Our sail from Bermuda to St. Martin was a LONG 6 days. Avoiding squalls, we chose the departure day knowing we would have some doldrums, but this was worst then we thought it would be. It made the trip take longer than we anticipated, burned more fuel running the iron jenny. And our new sail batten box broke making sailing even more handicapped. Crew morale picked up a little during a mid-ocean swim, but our arrival in St. Martin was the most welcome respite. TIMELINE: 0:00 Introduction 0:15 November 14 - Day 1 Avoiding Squalls 2:11 November 15 - Day 2 Light Wind Parasailing 3:45 November 16 - Day 3 Let's fly the Code Sail 4:27 Sail Issues - Broken Batten Box 6:58 November 17 - Day 4 Let's almost lose the code sail in a squall 8:57 November 18 - Day 5 Back to motor sailing and a mid-ocean swim 10:39 November 19 - Day 6 Finally some wind we can kind of sail with 11:12 November 20 - Day 7 Land Ho LINKS: SUBSCRIBE TO CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjfh_pM48xnJ7dr4jTvt8cw?sub_confirmation=1 SUBSCRIBE TO EMAIL NEWSLETTER: https://bluedotvoyages.com/contact-us/ READ SAILING LOGS ON OUR WEB SITE: https://bluedotvoyages.com FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/bluedotvoyages.sailingpilar INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/bluedotvoyages.sailingpilar COMPLETE PLAYLIST: SAILING & CRUISING VIDEOS https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz8Z8h1MloaPq2o05r6wnJqaqyeABUKiu CATAMARAN MAINTENANCE VIDEOS: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz8Z8h1MloaOcpGajnaH0DPm1U0otTJtc Blue Dot Voyages is a Sailing Adventure Company. We are traveling the world our Leopard48 Sailing Catamaran PILAR. We produce travel videos and blogs and offer charter sailing experience trips in exotic places! Watch our videos and live vicariously through us! Then, schedule your adventure with us! Master Captain: Stephen Bell First Officer: Dawn Bell #catamaransailing #leopard48catamaran #sailing

Welcome to Bermuda, the land of historic turquoise waters, white sand beaches, cathedrals, caves, underwater caverns, and the Bermuda Triangle platter at “Wahoos” restaurant. We rented a car (if you can call it that), and went to explore Spanish Point, Admiralty House Park and Tunnels And Crystal Caves The grand finale? A boat dragging anchor. Spanish Point was evidently named after the Spanish ship that first explored the reefs. Admiralty House Tunnels were dug by a captain that reach from the cove to the house. The large circular room was just for fun at parties. Crystal Caves were discovered In 1907 by Carl Gibbon and Edgar Hollis while playing cricket.  When the ball disappeared into a hole the boys went to retrieve it. But the hole kept getting deeper and deeper. They had discovered was the entrance to the natural wonder of these underground caverns. Owned by Wilkonson family since 1884, they set up a research trip to find out how deep it went. A 14 year old was lowered into the hole by his father using a strong rope tied to a tree 140 feet down. With just a bicycle lamp, he witnessed the magnificent splendor of the crystal formations around a lake 55 ft deep. Even Mark Twain visited - twice - and described the shining stalactites, thousands and thousands of them as white as sugar, and thousands and thousands brown and pink and other tints. The caves were also used in the film Neptune’s Daughter. Meanwhile in St. George's Harbor, we got to wait out a 24-hour 45-knot wind storm in the anchorage that had everyone on alert, while we watched a boat drag anchor and hit another boat. Evidently the captain had gone ashore to check in. We have a rule - we don’t leave the boat in bad weather. No exceptions. TIMELINE: 0:00 Introduction 0:37 Spanish Point & Admiralty House Park Hidden Tunnels 9:21 Crystal Caves 13:43 Boat Dragging Anchor LINKS: SUBSCRIBE TO CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjfh_pM48xnJ7dr4jTvt8cw?sub_confirmation=1 SUBSCRIBE TO EMAIL NEWSLETTER: https://bluedotvoyages.com/contact-us/ READ SAILING LOGS ON OUR WEB SITE: https://bluedotvoyages.com FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/bluedotvoyages.sailingpilar INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/bluedotvoyages.sailingpilar COMPLETE PLAYLIST: SAILING & CRUISING VIDEOS https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz8Z8h1MloaPq2o05r6wnJqaqyeABUKiu Blue Dot Voyages is a Sailing Adventure Company. We are traveling the world our Leopard48 Sailing Catamaran PILAR. We produce travel videos and blogs and offer charter sailing experience trips in exotic places! Watch our videos and live vicariously through us! Then, schedule your adventure with us! Master Captain: Stephen Bell First Officer: Dawn Bell #catamaransailing #leopard48catamaran #sailing

