We sailed to the US in time for Christmas

If you follow our track and social media posts you might have noticed, that we have slowed down the pace quite a bit after we arrived in USA. This is because we had Christmas visitors and it’s also been so cold that it’s dangerous to sail.

Many have asked why we are not going further south to warm waters. It’s an interesting question given that as we write this, Florida has experienced more snow than where we are. But the real truth is we now have plans to return to north to Canada in the spring and spend the summer exploring all that we missed along Newfoundland and Labrador’s 15,500 NM of spectacular coastline. Labrador is known as the “Big Land” and is well known for its abundance of wildlife and untamed, unspoiled natural landscapes. Along the way we also need to visit the French islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon.

Cold and dangerous sailing to Portland Maine

After a lot of back-and-forth internet searches and reading post in the “Sailing Maine”- facebook group to find a good location for spending Christmas, we planned our crossing from Yarmouth to Boothbay, Maine where we were planning to celebrate the holidays with relatives from Denmark.

We thought we had done all the research to satisfy entry into the US and were expecting to be able to check in online and via a video interview. We had downloaded the CBP Roam app, performed a trial run and then the day prior to departure we submitted our application. Unfortunately the CBP Office at Portland had a different plan for us, insisting that we needed us to come direct to Portland so they could board and inspect the boat, and see us in person. This was a little stressful as we had to replan our crossing, cancel the dock in Boothbay and find a new one in Portland. Many marinas are closed during the winter but luckily we were able to get a spot at Dimillo’s marina.

All of our research told us that lobster traps would not be a problem on this crossing if we just spent the night in deep water – so that is what we planned for. Unfortunatley the route to Portland being several hours longer was not as good as our original planned route to Boothbay. Like most of our passages, we were between a couple of low pressure systems that meant deteriorating conditions at the end of the crossing. So we knew that we would have a few hours against a headwind and square waves with a a very short wave period. In sub zero temperatures these were certainley not the best conditions.

We departed early in the morning from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia and started out motoring for the first few hours. There are not as many traps in this area as we had seen along the east coast of Nova Scotia, but we did still see plenty of them and they were still appearing in 160 meter depth and 50Miles offshore (which we were also told was beyond the max distance they would be placed). As darkness fell the wind picked up to a lot more than the 20 knots forecasted: we were flying into a night of waves, cold weather and with a little too much speed during the night meaning we had to stay further offshore than originally planned as we approached Portland waiting for daybreak.

When daylight came we had been in darkness for 10 hours with an average of wind strength of 32 knots. It was -4C and we were now around 6 miles away from the shelter of Portland, but now with a horrible gusty offshore wind directly in the face, short steep waves knocking out the speed of the boat, and wind chill dropping the temperature to around -15C. We could see our destination and the shelter of the land, but at this point we were moving with less than 2 knots of speed over the ground and the boat, the rigging and the cockpit windows were icing thick and fast from the sea spray coming over the deck with every wave. It’s was a painful four or five hours tacking into the waves, keeping the speed down to minimise the amount of spray coming over the bow, before we finally reached the shelter of Cushing island just outside the harbour.

Eventually, feeling pretty exhausted, we arrived at Dimillos Marina in Portland with a boat that was completely frozen up to the first spreaders, with a thick coating of ice over the deck and everything on the deck. As expected the US CBP officer was waiting for us on the dock and having disposed of all of our fresh foods before departing from Canada, we were expecting a full boat search, without even having time for a warming cup of coffee (Wrapping away the sails had been so cold, that Steve had to pull off Sarah’s gloves, and our mooring lines were frozen solid. We had to boil water to thaw them enough so we could tie the boat to the dock). But the friendly CBP officer was not too interested in our frozen boat – He just wanted to see and scan our passports and visa’s, and that was it, we were checked into the US. He mentioned, he was eager getting home to his newly built sauna.

In retrospect we were close to being in very dangerous situation on this crossing. Ice from sea spray and from rime, can build up quickly on every surface of the boat. This can have a detrimental effect on the stability of the boat – given enough on the mast and rigging the boat can capsize. But well before this becomes a problem the ice can freeze and jam sheets, lines, clutches, winches and every other piece of equipment that’s exposed to the elements. And the deck becomes a lethal skating rink! The usual practice when caught in such a situation is to head for shelter so it was fortunate that we were not too far from land in this worsening weather. Heaving too was an option but this would have meant weathering even worse weather that was on its way.

Danish Christmas in Boothbay Harbour

Waking up in Portland to sunshine the following morning gave a whole new look on the place. It is an absolutely beautiful city that does not seem to wake up before noon. While Sarah went on a haunt for fresh bread, the streets were completely empty at 9 am. Sarah’s parents were picking us up on the boat, so we could drive to the rented house in Boothbay and she was so happy. We packed away things on the boat, made sure the heating would stay on, and were ready for a relaxing Christmas in Maine.

When they arrived, we drove into the beautiful landscape of Maine and had a nice cozy time during Christmas, watching the light show in the botanical garden, making lobster soup and moose stew, celebrating Christmas in the traditional Danish way which was a new experience for Steve, and driving around in the beautiful area – just a super relaxing time 😊

A few weeks in Portland

We ended up spending some time in Portland and got to hang-out a bit more with the Rexes on yacht Aegir, who we have been a few weeks behind for months. Portland is worth a visit for its vibrant creative scene with lots of live music, galleries, restaurants, bars and breweries. It also has a lot of vinyl record shops. (unfortunately we don’t have a record player on the boat).

