Homecoming

August 2024

By Joel Gleason

Yes, time flies, but this was ridiculous. There was no way I was going to miss another visit with Muscobe, our 33-foot Young Brothers cruising lobsterboat, even if I had to go solo. But I was dealing with a bad shoulder separation, which limited the use of my left arm, so handling the boat by myself, especially in bad weather, was not an option. Besides, it’s fun to have someone along with you to enjoy the fabulous beauty of the Maine coast.

While I was hoping for a 10-day to two-week excursion, Randy’s employment limited him to only a five-day trip, so we planned accordingly. And so, on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2023, at 12:20, Randy, his girlfriend, Kristen, and I departed the Corinthian Yacht Club float in Marblehead and set off for the Maine coast, where Muscobe was built, in Corea, 36 years before.

The weather couldn’t have been better: CAVU (in airplane parlance, ceiling and visibility unlimited), warm, with calm winds and flat seas. I took the first watch, bringing us eastward, past Bakers Island and Manchester, toward Gloucester and Cape Ann. Passing inside Milk Island, we hugged the shoreline, leaving Thacher Island with its twin lights to starboard. We then turned north, running inside the Rockport breakwater, dialing in White Island Light at the Isles of Shoals as a GPS waypoint, about due north.

We were to stand half-hour watches. As this was Kristen’s first cruise, Randy wanted her to try navigating. So, after his shift, he gave her the helm, showing her how to follow the heading both on the navigation system and the compass. She caught on quickly, and soon we were entering the beautiful Isles of Shoals, just six miles off Portsmouth, N.H.

From here, we had a long leg to Spring Point Marina, in South Portland, where we intended to refuel. Off to our starboard, off Cape Neddick, Boon Island Light appeared, then faded astern, as the blue bumps of eastern Maine began to appear on the horizon ahead.

Muscobe generally burns 9 gallons-per-hour at her 17.5-knot cruising speed. Each of her two fuel tanks holds 57 gallons, which should allow an easy five hours on each tank. We eventually rounded Cape Elizabeth and entered the Portland ship channel when, suddenly – at 4:20, after only four hours on the port tank – it ran dry. We quickly switched tanks and pumped fuel into the system, and the engine restarted easily. But what had gone wrong? Rough seas cause a higher fuel burn, but this was not the case today. Could the tank not have been full when we started?

Shortly thereafter, we pulled alongside the fuel dock at Spring Point Marina and took on 56.8 gallons of fuel, which calculated out to a 12 gallons-per-hour fuel burn. A mystery. After getting fuel and ice, we slipped out between Peaks and Great Diamond islands, arriving at Diamond’s Edge Marina at Diamond Cove at 5:30.

After securing and washing down the boat, Randy and Kristen walked around the island, while I enjoyed the scenery and the sounds of the birds and the water. When they returned, we headed up to the Diamond’s Edge Restaurant, in my opinion a five-star establishment. Now owned by a hotel in Portland, this is a popular spot in the city as it’s about a 20-minute ferry ride from the mainland. As expected, the food was fantastic.

The next morning brought overcast skies, with rain. Diamond Cove was relatively calm as we headed out, bound for Christmas Cove, just off the Damariscotta River. As we entered Hussey Sound, between Peaks and Long islands, the wind increased dramatically. And when we passed the gong at the eastern end of Peaks, all hell broke loose. The wind tore the tops off 10- to 14-foot waves that crashed over our bow, burying the windshields in green water and bouncing Muscobe around like a cork.

I continued on a heading of 180 degrees until we cleared East Cod Ledge, thinking the swells would be easier to take once we turned east and took them sideways.

Randy, however, had other ideas. Things were flying around below, and we were getting soundly knocked about. “Dad, we need to turn back!” Randy exclaimed, thinking, I’m sure, that if we continued on in these conditions he might never get Kristen aboard a boat again.

“We should be all right once we turn east,” I said, and turned toward Fuller Rock, off Cape Small, on a heading of 075. But the tossing and turning was, at best uncomfortable; at worst becoming dangerous. Rolling in from Spain, these swells have caused hundreds of wrecks along this coast over the past 200 years. Muscobe has been designed to withstand conditions like these, but I’m a little long in the tooth for them now. So, knowing we had over four hours of getting beat up crossing Casco Bay, I decided Randy was right.

As we turned back, I had visions of Muscobe rolling over or broaching, but she handled it uneventfully. The change was immediate and merciful as the huge swells now slipped beneath us from astern. We headed back into Portland, rounding Peaks Island, slipping between it and Diamond, immediately relieved to be sheltered from those vicious sea conditions. Motoring into the inner Portland ship channel, we pulled into DiMillo’s Marina at 10:35. We were assigned a slip, then walked up to check out the surroundings and DiMillo’s famous floating restaurant, where we wandered in for drinks.

My nephew and Randy’s cousin, Jack, lives in neighboring Falmouth, so we gave him a call. He suggested we meet him at a nearby pub, where he soon arrived with his wife, Janelle. After a short visit, I wandered back to the boat while Randy and Kristen accepted Jack’s invitation to hit the town. Apparently, Jack showed them a good time as they stayed ashore in a hotel, and I didn’t see them until the next morning.

Saturday dawned foggy but promised to clear as we returned to Casco Bay amid four-foot swells and turned east again. Passing inside Halfway Rock, we spotted two white-sided dolphins and, approaching Fuller Rock, an ocean sunfish. Under cloudy skies we proceeded inside Seguin Island and turned north into the Kennebec River.

The tide was against us as we entered, so we got knocked around a bit, but Muscobe’s faithful Yanmar pushed us ahead. Due to the tide and the river’s current, our normal 17.5-cruise speed was reduced by a few knots as we headed upriver, arriving at the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath at 12:05. Skipping the main part of the museum, we viewed the Maine Coast lobstering exhibit before returning to the boat.