On November 4, we left Bohicket Marina in Charleston and sailed to Bermuda. As the first leg of our journey, we covered over 900 miles in a mixture of headwinds, tailwinds, storms, and beautiful calm days. Joining us were Renata & Kevin, friends from Johns Island SC. Enjoy this glimpse into our adventure. TIMELINE: 0:00 Introduction 0:30 Day 1: A Rough Sailing Start 1:41 Engine Room Broken Float Switch 4:05 Day 2 5:23 Day 3 6:30 Day 4 7:10 Day 5 8:10 Day 6 Land Ho Bermuda 9:40 Mechanical checks 11:25 Sail Bag Rip Troubleshooting 12:39 What else Broke? - Seal drive sensor, Head Pump, Bilge float switch 14:35 Farewell to Renata & Kevin 15:37 Fuel Up process for 50 boats 17:00 Candid pics & Trip Stats LINKS: SUBSCRIBE TO CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjfh_pM48xnJ7dr4jTvt8cw?sub_confirmation=1 SUBSCRIBE TO EMAIL NEWSLETTER: https://bluedotvoyages.com/contact-us/ READ SAILING LOGS ON OUR WEB SITE: https://bluedotvoyages.com FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/bluedotvoyages.sailingpilar INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/bluedotvoyages.sailingpilar COMPLETE PLAYLIST: SAILING & CRUISING VIDEOS https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz8Z8h1MloaPq2o05r6wnJqaqyeABUKiu CATAMARAN MAINTENANCE VIDEOS: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz8Z8h1MloaOcpGajnaH0DPm1U0otTJtc Blue Dot Voyages is a Sailing Adventure Company. We are traveling the world our Leopard48 Sailing Catamaran PILAR. We produce travel videos and blogs and offer charter sailing experience trips in exotic places! Watch our videos and live vicariously through us! Then, schedule your adventure with us! Master Captain: Stephen Bell First Officer: Dawn Bell #catamaransailing #leopard48catamaran #sailing

Watch us raise 4 different sails on a Balance catamaran with our friends Paul and Meg.

Listen to all the great features!

2025 Annapolis sailboat show favorite. The GODU dinghy tender. Listen to all these features!

Are we buying a new performance catamaran? What is the best blue water sail boat for us? This part 2 covers the Outremer and the Catana OC50 and OC2. AND we reveal our final choice. Part 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY0IaEpgkQs Part 2 - you are here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVUubsQteuQ FINAL CHOICE: The OC2 Features: Sails at only 3 knots wind speed Refrigeration - 19 cu. Ft full size with ice maker Built in 2 drawer freezer Wine/beverage refrigerator Dishwasher Watermaker 800 amp lithium 2500 kw solar 250 nm/day average 920 liters water 71 sq meters usable floor area 3 bulkheads give it great strength 48V electric US and European sockets 2000 W Solar Raymarine systems Built in TV Coppercoat Advanced lightweight strong interior foam core materials Carbon infusion core Fully glassed in cockpit Speed with silence due to extra foam insulation Helm with room for 5, and all lines within reach Electric daggerboards controlled from cockpit enhance safety Forepeak sail storage over 10 cu meters Sail package includes Main, Genoa, Solent, Code, Spinnaker, Get more details here! https://catana.com/en/ocean-class/ TIMELINE: 0:00 Introduction 0:22 Outremer 1:53 Brand New Boat 2:38 Catana Ocean Class OC50 15:55 Annapolis Boat Show Day 3 17:15 GODU Dinghy 20:06 What Boat did we Buy? 22:10 Leopard 48 for Sale 22:25 Winter 2026 Sailing Plans LINKS: BUYING A NEW PERFORMANCE CATAMARAN PLAYLIST: SUBSCRIBE TO CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjfh_pM48xnJ7dr4jTvt8cw?sub_confirmation=1 SUBSCRIBE TO EMAIL NEWSLETTER: https://bluedotvoyages.com/contact-us/ READ SAILING LOGS ON OUR WEB SITE: https://bluedotvoyages.com FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/bluedotvoyages.sailingpilar INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/bluedotvoyages.sailingpilar COMPLETE PLAYLIST: SAILING & CRUISING VIDEOS https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz8Z8h1MloaPq2o05r6wnJqaqyeABUKiu Blue Dot Voyages is a Sailing Adventure Company. We are traveling the world our Leopard48 Sailing Catamaran PILAR. We produce travel videos and blogs and offer charter sailing experience trips in exotic places! Watch our videos and live vicariously through us! Then, schedule your adventure with us! Master Captain: Stephen Bell First Officer: Dawn Bell #catamaransailing #leopard48catamaran #sailing

