Nantucket Bound

The weather is light & the sea slight. Motoring along at around 6.5-7.0 knots, PRIDE is making her way south from Bath, Maine on the Kennebec River and her weekend visit at the Maine Maritime Museum toward the Massachusetts island of Nantucket, near Cape Cod. Her route is through the western side of the Gulf of Maine and along the outside of “The Cod”…to others…The Cape. This route will pass nearby or over such underwater locations as PASTURE, POLLOCK HUB, DOGGETT RIDGE, SAGADAHOC, MISTAKEN GROUND, PLATT’S BANK, JEFFREYS LEDGE, TILLIES BANK, WILDCAT KNOLL, MURAY BASIN and of course STELLWAGEN BANK, “summer feeding home” for whale. These underwater names come from fishing history. Famous fish like Cod Fish.

We got underway a day late due to the weather. In this instance light & dry weather. Yesterday the crew worked on cosmetics…namely painting the lower third of the above water hull…the lower topsides. (The upper topsides had been attended to during the “lay day” time scheduled last week in Portland.) Other cosmetic work on deck was also done. Like patch varnishing, de-rust-streaking and patch painting. Outside in the Gulf of Maine wind was forecast to be stronger than today while promising light conditions for today. So we took advantage of smooth river water and dry conditions yesterday to get a lot of near the waterline painting on the hull done.

Today as PRIDE motors along in light winds and relatively smooth sea each of the watches in turn are attending to additional on deck cosmetics as they steer PRIDE along. What is all the effort for cosmetics? True, we are always attending to maintenance all season long. The focus we have right now is the Classic Yacht Regatta PRIDE will be a part of in Nantucket this week and coming weekend. Unlike most of the attending yachts, PRIDE will have been working hard all sailing season since early April traveling from as far south as Savannah to as far northeast as Halifax, hosting thousands of visitors nearly every weekend, as well as sailing and racing distances between ports. The sailing and the visitors take a toll on PRIDE’s paint and varnish. While we generally attend to cosmetics as needed all season long, our pride drives us to see if we can get PRIDE looking her best “now”, when she will be amongst the classiest vessels yachting provides. Vessels that for the most part do not welcome visitors by the thousands while also sailing thousands of miles.

Besides, this will also be PRIDE’s first visit to Nantucket in decades and many Marylanders take summer holiday there. We want them to be as proud of their PRIDE as we and many others are in all the ports she has visited these 24 years.

Jan C. Miles, Captain
Acting Executive Director

Gunkholing Maine

Tuesday, 7 August, 2012  /  Pride of Baltimore II

Pos: At Anchor off Portland, Maine’s East End  /  Wx: SE F 3, 3/8 Ci, Pleasant

With scarcely 24 hours at the dock, Pride of Baltimore II was back from her Nova Scotian foray, cleared into U.S. Customs and off on a five-day cruise along the Maine Coast. With no particular destination and the only directive being to sail, we approached the trip in the storied local tradition of “Windjamming.” Originally referring to the last all-sail cargo ships of the early 19th Century, the term now applies to the fleet of vessels in the Penobscot Bay region of Maine which carry passengers on scenic adventures to spectacularly beautiful places. Largely unequipped with engines, the schooners on these trips typically sail through the day and find a quiet anchorage for the night.

And so, for this trip, would Pride II, though in Maryland and other parts south, this practice is also called, “gunkholing.” Admittedly a horribly unattractive term for anchoring in serene and tranquil places, it is descriptive – a good, solidly protected anchorage is often referred to as a hole (as in hiding hole, swimming hole, hurricane hole) and the best holding ground known to sailors is thick, oozy mud, or “gunk.”

 Maine being, well, Maine, our cruise got off to a slow start with Portland Harbor socked in fog. But by early afternoon, we could see some of the alleged 365 “Calendar Islands” of Casco Bay and got underway. Setting sail in front of downtown Portland for increased visibility, we were accompanied out of the harbor by the classic Alden schooner Wendameen. Owned and operated as a day-sailer by Portland Schooner Company, Wendameen is a fine sailing yacht-style vessel and one of my commands previous to Pride II. In the hands of Captain Troy Scott, she was besting Pride II in the protected reaches around Peaks, Cushing and House Islands, but her lighter displacement had us break away from her once we reached the exposed channel. We saluted with a single gun; she honked in reply and tacked back in to finish her day sail as we sailed off into a re-thickening fog to anchor between Ministerial and Stave Islands.

