Northeast Harbor, Mt. Desert Isl., ME

Today we said good bye to our new friend, John McLeod, from Perry Creek. He gave us invaluable advice about traveling to Canada, plus he had a lovely Scottish brogue.

It was a beautiful day after yesterday’s rain. It was still cloudy and humid, but not bad. There was no wind til afternoon (typical) so we motored, but once we got to Jericho Bay the wind was close to 10 knots so David put the sails up. We had a great sail for 2 hours, with the wind getting up to 13-14 knots. As we were slowing down from our turn into York Narrows, we turned the motor on, but could tell immediately that something was wrong.

We had snagged a lobster pot. I have to say, those pots have been everywhere, with barely enough room to bring a boat between them. We had been watching them like hawks because we know the trouble they can cause if they get hooked on a keel or a motor. Somehow, just as we were turning, one got underneath the boat, and when we turned the engine on, its line immediately wrapped around the propeller. We stopped the engine, trying to figure out what was wrong. David knew exactly what to do— leave the engine off, take the sails down, and get the anchor down to give us time to figure out the problem so we wouldn’t end up on the nearby rocks or colliding with another boat in the channel.

Once we figured it out, David called the US Coast Guard to give a “securite” notice, which is what a boater needs to do when he is obstructing a channel (you give a “mayday” only if there is a threat to life). After that, David jumped in and swam under the boat with a knife to cut the line of the lobster pot. It took him about 15-20 minutes to get it. It had been wrapped around several times, and the lobster pot itself was hanging off the prop, so the line was very tight.

Once he got it, he climbed back on the boat, called the USCG to cancel the securite, raised the anchor, and off we went.

No, in answer to your questions, there were no lobsters in the pot.

We didn’t put the sails back up, because we were a little stressed from watching for the pots. Once we got into Northeast Harbor, about 2 hours later, we settled in and started making dinner. David cooked on his new boat grill. While we were waiting for the burgers to cook, there was an annoying squeak from somewhere around the mast, so I went up to see where it was coming from. It seemed to be from the mast, especially from where the boom connected with the mast. Wait a minute, why is the boom crooked? Why does that pin look like it is falling out? I made David come look, and yes, the pin that holds the boom to the mast had been sliding down out of its socket, which could have meant that the next time we raised the sails, the boom could have fallen off.

To make a long story short, David fixed that too, while grilling the burgers!!

I have to admit, I am still stressed from both of these mishaps. David is fine. I feel like I’m lucky to be married to Superman. He is thrilled that I made him organize his tools before we left.

I keep thinking, “there but for the grace of God . . . “ and of all the prayers that are with us. I don’t know what is keeping us safe, but so far, so good.🙂Read more