Is it time for a Performance Catamaran? What is the best blue water sail boat for us? Come along with us as we explore 3 performance catamarans - Balance, Outremer and Catana OC50 at the Annapolis Boat Show and beyond! We give you the pros and cons (in our opinion). Part 1 covers primarily the Balance catamarans, and Part 2 will cover the Outremer and the Catana, AND reveal our final decision. TIMELINE: 0:00 Introduction 0:36 Annapolis Boat Show 2:21 Why buy a new boat? 4:26 Balance 580 10:36 Sailing a Balance 482 - Sailing at 30 degrees, Solent, Assymetrical Spinnaker, Self tacking jib 13:57 Electric Furler at boat show 14:56 Pros and Cons of Balance Catamaran LINKS: SUBSCRIBE TO CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjfh_pM48xnJ7dr4jTvt8cw?sub_confirmation=1 SUBSCRIBE TO EMAIL NEWSLETTER: https://bluedotvoyages.com/contact-us/ READ SAILING LOGS ON OUR WEB SITE: https://bluedotvoyages.com FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/bluedotvoyages.sailingpilar INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/bluedotvoyages.sailingpilar COMPLETE PLAYLIST: SAILING & CRUISING VIDEOS https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz8Z8h1MloaPq2o05r6wnJqaqyeABUKiu Blue Dot Voyages is a Sailing Adventure Company. We are traveling the world our Leopard48 Sailing Catamaran PILAR. We produce travel videos and blogs and offer charter sailing experience trips in exotic places! Watch our videos and live vicariously through us! Then, schedule your adventure with us! Master Captain: Stephen Bell First Officer: Dawn Bell #catamaransailing #leopard48catamaran #sailing

When we got back from the Bahamas June, we told you about a long list of projects that we wanted to get accomplished this summer. Here's the info on the top 10 accomplished , plus there were many more smaller things we won't mention. Questions? Drop us a comment! 1. New Dinghy Wheels - https://truekit.us/products/true-kit-quicklok-launching-wheels 2. New Refrigerator in Salon - https://defender.com/en_us/isotherm-cruise-cr-200-classic-refrigerator-freezer-1200bb4zl0000 3. New Furler Drum, Line and Clutch - 4. New Stack Pack Sail Bag - North Sails 5. New Code Sail and rigging - see below. 6. New Shore Power Breaker - https://www.ebay.com/itm/285207592127 7. New Water Heater - https://marinepartssource.com/11-gallon-water-heater-120-volt-kuuma-11841 8. New Windlass Motor and Rollers - Quick (sourced from MMarine.com) 9. New Fan Motors - directly from Caframo - must call or email 10. Fixed Hatch Leaks Why did we add a code sail? Lighter winds particularly in 50-130 degree range. Code Sail Primary Components Information: Compression Post and Bow Sprit - sourced from SparCraft Africa - shipping cost higher but only place we get the Leopard specked items Split Trampoline from Sunrise Products Code D (gennaker) North Sails Pad Eyes - Harken Continuous Line Furler - Selden TIMELINE: 0:00 Introduction 3:10 Dinghy Wheels 4:45 New Refrigerator 6:54 New Furler Drum 8:07 New Sail Bag Stack Pack 8:45 New Code Sail with Compression Post, Bow Sprit, Continuous Furler and Tortion Cable 16:27 New Shore Power Breaker 17:40 New Water Heater 18:45 New Windlass Motor 21:06 New Fan Motors 21:43 New Hatch Seals LINKS: SUBSCRIBE TO CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjfh_pM48xnJ7dr4jTvt8cw?sub_confirmation=1 SUBSCRIBE TO EMAIL NEWSLETTER: https://bluedotvoyages.com/contact-us/ READ SAILING LOGS ON OUR WEB SITE: https://bluedotvoyages.com FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/bluedotvoyages.sailingpilar INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/bluedotvoyages.sailingpilar COMPLETE PLAYLIST: SAILING & CRUISING VIDEOS https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz8Z8h1MloaPq2o05r6wnJqaqyeABUKiu CATAMARAN MAINTENANCE VIDEOS: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz8Z8h1MloaOcpGajnaH0DPm1U0otTJtc Blue Dot Voyages is a Sailing Adventure Company. We are traveling the world our Leopard48 Sailing Catamaran PILAR. We produce travel videos and blogs and offer charter sailing experience trips in exotic places! Watch our videos and live vicariously through us! Then, schedule your adventure with us! Master Captain: Stephen Bell First Officer: Dawn Bell #catamaransailing #leopard48catamaran #sailing

