Chesapeake to Maine - Summer 2024

[sailingharry]

Originally Posted by SailFastTri

@sailingharry has it right, and all of the prior posts have good advice. Due to the prevailing winds I suggest you leave 3 times as much time to get back. You’ll likely be sailing as you travel northeast (“downeast”) and you’ll be more likely to bash to windward coming back. If you leave time to “stop and smell the roses” on your trip back you can choose your weather to travel SW between stops.

Ha! For a variety of reasons, including a detente with the admiral, our 2022 trip south had no sailing. Literally, from Halifax to Connecticut, we set sail one day -- and that was a mistake.

[CaptTom]

Originally Posted by Dave Bick

...The outrageous amount of lobster traps, placed in the worst possible places, takes away from the enjoyment factor for sure. It's crazy that there is no regulation by the states. One can never ever let their guard down.

But isn't that true anywhere? I'd say we should never let our guard down. In fact, it's the law. An adequate lookout is required at all times.

I'd suggest there's a benefit to learning to navigate Maine. Once you're used to keeping a lookout for lobster buoys, you won't miss deadheads, floating debris and all the other infrequent hazards we inevitably encounter.

Disclaimer: Yeah, I know. It is possible to snag an unseen, submerged buoy. There's also that ridiculous and pointless tradition in some areas to set gear with toggles. For those things I blame the fishermen. But a good helmsman should always be alert. It should be easy to avoid clearly visible hazards like floating buoys.

[sailingharry]

Originally Posted by CaptTom

There's also that ridiculous and pointless tradition in some areas to set gear with toggles.

Toggles. Ugh.


First thing is that the toggle and the main float don't match in color. So when you approach a cluster of floats, you don't know which are connected together. But when you go between the toggle and the main float, you WILL cut it! Note, I have a line cutter on my shaft, although I've actually cut very few.



But the good news is I rarely cut the actual main line -- the majority of snags are on the toggle. So the impact to the fisherman is much less significant.


On the note of the impact to fish and fishermen. I hate cutting lines, but it's part of life. It costs the fishermen, and it leaves "ghost traps" that catch lobsters forever. But, there is reason for a touch of optimism. We had beers on the deck of the president of the Maine Lobsterman's Association, where I learned a little bit of intel. Unlike the Chesapeake, where each trap has one float, lobster traps are set in a string with a float at either end. As a result, loss of one float only means the lobsterman has to pull from the other end.

[Kettlewell]

We did this trip mostly costal hopping and the biggest problem that I ran into was lack of good affordable to free anchorages. Through out New England boating is set up mostly for locals, not cruisers. The locals have seasonally rented docks and moorings. Little free anchorages available. Everyone has their hand out.

I keep my boat in Massachusetts on a rental mooring, but other than that one I have only paid for a an occasional rental mooring or dockspace. Many years I have paid for none. This past summer I spent a night on a commercial mooring in Woods Hole, called around on the radio, left phone messages for the owner, and even went to their office and left a note but they never contacted me or collected a fee. There are literally thousands of free anchorages, including all over Maine. Sure, it's hard to find a place to anchor in the busiest crowded harbors during peak season, but where in the world is that not the case? But, just head to a nearby anchorage and you are good to go.

[CaptTom]

Originally Posted by sailingharry

Toggles. Ugh.

First thing is that the toggle and the main float don't match in color...

OK, as a former lobsterman, maybe I can explain a few things.

First, it's quite possible (if you're maintaining a good watch) to figure out what the tidal currents are doing, and learn the way the locals set their gear, to figure out how to safely pass the buoys. After a while you'll even figure out how each fisherman (based on buoy color) sets their toggles, if they use them.

Now, the theory of the toggle was originally that it kept the line off the rocky bottom over the range of (often significant) tide. So if you're fishing in, say, 30 feet of water with a 10-foot tide range, you'd need 30' of warp to the pick-up buoy, and you'd put the toggle 10' from the trap. The pot warp would never touch the bottom. Problem solved.

The thing is, fishermen in general are not good at math. Also, with hundreds of traps, they're not going to fine-tune each set for the exact depth. All their lines are likely to be the maximum length needed for the area they're fishing.

Another thing is the fear of the other guys out-fishing them. So they look around and follow whatever all the other guys in the area do.

Over the years, they sort of forgot why the toggle was even there. So if one influential fisherman sets his traps with 60 feet of line (in my 30-foot depth example) and a toggle just 15 or 20 feet from the pick-up buoy, well, that must be how it's done!

