially as night falls. P-Town has a local color and energy not found anywhere else.
Tuesday, July 8th, 2008
Lay Day; It was up the mast today to repair one of the lazy jacks. The job was made easier by my new ATN Top climber which once you master the climbing technique was actually easy to use and very comfortable. With a pump-out scheduled for 10:00 we waited patiently until finally they arrived around 12:30, so much for reserving a timeslot with the pump-out boat.
After lunch we took advantage if my wife's car with a visit to a local winery and then it was off to do some grocery shopping and a little bit of laundry. We searched and searched for block ice and everyone kept telling us it was unavailable in P-Town, but we finally hooked up with a guy at the ice company and he not only had block ice but he made us a great deal on cubes.
Our plan was to leave for Maine on Wednesday but after checking the weather we saw that a cold front was moving through the area with 15-20 knots of wind gusting to 25 predicted for the Portland, ME area with heavy rain and hail forecasted for the evening we had planed to be at sea. Call me crazy but I made the decision to stay another day in port and let this weather front move past. The wind in the mooring field was blowing a constant 20+ knots. We hoisted our anchor riding sail, much to the delight of the launch operator. He commented on how calm Isabelle rode on its moorings versus the other boats and how it made his job of coming along side easier in these wind and sea conditions.
Wednesday, July 9th, 2008
Lay Day, The wind blew hard all day, we spent it doing little projects around the boat, catching up on our reading and exploring P-Town. After a great dinner on board I turned in for the night, hoping that when I awoke the winds would have moderated and the front would have moved through.
Thursday, July 10th, 2008
Dawn broke with the winds now down to the mid teens and we had a much improved weather forecast. We made plans to drop our mooring around 09:30 and left the mooring field under main alone; once the jenny was up we were pushing 6.5 knots with the winds now in the high teens. We slipped in reef and began to beat up towards Race Point Light which I considered our jump off point for the 100+ nm crossing to Maine. It was 12:00 hours when we rounded Race Point and headed out to sea.
It wasn't long before we sighted the first of several whales. Their water spouts were the first giveaway and then it was their giant tails flipping through the air as they put on a great show for us. We settled into a routine with Buddy my Monitor wind vane doing most of the work, the wind was out of the west blowing 8-12 knots and we held a steady 30 degree course as the miles ticked away. When the wind went a little south up went the spinnaker and on we sailed.
Around 20:00 the wind died and we turned on the iron jenny and motored ahead through the night. With nearly no wind and flat seas the night portion of the crossing was completely uneventful except for a container ship who sat directly in our path with all of its deck lights on for nearly 3 hours. When we finally came within a mile of the ship she turned off her deck lights and proceeded to make a slow circle completely around us as we past by. It was kind of crazy but I think they were just bored sitting out there and decided that it would be fun to screw with us. The sky was clear and the stars were magnificent with the Milky Way spilled out across the sky. Some day I will have to learn the names and positions of the stars and planets in the night sky.
Friday, July 11th, 2008
As dawn broke the Sequin Island light was clearly visible 20 miles out. It was 07:30 when we picked up a mooring on Sequin Island and had blue berry pancakes for breakfast. We averaged better than 5 knots for the crossing running the engine less than 10 hours over the 22 hour passage. If you have not been there Sequin Island is a wonderful stop. During the summer the Friends of Sequin Island man the lighthouse and operate a small museum. The young couple who had volunteered to spend the summer there lived in the old light house keeper's house. They gave us a guided tour of the grounds and the light itself and shared some of the history of the light and the island with us.
As we looked east from the island the smoke from the fire at the Washburn & Doughty Shipyard in East Boothbay was clearly visible. It was a tragedy to know that this historic shipyard which builds ocean going tugs was being burnt to the ground becoming nearly a 100% loss including the 3 tugs that were in various stages of completion.
We dropped our mooring and made the short trip (10 nm) to Boothbay Harbor where we picked up a mooring at the Carousel Marina. We went ashore to stretch our legs and take some much needed showers. That evening we had a delightful dinner ashore while listening to an excellent singer who worked his way through many of my favorites from the American Standard Song Book.