While sailing Saturday, we caught this dolphin pod and watched them for an hour! National Geographic would have loved this video opportunity! Tail slapping again and again - herding fish! Such an amazing thing to watch.

While sailing Saturday, we caught this dolphin pod and watched them for an hour! National Geographic would have loved this video opportunity! Tail slapping again and again - herding fish! Such an amazing thing to watch

With summer ending faster than we would have liked, we sailed on through Massachusetts. There were too many possible stops to do everything we would have liked, so we chose: Gloucester, Marblehead/Salem, Cape Cod Canal and Cuttyhunk. Then on to Rhode Island with stops in Newport and Block Island. Don't miss Hammond Castle and Newport Cliff Walk! Gloucester - past Ten Pound Island, famous for The Perfect Storm. We picked up a city mooring. https://www.gloucester-ma.gov/179/City-Moorings Our first stop ashore was the Gloucester Fishermen's Memorial. The list of names is staggering: 5,368 men lost between 1716 and 1923. https://www.gloucester-ma.gov/74/Lost-at-Sea Hammond Castle, built between 1926 and 1929, was the fortress of John Hays Hammond Jr., the "Father of Radio Control." This is the genius who, with hundreds of patents to his name, successfully piloted a full-sized ship from Gloucester to Boston at just 26 years old using only radio control. It’s a MUST see. Read about more of his inventions here. https://hammondcastle.org/curators-picks/ Marblehead & Salem - Nothing prepares you for 2,000 mooring balls packed along its 14 miles of shoreline. https://marbleheadma.gov/harbormaster/ The Cape Cod Canal: At 7.5 miles long, 32 feet deep, and the world’s widest sea canal at 540 feet, its currents are formidable. We sailed down from Marblehead on a screaming 25-knot beam reach, our SOG hitting a thrilling 9 knots. We shot the entrance perfectly, but deep inside, the tide turned. For about an hour, we slogged against wind and tide, making a painful 3 knots while cyclists on the shore path breezed past us—that was embarrassing! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_crossings_of_the_Cape_Cod_Canal After a call night in Onset Harbor, we weighed anchor at dawn for a glorious sail across Buzzards Bay. We made landfall at Cuttyhunk in a thick fog, but the next day was beautiful for hiking and enjoying the views. Our passage continued to the epicenter of American sailing: Newport, Rhode Island. Plenty of restaurants and shopping of course. But Our favorite shore leave was the Cliff Walk, a spectacular 3.5-mile path with panoramic ocean views, stunning, century-old Gilded Age mansions, and beautiful = well - rocks!. https://www.discovernewport.org/things-to-do/cliff-walk/ Our final port of call was Block Island. We dropped the hook in the Great Salt Pond and rented scooters to tour the island, completing the 10-mile loop past Monhegan Bluffs lighthouse and the Overlook. It’s an explorer’s paradise, and it's easy to see why: forty percent of the island is set aside for conservation. We were there when the great fire destroyed the Old Harbor Inn. You can read about it here. https://blockislandguide.com/2024/07/11/block-island-fire-does-not-stop-shops-from-selling-their-wares-in-2024/ But a sailor can't stay in one port for long. The charts are out, and a new course is laid. Next stop: Long Island Sound! TIMELINE: 0:00 Introduction 0:43 Gloucester 3:49 Hammond Castle 5:10 Marblehead/Salem 6:27 Cape Cod Canal 8:25 Onset Harbor 9:08 Buzzards Bay 9:28 Cuttyhunk 9:47 Newport 11:41 Cliffwalk 16:49 Block Island MUSIC: Audiio_Beren_Outward_The-Beauty Audiio_BrilliantSky_Skyward Motions Audiio_JYLN_Radiance Audiio_JYLN_Solstice-Minimal Audiio_JYLN_Umbra LINKS: SUBSCRIBE TO CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjfh_pM48xnJ7dr4jTvt8cw?sub_confirmation=1 SUBSCRIBE TO EMAIL NEWSLETTER: https://bluedotvoyages.com/contact-us/ READ SAILING LOGS ON OUR WEB SITE: https://bluedotvoyages.com FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/bluedotvoyages.sailingpilar INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/bluedotvoyages.sailingpilar COMPLETE PLAYLIST: SAILING & CRUISING VIDEOS https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz8Z8h1MloaPq2o05r6wnJqaqyeABUKiu CATAMARAN MAINTENANCE VIDEOS: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz8Z8h1MloaOcpGajnaH0DPm1U0otTJtc Blue Dot Voyages is a Sailing Adventure Company. We are traveling the world our Leopard48 Sailing Catamaran PILAR. We produce travel videos and blogs and offer charter sailing experience trips in exotic places! Watch our videos and live vicariously through us! Then, schedule your adventure with us! Master Captain: Stephen Bell First Officer: Dawn Bell #catamaransailing #leopard48catamaran #sailing

