Hello from Maine

[ppollard]

Greetings to all CF members. Spring is here in Maine so we're starting to wonder when can the boat go in for the season. Looking forward to reading and learning from the excellent discussions here on the forum.

[Cormorant]

Welcome aboard! Where in Maine are you?

I gaze longingly at my Maine chartbook this time of year. . . .

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, ppollard.

[Lancerbye]

Welcome aboard. From the other side.

[AnsleyS]

Hi PPollard and welcome to the newsgroup.

We keep our boat in Rockland and usually stay in the Massachusetts to Nova Scotia area. Basically the Gulf of Maine. We are pretty hearty when it comes to sailing but as we get older we get softer. Tranditionally we have put the boat in the first week of May and many years we have been the first sailboat in the mooring field. For the past few years we have waited until the week before Memorial Day and that has been fine with me. May and even June are chilly out there. We routinely take our ski clothes to the boat after Sugarloaf closes and we use them for a few weeks in May/June and October. I mean full gear, hats, mittens, parka, etc.

When you think of sailing the Maine coast you just have to look at the water temperature (currently 41 at the Penobscot Bay bouy) and then add the wind chill and you see why the mooring field does not fill up until the end of June or the 4th of July.

That said, you can put in whenever you want. There is nothing like sailing on a beautiful, sunny day and looking around and seeing nobody else but the fishermen and the ferries. You can drop a hook in any cove and be by yourself all night. Also the colder weather decreases you chance of being enveloped by the fog.

Enjoy your boat, and give us a call if you are up our way.

[Hudson Force]

Welcome PPollard, We're down in Florida, but hope to be back to Maine for another beautiful summer.

[ppollard]

Thanks for the friendly welcomes from all the sailors north, south, and west. I see a few intrepid lobster fishermen setting some early traps so its time to start thinking about spending some time at the boat yard getting dirty.
Not on-line often, but again, thanks for the welcome!

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha and welcome aboard!
Good to have you here. Well, maybe you'll be on line quite often once the the CruisersForum bug has bitten.
kind regards,