Sept 23/24 Well, we picked our weather window perfectly thanks to Passageweather.com which i am in love with. We had a sunny calm day all the way from Rockland to the Cape Cod canal. We arrived at the canal at about 4:30 am and made our way into it slowly as we hadn’t done it at night and were not used to the lights. The current was not as favorable as we hoped but Windermere powered through. Off of the Portland area, we had a whale show for about two hours off and on. We think we saw about 10 whales and different species too. Two large (7ft)“fish” jumped and fliped out of the water that we couldn’t identify. Other whales were doing their bellyflops and everyone was spouting We watched it all from the flying bridge and I did get one picture. We had a full moon which added to the comfort and only once close call with a cruise ship- thank you AIS. John talked to the captain before things got too close for comfort and all went well. Once through the canal, we anchored in our usual spot near the canal and went to sleep.

Sept. 15 A sunny but windy day greeted us. The younger set all arrived on time and John got them in the new dinghy. After they settled in and we raised the dinghy, we brought the anchor up along with a big rock! Mike had picked one up the day before and we were laughing at him. Now we had one too. Chris and John worked to free the anchor for quite a while and finally succeeded. Off we all went to a small island in the bay where we anchored and had lunch. Then we launched the dinghy and went ashore for a walk around this new spot. There were rose hips galore, a pond with grasses, rough beach all around, and woods. After the exploration, we motored back to Smith Cove and had delicious poached plums with ice cream and brownies and played Biriba. John dropped the kids off and we had a quiet night.

Sept 16 Another sunny day but with less wind. We got up early and motored down the bay to Islesboro where we picked up three of John’s old friends for a luncheon cruise to some other small islands nearby. We were able to eat on the aft deck again which was lovely for mid September. This was another new spot for us. Everyone had a good time and loved being on the boat. Once we had dropped them off, we headed back to Rockland for the night.

Sept. 17 More guests were arriving in he afternoon so we organized ourselves and the boat. These guests were the previous owners of our boat! They arrived in the late afternoon and brought a delicious dinner with tthem which we all feasted on that night.

Sept. 18 After breakfast, we motored over to our favorite Winter Harbor on Vinalhaven and anchored in time for lunch on the aft deck again. Sherry brought a shrimp salad which we put into wraps and a corn salad for the side. We then went on a dinghy expedition to show them the area and sa some seals but the best was the eider ducks. They have very strangely shaped heads and white feathers on the top of their wings. That night, I made duck and we watched a good movie.

Sept. 19 After breakfast, John took Wray and Sherry up to the top of Starboard Rock to see the view and they loved it. Wray took lots of pictures of the forest with all that great moss. I stayed back and was the dinghy driver for once. Love that electric start! Lunch again on the aft deck. The last one of the season. Then we headed back for Rockland. The whole weekend, John and Wray were having fun working on various things on the boat. After they left, we just had a quiet night.

Sept. 20-21 The wind piped up from the north so we decided to move to the northern section of the bay for more protection. We had never anchored in this section of the harbor and our first attempt yielded another rock! Now John had the “rock technique” and was able to flip it off pretty quickly. I am getting mors practise keeping the boat in place. Our third try found mud and we were set for the rest of the day and night. Next day, we went to get our last groceries and moved back to the other end of the harbor because the wind had shifted again. We invited Doug and Dale Bruce on board for a last supper and had some good conversation about our proposed trip with them to Newfoundland next summer. I cleaned out the refrigerator for dinner fixings and Dale brought wonderful strawberries and sinful fresh whipped cream.

Sept. 22 Did chores and took on lots of fuel. Tomorrow we leave early for our overnight trip down to the Cape Cod Canal and then on to Barrington, RI where our boatyard is located.

Sept. 5 It was again sunny but still windy. We took Mike and De in the dinghy to Holbrook Island for a nice walk around on the newly refurbished trails. Into Castine for lunch at BAH’s. Later, after some Biriba, Mike took us exploring in his dinghy around some of the coastline of the bay and even into a hidden smaller bay that was only accessible at high tide. Home again for a soup dinner and more Biriba.

Sept 6 We said good bye to Rita Marie and headed back to Rockland. Later that evening, we had a wonderful dinner with the Kimballs and saw their new boat to boot.

Sept. 7 Several workman came out to work on small boat projects with John and we “puttered”.

Sept. 8 I finally got my hair cut and we got groceries and lobsters (to cook up for lobster newburg in the winter). Off to Isleboro to meet up with an old friend of John’s and his new wife. They had a tour of our boat and we toured theirs. Later, we all went out to a delicious dinner at the golf club.

Sept. 9 We just hung around on the boat for the day.

Sept. 10 Motored up to Bucks Harbor and got our mooring. Drinks and dinner on Rita Marie and we met Izzy who was De’s matron of Honor.

