Remember when we said the fog had devoured us?
The fog stayed with us until about 1pm, though we managed to charge our batteries with the solar array even through the mist. Once it burned off, the heat built quickly and we jumped overboard for a refreshing swim (in water we’re told is 10-15 degrees warmer than usual).
So there we were, sitting in the cockpit, enjoying our boat at anchor and a shot of rum each. We were drip-drying , when we spied the tiny island to the northeast at the mouth of the bay.
“It’s Christmas Island!” exclaimed James.
“It is?” queried Dena, credulously.
“Well, it has a single, tall conifer, so it outta be.”
Consulting the chart, we discovered that the little pokey piece of land is actually named The Nubbin. So of course, we had to make clit jokes and we had to go visit!
As we approached, the island’s bird population took noisy flight, protesting our invasion. We pulled around to the northeast side of the island and shoved the bow into the kelp beds until we could get our feet on the rocks.
Traversing the slippery kelp wasn’t the easiest thing, but once we got on the dry land above the high-tide mark, we were inundated by the smells of a bird sanctuary. A US Coast and Geodetic Survey marker dated 1941 is inset on the highest point. We carefully inspected what there was to inspect.
Discovering new territory always makes me (James) feel like the “king of the world”.
The single tree is taller, but there are many more of these flowering bushes. Anyone know what they are?
The island is such a small nubbin that our circumnavigation only took about 10 minutes, even stopping for photos. We both marked our territory and then climbed back into our Tinker and toddled back home.
Hee hee hee hee hee, silly sailors! Your grand prize for all that hard work. Behold the Nubbin!
Kate, you’re so awesome!
Hey! I discovered your boat (and website) when you posted her for sale on Craigslist. We are Portland-ers, though we are sailing this summer so sadly we’re not around. That flowering bush is a rosa rugosa, a wild rose. They are all over the Maine coast and you can make quite a tea with their fruit, the Rosehips! The key is to simmer but not boil them.
I often post good liveaboard boats that are for sale on my website, would you mind if I posted yours up there? With a link back to you website, of course. Your boat is gorgeous!
All the best,
Sophi
Sounds lovely. We did some research into wintering on the boat in Maine before we started up this direction and looked at quite a bit of your website. Seems like a good community. Also, thanks for the tip on the rosehips…we’ll have to try some tea next time!