Just to enjoy the late October sun in 10-15 knots of Southwesterly breeze. With no boats, it's almost stress free sailing through. I like to practice my skills, tacking quickly(I didn't do well there), reaching and manuevering under main only(tricky), and picking up a mooring under sail(*).

*A hint in 10 knots on flat water;when you think you're the right distance downwind to head up to your target mooring, make another pass, and double your estimated distance-a heavy boat's way in flat water will carry nearly-... forever...-.

'We'(just me and the boat), dropped the main for a nice lunch in the sun. An hour later, we raised the main again, and started sailing back out.

The sailing conditions were so perfect, I decided to make an attempt to sail through the narrow cut into Cabot Cove, dead to windward. With main and mizzen on the centerline, We started cranking the 135 into the spreaders turning the corner. I could see we wouldn't shoot the narrow entrance on a single tack, but we held it a bit longer. I remembered from experience dinghy sailing through here over the years, there's a mysterious lift that helps you going through in this exact prevailing wind.

Sure enough, suddenly, the lift began to draw us away from the rocks and through the pipe. With the board down and the windward telltales just quivering,...we glided deeply, well into a boatless Cabot Cove at about 3.5 knots. Then a shaky tack onto Starboard slowed us down enough to relax a bit. Then one more tack onto Port allowed me to creep up and startle a friend(Dan), anchored deeper in the cove.

After a quick hello, and fast run out, I couldn't resist a last beam reach through Pulpit Harbor, a smoother tack(this time, a smooth hairpin in the track), and a strong reach out into Penobscot Bay.

Things are different on the open bay. The "10 knots" of Southwesterly makes me wish I'd reefed something. But the wind is always a little stronger along Northhaven Island. It becomes more manageable away from the land.

Then it's perfect, listening to the stern wave travel the length of the counter as the hull rises and falls over the seas, we're close reaching, dead for our home, at 7 knots.