Sailing from Maine to New Hampshire we stopped at Isle of Shoals, approximately 6 miles off the coast. Miles of Maine Island Hiking, Rock scrambling and Shoreline exploring.

Isle of Shoals, consists of 16 islands, the largest being Appledore, Star, Smuttynose, Malaga, White, Seavey, Lunging and Duck.

The most intriguing part ? There was a true Crime Murder on Isle of Shoals Smuttynose Island back on March 6,1873. Two Norwegian immigrants were brutally murdered in cold blood. Maren Hontvet, her sister Karen, and their sister-in-law Anethe—settled into the only occupied home on the island, unaware that by dawn, two of them would be dead.

Shortly after 1 a.m., an intruder slipped inside. Karen was strangled in her bed, Anethe was butchered with an axe, and only Maren managed to escape, barefoot and terrified, into the icy darkness. She hid among the rocks until daylight, clinging to life as her family’s world collapsed. Anita Shreve wrote a 1997 book about the event and in 2000, the film “Weight of Water with Sean Penn, Catherine McCormack, Elizabeth Hurley, and Sarah Polley was released.

Special thanks to the Portsmouth Athenaeum for preserving the crime's weapons and circumstantial evidence.

TIMELINE:
0:00 Introduction
0:30 Sailing to Isle of Shoals
3:55 Isle of Shoals 16 Islands
6:10 SmuttyNose Murders of Anethe and Karen Christensen
9:06 Portsmouth, NH

LINKS:
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COMPLETE PLAYLIST: SAILING & CRUISING VIDEOS
https://www.youtube.com/playli....st?list=PLz8Z8h1Mloa

CATAMARAN MAINTENANCE VIDEOS:
https://www.youtube.com/playli....st?list=PLz8Z8h1Mloa

Blue Dot Voyages is a Sailing Adventure Company. We are traveling the world our Leopard48 Sailing Catamaran PILAR. We produce travel videos and blogs and offer charter sailing experience trips in exotic places! Watch our videos and live vicariously through us! Then, schedule your adventure with us!