A breathless and foggy morning followed our first anchorage, and we motored out of Casco Bay, passing close abeam of Eagle Island, a Maine State Historic Site and formerly the retirement home of Admiral Robert Peary of Polar Exploration Fame. With plans to return later in the week, we carried on toward Penobscot Bay, the foggy conditions giving relevance to a lesson on Deduced Reckoning Navigation until the breeze came up southwesterly and cleared fog. With a downwind run ahead, we impersonated a sloop for the day and set everything but the stuns’l on the foremast, but kept the main and gaff top in their furls, sailing past Monhegan Island and on to anchor in Tenants Harbor.

Saturday, we made Rockland. Ironically, this typical “starting out point” for many of the modern Windjammers, was the farthest afield for us. With good friends and former shipmates around, we were treated to the luxury of a dock at the relatively new “Windjammer” wharf, and nestled in between the schooners Steven Taber and Nathaniel Bowditch. Also sharing this dock was the gorgeous Tancook Whaler Vernon Langille, whose sleek double ended hull, while at home in Penobscot Bay, originated in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, between Halifax and Lunenburg.

With a night ashore and a few hours of waiting for the tide, we set off again in, naturally, thick fog, motoring back past Tenants Harbor without ever seeing it, and setting sail just past the horribly named Mosquito Island. Carrying on through fog, the breeze built steadily and soon Pride II was her usual self, skimming along at seven knots. But the breeze was southerly, forecast to build to near gale strength and carry with it a fathom or so of sea. With the toothy rocks of Maine’s coast looming hungry under our lee, every tenth of a knot increase was heartily welcomed. The building breeze scattered the fog, and soon we were up to eight knots. From Monhegan to Seguin Island we carried four lowers and the foretops’l, topping nine knots with regularity, soaking the lee channels, pressing on to make the “corner” and get the wind behind the beam at Seguin.

But it was too much. We wrestled the foretops’l down and walking the deck stopped being a tactical maneuver. But the western horizon sprung up black, and the wind shifted west-southwest, so we brought down the main and jib as well, all hard-fought sail handling as we had no room to fall off and make the job easier. To get us out of the exposed waters, we put engines on line and motor-sailed toward shelter inside Casco Bay. And as if we’d actually sailed through a doorway into another weather world, Pride II was now somehow protected from the whirl and churn beyond the small barriers of Broken Cove, West Brown Cow, and Mink Rocks. Eagle Island lay off to starboard, but our plans of exploration were mere fantasy in this weather.

Sheltered by Great Chebeague Island for the night, we feasted on lobster bought for the crew by volunteer historian Pierre Henkart, then sailed off the hook in moderate and sunny weather for our final day, sailing leisurely through Casco Bay and grandstanding into Portland to end our “Windjammer” cruise Pride II-style – with four guns and flurry of taking in sail.

All best,

Captain Jamie Trost and the Windjamming crew of Pride of Baltimore II

Etch-a-Sketch in Cape Cod Bay, A Place for the Birds, Tide Bound in a Rocky River and Waiting Winds of Nova Scotia

23 July 2012

Pos: Alongside the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Wx: South Force 2, Clear

Pride of Baltimore II has had a busy interval since her last Blog; and it was full of racing, anchorages, tides, fog and more racing. Eleven days ago we cleared through the Cape Cod Canal, and by mid-morning began our time trial for the third race of the Tall Ships Challenge. Prepared for an evening breeze, we nonetheless jumped to take advantage of the unexpected mid-morning Northerly wind, and worked to keep a close reach across Cape Cod Bay. Shifting conditions through the day had the breeze up and down, and Pride II’s track line across the chart looked like child’s scribble.

But just when we thought we’d finished our eight hours and started sailing North toward Portsmouth, the anticipated Southerly came up; we set the stuns’l and shook off the old track like clearing an etch-a-sketch, carrying on through the night under all plain sail plus. While no sled ride, our second trial netted us an average speed of over six knots, and was good enough for Pride II’s third first-place finish in the Tall Ships Challenge series.

