New England 2025

 So we arrived back to the US in mid August, clearing in at Southwest Harbor Maine. Using the ROAM app we entered our info and quickly got a welcome home notice without the facetime call this time. This is another picture and video heavy posting so we'll get right to it with a minimum of blah blah blah...

 On our approach to SW Harbor we began seeing the lobster boats tending to their traps.

 The water was thick with buoys and heading towards sunset didn't help either. Here's a shot on an overcast day to give you an idea.

 We arrived at Dysart's marine and found our slip between a couple on classic motor yachts. Luckily we stuck the landing without any drama...

Our neighbor Marie

 After getting clearance we headed up the hill to the restaurant in search of our first Maine lobster. We weren't disappointed!  Jill and Kathy had the whole lobster dinners and I had the roll, delicious.

 The Upper Deck Terrace offered a great view of the marina and we were able to unwind a bit after a long travel day.

 After some time exploring Mt. Desert island and catching up on some maintenance items we started south. Our next stop was Penobscot Bay and its charming towns and protected cruising. We stopped in Camden and Belfast and enjoyed them both. We were hoping to stay in Belfast a bit longer but the marina couldn't extend our stay. With foul weather in the forecast we decided to head up to Bangor. It was a nice stop also but we again only able to get 1 night as there were bookings because of a country concert. This is a town less visited by boaters and doesn't have much dock space with power and water.

The arrow is the power connection...

The fact that we were traveling a less traveled path became evident on our chart plotter.

This area still has big tidal swings and lighthouses marking the shoals.

You can see the tide difference on the pier

 Returning down the bay we anchored for a night to let the winds die down before continuing into the more open parts. After the winds it became calm and...foggy!

Rockland

 As we continued down the coast we spent a night in Boothbay as we could again get only one night. It would have been worth exploring a bit if we had more time.

 After a few more stops we headed towards Boston where we had a week reserved. We made good use of the time and did a ton of sightseeing. We were also making a crew change here so Jill & I got to see everything twice! Between the Hop-on-Hop-Off and the subway we were able to see the sites easily.

 The approach to Boston was a bit interesting. As we rounded the point at Gloucester we were heading right into a Labor Day weekend sailing regatta. None of the boats seemed to be heading in the same direction and of course had the "right of way". I finally decided to just hold a steady course and pass on through.

We had a great slip at Constitution Marina to easily access the bus and metro.

 After only a day to sightsee Kathy had to head home. Vickie and Bryan were next to arrive and would travel with us down to Long Island Sound. We spent the rest of the week seeing everything we could.

They didn't know my name...

Classic.

The Sox's were in town and we found a great bar on Lansdowne St. that's in the outfield wall of the park! You can see the game and eat and drink without the price of a ticket...maybe I should keep that a secret...

 One thing we've found in our travels is, if you come to a sketchy alley with an arrow pointing to a bar you should check it out! (But send the innocent scouts in first)

And sure enough...

We did see more than bars, including the old Navy Yards and this cool drydock.

 One thing about Boston is that it's filled with history. They are so proud of this that they make the claim to be the first in just about everything. 

Interesting...

 They even have the Sam Adams taphouse next to Faneuil Hall where Sam and his buddies fanned the fires of independence. Sam Adams is proudly brewed in...Cincinnati!

As we were nearing the end of our stay a strong front came through which extended our time in Boston.

 We waited a bit to let the water calm down before our run out to Cape Cod...should have waited an extra day. Once again it was a remodel of Chasing 80, sorry gang!

Nothing is where it belongs except me.

 Once tied up in Provincetown and on dry land everyone was feeling better. The tides are still big around here.

Two days later after some fun times we headed out in much calmer weather.

 Next we passed through the Cape Cod Canal to Buzzards Bay and the town of Onset that boaters in Boston had recommended. Great town with beautiful architecture.

 From Onset we went to Newport RI where we were able to get a mooring ball for one night on the first day of their boat show. The boat traffic was crazy but it was fun to have a front row seat for the madness!

