M/V MAERIN

Our final leg from Chesapeake City to Stansbury marked the last leg of our Down East Loop cruise, as well as my guest crew Jared’s last day aboard. A bittersweet day for Jared as he looked forward to a reunion with his bride and daughter and savored his last day on the water. Doug, Jared’s dad came to the marina to meet him and take him back home, and we took a short river cruise before they made their way back to York.  I was grateful for Jared’s help as crew and exhilarating company during the two weeks he was aboard.  Some 15 years and two boats ago,  Jared joined me for a weekend on the boat in Annapolis. I approached the outing with some trepidation over concerns as to how I would entertain a high school senior with whom I was not closely acquainted other than frequent visits to our home as a friend of daughter Andrea. Andrea was quick to reassure me, “Dad, don’t worry about entertaining Jared, Jared is entertainment all by himself!” So he was, and remains. We had a great time, and I could not have wished for a more enthusiastic crew. Thanks for the help, Jared!

Admiral Barb is still in San Francisco with mending Andrea, and will likely stay on another two weeks, so she missed the wind-up of the Loop, and some of the beautiful Maine cruising. But it is likely we will travel those waters again in the future; we both were so taken with the whole experience of cruising Nova Scotia and the North East, that we will most certainly return, perhaps as early as next summer.  For those cruisers and aspiring cruisers contemplating travel to the region, I can only say you won’t regret it, unless you have an aversion to uncrowded cruising grounds, stunning scenery, and some of the friendliest folks you’ll meet. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you’d like more detail than you’ll find on the blog (if that’s possible? 🙄 ) or if you’re close by, we’d be happy to meet up for a session over lunch or cocktails to review charts, guidebooks or otherwise share what we learned on our cruise. There’s always a spot to tie up for a few hours here, so don’t hesitate to contact us.

Our Down East Loop began on June 11. Maerin arrived back in her “home port” on September 25. Some stats:

• 104 Days
  
• 3206 Nautical miles
• 470 Engine Hours
• 169 Generator hours
• Approx. 1100 gallons diesel fuel

Overall, our trip was wonderful. Maerin is proving to be a splendid cruising platform, and was rock-solid the entire trip. No problems, no unforeseen glitches.  We had spectacular weather, I am hard-pressed to recall more than a handful of days where it even rained. We traveled in fog for perhaps 4 days total, endured one hurricane that ultimately was a non-event, and made 57 ports of call where we actually went ashore and visited the area. Some were overnight stops, no shore visit other than dog stops. Our favorite? The Admiral is on leave, so her input is not up to date, but I’d venture a guess that the highlight was Bras d’Or Lakes and Cape Breton. Favorite big city would probably be Quebec City, and best metro area, Montreal.  Best farmer’s market hands down is Oswego, NY. Cheapest lobster was Louisbourg, 7 lobsters in exchange for two Dark & Stormy’s.

Would we do the trip again?  …. In a heartbeat. Will we still do the Great Circle Loop? …. the jury’s out on that one. Maybe the Turks & Caicos and the lower Bahamas… we’ll see.

Maerin will be in port for about a month, our plan is to complete some maintenance, replace/upgrade the holding plate/freezer, clean up the hull, and do the family, doctor, check on the house – visits and re-provision in time to head south by the end of October.  There is a Selene Rendezvous planned for March in the Bahamas at Big Majors in the Exumas, and we hope to be there for that event, and hope to have some guests aboard! Staniel Cay is close by, and has reasonably priced daily air service from Ft. Lauderdale.

So there will likely be a lull in the blog as yours truly diverts attention to other matters, but entries will pick back up when we begin to move.

Stay tuned! and thanks for coming along on our Down East Loop adventure!!