Master Captain: Stephen Bell
First Officer: Dawn Bell

#catamaransailing #leopard48catamaran #sailing

In this video, we will show you how we went ashore in 12 ft tidal anchorages without getting in the cold water! It's called a Dinghy Haul Out line and we learned it at the first Maine island we visited - Jewell. We can not simply drag our dingy ashore with us. 12 ft tides mean you would potentially need to drag your dinghy over 100 ft. And at 400 pounds, our dinghy is not very "draggable". But first, it was time for a visit home. We took a mooring ball in Falmouth Foreside to keep the boat safe. Wonderful spot - 50 mooring balls, protected and secure, and only 20 minutes cab ride to Portland airport. Dockside Grill is right at the marina, provisioning at Shaws is nearby, fuel, water and marine services are available, and beautiful hiking is near. https://guides.cruisingclub.org/harbor/falmouth-foreside/ Stephen and I left at the same time, but headed to different places. I visited the new grandchild in Michigan, and Stephen attended a retirement party for a dear friend at his former business. Stephen returned before I did - BONUS - that meant he worked on some projects ! New frig seals to keep the cold in, new faucet for easier dishwashing, a new electrical socket replacing an old rusty and dangerous one, and oil change on the dinghy engine. When I returned, we decided to visit Fort Gorges, a Portland landmark. Although challenging with currents, depths, and a rocky bottom, we did find a safe place to anchor right by the fort, and were able to dinghy close enough to go ashore, using a haul out line. Watch how it works! Fort Gorges was completed in 1864. It is a D-shaped, two-story, enclosed fortress, constructed entirely with local granite, and hosted 56 gun emplacements on the south, east, and west. https://www.portlandlandmarks.org/fort-gorges On to the city of Portland. Plenty to do and see, but no film! Next stop: Kennebunkport. This is a very small shallow area and really no place to anchor or grab a mooring. So, we anchored in Cape Porpoise. We came in right before a storm, and a friendly lobsterman directed us to his friends mooring ball, who was working another area. We were able to secure our vessel with his assistance and slept soundly that night. Next Stop is a new state: New Hampshire here we come! TIMELINE: 0:00 Introduction 0:18 Falmouth Foreside Marina 0:55 Projects 1:15 Fort Gorges 2:20 Dinghy Haul Out line for Maine tidal anchorages 9:32 Portland 9:52 Kennebunkport - Cape Porpoise LINKS: SUBSCRIBE TO CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjfh_pM48xnJ7dr4jTvt8cw?sub_confirmation=1 SUBSCRIBE TO EMAIL NEWSLETTER: https://bluedotvoyages.com/contact-us/ READ SAILING LOGS ON OUR WEB SITE: https://bluedotvoyages.com FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/bluedotvoyages.sailingpilar INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/bluedotvoyages.sailingpilar COMPLETE PLAYLIST: SAILING & CRUISING VIDEOS https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz8Z8h1MloaPq2o05r6wnJqaqyeABUKiu CATAMARAN MAINTENANCE VIDEOS: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz8Z8h1MloaOcpGajnaH0DPm1U0otTJtc Blue Dot Voyages is a Sailing Adventure Company. We are traveling the world our Leopard48 Sailing Catamaran PILAR. We produce travel videos and blogs and offer charter sailing experience trips in exotic places! Watch our videos and live vicariously through us! Then, schedule your adventure with us! Master Captain: Stephen Bell First Officer: Dawn Bell #catamaransailing #leopard48catamaran #sailing

Monhegan Island & Harpswell - 9 miles of hiking trails, the highest ocean cliffs on the Maine coastline, a quaint village with shops, activities and lodging, seals, and a local lobster fleet. What more could you want on an isolated Maine island? Monhegan is a small, rocky island ten miles from the nearest mainland and scarcely a square mile in area. It is accessible only by boat and is primarily a walking island. The town is quaint with plenty of interesting local spots to visits and the hikes were exhilarating. Oh, and only 64 permanent residents. We anchored next to the 142ft. Baltic Semi Foiling SuperYacht "CANOVA" Baltic Yachts are leading the development of cutting edge foiling technology in the large luxury sailing yacht market. which means less pitching and more stability. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySzndUlIinE Mooring balls are hard to get, but well worth the effort, as anchoring can be tricky due to the water depths and the rocky bottom. Not to mention that the water is COLD even in summer, so diving on your anchor would be quite refreshing! Manana Island (next to Monhegan) just sold for at auction for $199000. It comes with a caretaker house, although it is in need of “caretaking”. Use to be the USCG signaling station. It has a tram on the other side that you can use to haul stuff up from the harbor. Be sure to take the cliff walk. https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/maine/monhegan-island-trail And visit the The Island Inn Dining Room. https://islandinnmonhegan.com/dining/ In Harpswell, we found this interesting lobster operation in Pott’s Harbor. Quite larger than the shanty drop off spots that we have seen so far on this trip. This must be where all of the local drop off spots bring their lobsters for their final journey to your dining table. It’s a hard business to be in. Your day starts between 4-5 am, no matter the weather. And there are so many pressures on the lobstermen. Tourism is conflicting - competing for good workers and implementing sound ordinances not to wake the tourists so early with loud boats. But don’t the tourists want to see and eat the Maine lobsters? Additionally, the high cost of gear, affordable coastal housing availability, and competitive pressures from overseas fishing mean less lobstermen every year. Read more here. https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/local/fisheries/bailey-island-harpswell-lobster-industry-cost-of-living-housing-working-waterfront/97-4535e7b1-0f18-43ba-870c-870958274006 MUSIC: Audiio_Faire_Landmines_BattleTheSea_Instrumental Audiio_JLYN_Fluid Motion_Fluid Motion_Instrumental TIMELINE: 0:00 Introduction 0:30 Monhegan Island arrival 1:00 142 ft CANOVA Baltic Foiling Monohull 1:44 Monhegan Cliff Trail 2:20 Dock Diving 2:52 Seal 3:05 Mooring Ball Challenges 3:35 Exploring 4:03 Manana Island 4:36 Goodbye Monhegan, Hello Harpswell 4:52 Potts Harbor Lobster Operation 5:57 Sailing Harpswell to Portland LINKS: SUBSCRIBE TO CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjfh_pM48xnJ7dr4jTvt8cw?sub_confirmation=1 SUBSCRIBE TO EMAIL NEWSLETTER: https://bluedotvoyages.com/contact-us/ READ SAILING LOGS ON OUR WEB SITE: https://bluedotvoyages.com FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/bluedotvoyages.sailingpilar INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/bluedotvoyages.sailingpilar COMPLETE PLAYLIST: SAILING & CRUISING VIDEOS https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz8Z8h1MloaPq2o05r6wnJqaqyeABUKiu CATAMARAN MAINTENANCE VIDEOS: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz8Z8h1MloaOcpGajnaH0DPm1U0otTJtc Blue Dot Voyages is a Sailing Adventure Company. We are traveling the world our Leopard48 Sailing Catamaran PILAR. We produce travel videos and blogs and offer charter sailing experience trips in exotic places! Watch our videos and live vicariously through us! Then, schedule your adventure with us! Master Captain: Stephen Bell First Officer: Dawn Bell #catamaransailing #leopard48catamaran #sailing