Sept.11 Everyone spent the day getting the yacht club decorated for the wedding. De, Izzy, and I went to the market for groceries and flowers which I arranged later. We invited a crowd for cocktails.

Sept.12 Wedding day! The wedding party arrived and we had the ceremony on the foredeck in the glorious sun. Champagne and photos followed and then we all went into the yacht club for the reception. There was a good D.J. and seeing many of our sailing friends all together was also a treat. Wild dancing and lots of cheer and love to go around made for a wonderful afternoon! Their dinghy also got the “wedding treatment”. We went home to recuperate.

Sept. 13 A gray morning and a slow one too after all of the festivities. We extricated ourselves from the mooring and headed to Smith Cove off of Castine. Mike and De (the honeymooners) were not far behind. When they arrived, we all donned our rain gear and libations and got into the dinghy for an expedition up the nearby Bagadus River. We sped along up the river loving the scenery, company and libations with Mike happily at the wheel and the rain held off till after we returned to Windermere. Now it was Biriba time with nibble,s which became dinner, and more libations. The girls were loosing which we were not happy about!

Sept 14. It was raining early but slowly cleared. The honeymooners said goodbye and headed off down the bay for more adventures. We headed into Castine for groceries and lunch at our favorite place BAH’s and had our favorite tomato cognac soup. The sun was warm and the day clear for a while but later, a quick thunderstorm came through- nap time. I got up because I had cooking to do for Chris, Corey and company who were coming the next day. As I stood at the sink, I noticed a rainbow out the window and a few minutes later, six loons floated by out in the bay! Not all bad scenery- that’s Maine for you.

August 25 Finally the rain came but we were tucked in a good spot to weather the storm. We sat around all day, warm and dry, doing things like read the paper, genealogy, and write blogs, etc.

August 26 It had cleared quite a bit so we motored back down the bay to our spot in Rockland Harbor. We saw some new friends on another trawler and invited them aboard for cocktails. Craig is a distant cousin of some other friends from Maine and Greenwich.

August 27 Another stunnig day is Maine but our morning was busy with errands to get groceries and lobsters because we had some new guests coming. Richard and Michelle Sanger are sailing friends who share many other friends with us. We motored to a new anchorage for us on North Haven called Kent Cove and had dinner on the aft deck and watched the sun set over the pine trees. We then taught them how to play Mexican Train dominos.

August 28 After a leisurely breakfast, we motored the short distance over to Seal Bay and joined Chessy, Annie B, Rita Marie, etc. After lunch, we got the laser down and Richard and Michelle tried it out. Michelle “christened” it and was quickly rescued from the cold water. Larry on Chessy and Mike and myself all had a good sail on her. For cocktails, about 8 dinghys went in a conga line around the edge of the bay to a spot out of the wind and landed on the rocks where we feasted on goodies and cocktails. The tide was going out so we had to disband quickly when it was assertained that the escape channel was becoming too shallow! There was much poling but all escaped in time. As we went around the corner of the bay, we saw a sad sight- a large sailboat had misjudged the channel and hit the rocks in the middle
of the bay and was hard aground till the tide came back up much later that evening. Dinner and a movie rounded out the evening.

Aug 29 It was a sunny and cloudless day and we headed back across the bay to Islesboro and anchored in a new (to us) section of Gilkey Harbor off of some nice (large) houses. After lunch, we took the dinghy to Warren Island and had a walk through the woods. Dinner was on the aft deck again and dominos the game of the evening.

Aug 30 Got up early to get the Sangers back to Rockland but the engine didn’t want to start. John called our boat yard, got some suggestions as to the problem and tried again and sure enough it started- gremlins! We did make it back to Rockland in time to get them on their way back home.

August 31 It was unusually hot and humid. John did errands in the dinghy and we enjoyed having the boat to ourselves again.

Sept 1 Another hot day so we decided to swim around Windermere and clean her water line. I had seen ducks coming up to her and eating the long green algae growing on her! That night we had cocktails on Variant with Buddy and Gail and then a nice dinner ashore at The Pearl restaurant in Rockland.

Sept. 2 Got an early start up to our hurricane hole in Smith Cove off Castine. Hurricane Earl was on his way and several of our other sailing friends were already there. On our way in, John was distracted and bumped up and over a large rock that was about five fet under the water. The boat was ok but his ego was bruised. Once we got the dinghy launched, we took the Bluewater crew into Castine for sandwiches and ice cream. That evening there was a hurricane cocktail party on Bluewater. It turned out to be a mini OCC rally too.

Sept. 3 A gray day. We prepared for the hurricane and did other projects as well writing an article for the CCA magazine as requested by Doug on Bluewater. In the night, it rained and blew a bit but not badly. Everyone’s anchors held and gladly there were no mishaps.

Sept 4 It was still windy and rainy but by mid morning, blue sky was visible in the western sky and some of the boats started to leave to go elsewhere. We stayed to wait for Rita Marie because we had planned a big Biriba love in.