Cold Sunrises: Week 1

Finally, the ever awaited trip south has begun!

The weeks leading up to the day we left were...well...dense. Mike was healing from an emergency surgery he had on our trip to Mexico, and I was very uneasy. The cold weather had arrived to Camden, ME, which was our home base for the summer, and I'd been craving some hot sun rays. We left on the 11th of November, a bit late for the north-south east coast cruising season, but with a diesel heater that Mike promised would keep us toasty the whole time. And it did.

DAY 1

Nov. 11th and 12th

We first motored to Rockland, ME, not far from Camden, just to get a couple hours head start and a change of scenery. The following morning we left with the lobstermen, dark and early, before the sunrise. I had the most exhilarating feeling, like I was free again, like this adventure would be one that would change me forever, like I was very very cold because it was only 17℉.

Mike told me he saw two shooting stars as we left in the frigid darkness. One of them was big, bright, and burned across the sky crashing against the ocean's horizon. The other one was not as spectacular, but still a shooting star. I imagined them both as if I had seen them too. What I did see was the faintest burnt yellow and mustard orange light peeping in the horizon. Vastness, a sunrise of vastness, that's what I saw.

We were at sea for 15 hours, the warmest temperature we experienced was 23℉. Our destination: Portland, ME.

There's no autopilot on our sailboat, Aquila, so we are hand steering all 1,600 nautical miles from Camden, ME to West Palm Beach, FL. We agreed to take 1 hour watches, increasing to 2 hours when there's warmer weather, and 3 hours if we're doing a long run.

DAY 2 + DAY 3

Nov. 13th and 14th

We stayed in Portland for a couple days at DiMillo's Marina. I felt anxious while we waited for the strong winds and rain to pass, all I wanted to do was run out and jump into some warm ocean water. Since I couldn't do that, I resigned myself to enjoy and embrace the present moment for the next couple days.

DAY 4 + DAY 5

Nov. 15th + 16th

On our way out of Portland, we were greeted by the most beautiful sunrise I've ever seen in my life. I'll remember those bright, breathtaking colors forever. This sunrise set the tone for the entire day. Our original destination was meant to be Gloucester, MA, but the storm that we knew was coming would arrive sooner than expected. So we changed our course. Instead, we arrived to the "live free or die" state without any troubles. We stayed in Portsmouth, NH for one night, docked at a marina where we were charged only $1 per foot (sailboat length) because it's now off season.

Rain and snow were forecasted for that night, so Mike decided to put up a tarp over the cockpit to protect us from the downpour. As he worked on securing the tarp, he heard a splash into the water. He looked around but didn't see anything. Then another, splash. A door had fallen from a boat that was in a slip on the dock opposite to ours. This time Mike saw something else in the water. With urgency in his voice, he said to me, "someone fell in! Give me the docks' gate key!" I gave it to him. Mike started running. He rushed down our dock, out the gate, down the board walk, to the other gate, down that dock, and to a boat that had already been covered up for the season. There was a man stuck in between his boat and the dock. Mike grabbed the man's arm and pulled him out of the water as fast as she could.

Had we not been there, the man could've died.

This got me thinking about fate and coincidences. If we didn't alter our course, would that man had drowned? Would he had fallen in if we weren't around? Could someone else had rescued him?

The man who was pretty old, thanked Mike and went back into his boat. We didn't see him again.

DAY 6

Nov. 17th

We arrived to Gloucester, MA easily, transiting for only a few hours. It was windy and wavy, but nothing we couldn't handle. We took a brisk walk into town looking for marine diesel, but it was Sunday so there wasn't anyone around. It was a calm evening, we watched a movie on the laptop and rested.

So far, I've thoroughly enjoy the trip. It has been liberating in ways that I have craved for a long while.

DAY 7

Nov, 18th

We left Gloucester, MA at 5am. Our destination Sandwich, MA. Mike was at the helm for 2 hours, while I was in the cabin attempting to do yoga. It was quite entertaining trying to keep my balance as the waves rocked the boat. When I'm not at the helm, I like to stay active. After spending too much time in such a small space, the joints start to stiffen and the muscles hibernate, and I want none of that.

When it was my turn to be at the helm, I saw a pod of dolphins who were wishing us a happy and safe journey. They were so close to Aquila. It reminded me of of my time in Hawaii, seeing and swimming with spinner dolphins almost everyday. I'd love to return to the Big Island...now with a new outlook.

Today, we were able to sail for a long while without using the motor. It was so freeing. Sailing is completely different than motoring. When I'm sailing, I become one with nature. One with the wind. One with waves. One with the current. One with the waves. One with the tide. That feeling of wholeness doesn't happen when I'm motoring.

As we entered the Cape Cod Canal, there were many little black birds, floating with the strong current going out to sea. I had fun watching them play and enjoy and flow. And we arrived to Sandwich, MA.

#sailing #Maine #cold #ocean #sea #gps #Pearson #sailboat #costal #cruise #eastcoastsailing