Out on the Water

Finally after six months of cold we set sail again. After the needed maintenance was done we cast off the dock lines and set out to visit Jewel island for an overnight. It was great to be sailing again the boat felt as alive as ever. Weather was great with steady winds and sun. While it felt like Spring it was still chilly and plenty of bundling up went on in the cockpit.

Facelift

The mainsheet car got a little mangled over the Summer so it was time for a facelift. You can't see the stress cracks on the bail but trust me they are there. As you guessed a new one is insanely expensive for something that is not even built very well. Along with the price in the future I would like to upgrade the entire track to the next size up so making a car investment right now didn't seem right. Kicking around a few ideas, most adding up to to much money, I decided on a rebuild.

How to: A Traditional Maine Lobster Bake

Post lobster bake I am not sure if we should be happy or sad. 

Happy because we had an amazing feast after a very rough day of sailing or sad because we quite literally may have had the best lobster we will ever have in our entire lives to come. I know this sounds like a bold claim but where in the world do they have better lobsters than in Maine? 

Within Maine they have one particular area that is coveted as producing the best lobsters in Maine, yes you guessed it, Ragged Island. Which is where we had found ourselves. Fresh lobsters are the best, no one will argue that, so we literally had to row out to the lobster boat and they handpicked us the delicious creatures right out of that hours catch. Did I mention that it was 40 knot winds that was funneling into the cove where our boat was moored amongst the lobster boats that RJ and our new friend Derek (worked for the lobster boat) had to row through?

Finally cooking the lobsters in a pile of kelp gathered minutes before and thrown on a driftwood fire is the undisputed best way to cook. Enjoy our photo's highlighting how to do a real lobster bake and hopefully someday you to will get a chance to enjoy!
 

Due to the heavy winds and chop in the harbor we had to carry our dinghy around to launch above the lobster boat and get pushed down wind to meet it.

RJ and the stern man rowing back for the lobster boat.

Not drive thru.

Sailor Jerry

When we launched our boat this past summer, nerves in bundles and staring at our vessel with fingers crossed that it wouldn’t sink, a man came strolling down the dock and welcomed us to the live-a-board community. He introduced himself as Jerry Palazzo. He had those smiling eyes that could instantly put you at ease and a way of conversing that made you feel like you had known him for years. He was known on our docks as “the mayor”.

When we were settled into our slip, he extended an invitation to his boat. At the time we didn’t know “boat protocol” for going to another persons boat; do you knock three times on the side to see if they’re there? Give a little “ahoy matey!” perhaps? We screamed amateurs. Luckily though, when we went over, Jerry and a few friends were sitting in the cockpit and he warmly invited us to come aboard. Jerry handed us a cup with some rum in it and we fell instantly into pace of the ongoing conversation. So began our friendship.

Moving pictures

This is the short video from out recent sail in ME. Of course we didn't take nearly enough footage and many days are missing but you can get the idea from the movie of how it went. Hope you enjoy.

Fall trip from Neto Nomads on Vimeo.

Seguin Island - Day 1 Propeller Wrap Up!

In mid-October, when most people were heading south or prepping their boats for winter, s/v Neto Nomad and crew headed out for our last sail of the year. With frost covered docks shimmering in the early morning sun we cast off our lines and slipped out of Portland Harbor unnoticed by all save a few lobstermen. The crisp morning air gave warning that winter loomed just around the corner but the sun's warmth on our cheeks reassured us it wasn't here quite yet. We still had time for one last adventure.

Dreams of Down East danced in our heads like a beautifully choreographed Martha Graham number, but with time constraints and unpredictable weather we set our eyes on exploring Vinalhaven and Isle of Haut instead. Not a bad second choice. With the ocean promising swell we headed first for Popham Beach to check out a recommended surf spot.

Holding on to Summer

ME Summer from Neto Nomads on Vimeo.

With the first snow falling I went through some random clips from the summer and threw them together. Brings you back to the warmer days.

Climbing Upper Goose

After a long Summer of limited climbing we decided to take up the quest to follow rummors of a climable boulder on a near by island. After convincing a friend to come along we headed up the bay to Upper Goose. The above is the first sighting of the island cluster.

Teaching Roger Long: A 48 Hour sail aboard s/v Strider

The sea gods must have been looking over us (or had a strange sense of humor) when our path crossed with Roger Long's.

Leaving Portland Harbor aboard Strider

We originally met Roger while he was working on Strider on the hard over the summer. We chatted over our mutual plans of heading south for the winter. As our friendship grew, Roger ended up showing us things such as the ways of reefing and taking us out on a rougher day.

As the "To do" list kept growing for Neto Nomad and September kept creeping nearer, going south was no longer an option for us. Roger, however, threw another option our way: Come cruising on Strider for the first 48 hours leg of his trip south.