Saturday, July 12th, 2008
We left Boothbay Harbor around 08:00 and head for the Townsend Gut and the Sheepscot River for the short trip up to the town of Wiscasset which would like to claim the title of the prettiest small town in Maine. We tied up at the town dock (free of charge) and made our pilgrimage to Reds, one of Maine's must go to lobster roll shacks. It required standing in line for at least 45 minutes but you then have earned the distinction of saying you have had a lobster roll at Reds. They had a wonderful used book store in town were I added 3 more books to my reading pile and the gourmet shop is not to be missed and the strawberry rhubarb scones are to die for.
Leaving about 13:00 with the wind dead on our nose we worked our way through the maze of lobster pots and back down the Sheepscot River in route to Robin hood Marine Center. Stopping first at the gas dock we refueled and washed the boat down hopping to get a pump-out but the pump was not working. They promised that they would bring the boat back to the dock and pump it out when the pump was repaired.
After picking up our mooring my wife joined us (she had just arrived by car) for cocktails and some delicious cheese and crackers we had purchased earlier in Wiscasset. Dinner was at the Osprey Restaurant which failed to impress us but the conversation and company was great.
Sunday, July 13th, 2008
After closing the boat up for its 3 week stay at Robin hood Marine, we loaded up the car and headed back home having to return to work.
I will be returning to Isabelle in just 3 weeks to resume my exploration of the Maine coast and I plan to join up with the CDSOA 2008 Maine cruise later in August. Then it will be a return trip on Isabelle back to Connecticut. I can only hope that the rest of my summer will be as good as the trip has been so far.
See you in August
Isabelle's 2008 Maine Adventure - CD33
Moderator: Jim Walsh
Isabelle's 2008 Maine Adventure - CD33
Last edited by GeorgeV on Dec 8th, '08, 08:47, edited 5 times in total.
-
mike ritenour
- Posts: 564
- Joined: Jun 19th, '07, 12:47
- Location: " Lavida" - CD33 /"Dorothy" - Open Cockpit Typhoon
- Contact:
Excellent
George,
Your voyage sounded wonderful.
We are heading to P town tomorrow and hoping to cross to Maine asap.
Look forward to hooking up in Maine.
sea u
Rit
Your voyage sounded wonderful.
We are heading to P town tomorrow and hoping to cross to Maine asap.
Look forward to hooking up in Maine.
sea u
Rit
Isabelle's Week 2 in Maine
I had delivered my boat to Robinhood Marine in George Town, ME in early July from my home port in Westbrook, CT, then returned home to and work for the next 3 weeks. The time seemed to fly by and all of a sudden it was Friday August 1st. and I was on my way to the airport to pick up my brother Charlie and my sister Cindy. They were to be my crew for the coming week.
Saturday, August 2nd
The drive from Connecticut to Maine took roughly 6 hours with my crew for the next week having just arrived from Minnesota. We stopped about half way in Portsmouth, NH for lunch and then made our way to the New Hampshire State Liquor store on I-95 for much needed supplies before making the final push to Maine and Isabelle my 33 foot Cape Dory. Isabelle had been closed up tight for the last 3 weeks and with the rain and fog she had been subjected too, I was not surprised that a small amount of mold had found its way inside of the boat. We got her quickly cleaned up and began to settle in after loading all of our gear and provisions aboard for the coming week. It felt good to be back on board and Isabelle seemed to welcome me back. Cindy and Charlie enjoyed the first of many to come rum and cokes as I cooked dinner. The night sky was clear and it was calm as I plotted out Sunday's itinerary and our waypoints for the GPS. Even though I knew were I wanted to go and had the charts, you never know in Maine what the visibility would be like and it is always better to be prepared.
