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.