Live Free or Die

We didn’t witness any deaths, but there is plenty of free living in Portsmouth, New Hampshire… a great town.

We left Gloucester, Massachusetts after sunrise. Sunrises and sunsets have been reddish and hazy due to smoke from the Canadian wildfires. Turning north after exiting the harbor, we enjoyed a variety of lighthouses on our way up to Portsmouth, New Hampshire and our 13th state so far. In fact, we moored the boat just across the Piscataqua river in Kittery, Maine, our 14th and final state on this cruise, and the winter home for Fregata. OK, so most cruisers go south for the winter but we’ve never been much for conformism  

Portsmouth is a fun town that blends a strong maritime culture with performing arts and excellent cuisine. Its downtown is lined with red brick sidewalks.

The public dock is in Prescott Park where we enjoyed outdoor concerts two days in a row. The first was the Brothers Comatose, a contemporary bluegrass band from California. The second day was a selection of numbers from broadway musicals over the decades, performed by very talented local stage artists.

On Saturday, we visited the farmers market and met local organic farmers and a variety of very nice people, both sellers and shoppers.

We wandered the compact downtown and enjoyed a happy hour one day and light lunch the next, overlooking Portsmouth Harbor and the state of Maine across the river.

This region boasts some of the strongest currents on the east coast. And they don’t just flow one way or the other. Crossing currents wrapping around the numerous islands create eddy currents, whirlpools that are strong enough to create indentations on the water’s surface. As we drove our dinghy across them, we could feel her yawing (twisting left and right on a horizontal plane).

We stopped at quaint Portsmouth Yacht Club for fuel and water. For cruisers, happiness is full tanks of diesel and fresh water, and empty holding tanks and garbage bins.

Our next stop will be Portland, Maine. That’s our final destination, although we’re a few weeks early so we’ll enjoy cruising some familiar waters in Maine before putting Fregata away for the winter in early September.

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