Sunday, August 3rd
The sun rose on a beautiful day, but the forecast was for rain. We dropped our mooring and headed out to Sequin Island about 12 nm out to visit the lighthouse and its keepers, as the wind built the sky darkened. The crew was beginning to feel the effects of their first day of being off of terra firma on a moving sailboat. After about 2 hours a very hard rain started to come down, and the winds went over 20 knots. The crew was down below to share a bucket and relieve themselves of their breakfasts. As the rain abated a bit a thick fog covered the island and it mad for some tricky navigating into its small harbor. As the crew rested I made the short trip to shore and up to the top of the island to visit the lighthouse keepers. About noon the sun cam out on a beautiful day and I was able to persuade my sister and brother to get up and off the boat, as they began to get there legs back under them. They soon were really enjoying the island and the tour of the lighthouse, and the vistas from the top of the island were magnificent. Sequin Island is a must visit in Maine!
After a light lunch we head east towards Christmas Cove 12 nm off. The course to Christmas Cove took us past several very interesting lighthouses, some beautiful shorelines and hundreds of lobster pots. Once safely inside Christmas Cove we picked up a mooring and began to swap the first of many sea stories over rum and cokes and gin and tonics. While there is not much to explore on shore, it was a beautiful little spot and we did make our way ashore to replenish our supply of ice cubes.
Monday, August 4th
With a little fog giving us about a mile of visibility we headed out for Monhegan Island 12 nm away, a wonderful place to visit. It is roughly 12 nm off shore with only 75 permanent residents, its summer population balloons with the arrival of tourists and summer residents. The lobsterman on the island only work from December through May and it is a communal event with no one going out to fish unless everyone is ready to go. Thank god for GPS because we were not able to see the Island until we were nearly in its small harbor due to the fog. There was only one other visiting yacht when we arrived and like them we picked up one of the empty moorings belong to a fishing boat. Nearly as soon as we tied up we were greeted by the brother of the mooring's owner and were told that it would be fine to hang there as long as we were gone by 3:00 pm. That was not going to be a problem as we were only stopping for lunch and waned to just stretch our legs on shore. Monhegan Island, is certainly worth the trip and we loved visiting the many art galleries and gift shops on the island.
Leaving Monhegan Island about 1:30 we headed out for Tenants Harbor 15 nm off, the fog had lifted and with the wind on the beam, we set the asymmetrical spinnaker as had a very nice sail for the next several hours. Arriving at the mouth of Tenants Harbor my sister made us circle several times so she could get a perfect picture of the light house at its entrance. We picked up a mooring at Cods End and very quickly broke out the rum. It might be helpful that if you ever visit Tenants harbor, when your on shore your cell phone only seems to work if your standing in the middle of the road just to the right of the small grocery store. I know this because I must have tried to get a signal 20 different places and it was only while standing in the middle of the road in front of the grocery store that I could get my phone to work. Thank god there was no traffic at 8:00 in the morning. By the way there is a nice little bakery about a mile from the marina.
Tuesday, August 5th
With no fog we left Tenants Harbor for Rockland, taking the outside passage about 21 nm. We had a nice beam reach for about an hour then we sailed close hauled the rest of the way. As we entered the Rockland harbor and made our way to the town dock where were took care of some housekeeping issues with the holding tank. The harbor master told use we could hang on the dock for a couple of hours so we took of for a quick lunch in town. After lunch we picked up one of the town moorings and settled in for the day. Rockland is a great little town and has several very interesting antique and book stores as well as many art galleries. While we hung on our mooring we watched several large fishing vessels unload their catches as well and then take on loads of ice for their next trip. We made plans to leave the next morning and head out to Northwest harbor on Desert Island.
Wednesday, August 6th
Leaving Rockland under sail was a great start for the morning. We were headed for the Fox Thorofare and Carver Cove on Vinalhaven Island for lunch. As a light rain began to come down we dined on soup and sandwiches and just as we finished the sky began to clear, a good sign for the remainder of the day as we headed out. Now with no wind I turned on the iron jenny and we proceeded north to an anchorage in Northwest Harbor on Deer Isle. What a nice spot to anchor it was very protected, quiet and beautiful. We did a little exploring with the dingy and worked on empting a bottle of rum. My brother fired up the grill and showed us his talents with a grill and a piece of flank steak. As we settled in for the night I sat back an just took in the peace and tranquility of this beautiful spot and thinking that this cruise was going just perfectly.