Believe me, I've asked many of them. They can't explain why they do it that way. I've tried to point out that the toggle is doing absolutely nothing but making a snare for other boats. But the fear of missing out gives them an almost superstitious aversion to trying anything different.

Originally Posted by sailingharry

On the note of the impact to fish and fishermen. I hate cutting lines, but it's part of life. It costs the fishermen, and it leaves "ghost traps" that catch lobsters forever...

A couple of things here. Yes, they can lose their gear. There aren't always two pick-up buoys. You don't ever want to cut lines if you can help it. Beyond the risk of getting shot, getting line fouled in your running gear can be a lot worse than just an inconvenience for you. It can get badly wrapped to where even a diver with a wet suit and SCUBA gear will take a while to free you. It can even damage your gear. Cutters often help, but not always. The line can wrap up tight and miss the cutters.

As for "ghost traps," it turns out that's just like toggles; a superstition. Back when I was fishing we all feared losing a trap, knowing that it would go on fishing forever, cutting our own catch. After all, we all had our own secret recipe for knitting the "heads" - those nets at the trap entrances which the lobsters can get into, but are too stupid to get out of.

Then some smart person at the University of Maine put a camera in a trap. It turns out the lobsters come and go as they please. Who knew?

[CaptTom]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

...There are literally thousands of free anchorages, including all over Maine. Sure, it's hard to find a place to anchor in the busiest crowded harbors during peak season, but where in the world is that not the case? But, just head to a nearby anchorage and you are good to go.

This is very true. You need to set your expectations if you're going to enjoy the coast of Maine.

If your style of cruising is marina-hopping between resort marinas with access to city life, then, yes, you're going to have to make reservations months in advance. But if that's your thing, why come to Maine anyway?

Historically, Maine has had more of a "get away from it all" style. If that's what you're after, you can still find it - sometimes - here.

I'm hedging because the outside world is catching up to Maine. The mom-and-pop marinas are all being bought up by the big corporations and turned into resorts (with prices to match.) The best anchorages are filling up with private "destination" moorings that local governments are all to willing to hand out. This squeezes cruisers into fewer and more remote anchorages.

There are still lots of great anchorages, but they get more scarce the farther west of the Schoodic Peninsula you go.

[Kettlewell]

First, it's quite possible (if you're maintaining a good watch) to figure out what the tidal currents are doing, and learn the way the locals set their gear, to figure out how to safely pass the buoys. After a while you'll even figure out how each fisherman (based on buoy color) sets their toggles, if they use them.

You would think so, but trying to wiggle our way between them east of Great Waas we found toggles seemed to sometimes have a mind of their own, particularly when you get wind against current or the current is slack. In one area the wind is pulling them, but around the corner they are mostly lying to the current, and then in between some are going one way and others going another way. Sometimes they are tangled together or with floating weed. And, you can't be infinitely vigilant about the floats unless you never look up ahead for a buoy, a headland, or the port entrance. I used to sail a cat up there and I rebuilt the rudders to kick up and they frequently did when catching a trap line. Traps can also be a hazard when anchoring, particularly if you drag your anchor across the bottom for some reason. Very easy to snag a trap line or the trap itself. One morning in Rockland I woke up to discover the lobster boat that I heard around dawn had just dropped floats all around my anchored boat.

[SailFastTri]

Originally Posted by CaptTom

This is very true. You need to set your expectations if you're going to enjoy the coast of Maine.

If your style of cruising is marina-hopping between resort marinas with access to city life, then, yes, you're going to have to make reservations months in advance. But if that's your thing, why come to Maine anyway?

Historically, Maine has had more of a "get away from it all" style. If that's what you're after, you can still find it - sometimes - here.

I'm hedging because the outside world is catching up to Maine. The mom-and-pop marinas are all being bought up by the big corporations and turned into resorts (with prices to match.) The best anchorages are filling up with private "destination" moorings that local governments are all to willing to hand out. This squeezes cruisers into fewer and more remote anchorages.

There are still lots of great anchorages, but they get more scarce the farther west of the Schoodic Peninsula you go.

True but the big issue is shore access. Free anchorages that are protected in the lee of a shore (for shelter from bad weather) are getting scarce if you also want to find a dinghy dock to just go for a walk or access shore facilities such as provisions and restaurants.

[Kettlewell]

True but the big issue is shore access. Free anchorages that are protected in the lee of a shore (for shelter from bad weather) are getting scarce if you also want to find a dinghy dock to just go for a walk or access shore facilities such as provisions and restaurants.

