the Hermit Island Wayfarer Rally
Small Point, Maine * August 13-20, 2005
Uncle Al's Scrap Book: Wednesday, the 17th - 2
pics by Julia and Al Schonborn

Today, the SHADES-y ladies, Ginny and Julia, are going to stay ashore and explore, leaving Chuck and Al to seek adventure on their own. Having Cundys Harbor firmly located in their minds and on the charts, we lads set out early.  For a change, we go out leaving Goose Rock to port, which allows us to sail through the moored sailboats inside Flat Point. Pretty boats, they are - mostly of the same Class, but one which we don't recognize. In fact, when we returned that afternoon, they were just starting a race which seemed to be hotly contested among 15 to 20 boats!
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But at this point, we were just getting a nice, soft 3 to 5 knots from the NW as we headed closehauled towards Little Wood Island.
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To starboard, we could see West Point which ...
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... we'd have to round before heading north towards Cundys Harbor.
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Our intrepid mariner from Wisconsin leaves Hermit Island astern.
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We had to tack to clear Little Wood Is. and found ourselves heading for ...
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... an intriguing looking inlet which ...
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... the chart identified as Carrying Place Cove.
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We decided to see if we could take this as ...
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... an interesting shortcut. There was a bit of wind funnelling through towards us but so was the ...
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... tide, and the water was getting shallower every minute.
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When we got this far, the water was only about two feet deep over a sandy, sometimes weedy bottom. By this time, we were having to beat with the board and rudder more than half up, and making very little progress. When we ran aground in a foot of water off the little outcropping on the left (above) and could see nothing but shallower water ahead, we gave up and ...
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... let the tide and light breeze carry us back past the Fish House.
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Wood Island made a nice backdrop for ...
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... a fellow sailor spinnakering along towards Flat Point. Perhaps he was coming over for the afternoon's race??
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We then followed Tom and Diane Erickson up ...
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... the New Meadows River as the NW wind showed signs of increased vigour.
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This new, stronger wind was quite patchy and would have made for interesting racing.
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André and Monique feel the occasional bit of fresher breeze as they head up to get past ...
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... Harbor Island just past Sebasco Estates.
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Check the wake. They do have a nice breeze and still some left-over swells from the past couple of days.
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Monique keeps a ...
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... good look-out.
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Some of the puffs surprised us by ...
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... coming from the SW, and at other times ...
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... the wind pretty much died.
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And now, Lisa Nelson with Dick Harrington flying Blue Mist's spinnaker, is bringing a south wind from astern!!!
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