About 22 miles off shore Rockland Maine lies Matinicus Isle Plantation - the furthest island out from the coast. It is 2 miles long by a mile wide - 9 square miles of Beauty, Isolation, Independence. You need to love being alone. The population was 53 at the 2020 census. It's a 750-acre granite rock with the occasional beach shoreline, but mostly spruce and wildflowers and everything that grows in between. 1750 saw it’s first resident, among the native Americans. It’s now a mixture of permanent residents - lobstermen and summer residents - business people and artists that need to get away from their crowded lives elsewhere. Waterfront property goes for millions of dollars - IF you can pry it out of the locals hands. Good luck trying. Or rather - please don’t try. Leave it as it is, you can visit, but don’t change it. It’s wonderful the way it is. Just hike, sightsee, meet the locals and just BE. We dropped another message in a bottle between Matinicus and Monhegan Islands. It ended up in Friendship Maine - 15 miles in 42 days. Not the speediest. Location & Date Found: September 4, 2023, Friendship Maine Location & Date Dropped: July 24, 2023 – Monhegan Island, Maine Miles & Time Travelled: 15 miles – 42 days Story: This message made it about 15 miles. They write, “Hello Stephen & Dawn! My husband found your bottle while lobstering a few days ago and we wanted to reach out. Our daughter was so excited to open it! We have added a note with yours and will re-release it this week for the next people to find, hopefully somewhere far away - thanks so much! – The Emerson’s, Friendship, Maine. TIMELINE: 0:00 Introduction 0:37 Lobster Trap on the Rudder 0:52 Foggy Sailing 2:56 Matinicus 4:30 12 ft tide ladders 5:32 The Matinicus Trail Hike 7:54 Lobster Trap on the Anchor 9:49 Sailing Matinicus to Monhegan 10:39 Lobster Trap on the Rudder 12:01 Land Ho LINKS: SUBSCRIBE TO CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjfh_pM48xnJ7dr4jTvt8cw?sub_confirmation=1 SUBSCRIBE TO EMAIL NEWSLETTER: https://bluedotvoyages.com/contact-us/ READ SAILING LOGS ON OUR WEB SITE: https://bluedotvoyages.com FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/bluedotvoyages.sailingpilar INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/bluedotvoyages.sailingpilar COMPLETE PLAYLIST: SAILING & CRUISING VIDEOS https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz8Z8h1MloaPq2o05r6wnJqaqyeABUKiu Blue Dot Voyages is a Sailing Adventure Company. We are traveling the world our Leopard48 Sailing Catamaran PILAR. We produce travel videos and blogs and offer charter sailing experience trips in exotic places! Watch our videos and live vicariously through us! Then, schedule your adventure with us! Master Captain: Stephen Bell First Officer: Dawn Bell #catamaransailing #leopard48catamaran #sailing #matinicus #mainesailing

