Newburyport, Massachusetts is home to a lively old town

Day two of bringing Little Prince home to Maine was a very pleasant outing. Having figured out the automatic pilot, we were one step closer to enjoying our new boat. This was especially true during the last leg of our trip because it was farther out to sea with no obstructions. Before we got to that point, we needed to get back down the Merrimack River. It’s one of those places where local knowledge is key and instinct deceives. The middle of the river is not the deepest section.

We’d gotten out of bed and had some muffins we’d purchased the night before for breakfast. We were concerned about what tide it was and when we should leave. Did we need the extra water from a higher tide? There wasn’t much activity on the river at first but then we saw a couple of boats start to head out. One was a rather large pleasure boat going at a fairly good clip. Tim turned on the engine and headed out after them. Clearly, they knew the way and would be drawing more water than Little Prince.

Six miles off the coast of Portsmouth, New Hampshire is a small group of islands called the Isles of Shoals.

Once we cleared the mouth of the river and headed out to sea we set our course for the Isles of Shoals. That was another place I’d often heard about but had never been. It’s several small islands off the coast of New Hampshire and Maine, six miles out to sea from Portsmouth. We weren’t planning on stopping there but we could at least get a look. The islands are no longer inhabited for the most part except for visitors during the summer staying in the hotel on Star Island. Before the days of air conditioning, it was a popular vacation spot for people from Boston and New York.

Two Lights State Park in Cape Elizabeth, Maine is home to two lighthouses, this being one of them.

In clearing the islands we were then in Maine. We still had a ways to go, but just having made it to Maine was an accomplishment. Our other accomplishment for the day was riding in the flying bridge. We had stayed in the cabin the day before but we were going to be a little braver on day two. We had some trouble figuring how to shift all the controls up there, but we could steer so that was enough. Occasionally we had to do a little steering to avoid a lobster buoy but by and large, we just sat back and enjoyed the ride.

This trip was clearly a good starting point in seeing what we needed to think about and prepare for when making our way down to Florida.