Thursday, August 7th
After a great breakfast, we retrieved the anchor and started the engine, as we reached the mouth of the harbor, I looked down and the entire boat was filling with smoke. I immediately realized there was a problem with the engine and shut it down. Going below I opened the engine compartment and the smoke poured our, coming up for air we pondered the situation, had we caught on fire, has the engine overheated, where was the smoke coming from I threw out an anchor and took stock of our position, we were not on fire, no one was hurt and we weren't taking on any water. When the smoked cleared we tried to restart the engine and no water was coming out of the exhaust port, so I checked the water pump, and we had water coming up to the pump, it seemed to be pumping water. Checking the heat exchanger we had water flowing through that. If you have never had your head in the engine compartment of a 33 you would know that there is very little room to move around and as I backed out I bumped the muffler and immediately realized what the problem was. Just where the exhaust pipe coming from the engine and connected with the muffler along with the water from the water pump had completely separated. This explained both why the boat was filling with exhaust smoke and no water was coming out of the exhaust port. Everything, exhaust and water was being pumped into the engine compartment when the engine was running.
Now what to do? Well we crafted a "Band-Aid" out of a soup can and 2 hose clamps. Working for nearly an hour to plug the leak we cautiously tried the engine and we still had smoke and water being pumped into the engine compartment. I had some soft rubber hose aboard and I decided to try to make a gasket out of it and wrapped it around the pipe before replacing the soup can and hose clamps. We tried the engine again and this time it seemed to hold and we weren't getting exhaust into the boat. I shut the engine down and place a call back to the Journey's End Marina in Rockland and told them that I had a problem and they told me if I could make it back by Friday they would have a mechanic take a look at it and access the damage.
It was now about noon and after cleaning up we decided to raise some sails and try to sail back through the Fox Island Thorofare back to Rockland about 25 nm away. The wind was 5-7 knots out of the east southeast and we sailed south to the Thorofare were we then sailed wing on wing, jibing nearly 10 times as we worked our way into Penobscot Bay the wind finally completely died and we decided to start the engine for the last 3 miles and hope for the best. Being concerned that the rubber we had wrapped on the exhaust pipe might catch on fire we keep the rpm's down and hade 2 fire extinguishers at the ready. We arrived without further incident about 7:00 pm in Rockland and picked up a mooring for the night.
After a couple of much needed rums we went to town and had a pizza for dinner.
Friday, August 7th
About 9:00 am I eased over to the service dock and a mechanic came down to take a look at Isabelle. He emerged holding 2 pieces of steel pipe and explained that what I had was broken mixing pipe for the exhaust and coolant water. He told me that it was custom made for the boat and he would have to take it up to the machine shop and see if they could build a new one. By 1:00 he had a new part and was installing it and what do you know it didn?t break the bank, they did a great job and I thought the price was very reasonable.
Unfortunately it was now raining, actually it was pouring out and when they offered to let me hang on the dock until morning I took them up on the offer of a slip for the night. We waited out the rain and by 4 or so we headed out to the edge of town to get a few groceries. It turned out to be about a 5 mile hike but it felt good to get out and stretch our legs. We found a wonderful bakery in town (Atlantic Bakery) and they made the best French baguettes and had some cheese that went very well with the wine we picked up while shopping.
Saturday, August 8th
We awoke to a thick fog in the harbor and it was nearly 9:00 when we though we could find our way out of the harbor. We fired up the engine and prepared to leave and then it died. After several attempts to get the engine started we determined that the fuel pump was not working. Thinking that I now had another big problem we tried to get a mechanic to take a look at the pump. I began to poke around in the engine compartment and came across a loose wire that had electricity running through it. Not knowing where it belonged I took a chance and guessed that it had fell off the alternator that had been removed the previous day to get at the exhaust pipe. Low and behold the pump kicked in so we spliced it in place and bled fuel line 2 times before we got the engine to run properly. I think that if I own Isabelle much longer she will turn me into a diesel mechanic as I had spent so much time with my head in the engine compartment.
