Posts In The “New England” Category
Newport Yachting Center was a wonderful place to live for a few weeks as we staged for our Atlantic crossing. The marina had just put its docks back in the water the week prior to our arrival, but we didn’t realize just how early we were in their season until we’d been there a month…
We generally keep Dirona ready to go to sea at a moment’s notice, and securing the cockpit furniture is typically all we need to do as we get underway. For multi-day passages, we do some additional preparation ranging from provisioning, to heavy weather preparation, to paperwork necessary to bring Spitfire into a new country. Highlights…
Fort Adams guards the harbor entrance to Newport and is the largest coastal fortification in the US. The parade area is 800ft across and covers 6.5 acres. We can see the fort from our berth at Newport Yachting Center and on a warm, sunny day finally got over for a tour. On the way we…
With a big push from the Gulf Stream and an evolving good weather forecast, an overnight run from Thunderbolt, Georgia turned into a three-night run to Cape May, New Jersey and eventually a four-night run directly to Newport, RI. Trip highlights from March 25th through 29th, 2017 follow. Click any image for a larger view,…
In January of this year, while walking in St. Marys, Georgia, we heard a drone and went to check it out. What really caught our interest here was that the person with the controls wasn’t even looking at the drone. It was a DJI Mavic Pro that had some really impressive features, including the ability…
Newport, Rhode Island bills itself as the “Sailing Capitol of the United States” and is where the America’s Cup races were held from 1930 until Australia won the cup in 1983. The area has additional significance to us because it is home to one of our favourite companies, KVH Industries, the supplier of our mini-VSAT…
Long time readers of mvdirona.com know we love technology. In our around-the-world adventure, we have toured mines, ice breakers, cruise ships, mining truck manufacturers, and even spent time at the helm of a 5,000 hp ship-assist tug. The common thread of each of these adventures are companies applying leading-edge technology to deliver a great product…
Salem, MA was the center of the Witch Hysteria that led to 20 people being sentenced to death in 1692. In the intervening few centuries, Salem has become considerably more welcoming to witchcraft, goblins and the supernatural. In fact, their month-long Halloween celebration likely is the largest in the nation and includes a parade, costume…
From Portland, Maine we continued south to Portsmouth, New Hampshire where we had a great stop at the excellent Wentworth Marina. We got another Amazon Prime fix, completed a few boat projects, toured the experimental submarine USS Albacore and explored the city of Portsmouth with its many pubs and restaurants. Trip highlights from October 21st…
The Portsmouth Navy Yard, established in 1800, has a long shipbuilding tradition. The shipyard began building submarines during World War I, including the L-8, the first built by a US Navy yard. The yard produced seventy submarines during World War II, launching a record four in one day, and in the 1950s and 1960s built…
Portland, Maine was recently ranked the top craft beer city in the world, and it shows. The city is full of craft breweries and pubs. We of course visited several during our stay, but also explored historic Fort Gorges and did a four-lighthouse and Fore River dinghy tour. Trip highlights from October 17th through 20th,…
Boothbay Harbor is a popular summer tourist destination, but less so in October. By the time we arrived, most of the businesses were closed for the season, including the famous Boothbay Lobster Wharf. No matter. We enjoyed a walk through the quiet town, got a few boat projects done, and generally spent a relaxing couple…
We stopped in Belfast, Maine because it was a convenient place to rent a car and drive to Bangor to have Jennifer’s surgical pin removed, and also because the docking rates there were much better than nearby Camden and Rockland. But we ended up having an excellent stay there and definitely would return. The marina…
Bangor, Maine is the home of author Stephen King and the inspiration for the fictional town of Derry in several of his works. Bangor also is the location of the Eastern Maine Medical Center where Jennifer had an early-morning surgery scheduled to finally have the surgical pin removed from her shoulder. Rather than getting up…
The Owls Head Transportation Museum is a half-hour drive south of Belfast, near Rockland, Maine. We visited on the recommendation of our friend Matt Baker. It seemed unlikely to James that a world-class museum would be found out in Owls Head, but this one is exceptional. It has everything from bicycles to Michael Schumacher’s Formula…
We departed Southwest Harbor for Belfast in a fog so thick we could barely see 100 yards in front of us. We ran at six knots with our big floodlights lit all around and the fog horn sounding. Dodging the moored boats and lobster traps in the thick fog was difficult, but the lobster boats…
The Hinckley company was founded at Southwest Harbor, Maine in 1928 and continues to operate there today. We spent two excellent weeks there at Dysart’s Great Harbor Marina, where the docks are full of beautiful Hinckley jet-drive boats. We completed several large boat projects, including changing our engine mounts, and also spent time visiting nearby…
Bar Harbor has been a popular tourist destination since the mid 1800s as tourists flocked in to experience Mt Desert Island’s incredible natural beauty. Thirty hotels operated in the town by 1880. Today Bar Harbor is the gateway to Acadia National Park, where over two million people from around the world visit annually. This year…