I'm not sure what you mean by "free anchorages." As far as I know there is not a single place in New England that claims they can charge you for anchoring. I have not found lack of shore access to be the case in New England. Every town has at least one public dock, often including a dinghy float, and there are tons of public boat ramps where you can often tie up alongside in the shallows or pull your dink up on the beach. One trick is to look at street maps too--often streets that dead-end on the harbor are public access points. There are a bunch of those on Martha's Vineyard.

[Plumbean]

Originally Posted by Blue Ridge

Thank you! This is really helpful and greatly appreciated.

CarlF has given you a good itinerary. I did this trip solo last August in a 34 footer that was fast in 1971, starting in Port Washington. I was on a schedule and this was more of a delivery trip, so I was pushing the miles. If you don’t mind one overnight, I would recommend doing either a straight shot from the Cape Cod Canal to Rockland, or from Provincetown to Rockland. Easy enough to time it such that you have daylight for landfall and the lobster pots.

You will need to play the currents in various places, as they can have a huge impact on your timing. I made up a spread sheet detailing “go/no go” times for the major tidal gates — The Race, Fishers Island Sound and the Cape Cod Canal. I ended up having to figure out Quicks Hole on the fly, but I had been through the area several times and I new that there were times when Buzzards Bay and Vineyard Sound were going in the opposite direction, and I ended up making use of that. Get a copy of Eldredge — very helpful.

My itinerary was as follows:

Day 1 - Port Washington to Northport (late start). Anchored in Price Bend. 21 miles.

Day 2 - Northport to Sachem’s Head. Free mooring and a shower at Sachem’s Head Yacht Club. I have to say, what a great little club this was. I knew nothing about it, and was lucky they had a guest mooring as I don’t think I could have anchored in the harbor, which was quite tiny. Props to them. Total distance for the day: 58 miles.

Day 3. Five hour spinnaker run down the sound before the breeze died enough that I decided to start motoring. Through the Race at the height of the ebb, then blast reached all the way to Pt. Judith. Total distance: 64.9 miles.

Day 4: Moderate SW breeze across Narragansett Bay. Playing the currents, I went up Vineyard Sound at first and crossed over into Buzzards Bay via Quicks Hole (saw 3.5 knots of favorable current here). Wing and wing down Buzzards Bay as the breeze was dying and the sun was getting low. Decision time. Forecast was for a SE breeze in Cape Cod Bay that would die out early the next morning, followed by a day or may be two of no breeze in the Gulf of Maine (or maybe a light northerly). I was not sure I had enough fuel to motor the entirety of the distance from Buzzards Bay to Maine, but if I caught the last of the SE wind and manage to sail through Cape Cod Bay, then I probably had the range. Stopping for fuel now wasn’t happening, as I was not going to reach the nearest fuel dock before 5 pm. Also, I knew that the currents in the Cape Cod Canal were about to hit their peak in my favor. So I decide to keep going and run the canal in the dark. I saw 4.5 knots of favorable current for most of it, and did the entire transit in 1.5 hours. Got spit out into Cape Cod Bay to find the breeze was already gone. Ugh. Since it was late, and a big orange moon was rising, I decided to make the most of it and diverted for Provincetown. Anchored at 0200 (on Day 5). Total distance: 84.3 miles.

Day 5 – Day 6: Up at 0800. Hit the fuel dock in Ptown for fuel and water. Under way by 1000. No breeze. Motored almost the entire way to Maine, with the exception of about 3 hours of sailing early on the morning of Day 6. Had an awesome and nerve wracking whale encounter during my entrance to Penobscot Bay, as a pod of what I think were Pilot whales, at least 15 of them, entered the bay at the same time from the other side, at high speed in a big wide line. They must have been chasing fish into the bay, but they were putting up waves almost 3 feet high as they blasted across the bay. From a few miles away it looked like they were on a collision course, and sure enough they came all the way across the bay straight at me, before diving about a ¼ mile away and going right under the boat. What a welcome to Maine. It was hot as blazes all day, and I finally touched the dock in Rockland at 1530 on Day 6. Total distance 181.4 miles. Slept for 9 hours that night and woke up exhausted.

[SailFastTri]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

I'm not sure what you mean by "free anchorages." As far as I know there is not a single place in New England that claims they can charge you for anchoring. I have not found lack of shore access to be the case in New England. Every town has at least one public dock, often including a dinghy float, and there are tons of public boat ramps where you can often tie up alongside in the shallows or pull your dink up on the beach. One trick is to look at street maps too--often streets that dead-end on the harbor are public access points. There are a bunch of those on Martha's Vineyard.