We finally got going about 11:00 and headed up to Camden. With the wind astern we set the asymmetrical and had a great 2 hour ride to the mouth of the harbor. But wouldn?t you know the engine wound not start again so we bore off as I went down below to bled the system a 3rd time, it must have been the charm because she came to life again. As we sailed away from the mouth of the harbor with our rail down at a little over 6 kn we decided to skip Camden and just sail the rest of the afternoon. We needed to be back in Rockland as by 5:00 as my wife Christine was coming up by car to join me on the boat for the next week of the cruise. We had a great sail back to Rockland and picked up a mooring at Beggars Wharf just in time to meet her as she arrived in town. The folks at Beggars Wharf were really great and I would recommend them to any visiting yachtsman.
Because this was to be the last night on the boat or my brother and sister, we went out for the obligatory lobster dinner and made plans or the crew change on Sunday.
Sunday, August 9th
We headed into town about 7:00 for breakfast and then made our way over to the Maine Boats, Home and Harbor Show. It was being held near the waterfront in Rockland and seemed to have something for everyone. It was a great little show and one that I would recommend to anyone in the area next year. We left the show early about 1:00 as I had to drive my sister and brother back down to Robinhood Marine to pick up a car for their drive home and it was hard to tear everyone away as we were really enjoying all of the boats and exhibits.
After dropping them off with the other car my wife and I returned to Rockland and the warm confines of Isabelle. I was very excited to have my wife back on the boat for the next week of the cruise.
Saturday, August 2nd
The drive from Connecticut to Maine took roughly 6 hours with my crew for the next week having just arrived from Minnesota. We stopped about half way in Portsmouth, NH for lunch and then made our way to the New Hampshire State Liquor store on I-95 for much needed supplies before making the final push to Maine and Isabelle my 33 foot Cape Dory. Isabelle had been closed up tight for the last 3 weeks and with the rain and fog she had been subjected too, I was not surprised that a small amount of mold had found its way inside of the boat. We got her quickly cleaned up and began to settle in after loading all of our gear and provisions aboard for the coming week. It felt good to be back on board and Isabelle seemed to welcome me back. Cindy and Charlie enjoyed the first of many to come rum and cokes as I cooked dinner. The night sky was clear and it was calm as I plotted out Sunday's itinerary and our waypoints for the GPS. Even though I knew were I wanted to go and had the charts, you never know in Maine what the visibility would be like and it is always better to be prepared.
Sunday, August 3rd
The sun rose on a beautiful day, but the forecast was for rain. We dropped our mooring and headed out to Sequin Island about 12 nm out to visit the lighthouse and its keepers, as the wind built the sky darkened. The crew was beginning to feel the effects of their first day of being off of terra firma on a moving sailboat. After about 2 hours a very hard rain started to come down, and the winds went over 20 knots. The crew was down below to share a bucket and relieve themselves of their breakfasts. As the rain abated a bit a thick fog covered the island and it mad for some tricky navigating into its small harbor. As the crew rested I made the short trip to shore and up to the top of the island to visit the lighthouse keepers. About noon the sun cam out on a beautiful day and I was able to persuade my sister and brother to get up and off the boat, as they began to get there legs back under them. They soon were really enjoying the island and the tour of the lighthouse, and the vistas from the top of the island were magnificent. Sequin Island is a must visit in Maine!
After a light lunch we head east towards Christmas Cove 12 nm off. The course to Christmas Cove took us past several very interesting lighthouses, some beautiful shorelines and hundreds of lobster pots. Once safely inside Christmas Cove we picked up a mooring and began to swap the first of many sea stories over rum and cokes and gin and tonics. While there is not much to explore on shore, it was a beautiful little spot and we did make our way ashore to replenish our supply of ice cubes.