 Next up was the relatively quite mooring field of Block Island. I guess everyone was in Newport. We were told that the town was basically shutting down for the season after the next weekend. A sign to keep moving south! Speaking of signs...I wish someone had told me this years ago!!

It was maybe a bit chilly

On the way to Mystic CT. we passed by some truly impressive estates. One was the Ocean House Inn.

Near the also impressive digs of Taylor Swift...I can only assume the truck on the beach is security.

 Once in the bay I entertained myself by skillfully guiding Chasing 80 into 3 states at the same time! Rhode Island, New York and Connecticut all meet here...

Geek Moment

 The town of Mystic and the Seaport Museum are not to be missed! Docking at the Museum gets you and your guests access to all the work shops as well as the restorations of some historic wooden ships. You can also tour the grounds after hours when the crowds are gone.

The Barrel Shop or Cooperage

Rope mill

Complete Resto

 Last port call for Vickey and Bryan was Greenport on Long Island. Here they would catch the LIRR into NYC and their flight home. I'm always impressed by their Rome 2 Rio mentality when they travel with us! 

 Greenport was gearing up for their big maritime festival so we had to vacate but not before seeing the retired FDNY fireboat Fire Fighter. I last saw this boat when it was in service. She was supplying water for fire apparatus from Battery Park after 9/11. A true workhorse!

 We stayed on the LI side as we traveled down the sound towards NYC. In the town of Northport we got one of the last mooring balls and found ourselves in yet another festival. Seems like every town was holding the last big shindig of the season.

Not really this bad. The parade just ended

 Jill always tends to question her abilities on deck but I never do! Here she is after grabbing the mooring pendant solo in Northport. Easy-Peasy!

 And a quite night in Northport. Nearing the end of our DECL adventure,

 This trip held many firsts for us including approaching NYC from the Sound via the East River.

 We decided to do something different and took the Harlem River to the Hudson instead of continuing down the East River to the Battery. The decision was made easier because the UN General Assembly was in session and the East River was restricted... We made some time-lapse videos to highlight how interesting this route is.

 We passed Yankee Stadium.

 And more bridges before entering the Hudson above the city.

 This is the point that I considered as the crossing of our DECL loop wake since we had come up the river 2 years prior to begin the trip. At Half Moon Bay Marina we changed the white burgee to gold!

 After leaving Half Moon Bay it was overcast and misty and the leaves were starting to change. A sure sign that it was time to wrap up this years travels and drive south.

 We had one more great treat instore before heading to the storage barn. Our great friends Tim and AJ (as well as Jasper) were at their house in the Catskills and picked us up for a quick visit. You may remember them from earlier entries here or their blog The Adventures of OLOH. Last spring they sold OLOH and are contemplating the next adventure. They have a great place for the contemplating!

 So that's a wrap on our 2025 travels...whew was it a blast?! I plan to put out one last entry on the trip once we have all the totals added up for those that like the stats.

 And one other thing. Remember our friends Melissa and Paul who traveled with us at the beginning of 2024 & 2025? Well after they left us they began looking for their retirement boat...and found it! Turns out the boat was very near to our winter storage location so after the survey and sea trial they closed and stored her in the same yard. Looks like we'll have a buddy boat this year! Meet Blue Barnacle...

 

Back to the US

I know, I know...I'm a bad blogger! It's way beyond time I finish up on our summer travels. This episode will cover our remaining stops in Canada before we arrive in Maine. Once again I'll try and let the pictures do the talking.

We left off in Summerside on PEI. This is where we began to notice the big tide swings this area is known for. While the shore is fairly flat the difference is still impressive.

Tide In

Tide Out!

This is definitely an area to stay in the marked channel. Since the weather was going to keep us here for several days we rented a car to tour the island. Jill and I agreed that it's a place we could return for a vacation in the future. Once the winds calmed down we made our way further down the island to the "big city" of Charlottetown. We were less impressed with this area but were once again pinned here due to high winds. We did manage some brewery visits and both of us got kilts...what were we thinking??

