This morning marked the end of a week long series of frustrating question marks regarding the AIS install. We finally celebrated this morning when systems showed green on all fronts and Coast Guard traffic confirmed that they were indeed tracking Banyan on their screens, woot woot !!

A few more chores (dinghy haulout and scrubdown, fuel up at Armdale...) and although we both wanted one more visit with family (not to mention one more this and one more that...), we figured we were about as ready as we would ever get .

Since we wanted to reach the good ole US of A before mid-month it was time to seriously git going... voila, Monday being the start of the week, and the weather Gods were looking quite favourable... we let go of the mooring ball and amid a few horn blasts, off we went...

After a week (or more) of carrying around enough kleenex boxes to wipe up enough tears to drown us all, I once again, let the waterworks flow as I watched SYC get smaller and samller...



Even the couple of porpoises that danced their way through the waves did nothing to lessen the feelings of sadness.

A year long (and more) culmination of major feats and accomplishments had brought us to this exact moment in time... there was no more house, no more car, no more boxes of things to pack and unpack (well maybe one or two smaller ones in our aft cabin ?)...

What we WERE leaving behind were our "children" and our friends.
I think what hit me the most was just how hard it is for a parent to leave a child, when, for the last 20 some odd years, you spend most of your entire time seeing the world through their eyes, being there for them...

Tradition has it that the child leaves the parent to head out on their own. It is what, we, as parents, strive to instill in our kids, the ability to be independent and successful, able to make it on their own. It is so exciting to watch them make choices that will have them on their way to their own adventures.

But what a hard moment when your paths diverge... It's damn hard to go on your own Adventure when you want nothing more but to take them with you.

So I cried some more as I appreciated the greatest gift that they could give us, that of encouragement and support and happyness for us and us for them.

And then on top of that, the heartfelt warm wishes that had been part of our week-long goodbye festivities had touched both of us to the very core.
The hugs and love and gifts we received from everyone took us by storm (and a few more boxes of kleenex), from great dinners with friends, to many meals with family, to last minute gifts of flip flops and doughnuts and coffee and all the special surprises of wonderful friends who showed up out of nowhere it seems to wish us "fair winds and following seas" !

Anyhow, it was a tearful exit and as we left familiar waters and rounded by Chebucto Head,





watched the Sea King perform some training manoeuvers just around the red and white Sambro Island lighthouse



and altho the winds did not allow us to sail, we motored along propelled by the surf



and arrived safe and sound in Rogues Roost shortly after 8,







picking up the mooring ball in Snows Cove and settling in for the evening.

A great feast of (leftover) Sausage and Shrimp Linguine was reheated in no time, along with garlic bread and a celebratory glass of wine as we watched the sun set and looked at each other in awe and amazement that what we had started out as a "hmm, could we do this" went to "let's plan this" to "we're doing this" to "are we crazy?" to "we're on our way"



Emotions are a funny thing aren't they ? It is amazing how one can be so happy and yet so hearbroken all at the same time.