Another glorious day greeted us and the wind was blowing from a good direction for Mike and De to have a good sail up the bay. We follwed them and got some good photos of their boat in action. Pickering Island and its protected cove was our destination. After anchoring, an expedition was oragnized to hike through the dense woods on the island out to a point with a grand vista. We had invited some other sailing friends to join us for dinner and just by chance, they came by as we were enjoying the view. That night, we all enjoyed the clams for hors and seafood pasta for dinner.
The next two days, we explored the Castine area and dropped off our guests because it was time to head slowly home. The weather continued to be sunny and pleasant. We stopped overnight in Portland and some friends rowed out in their dinghy and brought dinner. We have connected with this younger couple in the Carribean, Bahamas, and Maine and always enjoy their company.
The weather now got rainy and windy and the seas were confused which made our trip down to Gloucester a bit rolly and uncomfortable. It was nice to be inside and have windshield wipers! Things kept rattling in their drawers, etc. and we had to “batten the hatches”. The toaster oven fell off the counter and was broken but was the only casualty. Gloucester was a welcome site with its big protected harbor where we anchored for the night. The next day, the ses were better and we made our way down to the Cape Cod Canal without incident. The tide was just right as we transited and John saw 10.3 knots for our speed at one point! The next day, we headed down Buzzards Bay and turned in the Sackonnet River heading for Barrington and our boatyard. There is a narrow spot up the river a ways and as we came to it, we noticed kayakers riding the waves caused by the outgoing tide. John safely navigated Windermere through this gauntlet and then under a bridge while dodging all of the little boats around us out for their Sunday cruises. His final moment of glory was docking the boat, for the first time, going sideways using our Z drive while the head of the yard was watching and waiting to take our lines. We got cheers from the other line takers.
Now Windermere will be at the boatyard for almost a month getting everything up to snuff for our trip to the Bahamas for the winter.