July 19 We are finally back here in the wilds of Maine. This morning, I went out on deck and smelled the fresh sea air, watched the sun glisten on the water and saw a schooner heading out to sail around the bay with its load of tourists. Over head was an osprey and nearby were the noisy lobster boats going about their business. Yes, we are here at last!

The last few months were spent in California getting John the proton radiation treatment for his prostate cancer. All went swimmingly but we were very eager to get back to Windermere. After loading her up and getting one last lesson with the new crane, we headed out to wards the Cape Cod canal. The next 24 hours brought us up the coast to Rockland, Maine where we are anchored now. Along the way, we spotted several large whales that were breaching and diving. The passage was easy but long only because we were so eager to get here.

July 22 It has been nice to have some time to ourselves during the day to do chores and straightening up before the guest start arriving. We have already had two dinners with friends; one ashore and one onboard. Yesterday started out fine but the fog rolled in and it rained which we were happy about because it washed the salt off the boat. John is always hoping for rain when we land anywhere to wash the boat off. Then the rain became a thunderstorm with lightening all around us. This lasted several hours and was followed by a squall with 35 kts winds and a 2 ft chop. Luckily, we are so heavy that the boat barely rocked ! Our little Bruce anchor held well in the mud of the harbor.

July 23 We took the big dinghy in to shore and found, just by chance, some old friends of john’s from Oyster Bay who were on their boat at a dock in town. They lent us their car and we were able to get our various errands done very efficiently. After lunch and a nap, I worked on a new recipe for black bean enchiladas for dinner and the captain was pleased with the results. We are trying to be more vegetarian these days for health reasons so I am learning new recipes.

July 24-25 When we are up here during the summer, we like to spend as many weekends with our local sailing friends, Mike and De. They are still working and can only come out to play on their Mason 44 on the weekends. This time the meeting spot was Carver’s Cove on Vinalhaven and it was a happy reunion. They were to be with us in the Bahamas this last winter for my 60th birthday but were not able to come due to a rather large snow storm on the east coast. They arrived bearing birthday gifts, lobsters, and a cake!. The princess saga continues with more princess t shirts and a new crown with a 60 on it and a flashing wand. The Biriba tournament started and the “mojo” is still wavering back and forth between the girls and boys teams. On Saturday, we launched and rigged the new laser. It only took 4 college educated brains to do so but it was worth it to get a nice sail on her. On Sunday, we fine tuned the rig and the launching was a lot smoother. I finally got to sail her myself and I was truely in my element!