Everyone dreams of an empty, quiet anchorage during the height of our very short, bustling New England sailing season. This fall we found perhaps more solitude than we expected and found ourselves craving connection with the sailing community. Our “virtual” BWSC yacht club with “real” members, really nice members actually, was just the ticket.
On Oct 10th, we left our home mooring in Harpswell, Maine bound for (hopefully) our first trip to The Bahamas. We quickly discovered that sailing in New England in the second week of October is REALLY LONELY – everything is closing/closed. After a day of motor-sailing we came into the protected harbor of Biddeford Pool.
We have visited Biddeford Pool and used the visitor moorings from the Biddeford Pool Yacht club several times over the years. This visit was very different; we were the ONLY boat in the entire harbor. There was not even a small day sailor or fishing boat to be seen. It almost felt like a science fiction story in that world ended while we were cruising Casco Bay. The next evening, we stayed in the normally packed and busy harbor in Isle of Shoals. There was one other boat. Again, eerily empty.
As we approached, Gloucester, a big, fall nor’easter was headed our way. We pulled out our BWSC Membership Book and saw that Mark and Cynthia Wright keep their Beneteau First 40.7, Devine Wind there. We contacted them and they immediately responded with great and specific advice about town moorings that would provide the best protection from the impending storm.
As we cruised through the harbor, Mark and Cynthia were on their boat, smiling and waving. We were far from home, with months of travel in front of us and a storm predicted for the next day, but Mark and Cynthia made Gloucester feel like home away for home.
A few days later we were screaming across Buzzards Bay. The wind started out around to 15 - 20 knots so we reefed the main (boat speed - 8.4 kts). Then the wind got into the low 20’s so we took in some more genoa (boat speed - 8.4 kts). Then it started gusting up to 30, so we put in a second reef in the main (boat speed - 8.4 kts). We suspect we could have dropped the sails altogether and maintained 8.4 kts! During this sporty sail, we began to ponder where we wanted to sit out the next few days of even windier weather.
Once again, we pulled-out our BWSC Membership Book and saw that Steve McInnis may have a mooring we could borrow in Newport, RI. We sent him an email and he responded right away. Yes! His boat was off his mooring for the season and here are the GPS coordinates. He also very kindly met us the next morning and gave us a private tour of the New York Yacht Club’s Newport clubhouse! Steve’s mooring (with its lovely, clean, double pendant) was super close to a public dinghy dock, so even in the howling wind we were able to get our folding bikes safely to land where we spent three glorious days enjoying Newport (and getting shopping and other chores done).
Rob and I are new members that have already gained so much from BWSC. We had the chance to meet a lot of members during the Maine cruise late summer. But reaching out to members, that we hadn’t had the opportunity to meet, and getting such positive and supportive responses made us feel like we weren’t so alone on our long trip south.
(Spoiler for future blogs…We’re currently waiting out some strong winds at Bluff House Marina in Green Turtle Cay, in The Abacos in The Bahamas).