Monday, August 4th
With a little fog giving us about a mile of visibility we headed out for Monhegan Island 12 nm away, a wonderful place to visit. It is roughly 12 nm off shore with only 75 permanent residents, its summer population balloons with the arrival of tourists and summer residents. The lobsterman on the island only work from December through May and it is a communal event with no one going out to fish unless everyone is ready to go. Thank god for GPS because we were not able to see the Island until we were nearly in its small harbor due to the fog. There was only one other visiting yacht when we arrived and like them we picked up one of the empty moorings belong to a fishing boat. Nearly as soon as we tied up we were greeted by the brother of the mooring's owner and were told that it would be fine to hang there as long as we were gone by 3:00 pm. That was not going to be a problem as we were only stopping for lunch and waned to just stretch our legs on shore. Monhegan Island, is certainly worth the trip and we loved visiting the many art galleries and gift shops on the island.
Leaving Monhegan Island about 1:30 we headed out for Tenants Harbor 15 nm off, the fog had lifted and with the wind on the beam, we set the asymmetrical spinnaker as had a very nice sail for the next several hours. Arriving at the mouth of Tenants Harbor my sister made us circle several times so she could get a perfect picture of the light house at its entrance. We picked up a mooring at Cods End and very quickly broke out the rum. It might be helpful that if you ever visit Tenants harbor, when your on shore your cell phone only seems to work if your standing in the middle of the road just to the right of the small grocery store. I know this because I must have tried to get a signal 20 different places and it was only while standing in the middle of the road in front of the grocery store that I could get my phone to work. Thank god there was no traffic at 8:00 in the morning. By the way there is a nice little bakery about a mile from the marina.
Tuesday, August 5th
With no fog we left Tenants Harbor for Rockland, taking the outside passage about 21 nm. We had a nice beam reach for about an hour then we sailed close hauled the rest of the way. As we entered the Rockland harbor and made our way to the town dock where were took care of some housekeeping issues with the holding tank. The harbor master told use we could hang on the dock for a couple of hours so we took of for a quick lunch in town. After lunch we picked up one of the town moorings and settled in for the day. Rockland is a great little town and has several very interesting antique and book stores as well as many art galleries. While we hung on our mooring we watched several large fishing vessels unload their catches as well and then take on loads of ice for their next trip. We made plans to leave the next morning and head out to Northwest harbor on Desert Island.
Wednesday, August 6th
Leaving Rockland under sail was a great start for the morning. We were headed for the Fox Thorofare and Carver Cove on Vinalhaven Island for lunch. As a light rain began to come down we dined on soup and sandwiches and just as we finished the sky began to clear, a good sign for the remainder of the day as we headed out. Now with no wind I turned on the iron jenny and we proceeded north to an anchorage in Northwest Harbor on Deer Isle. What a nice spot to anchor it was very protected, quiet and beautiful. We did a little exploring with the dingy and worked on empting a bottle of rum. My brother fired up the grill and showed us his talents with a grill and a piece of flank steak. As we settled in for the night I sat back an just took in the peace and tranquility of this beautiful spot and thinking that this cruise was going just perfectly.
Thursday, August 7th
After a great breakfast, we retrieved the anchor and started the engine, as we reached the mouth of the harbor, I looked down and the entire boat was filling with smoke. I immediately realized there was a problem with the engine and shut it down. Going below I opened the engine compartment and the smoke poured our, coming up for air we pondered the situation, had we caught on fire, has the engine overheated, where was the smoke coming from I threw out an anchor and took stock of our position, we were not on fire, no one was hurt and we weren't taking on any water. When the smoked cleared we tried to restart the engine and no water was coming out of the exhaust port, so I checked the water pump, and we had water coming up to the pump, it seemed to be pumping water. Checking the heat exchanger we had water flowing through that. If you have never had your head in the engine compartment of a 33 you would know that there is very little room to move around and as I backed out I bumped the muffler and immediately realized what the problem was. Just where the exhaust pipe coming from the engine and connected with the muffler along with the water from the water pump had completely separated. This explained both why the boat was filling with exhaust smoke and no water was coming out of the exhaust port. Everything, exhaust and water was being pumped into the engine compartment when the engine was running.
Now what to do? Well we crafted a "Band-Aid" out of a soup can and 2 hose clamps. Working for nearly an hour to plug the leak we cautiously tried the engine and we still had smoke and water being pumped into the engine compartment. I had some soft rubber hose aboard and I decided to try to make a gasket out of it and wrapped it around the pipe before replacing the soup can and hose clamps. We tried the engine again and this time it seemed to hold and we weren't getting exhaust into the boat. I shut the engine down and place a call back to the Journey's End Marina in Rockland and told them that I had a problem and they told me if I could make it back by Friday they would have a mechanic take a look at it and access the damage.
