After Crane Beach in Ipswich, MA, we spent a few days anchored off of Hampton Beach. It was fun to explore the area and we even got an opportunity to sit down for dinner one night. The break waves on the shore of Hampton Beach are no joke, we had a ton of fun rowing back out to the boat to say the least.

We then continued onto the Isles of Shoals where there is a seasonal hotel and plenty of wild berries. The islands are mostly overgrown and inhabited by birds, the views are amazing!

On our way into the Piscataqua river, we crossed routes with USCG tallship ‘Eagle’. It was really cool to see and all of the Portsmouth/Kittery harbor boats came out to see it. We grabbed a mooring on the Kittery side of the river and stayed for a few days. My parents came up to visit us for a day, we had a picnic and explored the area. When they left, we sent Brik home with them. He is older and too stubborn for the boat life. Fireworks scare him to the point that he shuts down and he was just seemingly unhappy.

Next, we grabbed a mooring in York harbor for a few days while we waited out a few days of storms. We found a nice path out in the woods where Luna was happy to run amuck.

Cape Porpoise was our next stop, there is an anchorage area that is incredibly sheltered and unaffected by the tidal currents. We stayed for a night before sailing to Saco.

We’ve been on a free mooring in the Saco river for a little over a week now. My sister, Amy, came to stay with us for a few days when we got here. She took us out to eat, we went bar hopping and even stayed in a cabin one night. We had a ton of fun and we’re happy to spend some time with Brik.

The last few days have been muggy and foggy but we are getting ready to set sail this morning and make our way to Portland!

Since we brought the dogs to shore at 4am, we spent the morning catching up on a couple hours of sleep. We had breakfast and coffee, hung the tarp for shade and I took a shower in the cockpit with one of our ‘solar bags’. They warm water in a bag with a house and spout and are super convenient for a good wash down.

We checked in with the harbormaster about going through the Annisquam River and asked for any advice. He told us to go mid-tide and hug the green markers in the channel. Perfect!

After checking the tides and weather forecasts we decided our best time would be around 3:30pm. We took the dogs to shore and walked to the dog park around 1pm and then headed back to secure the cabin and hoist the anchor.

Going through the river was smooth and pleasant. Although on maps and charts the river looks very narrow and the shoals unforgiving, we didn’t have any issues at mid-tide and very much enjoyed the cruise!

We ended up anchoring off of Crane Beach in Ipswich. We found, according to Navionics and Noaa charts, a sweet spot amongst the shoals that boasted 14ft at low tide and was relatively close to shore. We were fine here until around 3am when we started rubbing ground. We started the motor and tried to pull out of it but decided we’d be best to let the tide go out and come back to refloat us. True low tide was just before 5am so we waited until around then to see how far over the boat would lean- only about 25 degrees. We were both able to go back to sleep for and hour or two at slack tide and were woken up by our hull riding a combination of swells and sandy shoals. Eventually, after I had pulled the anchor and reset it at least five times in the process of trying to make some ground, we made it off the shoal and found a secure anchor spot around 7:30am.

We took the dogs to shore, Crane Beach is amazing! We wished we were in a better spot to be able to wander the paths and trails but we were happy just to enjoy the beautiful sandy stretch of beach for a bit.

We spent the entire day ashore! We took the dogs to the park around 8am and then walked the Gloucester harbor front. We found a nice field with a big shade tree where we had a picnic and took a quick nap. We took the dogs back to the park and then to the nearby dog friendly beach! They ran, swam and played with 10-15 other dogs all at once and were totally in their element. It was so fun to see.

Once the tide came back in and floated our dinghy around 6, we headed back to the boat for dinner and an early night. We listened to live bluegrass music coming off the water front as the sun set.

Poor Luna had a stomach ache and tried to quietly take care of it on the bow but somehow she ended up in the water at 3am. Shaun and I woke up to her splashing and Brik jumping in the dinghy to help her. Shaun scooped her up and she was fine. It’s hard to tell if she lost her footing and fell of the bow or maybe she got some poo on her coat and decided to jump in and rinse off.

