The Thunder Rolls and NNECS Sails Out

...intermittent thunder

Lets us know

The gods are arriving,

One valley over.

(from the poem "New Hampshire", by Howard Moss)

The Summer Triangle is back in the sky and the Northern New England Circumnavigation Society meets again and rides forth into Maine's blue water and June fogs.  The inland storms do battle in their high aeries and we watch from our fortress island.  It's good to be back on the water for real.

Oh, we go to ERICA'S again, which means lobster heaven.  Scallop heaven.  Fried Oysters, anyone? How about the CRABSTER? 3oz of Lobster, 1oz of Crab, 4oz of Perfection.  One of the very best lobster shacks in Maine. ERICA'S is small boat friendly!  Cash only.  

GreenMountain John is now CHEF JUAN

For the weak of remembering NNECS is:
Sea Pearl 21 SCOUT
Sea Pearl 21 INDIGO
François Vivier Ilur WAXWING
Herreshoff Coquina SLIFPER

WE MEET

I AM A CRABBY RULER OF THIS ISLAND

WE MEET AGAIN

THE COMMODORE JUMPS WAVES FOR BREAKFAST

CHEF JUAN SAILS INTO THE FOG

THE COMMODORE SAILS INTO THE FOG

I don't sail into the fog and get a nice tan

Chef Juan took this picture

We raft to converse, eat, and drink.
MERRINESS TOO.

I take SLIFPER ouf for a ride and the Commodore
foints the way so I don't hif rocks 

FRIENDS

CHEF JUAN COOKS ANOTHER MEAN MEAL FOR US
TWO-BURNER STYLE
LIKE A BOSS

DAY TWO

CHEF JUAN and WAXWING under the mackerel sky

The Commodore rolls in NOT-SO-HOT

BREAKFAST TIME, WHERE'S THE SUN?!

Drying clothes can only mean one thing:
IT RAINED A LOT

ERICA'S SEAFOOD
The one, the only.

HEADING TO JEWELL

THE THUNDER ROLLS IN

NNECS rows into Jewell for exploration

IN WHICH CHEF JUAN SETS UP AN OUTHAUL WITH MUCH SUCCESS

Partnership and community building

Setting the anchor

The Commodore and Chef Juan work together while
Cap'n Jon wanders off at a critical time
I think he's looking at rocks.

SUCCESS

CHEF JUAN walks through the birch grove of his distant dreams
while birdsong pulls him onwards into the forest
with the crashing sea around and the thunder above
we all walk the lonely paths through our forests of birch and fern

The next valley over

The Commodore just really needs to get it together

I (author) use my new precision engineered German umbrella while everyone
laughs at me from their tents. Some buddies these guys are! Jeez-O.
The umbrella was great, though.

DAY THREE

Intrepid Readers may remember my fondness for SOFT-BOILED EGGS
I believe the art of cooking the perfect soft-boiled egg has skipped a generation.
As it is with many things, I remain an anomaly to my age group.
I cook damn good soft-boiled eggs. Ignore the sand that got into it.

NNECS rides out of Jewell and for home

Chef Juan took this picture

Cap'n Jon took this picture of SCOUT CRUSHING IT 

SCOUT jumps waves for breakfast too!
Chef Juan took this picture

INDIGO CRUSHING IT

WAXWING CRUSHING IT

Kinda-lunch on Whaleboat Island
We should have had lunch but didn't
Stupid.

The most heroic picture of Cap'n Jon EVAR.
I mean, c'mon guys, is he not being SUPER MANLY right now, or what?
He's like a steel-worker.
We towed the two other boats back up the Royal River to the ramp due to a 20kt+ wind blowing straight down the river, and a contrary tide.  The water looks smooth because there is no fetch.  It was blowing hard here. We could have easily spent the night at the mouth but some of us (me) had to go home, so we fired up the Iron Mizzens. 

I tow the Commodore.
I will say, his sailing into my precarious position close to the shore combined with
my tow-line throwing were so perfect, it was like we were sailors, or something.
Had to see it. Seamanship pays off.

THE END FOR NOW, THE SUMMER IS YOUNG