We can recommend having the best pizza ever at Friends & Family on a Friday before visiting the Portland Art Museum, which is free on Fridays evenings. Have an early breakfast at Bread & Friends so you avoid waiting in line, before you go to the other end of town and visit the gallery Cove Street Arts. While you are in that area you can have a coffee at Tandem Coffee Roaster or if you are hungry go back to town and have the a fantastic falaffel or mushroom pita at Nura. Get ready for the night out at the authentic barber experience at Momentum Barber, before having a well made cocktail at Blythe & Burrows.

We couldn’t find any firework parties so we celebrated New Year’s eve at the Portland House of Music listening to Tim Sullivan’s half dead tribute to Grateful Dead. We had a great night in this small intimate music venue.

Snow Bear was safely moored at the secure Dimillo’s Marina, which is a great secure place in the heart of Portland! It remains open year round and there were several people living on their boats. We really enjoy these places as people are always so friendly and helpful. Self-serve Diesel was available on the dock at the marina, and we refilled one of our 11lb propane tanks at U-Haul just over a mile away.

Difficult mooring in Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Our crossing to the US was by far the coldest we have been while sailing and having experienced a completely frozen boat, we decided to only motor in light wind and flat seas when the temperatures are below freezing. So we found a sunny windless day to motor in daylight hours to Portsmouth in New Hampshire. This city hosts a US Navy shipyard responsible for maintaining and servicing nuclear attack submarines and its a busy commercial harbour.

We find that the lobster traps here in the US are less visible than in Canada. Often there is only one buoy and in many cases they are black, which makes them almost invisible in the water. A local lobster fisherman told us, that they are black because of algae growing on them. So we are still keeping close watch when we are moving.

Steve had timed it really well with the current as the Piscataqua river has some of the strongest currents in the area. When we arrived we had 2 knots of tide pushing us upstream. Normally we are fine mooring on our own, but Snow Bear was again frozen on the deck and we didn’t know if that was also the case of the pontoon. So we had to make a careful landing, which can be hard with wind pushing us off the dock and a much stronger current than anticipated pushing us towards a bridge that was very close to the marina. We learnt later that one of the boats in the marina had collided with the bridge last year and was waiting for a new mast!

Luckily there was some help on the dock, Peter (a fellow Englishman living on his boat in the marina) had seen us coming and was on the dock to help with the lines as we arrived. Alongside the tide was turning and the water was slack. Now we didn’t have to make a dramatic jump from a frozen boat. Safely moored we could finally appreciate the beautiful location on Badger’s Island in Maine on the border to New Hampshire.

Piscataqua Marina feels a little exposed as its on a busy river where you can see submarines, cargo ships and fishing boats navigating the narrow waters day and night. It is however worth a visit as several people are living on their boats and there is a very welcoming and communal feeling. The shower facilities are great and it is possible to do laundry as well. They also have a very long hose, so we could fill the water tank without carrying water in the jerry cans. If you are lucky, you might also get a visit from this friendly little fellow.

Right next to the marina it is possible to get a nice and very american meal at Ore Nell’s Barbecue.

Portsmouths is a beautiful historical town with a fantastic industrial bridge. The town has the Strawbery Banke, a historical open air museum, where a whole neighbourhood has been preserved. Portsmouth also have a vibrant music scene and we went to the Tuesday night jazz at the Pressroom which was great.

On the other side of Badger’s Island we visited the cute town Kittery, where we visited the fantastic Buoy Gallery that is owned by the friendliest guy. If you have been scared of entering galleries and want to have a great first experience, then this is the place!

Reality TV vibe in Gloucester MA

We still felt a need to get a little further South and also wanted a little more shelter than in Portsmouth. It took a lot of searching for somewhere in Massachusetts bay; most harbours and marinas were either closed for the winter, or they were open and charging full summer transient rates (the most expensive quote was almost $500 per night in Central Boston). We eventually managed to find a very well protected and reasonably priced berth at Cape Ann Marina inside Gloucester Harbor on the well protected and beautiful Annisquam River.

When we arrived at Gloucester harbour, we could see the silhouette of Boston’s skyline in the distance and we experienced an amazing sunset.

To get to Cape Ann marina, we needed to enter the river through the short Canal and pass through the Blynman Bridge at slack water at high tide because it’s both shallow and has a fast tidal current flow through the narrow entrance. That would be the following morning so we had planned to spend the night in the sheltered harbour at anchor.

On the charts and google earth the bridge entrance looks very narrow – and it is. Although not as narrow as the Scottish canals. As the only boat we had plenty of room to manoeuvre in the narrow river, but we cannot imagine how it is in the Summer, when 100’s of boats are in the water: boats cruising the river, fishing boats, pleasure boats, commercial boats. All trying to make the most of a favourable current and tide. We have been told it’s a bit like wacky races, there is even an instagram channel called cutbridgecrazziness dedicated to capturing the cool and dumb boating activities at the bridge.

Gloucester and its surrounding areas have served as the backdrop for several well-known films, including The Perfect Storm, CODA, and Manchester by the Sea, and its well known for the reality tv series Wicked Tuna, where tuna fishermen catch the big yellowfin tuna. On the dock next to us is one of the famous tuna boats from the series – Captain Dave Carraro’s FV-Tuna.com. Together with a few other less famous fishing boats that are active through the winter. Unfortunately it’s out of season for the tuna so we are not getting any reality show drama on the dock while we are here.

Gloucester is a popular tourist destination and has a vibrant restaurant and music scene. It’s easy to travel by train into Boston and NYC so we may keep the boat here for a couple of months while the worst of the weather passes through and the days get a little warmer.

We are warm and feel safe on the boat, and we have plenty of things happening to keep us busy as we have a few boat and business projects on the go and we are looking forward to exploring and meeting new people in this area.