We ended up rowing to shore at 4 am to let the dogs do their business since it seemed they both had upset tummies. Our guess is that it’s a combination of heat and accidental digestion of too much salt water. We’re gonna take a break from swimming for a couple days.

We walked the dogs to the north side of the big island where we found tons of sea glass and Luna got to run and play with a new friend! A man from a boat in the cove rowed out to the beach with his Australian Shepherd named Phil when he saw us and he and Luna played and swam for almost 45 minutes!

Once we got back to the boat we secured the cabin and got ready to set sail into Gloucester. We pulled off the mooring around 11.30a and got into Gloucester Harbor just after 1.30p. We found a good spot to anchor by a beach just outside the mouth of the Annisquam River, which we plan to voyage through next!

We napped for most of the afternoon before having dinner and taking the dogs to shore to visit the nearby dog park!

We fell asleep at 8:30p last night! I woke up at 1am as if it were sunrise but after a while I was able to fall back to sleep. Shaun slept until 8a while I drank coffee with the birds. We rowed over to Little Misery island this morning which only has two small deer paths that led us to the cliffs on the south side of the island. On both islands we have been able to enjoy a few wild blackberries and I’m pretty sure I found an abundant walnut tree as well. We collected sea glass on the shore while the dogs swam and played. 

Once we got back to the boat we had oatmeal for breakfast and hung the tarp for shade. We cozied up in the cabin and I read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho out loud. I’ve tried numerous times to read this book and be able to take something from it but for some reason have never gotten past the first ten pages. Something different happened today, though, when I read the very first page. The story resonates in an entirely new way. 

‘And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.’

‘People are capable, at any time in their lives, of doing what they dream of.’

‘There is only one way to learn. It’s through action. Everything you need to know you have learned through your journey.’

and very most importantly:

‘At a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That’s the world’s greatest lie.’

We finished the book in one day. The joys of living on a boat.. 

Just after sunset we took the dogs for a walk around the larger island. We saw a baby raccoon and multiple deer frolicking in the fields! 

Today was perfect! We took the dogs for a final walk in Salem and found a spacious park for them to run while we play some basketball. Once we got back to the boat we cleaned up and secured the cabin before motoring through the north channel to Misery Island.

“Misery Islands offer coastal views, rolling rocky terrain, diverse wildlife habitats, and interesting ruins that recall the Islands' past as an exclusive resort and summer colony.
[...]
On the beach of Little Misery can be seen the remains of the steamship, The City of Rockland, wrecked off the coast of Maine and scuttled here many years ago. The Misery Island Syndicate bought the Islands in 1900. They built the Misery Island Club, which featured a pier, a club house, a saltwater swimming pool, guest cottages, a tennis court, and a nine-hole golf course. Tournaments and regattas attracted Boston and North Shore socialites, but the club fell on hard times a year after opening. Subsequent business ventures failed, but individual lots sold and a summer colony of more than twenty-five cottages took hold. In 1926, however, a devastating brush fire destroyed many homes, and summer families eventually lost interest in the islands.”

https://essexheritage.org/attractions/misery-islands

We found a mooring and took a mid day nap before rowing to shore the check out the island! The dogs were so happy to run amuck through the trails and even followed a herd of deer through the woods. We found a bunch of sea glass and had so much fun trying to envision what this desolate island once looked like as a resort 100 years ago!

After a walk with the dogs we spent most of the day out on the boat. The wooden plate on our motor mount was worn out and rotted so Shaun found a replacement piece of pressure treated wood by the dumpster at the marina and brought it to a nearby construction site where they let him use their table saw!

The temps are in the mid 70s today and a bit overcast, the perfect day to get a few projects done. I helped Shaun lift the outboard off of its mount and onto our ladder where it sat during repairs to the mount. We found a can of acrylic waterproofing paint and I spread a smooth coat over the wood to protect it from early rot.

I’m usually not good for a mid day day nap but I sure took one today. While Shaun spent some more time siphoning water out of our gas tank on the dinghy, I slept for a good two hours.

We had alfredo pasta with lentils and spinach for dinner and then took the dogs in for a walk to the common. 

When we got back to the marina, Shaun, Brik and I all took showers before rowing back to the boat.