Penobscot Bay Maine best sailing anchorages exceeded our expectations! Maine boasts more than 4,600 islands, each with its own mystery, its own story. The question was which ones we’d have time to explore. With the help of the Cruising Club of America website and the Waterway Guide, we set our course. Rockland Hurricane Island Vinalhaven Pulpit Island The Barreds TIMELINE: 0:00 Introduction 0:30 Rockland Maine - Marina, Primo, Claws, Landings, Hamilton Marine 2:35 Hurricane Island Maine - Sea Scallop Research Farming, Granite Company Trails 6:47 Vinalhaven & Pulpit Island Maine - tranquility & lobsters! 10:10 Barred Islands Preserve Maine Rockland, called the biggest little city in Penobscot Bay, was a wonderful place to hide from the rain and fog. There were plenty of spots in the anchorage, but we took advantage of the marina slip we could get to wash the boat and make it easier to spend a little time ashore. https://guides.cruisingclub.org/harbor/rockland/ With twelve-foot tides pulling the shoreline back and forth, even stepping ashore felt like an adventure. For dinner we had quite the 5 star experience at Primo, a farm to table restaurant where they grow all the food and livestock with their staff of 60. Their 5 acre compound includes the restaurant, 2 greenhouses, over 200 laying chickens, 150 broiler chickens, 5 ducks, 15 pigs and 3 acres of vegetables. https://www.primorestaurant.com/ The next night, Landings offered laid-back dining with waves lapping just below us. " http://www.thelandingsrestaurant.com/ Last but not least, And finally — Claws. The holy grail of lobster & seafood shacks. Fresh. Locally sourced. Pure Maine Fun. https://clawsrocklandmaine.com/ Strolling through town was alive with energy. And of course, we made several trips to the Hamilton Marine store, for a cornucopia of boating supplies. https://hamiltonmarine.com/ Next up: Hurricane Island, where we toured the scallop experimental research facility, and hiked the islands historic trails. Hurricane Island was formerly the site of a Granite Company supporting hundreds of residents, then in the 1960s, an Outward Bound School, and now home to Hurricane Island Center for Science and Leadership, who conduct marine and island ecology summer courses and research. The breathtaking island trails led to rock ledges, granite cliffs, old settlement housing and panoramic views - even in the fog. Pick up a Maine Island Trail Association guide at the island’s north end facility. https://mita.org/trail/ https://guides.cruisingclub.org/harbor/hurricane-island/ On Vinalhaven and Pulpit Islands, we enjoyed wonderful Maine scenery, tranquility and of course lobsters. Long Cove is the safest anchorage, but you can use the day anchorages to explore these large islands. The Barred Islands Preserve were next, sandwiched in between Butter Island and Great Spruce Island. These gorgeous tiny islands were interesting to explore by dinghy, only occasionally seeing a summer house now and then - often at the highest point on the island for the most expansive views. “Pristine, private with a gentle sea breeze wafting through the anchorage, these islands are co-managed with the Nature Conservancy” https://guides.cruisingclub.org/harbor/barred-islands/ Although many people continue “down east” up to Bar Harbor and Mount Desert Island, we did not. With the extensive fog and rain in 2023, the upcoming September wedding of my son, and plenty of places still to see on our journey south, we decided to head back. Our Next stops were Matinicus and Monhegan Islands. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCssGSdO6MiHtsHl7qdKlvmA https://www.youtube.com/channel/waterwayguide3670 https://www.youtube.com/channel/hurricane_island https://www.youtube.com/channel/maineislandtrail Audiio - KapKapMoode - Whispers-of-Change Audiio - James Spaite - Riverside - LadiesTobacco Audiio - Tambala - Extra Mild Cheddar Audiio - Daniel Jorgensen - On Sounded Sea - Above Us LINKS: SUBSCRIBE TO CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjfh_pM48xnJ7dr4jTvt8cw?sub_confirmation=1 SUBSCRIBE TO EMAIL NEWSLETTER: https://bluedotvoyages.com/contact-us/ READ SAILING LOGS ON OUR WEB SITE: https://bluedotvoyages.com FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/bluedotvoyages.sailingpilar INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/bluedotvoyages.sailingpilar COMPLETE PLAYLIST: SAILING & CRUISING VIDEOS https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz8Z8h1MloaPq2o05r6wnJqaqyeABUKiu CATAMARAN MAINTENANCE VIDEOS: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz8Z8h1MloaOcpGajnaH0DPm1U0otTJtc Blue Dot Voyages is a Sailing Adventure Company. We are traveling the world our Leopard48 Sailing Catamaran PILAR. We produce travel videos and blogs and offer charter sailing experience trips in exotic places! Watch our videos and live vicariously through us! Then, schedule your adventure with us! Master Captain: Stephen Bell First Officer: Dawn Bell #catamaransailing #leopard48catamaran #sailing