Once we left Charlottetown we stopped at the lovely town of Montague for our last stop on PEI. This was a small town where we could have enjoyed a few days however approaching weather dictated we move across the straight the next day.

Montague

Our next stop was Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. This is a beautiful island with a large lake in the center. The south end where we entered is controlled by a lock while the north end is open to the Atlantic. Our first stop was the town of Saint Peter's. We have found that many towns in the Maritimes have marinas that aren't used to 50' boats. We were always able to find a spot but sometimes is was unusual. Here we were on the fuel dock which worked great for our boat.

Next we headed up the Bras d'Or (Bra-door) lake to the town of Baddeck. It was regatta weekend so we could only get 2 nights. Again on the town pier.

Baddeck is another lovely town with great restaurants, and inviting yacht club and the Alexander Graham Bell Museum . I had no idea about Bell's influence in this area so the museum was very interesting to us.

Bell Museum

As you approach the town by water you can see his house on the hillside which is still owned by the family and not open to visitors.

Next we went back to St. Peter's for a couple of days to wait for calm weather to cross over to the main island of Nova Scotia. While there we walked up to see the annual canal swim which the locals enjoy. I say locals because there is no way I'm getting in water in the low 60's! In the video below you can hear the wind howling which will keep us in port for a couple of days.

We next traveled along the south coast of Nova Scotia where we anchored for a night before heading to Halifax. It was very well protected in an area of small islands.

I typically leave the chart plotter on for a bit after we anchor to be sure we're not dragging. This is when I noticed something exciting...

25,000 Miles!

It's actually 26,000 miles since we didn't add the electronics until we brought the boat 1000 miles home to Cincinnati the first year. I'll do a wrap up in a future blog with all of this years exciting totals... We were treated to a nice full moon and a quite night at anchor.

Next stop was the town of Halifax and it's busy harbor. It's definitely a "head on a swivel" transit but worth it to be right in town. Here's a short video to give you an idea...

We again took advantage of the Hop-on, Hop-off bus to see the sites around town. One stop is a cemetery where some of the Titanic victims are buried. It was interesting to see that some of the remains have been identified after originally being just a number. I later found out the DNA testing is still ongoing as methods improve.

We also visited the Maritime Museum which has a small but interesting Titanic exhibit (see, it's not all breweries!). The museum has a deck chair from the ship on exhibit...

...as well as a replica which people would sit in for a picture with the deck in the background. It struck me as a bit creepy!

Halifax is a town I could have spent more time in but it was time to move on.

Next was Lunenburg which is a quaint fishing/tourist village that was having their annual music festival while we were there. It also has a couple of breweries...

As we moved along the coast we had another stop or 2 before our last anchorage in Canada for this year. It was another nice well protected stop and a calm night...too calm! The next morning we awoke to our only foggy travel day of the trip. We'd actually expected more. This one was a good one and we never saw land until we got to the town of Yarmouth even though we were weaving our way through islands. Thank goodness for radar and AIS!

Todays view

We spent a couple of nights in Yarmouth and it's here that we saw the biggest tide swings of the trip. These are the famous Bay of Fundy tides we'd always heard about. Below are 2 shots of the fuel dock.

High Tide

Low Tide

The difference is amazing! The picture below was taken the night before we left and you can see the large Cat ferry that crosses daily to Bar Harbor in Maine.

We were underway early the next morning as it was over a hundred miles across to the US and the days were getting shorter! I'd never seen an AIS Icon with little jet streams behind it but this is what the fast ferry looks like.

It was kinda sad to be passed by the ferry in both directions before we ever got to land!

We were blessed to have a very calm crossing and by late afternoon we were seeing Mt. Desert Island in Maine. Not long after that our first lobster pots...

It was just about sunset when we got docked in Southwest Harbor but it was a great crossing! Now, lets find some of those lobsters....