At 12:30, we idled past the Bath Iron Works and entered the beautiful Sasanoa River, one of my favorite parts of Maine. The scenery here is spectacular, with an osprey’s nest on almost every buoy and daymark. However, one must be alert going through as it shoals quickly if you leave the channel. And the current can be nasty, especially in the two Hell Gates if you don’t have enough power or don’t know what you’re doing. But the tide was nearly at ebb, and with our big diesel and large rudder we had a pleasant passage.

Kristen was at the wheel as we slipped down Knubble Bay, past Derecktor Robinhood Marina in Georgetown, and through Goose Rock Passage into the Sheepscot River. Once across the river, we turned north, leaving Boston and Spectacle Islands to starboard before turning south to enter another inland passage, Townsend Gut. This spectacular short course between the mainland and Southport Island may have, in my opinion, more lobster pots than any other place in Maine. But it’s well worth the trip. Though, again, one must pay attention while going through.

The only way to drive onto Southport Island is via the Southport swing bridge, purportedly the busiest of its kind in Maine. As we approached, I radioed the keeper to ask if Muscobe’s 14-foot tophamper would clear, and he assured us it would. We glided under with a foot to spare.

Since we’d lost a planned destination due to Friday’s inclement weather, we were eliminating Christmas Cove; and a few minutes later, at 2:10, we eased by the red bell at the entrance to Boothbay Harbor and tied up at the Carousel Marina’s gas dock. The former owner, my Marblehead High School buddy, Jack, had sold the marina to a very nice young couple, Evan and Jax, who treated us exceptionally well. Carousel has just about everything the cruiser needs: fuel, head/showers, ship’s store, and a fine restaurant, the Whale’s Tale.

After getting fuel and moving over to our assigned slip, we meandered up to the Whale’s Tale for drinks, where we were served by Steve, our bartender. Steve, who grew up on a dairy farm down south, had been convinced to try this new career by a local friend, and was on his first day at the job. As one is usually hungry after a day on the water – no matter what time – we decided on an early dinner. The prime rib I’d been hankering for all winter wasn’t available that day but, as usual, the food was great.

Kristen and Randy decided to walk into town to explore Boothbay, where they had an enjoyable time culminated by a visit to MacSeagull’s – one of Boothbay’s most famous watering holes. While they were gone, I went back to the boat and plopped down in a deck chair to enjoy the sunset and listen to Paul Sullivan’s “Sketches of Maine.”

After a stay at Carousel, it’s our usual custom to take the boat over to the town landing for breakfast. But this time there was a replica of a tall ship and several other boats there. So, after we showered, Evan generously loaned us his pickup so we could drive.

Our destination that morning would have been Camden but, disappointingly as we had lost a day due to the rough weather Friday, we had to pass on that. So instead, after a leisurely morning (Whatever happened to “We will leave at first light?”), at 11:40 we cast off and meandered down to the Cuckolds, before turning SSW for the long leg to the Wentworth at Portsmouth (actually New Castle). It was cool outside and partly cloudy, but calm. So we had a pleasant, uneventful leg, arriving after three hours, forty minutes and burning just under 11 gallons per hour.

After getting fuel and ice, we settled up then meandered up to the beautiful dockside restaurant for dinner. On the way we struck up a conversation with a couple who had admired Muscobe’s downeast design. As it turned out, their son had recently married the daughter of a good friend of mine at the Corinthian. Small world! They pointed out their boat to us, a beautiful Calvin Beal in a nearby slip, and invited us aboard the next day. It seems we “Downeasters” all belong to a sort of fraternity. While there are innumerable boat designs, this hull has evolved over the last 100 years to become a sound, sturdy, safe and reliable work platform for fishermen that is guaranteed to get you home in any and all conditions. And in recent years they have become quite popular as family cruising boats. While some people may prefer modern looks and power sun visors, after 36 years with Muscobe, I’m completely content with what I refer to as my “scuzzy old lobster boat.” She’s handsome, and she has never let me down.

The Wentworth is a beautiful facility, with every amenity one could wish for, including a hotel and swimming pool. There are over 100 slips available, and as we sat at our table overlooking Little Harbor, we admired the beautiful scenery and the gorgeous collection of boats, including three mega-yachts. Randy Googled one of them and found that she was available for charter for $300,000 per week! To me, that’s a floating hotel – not a boat. But to each his own, I guess.

Next morning dawned beautifully clear, calm and warm. So we departed at 7:40, thus forfeiting our visit to the Calvin Beal. Randy took the first watch as we skimmed southward through flat seas on this, our final leg. After about an hour we sighted a fog bank ahead and eventually we slammed into pea soup, barely able to see the burgee on the bow.

Then, at 9:10, we emerged into the clear again, with the red bell at the entrance to the Annisquam Canal on the horizon dead ahead. We traversed the river uneventfully and, after a brief wait for the Blynman Bridge to open for us, we entered Gloucester Harbor.

Kristen took over, and an hour later we pulled alongside the fuel dock at Marblehead Trading Company. After a little less than three hours, Muscobe took 24.7 gallons, for a burn of just 8.8 gallons per hour – the lower rate due to our reduced speed through the Annisquam.

Muscobe had once again, after all these years, carried us to Maine, sheltered and protected us, and brought us home safe and sound.

Joel Gleason, a lifelong resident of Marblehead, holds a U.S.C.G. 100-ton master’s license and has been “messing around in boats” for nearly 70 years. In 2023, Joel and his family celebrated their 36th season aboard Muscobe, which he maintains, according to her latest insurance survey, in Bristol condition.

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