I'm not gonna lie. We're getting a little antsy to be on our way south. We've been in Somes Sound now for 20 days with the exception of 1 day that we went back to Southwest Harbor at the opening to Somes Sound to pick up a Hinckley mooring to let them give us an estimate on replacing the transmission on Nancy Lu. Mark had been trying to decide between Hinckley and Morris Yachts to do the job. After our trip to Hinckley, we finally decided to get the work done there. We've been waiting on the transmission to get shipped there ever since. Mark just this minute got an email that it will arrive TOMORROW!!! So it looks like we'll be headed south very soon!! Now that we got the good news, I've gone from antsy to get moving to doubting if I'm really ready to leave beautiful Maine. The weather tells us it's time to go. One forecast calls for 36 degrees for tonight. We're glad for our diesel heater! Today, I spent time wiping down condensation around the windows and hatches, as usual, in an attempt to ward off the mold that grows there when the weather's like this. It rained all day yesterday and has been mostly overcast today. We stayed on the boat all day yesterday and don't have any plans to go anywhere today. That may explain the antsy feelings of a few minutes ago. I've done a lot of reading, guitar practicing, knitting,



and a tad of crafting (a photo holder with beach rocks) in our semi-permanent neighborhood.

We've gotten out and experienced a few Maine adventures lately, though. We've come to really appreciate the Island Explorer buses. They have taken us to Bar Harbor a few times for grocery shopping since we've been "living" in Somes Sound. One of those days, we met the British couple, Karen and Derek on "Sandpiper of Brighton", which was anchored near us here for about a week (the ones that alerted us to the Cormorants on our mast). They were at the bus stop at The Village Green in Bar Harbor the same time we were. They had taken the Island Explorer bus to go check out Jordan Pond. We talked with them the whole bus ride back to Somes Sound and as they walked back to the dinghy dock with us. After hearing about Jordan Pond and The Pond House, all part of Acadia National Park, from them and also from a comment left on our last blog that talked about the delicious popovers that they serve at The Pond House at Jordon Pond, we decided to take a trip there ourselves.



Thanks to the convenience of the Island Explorer, a couple of days later, we thoroughly enjoyed our visit there, and the popovers were just about all they'd been cracked up to be --I think the comment on my blog said you haven't lived until you've tasted one!



We walked the trails around the pond



and leisurely experienced the beautiful outdoors. For good measure, we took a bus that took us on an in!direct route back to Somes Sound so we got to see some Mount Desert Sights that we hadn't seen before. I love seeing all the different kinds of Christmas trees there are here!

We've explored a lot closer to "home", as well.



We've visited the museum in Somesville and enjoyed walks in the town on pretty days.



We've followed the stream that empties into the sound, past all three dams that we learned about from a marker outside the museum,



and up through the peaceful cemetery where the founder of Somesville is buried.



We've enjoyed sitting out in back of the Somesville library as well. That's where Mark posted the blog the last time, taking advantage of the WiFi there.



There's a beautiful view of the harbor where Nancy Lu is moored.



We've been inside the library on one of the two days a week that it is open. I don't know what it says about me, but I spent the whole time in the children's section reading Robert McCloskey's One Morning In Maine--time well spent!!



Our little corner of Mount Desert Island has changed quite a bit just since we first moored here. It looks like AUTUMN!! The trees are changing colors! It seems like it happened over night! A few days ago, we decided to rent a car and do some running around including some serious grocery shopping at the Walmart in Ellsworth. What a feeling of freedom--our own set of wheels☺!! Of course, we couldn't have rented the car without a trip out to the Bar Harbor Airport on the Island Explorer bus to pick up the car ☺!! Anyway, we were surprised at how many more red, yellow and orange leaves there were.



The next day, when Mark took the car back to the airport, he ran into the docent from the little Somesville Museum. She offered to give him a ride back to Somesville. That meant he didn't have to wait on the bus and take the long, circuitous route back--a nice surprise!!

