It was raining at five o'clock in the morning when I awoke. Rain was tapping on the cabintop, and there was fog when I finally looked outside -- fog so thick you couldn't see land in any direction.
I wasn't sure if we'd be sailing this day. I wanted the trip to be easy, not stressful, and wouldn't think of heading out in bad weather.
But by seven o'clock, the fog had lifted a bit and the rain had stopped and within an hour, we were under way.
Lobster boats were heading out with us. Some times you knew because you saw them. Other times, you only heard their diesel engines. The radar was on and we limited our speed, both because of the poor visiblity and also so we could hear other boats.
But by the time we reached the mouth of Quahog Bay, we had enough visibility to see a few hundred feet, so we could motor with some speed.
Quahog Bay is on the eastern end of Casco Bay, which is a serrated coastline of narrow peninsulas and ragged islands that extends east northeast of Portland, Maine, the biggest port on the Maine coast.
We set our first waypoint so as to evade a congestion of buoys that mark the outer reaches of the Portland harbor. And we set the radar for about three miles, since the foge came and went with varying degrees of severity.
Our destination was York Harbor, where I hoped we would arrive in time to have dinner with old (and I mean old ) college friends. If we could arrive in York Harbor by late afternoon, we'd be in time for the meal.
Due to the thickness of the fog off of Portland, we were making constant checks with the radar as well as standing steady watch -- John to port and I to starboard.
I came up from checking the radar screen above the chart table and, ducking out from under the dodger and letting my gaze sweep forward, I was stunned.
There, off the port bow, was a huge yellow steel crane above the fog bank!
I immediately turned Robin to starboard, to John's surprise, I think.
The ship was anchored, making no sound, and it had not appeared on the radar screen, at least in a form I recognized. But as we passed, the fog lifted enough near its stern that we could see its massive shape and know we had nearly rammed its side.
I sey "nearly" although perhaps we had several hundred feet between it and was when we saw it. I still don't know.
In time, the fog cleared and we were able to see Nubble lighthouse on Cape Neddick in York (see photo) and to motor into York Harbor with no problem.
The dinner that night was fun. I was happy that John got to meet my friends. (In the photo, from left, John, Guy Hollingworth, Ann Hollingworth, Nina Hollingworth -- Guy's mom -- Kathy Flagler -- hidden -- Barbara Michael, Curt Michael and Charlie Flagler.)