Setting Out
Sunday, June 29th (43o 22’N, 66o09’W): Setting Out
A very nice start. Yesterday, friends and family gathered on the dock in Rockport Maine to see us off. Thanks to all for the well-wishes, good luck talismans, books, bottles, and other encouragement for the voyage. Leaving shortly after the turning of the high tide we motored southwest on a nearly direct path towards Nova Scotia … odd to be first heading south to go north. Down below, Peter Fasoldt, Dave Johanson and Dick Hiatt were busy sorting and packing supplies that had yet to be stowed in the time leading up to our depart. About an hour out, we were able to cut the motor and begin sailing. A preliminary watch schedule was set, excellent first dinner by Peter consumed, and then I fell fast asleep until Dick Hiatt woke me at 10:00pm for my turn at the helm. The breeze was light but the night air had an edge, requiring pants and jacket. With no moon or ground lights, there was a full canopy of stars, but they were muted by a light fog. The sheer number of stars coupled with the haze made it difficult to distinguish familiar constellation. And with the glare of the running lights, it was virtually impossible to see what lay ahead without the aid of the electronics. Eventually, however, after dimming and screening the various light sources on the boat, my eyes were able to adjust sufficiently to see a ghost of a horizon, along with the milky glow of the phosphorescence in our bow waves. At 1:00 in the morning I turned the watch over to Peter.
Today, Sunday, our first full day at sea, has been a day of discovery, rediscovery and progress, as the crew activates new systems and remember how we did familiar things in the past. Under the silence of the spinnaker, the high point of the day was the sound and sighting of numerous whales surfacing within a quarter mile of the boat.