We've gotten a little maintenance done since we've been here, too. Since Marks been changed to a removable cast and been told to exercise his wrist as much as possible, he has sanded and re-varnished some sections of teak in the cockpit. Also, as usual, little problems come up that need taking care of. For example, one of the scupper holes (the little holes in the deck that drain down into the ocean) wasn't draining. We figured it was clogged. I ended up getting into the dinghy while Mark kept me pulled up against the hull of Nancy Lu as I reached down just below the water to the drain hole basically digging out with a narrow, sturdy piece of tubing and my finger pieces of shells, sand, and other debris that had built up at the end of the hole just below the water-line. Before this fairly easy solution, we had tried another solution that we thought might be easy. It involved another creative use of the Shop-Vac since that's come in so handy for us before. This time it backfired, literally. There are two scupper holes on deck about 3 feet apart from each other. Apparently, they are connected because when I hit the on switch of the Shop-Vac (that Mark had rigged up to blow instead of suck) as he held it down firmly against the hole that we thought was clogged, water spewed up 4 feet in the air out of the other one! It was pretty funny. Neither one of us got wet, or we probably wouldn't have laughed at ourselves like we did! Something I no longer laugh about as I did before are the nightly battles Mark wages with the cormorants.



One evening, we came home after a little excursion and found our decks filthy with cormorant droppings. Luckily Timmy missed stepping into the places as he did his laps with toy in mouth around and around the decks that he does when we get back after leaving him on the boat alone. After cleaning the cormorant mess up, I'm leading the battle cry each evening when Mark goes out to shoo them away.



You should see the sail cover and decks of the boat that they eventually land on every night.



I've seen as many as 5 birds on this poor boat...better them than us.

I think the blog is now pretty much up to date. Now, I'm going to backtrack for the last time and write about our 2 day visit from my parents and my brother's 3 girls!

Mark and I arrived back in Bangor from Texas on our 5:45 am flight around 12:00am on Aug 22 after our week-long trip back to Texas to get Claire moved into Baylor. While we were in Texas, Mama and Daddy and the girls were in Bethel, Maine at a timeshare condo that they had reserved for a week of fun with the Kinard grandkids. We had planned to meet up with them in Maine on the 22nd. It worked out for them to drive their rental car and meet us in Ellsworth, join us for grocery shopping and then follow us to Bass Harbor where Nancy Lu was moored. It worked out perfectly, and was the beginning of a perfectly wonderful time with them on Nancy Lu!! I enjoyed listening to 11 year-old talk to her dad on the phone while we were shopping in Walmart. He was giving her the news of what teacher she and her sisters got for the new year of school. Then she called her friends and they discussed the upcoming year and commiserated with each other over their teacher assignments and what the year ahead held--they're getting so grown up! On the drive to Bass Harbor, the girls rode with Mark and me. I was reminded that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree when it comes to Mama and me. I told the girls to be on the lookout for anything with a lobster on it and we would keep track of how many we saw. We started the game, but I noticed that they also kept pointing out every time they saw a building with cedar-shake siding. It was contagious so I joined in, too. I had a sneaking suspicion that Mama had instigated that game on their earlier drives through Maine. The girls confirmed it!



When we got to Bass Harbor, Mark and I dinghied from the dock out to Nancy Lu to bring her from the mooring to the dock to make it easier for our guests to board and easier for us to get the groceries on board. Mama, Daddy, Byron, Stella Rae and Magnolia had plans to walk done the road to Ravenswood, a fun antiques/crafts/flea market shop where they could souvenir shop. Before they did that they watched us from the road docking Nancy Lu. In my maxi dress, I was dressed more appropriately for a plane trip than jumping off the boat with the bowline to tie us off and then catching the other lines and finishing the job. Oh well, I think the girls were impressed (my brother, Tim, told me on the phone that my knot tying was one of the things about the trip that they mentioned☺).



I know Mama was impressed with the great picture she got of the process! While they were off at Ravenswood, Mark and I readied the boat for 2 days of fun. We got the groceries on board and stowed, retrieved the clean sheets from the laundry room (I had left them there after running out of time when we left for Texas the week before), and got things put in order after being gone for a week. By the time we were finished, they were back from a successful shopping adventure and ready for the first adventure we had planned--MAINE LOBSTER at Maine-ly Delights,



Granddad Larry's treat!!





Byron and Stella Rae were so excited about eating lobster and had fun learning how to get at the meat!