It was now about noon and after cleaning up we decided to raise some sails and try to sail back through the Fox Island Thorofare back to Rockland about 25 nm away. The wind was 5-7 knots out of the east southeast and we sailed south to the Thorofare were we then sailed wing on wing, jibing nearly 10 times as we worked our way into Penobscot Bay the wind finally completely died and we decided to start the engine for the last 3 miles and hope for the best. Being concerned that the rubber we had wrapped on the exhaust pipe might catch on fire we keep the rpm's down and hade 2 fire extinguishers at the ready. We arrived without further incident about 7:00 pm in Rockland and picked up a mooring for the night.
After a couple of much needed rums we went to town and had a pizza for dinner.
Friday, August 7th
About 9:00 am I eased over to the service dock and a mechanic came down to take a look at Isabelle. He emerged holding 2 pieces of steel pipe and explained that what I had was broken mixing pipe for the exhaust and coolant water. He told me that it was custom made for the boat and he would have to take it up to the machine shop and see if they could build a new one. By 1:00 he had a new part and was installing it and what do you know it didn?t break the bank, they did a great job and I thought the price was very reasonable.
Unfortunately it was now raining, actually it was pouring out and when they offered to let me hang on the dock until morning I took them up on the offer of a slip for the night. We waited out the rain and by 4 or so we headed out to the edge of town to get a few groceries. It turned out to be about a 5 mile hike but it felt good to get out and stretch our legs. We found a wonderful bakery in town (Atlantic Bakery) and they made the best French baguettes and had some cheese that went very well with the wine we picked up while shopping.
Saturday, August 8th
We awoke to a thick fog in the harbor and it was nearly 9:00 when we though we could find our way out of the harbor. We fired up the engine and prepared to leave and then it died. After several attempts to get the engine started we determined that the fuel pump was not working. Thinking that I now had another big problem we tried to get a mechanic to take a look at the pump. I began to poke around in the engine compartment and came across a loose wire that had electricity running through it. Not knowing where it belonged I took a chance and guessed that it had fell off the alternator that had been removed the previous day to get at the exhaust pipe. Low and behold the pump kicked in so we spliced it in place and bled fuel line 2 times before we got the engine to run properly. I think that if I own Isabelle much longer she will turn me into a diesel mechanic as I had spent so much time with my head in the engine compartment.
We finally got going about 11:00 and headed up to Camden. With the wind astern we set the asymmetrical and had a great 2 hour ride to the mouth of the harbor. But wouldn?t you know the engine wound not start again so we bore off as I went down below to bled the system a 3rd time, it must have been the charm because she came to life again. As we sailed away from the mouth of the harbor with our rail down at a little over 6 kn we decided to skip Camden and just sail the rest of the afternoon. We needed to be back in Rockland as by 5:00 as my wife Christine was coming up by car to join me on the boat for the next week of the cruise. We had a great sail back to Rockland and picked up a mooring at Beggars Wharf just in time to meet her as she arrived in town. The folks at Beggars Wharf were really great and I would recommend them to any visiting yachtsman.
Because this was to be the last night on the boat or my brother and sister, we went out for the obligatory lobster dinner and made plans or the crew change on Sunday.
Sunday, August 9th
We headed into town about 7:00 for breakfast and then made our way over to the Maine Boats, Home and Harbor Show. It was being held near the waterfront in Rockland and seemed to have something for everyone. It was a great little show and one that I would recommend to anyone in the area next year. We left the show early about 1:00 as I had to drive my sister and brother back down to Robinhood Marine to pick up a car for their drive home and it was hard to tear everyone away as we were really enjoying all of the boats and exhibits.
After dropping them off with the other car my wife and I returned to Rockland and the warm confines of Isabelle. I was very excited to have my wife back on the boat for the next week of the cruise.