Throughout the morning, fog horns and engines steam past my cove close at hand but out of sight.  Though the sounds converge I never hear an engine slow making a convincing case for radar reflectors.  At noon the fog relents to offer conditions like those on the trip out from Rockland.  My GPS had died and I'll have to dead reckon across.  Since slack water at 12:30 will help reduce my course error off I motor… and back I row… to clear a plugged water pump, then off again.
       The straight line course from Green Island to Owls Head passes over three buoys.  I see the first and second buoy just before being swallowed by a thick, wet fog.  From my course between buoys it appears I'm being set to the south and, from the elapsed time, my landfall should be in 70 minutes.  Given a worst case current a straight course should put me within ½mile of Owls Head light.  Since the Head and points south, jut several miles out from Rockland, if I see land on time or early I should follow the shoreline north to Rockland.  If I don't see land on time I'm standing into the Harbor.  Later although a three mast schooner goes by at about 100 yards I never see the hull, just the tops of sails above the fogbank.  When the Owls Head Light pops out of the fog on right on cue it is a prayer answered.  My euphoria is short lived as it also marks the end of a trip I'll always remember.

Sailing in Maine

          Maine summer sailing has no gunkholing peer.  Expect fog with light breezes in the mornings and clear afternoons with moderate southwest winds.  I rigged a radar reflector at the masthead in serious fog... it looked like a lollipop. If you have leeboards expect to snag lobster pots.  I usually found soft bottoms to anchor in but also found rocky ones and routinely rigged a tripping line.  With a 10-foot tide even SWSers need to be consider remaining afloat overnight.  I checked the depth and tide table allowing for a 2-ft an hour change. Www.maineharbors.com has tide tables and useful information.  Information on currents is harder to find.   NOAA current tables show peaks of 0.4 to 0.8 kts in the main channels.  For prowling ashore there are a lot of references on Main Islands.  I used "The Maine Cruising Guide" by Hank and Jan Taft.  Info on islands open for visiting is also available from the Maine Island Trails Association.  "Hot Showers!" by Lee Bumstead is an index of B&Bs for bikers, kayakers and trailer sailors that also has useful SWS information and the best list of launch ramps I could find.

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