Oh. My. Goodness. We are so lucky.

We signed the contract for a yearly rental on a most wonderful apartment today. It has a view of Halifax Harbour, we can walk absolutely everywhere and dogs are welcomed. There is a friendly and affordable wine store, a coffee shop, several restaurants, and even a dentist on the street level, and all the residents have access to a fitness room, pool, concierge service. Every morning when we wake up, we can look out at the harbour - almost like being on board Madcap. It is right some nice indeed - or will be when we move in on October 1st. Until then, we are still, happily, cruisers.

The weather last week was sunny, warm and perfect outdoor weather. It took a change this week, and we've been snuggled into fleecies and jackets most of the time. Jim has bailed out the dinghy on more than one occasion, and I'm almost ready to trade in my sandals for something with more foot coverage.

We contemplated cruising around the greater Halifax area over the last few days, but we had so many errands to run, and with the cool rainy weather, it was nice to be able to walk up a ramp rather than dinghy ashore, so we stayed on the dock. We've continued to meet interesting folks - some who will be our neighbours and some who are visiting. The increase in numbers of folks strolling the waterfront when a cruise boat arrives is just amazing. Those giants disgorge thousands of visitors, and there have been 5 or 6 in since we got here. Madcap looks a bit dwarfed in this photo, don't you think?

One night when we had just come back aboard from a fine dinner at the Henry House with Jim's sister and her family, we heard a familiar voice calling "Madcap! Madcap!" I pulled back the cockpit enclosure to have a look, and sure enough, there stood Jeannie (Estelle), last seen somewhere tropical! She and Jim were visiting their daughter here in Halifax and we had a lovely coffee-chat with them the next morning. During our conversation, and in e-mails we've been receiving, the topic of the Annapolis Sailboat Show keeps cropping up, and I really do think we might have to make our way there in October. It is Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, but we have an offer of a bed, we can drive there in a day and still be back here for a family dinner so we're dreaming now of seeing as many of our cruising friends as possible in October.

The Fringe Festival is on now so we'll take in some theatrical events, continue to explore the local musical scene, start to line up doctors and bankers and insurers, and create lengthy to-do lists. Maybe we'll even get some items crossed off those lists: the Haul-out list and the Sorting out "Ottawa stuff" list and the Moving In list ..... aaagh.....

We will likely get off the dock within the next few days and spend a leisurely couple of weeks gunkholing between here and Chester. Haulout is planned for mid September.