Sunday Summary #105

⛵️ Sailing in Maine's Penobscot Bay

Hi ,

Welcome to Scho & Jo’s 105th Sunday Summary. This edition of the Sunday Summary was written on a Wednesday from Jen’s parent’s home in northeast, Florida.

Last Month.

A few weeks ago we joined our friends aboard their sailboat in Maine’s Penobscot Bay. This friendship deserves a little backstory though…

During our first attempt at the Great Loop in 2021, we met two boaters as we cruised north on the ICW from Charleston, SC. It was the day after we made the choice to keep going after having a rough start during our first month of leaving our home marina. We passed a sailboat called Ecola who was headed for the same anchorage we were. Later that day, we ran aground thanks to the ever changing shoals and low tide. Once the rising tide popped us off the shoal, we continued to our plan B anchorage (since Ecola was in our plan A spot), dropped our hook, and went to shore a few hours later. Within five minutes of getting to shore, a guy on his dinghy asked if anyone on the beach we were on belonged to the trawler. Elliot gladly said, ‘yes, that’s me!’ and he replied that our ‘

boat had moved back 1000 yards and was still moving

.’ We quickly went back to PIVOT to realize we were dragging anchor. So long story long, we ended up becoming friends with the couple aboard Ecola! After Elliot’s wrist break on Smith Island, Maryland we ended up

buddy boating southbound together

and even

celebrated Friendsgiving together

! During our trip southbound, we learned a tremendous amount from them including trip planning, weather, how different wind directions and tides affect inlets, and so much more. They were really instrumental in our boating journey and our friendship is something we both cherish.

So when our friends Andy and Gwen invited us to come sailing with them up in Maine, we knew we had to join them. We had tried to meet up with them this past winter in the Bahamas but unfortunately, it didn’t work out. Elliot has been itching to get back on the water and experience what life is like on a sailboat for quite some time. Spending one week in Maine aboard their 37 Tartan, Acadia, was just what we needed to quench our thirst to be on the water.

We had pristine weather during our trip with warm days, clear skies, and cool nights. We even got one day of fog to really take in the Maine vibes. We met Gwen and Andy in Rockland, ME and cruised throughout Penobscot Bay, weaving between islands, taking in the sounds of the bells on the day markers and sights of lighthouses peeking through the trees. The area really reminded us of the North Channel in Canada, one of our favorite cruising grounds on the Great Loop. Catching up with Gwen and Andy, talking about travel plans, brainstorming future adventures, and playing lots of Settlers of Catan was the perfect end to our summer.

We both see a sailboat in our future and Elliot has been online looking at various sailboats since before we left Maine. To say that we had a good time would be an understatement. We left Maine with our cups full and wanting to explore more. You can follow Andy and Gwen on YouTube where they share DIY projects and helpful tips and tricks (including their ICW series) and on Instagram where they share daily life aboard their sailboat cruising the east coast of the US and Bahamas!

In our last Sunday Summary, we announced that PIOVT was for sale and we’re happy to say PIVOT is sold and has gone to another couple who plan to do the loop. We’re so excited for the journey they’re about to embark on and the memories they’re going to have together aboard PIVOT. Selling PIVOT was bittersweet as it’s a place we called home for the past 2.5 years and had so many great memories with. PIVOT has been there through it all with us. We’re thrilled that Pivot’s next owners plan to keep the adventure going!

“Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.”-Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows Our good friends and fellow loopers followed this quote with...“This of course includes land vessels - any vessel that takes you to your dreams.”- Bill and Margie, MV Crustacean

This Week.

As summer has come to a close, it’s allowed us to reflect on the past few months. 2023 has definitely been our year of community spending our time with friends and family, a lot more than we have in the past three years from our year of international travel, to lockdowns and quarantines, to buying a boat and doing the loop. Being back home has allowed us to enjoy time with our family at the dinner table, celebrate birthdays, and have game nights with friends. Part of knowing our family and friend time is limited helps us stay grounded and really take in the seemingly little moments.

Tomorrow we’ll continue our 2023 theme of community by seeing Elliot’s brother and sister-in-law for the first time in two years and meet our new nephew! They currently live in Israel and are in the states for 3 weeks. We’re excited to spend time with them and get as many cuddles with our 1.5 year old nephew in as possible.

While we're not ready to share out next adventure just yet, we've been doing a lot of research for what's to come. One of our primary reasons for not jumping right into our next adventure was so we could catch up on work. With 70+ videos left to edit and several projects we’ve been working on behind the scenes, we wanted to make sure we could wrap up this chapter before diving into our next big project. We’ll be spending our week editing videos, working on our website, and some other great resources to help fellow loopers.

 Videos. 

In case you missed it, here are all the vlogs we’ve released since our last Sunday Summary:

We stayed on a BARGE on the Illinois River

A Day in Our Life Cruising Down the Rivers in our Trawler (Long cruise from Beardstown to Grafton)

What its like when we FINALLY go to a Marina

First Day Cruising the MIGHTY MISSISSIPPI

No more marinas for 250 nautical miles (second day on the river)

What boating the MISSISSIPPI RIVER is really like

DODGING BARGES on the MISSISSIPPI RIVER

ENTERING our 14th STATE

The Mid-West RIVERS are UNBELIEVABLE

This is Cruising! (Anchoring in the Land Between the Lakes)

 Extra. 

Back in July, we met our friends Adam and Kathryn in Iowa to go on a bike ride… a 500 mile bike ride across Iowa called RAGBRAI to celebrate their 50th US state! Although our video won’t be coming out until next year, they released their RAGBRAI video! You can watch it here:

Adventures of A+K do RAGBRAI with Scho & Jo

 From the Eyes of Ollie. 

Ollie loved exploring all of the nooks and crannies on Acadia. She found many of Aiden’s most comfortable spots and found some others with some warm sunshine. Ollie loved being back on the water as she took to daily dinghy rides to shore just as she did while we were aboard PIVOT. She loved running around some of the islands, dipping her paws in the cold Maine water, and sitting at the bow on the lookout for seals and porpoises.

 Gratitudes. 

Spending time with our friends, Gwen and Andy, aboard their boat was just what our souls needed. The time gave us time to catch up with friends, get out on the water, and experiment with a possible future adventure for us. We left with our hearts filled and eager for more adventures together in the future!

Peace and love,Jenn + Elliot