Magnolia had fun sharing with us her homemade chips that came with her less labor-intensive meal! Maybe just as fun as the dinner, was walking around to the back of Maine-ly Delights to the outdoor hand washing station where you pump with your foot to bring the well water up to wash. I have to admit that was a first for me, as well! There were also port-a-potties out there, but we opted to walk over to Morris Yachts and use the bathhouse for that.

After dinner, we all went back to the dock to board Nancy Lu and take her back to the mooring where we spent the night.



The girls watched a little of the movie, "Coraline" on the computer and shared a huge whoopie pie we'd brought home from Maine-ly Delights while I got the beds made.



We had a good laugh, especially Mama, at the trouble she had with the feat of crawling into the v-berth where she and Daddy slept and then getting turned around the right way. On the first try, she tipped over onto her head, but she finally got tucked in there right! I couldn't resist taking a picture and then using it ☺! Mama and Daddy were both real troopers for the whole trip. The sleeping plan for the girls was for them all to be in the saloon on the setees-made-into-beds, but Magnolia's place was a little short for her to be comfortable so she ended up making use of the extra bed we have back in our cabin.



We weren't sure she would feel comfortable being away from her sisters, but she liked the idea. She only had one question--"Does Uncle Mark snore?" She slept great both nights, but one of the girls in the saloon had to get up in the middle of the night to shut the door to the v-berth to deafen the sound of Granddad Larry's snoring! We knew to start out with the door closed the next night ☺.



The next day was the day we sailed to Buckle Island with the girls and Daddy keeping a sharp look-out for lobster pots. The girls called the island Fairy Island because of all the fairy houses that people have built with nature materials and left behind for others to find. It's fun to search for them.



So armed with mosquito repellant we set off in two dinghy trips to the shore. I had left 3 little treasures behind for them to find the week before when we were at Buckle Island with Olivia. Each of my nieces has a symbol that corresponds with their names. I constructed each of their symbols plus their initial with shells and sticks and took pictures of them so we could have a hunt for them on our visit to Buckle Island.



Byron had a bee (for her nickname B-girl),



Stella Rae had a star,



and Magnolia had a flower!



One of the magical things about Buckle Island is the door that some one has hung between two trees that leads to an extra dense part of the forest that they've named Etheria. At the end of trail we found the most elaborate fairy house of all. I hadn't been there last week.



Also, We had to take pictures of the matriarch and patriarch on their tree-stump thrones!



The girl's put on their best sad faces as we hiked back through the door to Reality.



The reality of this island is nothing to be sad about, though, especially sharing it with special loved ones!

We spent the night there. Mama kept forgetting that we didn't have to sail back before dark. That's the beauty of having a "mobile home"! We had spaghetti for dinner and played a rousing game of "Spot It"--FUN!! It's always fun to see what good friends the Kinard girls are to each other



and silliness is something that is no stranger to Nancy Lu (one of these days I'm going to catch Mark on video doing one of his many "dances" in the saloon ☺ tonight he did his best one yet, he called it the shimmy shimmy shoo shoo--I always ask him what he calls each "dance". The footage would have been priceless! I tried to video him, but he went all stoic on me. Catching him will definitely have to be a clandestine mission.). I guess I got off track there for a minute.

Back to our visit with the Kinards...



After breakfast the next day we motor sailed back to Bass Harbor and said good-bye to our special guests.



We all had a great time making memories together. On their ride back from the DFW airport to Austin, Tim got to hear all about it. According to Tim, and as Mama predicted, using the potty on Nancy Lu (particularly, remembering not to throw the toilet paper in the toilet) was the first thing that they shared on the ride home! We had some giggles about certain times when I would hear a timid call, Kaaaathyyyyy, and see a little face peering around the door with the news of a little accident that I had to take care of. Mama would giggle the most because it had happened to her a couple of times the first time she visited Nancy Lu--good memories! I look forward to being able to make memories with some other special family members...hint, hint!

Well, we're up to date now, and it's not long before we'll be leaving vacationland, as Maine is called. I'm looking forward to a stop at Port Washington on Long Island with daily train rides to NYC to see Amy on our way south. I hope we can take her and some of her friends out on Nancy Lu!

There are more pictures in the photo gallery at the top right of the blog. You can leave us a comment by clicking on the word "comments" just below and to the right of this sentence.