What I mean by free is any anchorage, vs. a harbor that’s completely full of moorings leaving only the most exposed areas for anchoring. You mentioned Martha’s Vineyard - so let’s use that as an example: Can you find a sheltered anchorage in Oak Bluffs? If a nor’easter is forecast you can find a protected paid mooring in any harbor on MV but finding a sheltered anchorage is tougher. (There are still a few options but just a few, and they may be limited by vessel draft or beam).

[Blue Ridge]

I just want to thank everyone once again for the great insights. I really appreciate you sharing your time and experiences with us. We're more excited than ever to experience Maine from the water, and feel better able to do that with all the good advice we're receiving. You all are what make forums like this so great. Thank you!

[sailingharry]

A smattering of comments from above:
* Marinas. We avoid them like the plague. But we make a point of visiting South Portland Marina. Speak to Mandy, tell her Circe with Bruce, the Australian Shepherd sent you. Great place, great provisions nearby, and the best fuel prices in Maine.
* Shore access. In general, super easy. Be aware of two concerns. First, the tide will come in! So, even if you pull the boat well up, tie it or at least set an anchor in the beach. The corollary is the tide will go out. We came back from a hike and our dink was 15 feet in the air on rocks. Had to pull the engine off an work it back down to the water!
* Martha's Vinyard, for instance. The free outer harbor of Vinyard Haven, right next door to Oak Bluffs, is well protected for all but NE. But we found in the summer, NE wasn't common at all. Sure, if it's coming, be prepared. But it's hardly a once-a-week event. And like much of New England, the Vinyard Haven town dock is free for a water fill up, etc.
* Some anchorages in New England (Nantucket, Cuttyhunk, Block Island, etc) may be mostly filled with paid moorings, but a resourceful cruiser with a good dingy (and outboard!) can anchor around the edges. Also, any place so full of moorings that there isn't much room to anchor would hold only 1/4 as many boats on anchors, so be glad they use moorings!f
* There are a few places where locals have set moorings to "reserve" their spot in high value locations, or to keep riff-raff away. I have contempt for them, and happily anchor too close to them. But that's only an empty buoy, not one with a boat on it.

[Kettlewell]

You mentioned Martha’s Vineyard - so let’s use that as an example: Can you find a sheltered anchorage in Oak Bluffs? If a nor’easter is forecast you can find a protected paid mooring in any harbor on MV but finding a sheltered anchorage is tougher. (There are still a few options but just a few, and they may be limited by vessel draft or beam).

Lagoon Pond is your answer in a northeaster, and if you are anchored on the eastern side of the pond you are in Oak Bluffs. In the northeast corner up by the hospital is a nice anchorage with a public beach where you are welcome to land your dink. If you dinghy over towards Vineyard Haven there is a public boat launch with multiple beaches where your dink is welcome. Walk into downtown VH in about 15 minutes. Multiple public dinghy landing spots along the OB shore, including Sail Camp Park where Sail MV is located (look for all the sailing dinghies on floats). From the landing you can walk up to Barnes Road where the Vineyard Transit Authority buses run continuously. Hop on one and go anywhere on the island. An all day pass is less than $10. If you are in the mood you can walk into downtown OB in about 20-30 minutes. I have done it numerous times.

[CaptTom]

Originally Posted by sailingharry

* There are a few places where locals have set moorings to "reserve" their spot in high value locations, or to keep riff-raff away. I have contempt for them, and happily anchor too close to them. But that's only an empty buoy, not one with a boat on it.

You make some very good points. The one above is my personal pet peeve. These are what I call "destination" moorings.

Some history: In Maine, moorings are managed by the municipality. This system works well in a working harbor, where there is competition for the space by both working and recreational boats. There are policies and rules to try to fairly allocate the limited mooring space near facilities for loading and unloading to residents.

But what about those remote anchorages which happen to fall in the town's jurisdiction? No local wants to keep their boats there full time. No dinghy dock, no place to load and unload, not even any place to park. Locals might go visit those spots, just as cruisers in transit might.

As things got more crowded, the locals started putting in applications for moorings in these remote anchorages. The town was happy to collect the $100 or $200 per year for these otherwise unwanted spaces and rubber stamped the applications. The anchorages started filling up with moorings.

Most towns have "use it or lose it" rules on mooring occupancy. But they're rarely enforced for these destination moorings. The owner might only visit it once or twice a season. The whole rest of the year, it's just sitting there, preventing anyone else from anchoring.

It gets worse every year. In many places the informal rule is that anyone else can use the mooring when the owner isn't there. But of course you have to move if they show up. And you don't know how well maintained the mooring is, or whether it's sized to hold a boat your size. And this rule isn't universal. Things can get nasty in places where it's not traditionally followed.