Post race, we anchored off Appledore Island, the southernmost of Maine’s incredible count of islands, at the invitation of Captain Kevin Wells, who is Senior Captain for the research facility there. Having sailed in the Tall Ship fleet for years, Kevin is always eager to welcome visiting vessels. The SSV Corwith Cramer and Schooner Harvey Gamage had already arrived, and Maine Maritime Academy’s Arctic Exploring Schooner Bowdin arrived shortly after we did. We made for a busy little mooring field off an island that is nearly overrun with gulls. All forays ashore are well warned that the island’s sea birds will aggressively defend their young and their turf. Some of the researchers even wear bicycle helmets adorned antennae made from tennis balls and coat hangers to keep the dive-bombing beaks at bay. Talk about angry birds!

A quiet night at anchor ended with Venus and Jupiter beaming bright at 0400 hours as we steamed for Portsmouth, New Hampshire. This classic New England Seaport offers singular difficulties in dealing with current, and so our four pre-festival day sails were hosted in the outer section of the river off New Castle, NH. On Friday, we boarded another sold-out boat for a Parade of Sail in concert with the Sloop Providence, a replica of John Paul Jones’ first command in the Continental Navy, and the Gundalow Company’s newly constructed Piscataqua, a traditional Piscataqua River cargo vessel. After the short, busy trip up the river, we secured across from the picturesque Strawberry Banke Museum and opened to thousands of eager public.

Few ports are as tide bound as Portsmouth, and so when the high slack water came at 1130 Monday morning, both Pride II and Providence were away with it. Saluting the town on our way out, we carried some sail to complete the show. Sadly, it was just for show – the Gulf of Maine was like a mill pond – a foggy, soggy mill pond all the way to Cape Sable at the West end of Nova Scotia. The last time trial was only to be sailed in Nova Scotian waters, and the breeze seemed to be waiting for us there. At 1900 Tuesday evening, we cracked on sail until everything was set and drawing, and at 2000 started our race. This time it was quite a ride. Fog alternately encircled and released us, passing squalls glimmered lightning through the vapor, and Pride II raced on in 18-22 knots of wind and a building sea, averaging 10.23 knots for the eight-hour race, at one stage even surging up to 12.3. A good showing, but the USCG Barque Eagle was also racing, and the strong favorable breeze makes her a strong contender. Fingers are crossed as we await the results.

For now, after a full sail and four gun salute entrance, we’re snug in at Halifax enjoying the expected warmth of Nova Scotian hospitality and the surprising warmth in the Nova Scotian weather.

Waiting out the storm at anchor in Portland

PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II rests at anchor in Portland Harbor, Maine after sailing in at 0800 hours this morning (Saturday). Rain and wind that started around 0200 hours out in the Gulf of Maine created a decent swell that caused quite a bit of heaving and yawing for PRIDE while also making all on watch in the pitch black night dripping wet. With the wind came a chance for PRIDE to sail at 10 knots after motoring most of the way across the Gulf of Maine through near calm conditions.

Approaching Portland Harbor entrance in the pre-dawn light with the ocean swell and the rain at great speed created a lot of fast action on deck for the crew to prepare for entrance while also executing a jibe. First take in the mainsail, then take the jib, then pre-brace the square topsail yards, then turn the ship and jibe the foresail and staysail, then set things up properly for the new reach while steering into the narrow slot of the harbor entrance. A slot with ample space but looking pretty small with the heaving and the yawing brought about by the increasing swell.

We are invited to lay alongside a floating pier at Portland Yacht Services to clear Customs and remain the weekend if we want. But the dock is exposed to the SE to E winds and I have decided it is not prudent to lay alongside in the current conditions. So we are at anchor. We launched the small rigid bottom inflatable boat to go fetch the Customs Agent aboard for clearance.

Now that all the formalities are completed we can settle down a bit and wait developments with the weather. Till things change for the better no one is going ashore and we remain in watches keeping an eye on PRIDE’s anchorage…to be sure we do not start dragging without knowing…should the wind come up a bit more than predicted. Improvements will come…maybe sooner if Danny drifts offshore a little more than projected as he passes by. We can hope. We all hear that Portland is a great town for an evening.

Signed,
Jan C. Miles, Captain aboard Pride of Baltimore II