They call it Pea Soup

Aes Dana - Alignments by Blossom331

We ventured off earlier this week after the fog lifted only to be greeted back by it like a warm unwanted hug. They call it pea soup in the world of boaters. It's thick and you can't see through it. We were already past the Portland Head Light so Nick used his navigational skills to map out the buoys and the time it would take us to get to them. Eventually we would near the buoy and hear the bell or the gong as if it were celebrating our arrival. We turned our heading towards Jewell Island and cautiously proceeded along, continuing to monitor the GPS, VHF and signaling our bell every 2 minutes. Suddenly, emerging from the nothingness, we saw cliffs. There she was, Jewell Island was in our sight.

Anchors, Raft-Ups and Overnights!

Hammock time!

We headed out yesterday into Casco Bay in the later part of the afternoon after getting some errands done and prepping the boat. Our friend RJ jumped aboard and we headed out past Fort Gorgeous and continued around Cow Ledge. Neto Nomad responded nicely to the consistent winds as she carried us along on our adventure.

Chief eyeing Nick's sandwhich

Fellow Cape Dory owner and friend (Captain) Tyler and Chief met us out on the water and we eventually headed to a little island in Casco Bay. We laid out the anchor (for the first time mind you - woohoo!!) and Tyler rafted up next to us (2 boats, 1 anchor).

Repowering

With mixed feeling we plunged into the re-powering of our boat. Nothing I would like better than to leave well enough alone and have an old trusty engine but we are not that lucky. After a few weeks of one unpleasant surprise after another the removal of the Volvo was not something we were looking forward to.

With five days of rain finally stopping we plunged forward with the task: build something to move the 500lb beast out of the boat. After a day of working, moving heavy steel beams around and fighting off hordes of bugs we had a platform we deemed worthy to lift safely.

The Cape Dory Story

Maine brought new wind to our sails when we encountered a 30' Cape Dory at the Northeast Sail Boat Rescue in Freeport, Maine a few weeks ago. Nick trekked back up for the Marine Survey today and from what I hear things are looking good! I hope you are as excited as I am to hear back from him! Stay tuned Nomad friends!

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

It was hot and it was humid. We arrived at The Norwalk Cove Marina at 10AM to have the Vineyard Vixen surveyed and released back into the water for a Sea Trial. The Vineyard Vixen looked like it had seen better days. No major damage was done, however Hurricane Irene presented the boat with lots of leaves and sediment to give it a nice brown layer in the cockpit.

The Good: The surveyor that was recommended to us, Barnaby Blatch, was extremely thorough in and out of the water. We researched him before hand and found many positive reviews on his work and we have to say, he was excellent.

John Longley, the listing broker was also fantastic throughout the day. He even personally ran the starter (we'll get to that later) to the repair shop a good 30 minutes away (on 95...yikes!).

The Bad:  We had been at the marina since 10 AM and everything had been going more or less pretty smoothly. It was about 1 PM when the mechanic came over to de-winterize the engine and get it going for the Sea Trial*. The starter didn't turn over, when they took it out it was rusted (fresh rust) and needed to be sent to get repaired to see if the engine worked. What does this mean? Well, no engine means no Sea Trial, no Sea Trial means we'd have to pay for our surveyor to come back another day when it got fixed. OK, that's bad but it can be fixed and we can move forward. The survey continued and then about 4:30 PM the other shoe dropped. They found water in the transmission oil. Oh, no. That's not good.

The Ugly: by 6PM the nail hit the coffin. We found out the boat had been on the hard for 2 years (we had originally been told it was only out of the water for only 1 year). So, for 2 years the boat could have been sitting with water in the transmission. The water was mixed in the oil already. Conclusion:  it would have to be replaced.

Our dreams of the Vineyard Vixen began to quickly fade. In conjunction with the above land mines the sails would need to be replaced, as well as the rigging, the front hatch...it sounded endless and I started to zone out, it had been a long hot day.

What we learned:

It is so important to have a good Surveyor. They will let you know what needs to be done to make the boat sea-worthy. You want to have someone that intimately checks your boat. We would highly recommend Barnaby Blatch to anyone buying a boat.

Work with a good Broker. We met John through this deal and are super happy with his recommendations and all the hard work he's doing. He's honest and trustworthy and always there to answer our questions. Check out his listings here: Rudders & Moorings.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Nick and I believed this was our boat. Sadly, it wasn't. However our dream lives on and there will be more boats. In fact, we are going to go and look at another boat this Friday! We feel positive in time we'll find the right boat and off to the Caribbean we go.

Last but not least....make sure the engine works before you have a survey done. It will save you money :)

That's all for now, we'll keep you posted!