2 Aug 16

We have a bit of clean-up and chores to get the boat ready to leave for 9 days while we fly off to Taos, NM for the bi-annual Wells Family Reunion on Wednesday, so we got up early (for us) to make the 14 mile run to Portland. And what a long, strange trip it has been, today. We pulled into Portland before 11:00. Unfortunately, I pulled into the wrong marina; I made the reservation at Portland Yacht Services, but was thinking of Southport Marine, where we stayed before twice in 2014. After we recovered from that confusion and found the mooring ball at PYS, we got ready to go in to do the laundry and receive some technical assistance to get the generator start battery going again. However, the mooring is basically on the edge of whatever river it is that runs through the middle of Portland, so there are lots of lobster boats zooming about along with several local ferries and the big Cat that runs daily between Portland and Yarmouth, NS; i.e., it was ROUGH. I had called ahead to get a technician lined up to meet us at the mooring, but as there was obviously space available at the dock, I asked if we could move in for the afternoon to sort out our mechanical/electrical issues, to which they agreed. So, we dropped the mooring ball and went into the dock, which was even worse - by like an order of magnitude. The Admiral immediately jumped ship and headed to the very stable laundry. The electrical tech showed up at 11:30 with a Booster Pac and we had the generator running within minutes. While the generator was running, I filled up the water tanks and scrubbed down the deck, which was filthy, but I had a hard time keeping my feet under me and was starting to feel a bit green (and I don’t get seasick, as a general rule). After the start battery was fully recharged, we tested it and the tester said “replace battery”, so I pulled it out and dragged it up to Hamilton Marine to buy a replacement. Back to the boat and had the new battery in within a few minutes; all good. The Admiral returned about that time. We had originally planned to leave the boat in Portland while we are in New Mexico, but neither of us could stomach another minute in Portland Harbor, so we got the hell off the dock and headed back to Freeport, where we can stay in a nice calm river with no other marine traffic. And it is 2/3 of the price of Portland, although the taxi ride to Portland International Jetport will be a bit more expensive; we will still be $100 ahead at the end of the week, and much less stressed. At the end of the day, 29.4 miles under the belt and no progress down the coast, but it was definitely the right decision to come back. We were tied back up at yesterday’s mooring ball in time for a slightly late happy hour and dinner aboard.

43-49.457’N, 070-05.977’W

3 Aug 15

Our flights out of Portland do not take off until 17:45, so we went in an pumped out and filled up the fuel tank and had showers and packed up and waited for the taxi to show up. We will leave the boat here in Freeport for a week while we fly to New Mexico for a family reunion.

9 Aug 16

The flight from Albuquerque (via Baltimore) to Portland landed at 16:40. We rented a car and drove back to Freeport, stopping to do a serious grocery shop on the way, to replenish our empty lockers. Back at the Brewers Marina by 19:00, we looked out to the mooring ball to see …. another boat than “c’est le bon”. After my heart re-started, we looked around the mooring field and found her much closer in to the dinghy dock; the dock master had relocated her as the owner of the original mooring returned - so, no problem. We dragged all our luggage and groceries on board, cooked dinner and went to bed.

10 Aug 16

I had previously arranged for a diver to come round and check the prop zinc at 08:30, so we got up and moved the boat to the fuel dock after a hasty breakfast. Diver Lou showed up on time and replaced the zinc (the old one was about 98% used up, so it was past time) and checked out the rest of the hull: no damage or marine growth. The Admiral was straight up to the laundry to clean all of our New Mexico travel clothes. After I got the boat back on the mooring, I drove up to Freeport Hardware and refilled two propane bottles and bought a battery Booster Pac (no more will I need to worry about draining a battery and not recharging it - I can restart any battery on the boat with this baby). It also occurred to me that I should move one of the connections on my Victron battery monitor to the generator start battery (currently, I’m monitoring the house batteries and the main engine start battery, which is a bit redundant, as they are wired essentially in parallel). After lunch, we did a quick top-up shop, turned the car in and came back to take showers and watch a bit of the Olympics in the excellent transient house at the marina; while there, we met and chatted with a Kiwi couple who have been traveling around the USA in an RV for the last 4 years. It rained most of the day, and ended up with a pretty thick fog. Hope it clears by tomorrow. Back to the boat in time for happy hour and dinner aboard.