Sailing Solo around Casco Bay in Maine.
Here I am at the end of the Race. Wet, exausted, and happy to be done! This was a fun adventure type race. Around the islands, no support and self run and timed. If you know about the types of sailing I like to do, this was just my pace. Lets see how I got here…
I first discovered this race on a facebook feed one day recently. I have particiapted in the Everglades challnge 2 times and having a race that was similarly styled near my home state was a no brainer I was going to have to do it. My boat ws in RI and I had to go get it out of the water, trailer it home, prep and then trailer it to Portland Maine. All of which is no fun. The least of all stepping and unstepping the mast a few times. Starting day was sunday. Got to Bug Light in Maine and once I got the boat in the water and the truck and trailer secured I was off! My destination was all the way around the Casco Bay and making sure that I kept a series of Islands to port as I went.
This notebook BTW is made with waterproof paper. Its great for exactly this kind of sport! https://www.riteintherain.com
The first challenge was the traffic seperation area in Portland. Its very busy with many large ferries and other busy traffic. I was getting the boat settled, starting to get into the rythm and find the first starting marker, the #3 Green Can that I selected as my start and end point. Its just off Fort Georges island which would be my last stop along the trip. Here is my starting picture of the race.
This was the first signifigant island that I had to round. They all start to look the same after the fatigue sets in and especially the wooded ones further along the course. However this one is unique. This is Rams Head Light. Looking this way the entire Casco Bay is in front of me, and the Atlantic Ocean is behind me.
The next signifigant item on this part of the race was Halfway rock. This is another light house and as you can guess by the name its about halfway across the southern part of the bay. This was a lot of fun being able to use the navigating skills and put to practice the dead reaconing. With the light house behing me and the light house in front of me it was a fun to be able to plot a course on a chart with simple bearings and being able to be confident in my position.
This short video shows the rouding of Fuller Rock right at sunset and my review of the situation…
This is a signifigant moment for me. I have realized that I have just siled from Portland to Hermit Island. I have been wanting to do this since we startd going to Hermit island many years ago. Sailing all around hermit island with a Hobie Adventure and Tandem Island always seemed wild and huge! Being able to sail solo from Portland on a small-ish boat felt like a completed goal. Even after sailing to Bremuda and onto St. Thomas a few times as well as some of the other coastal sailing I have done didnt have the same feeling of accomplishment as this moment for me.
A few of my favorite pictures from the race...
There are a few Gopro moments and images that I will post shortly as well, but I wanted to get some images up while it was fresh.
After my 2nd night at anchor I realized that I had made a tactical mistake by not bringing the solar charging panels for my Echo River 2. I havent charged it all summer and when we did Everglades we only charged it 1 time and it didnt really need it. I figured that I would not need it on such a “Short” race. I wont make that mistake again. I was down to the wire on all my electronics and even the Torqueedo batteries! There was not a ton of sun, but enough to top things off if needed. The big item that I didnt thing through was the electric blanket. =). Yes I used an electric blanked to keep warm in the boat. Its cold in Maine.
When I pulled up anchor on the 2nd day there was very little wind and I was all the way at the top end of Casco Bay. I had to make a tough decision to turn on the motor and start to make my way home. I was out of time to complete the race under wind power so I turned on the motor and completed the race and followed all the island turn points, but I had to use the motor to get it done in the time that I could. Total the race took me 48 hours and 3 minutes. 2 overnight anchoring included in that time. If I take out for Anchor down and Anchor up times I can get a better overall time, but a good portion of the last day as on motor.
This was a ton of fun and I have had it a personal goal to learn more about the coast line of Maine. This was a great way for me to get to know Casco Bay. I cant wait to do this agian on S/V Integrity and have a place to be warm, cozy and cook a decent meal while seeing the beauty of the coastline. Once I get S/V Integrity home I will definetly be back up to Maine and further north!
Here is the official website for the race info:
https://www.regattaman.com/new_event_page.php?race_id=1461&yr=2025&cancel_dest=calendar.php