Usually your day ends just as you plan it to. You either end in the port that you were aiming for or have a quiet night in just as planned. Sometimes however things can go array, there is the omnipresent danger of that ‘quiet cheeky beer’ that always seems to end in a drunken session or when Ruffian aims for one country, and ends up in another. The days on Ruffian have not ended as expected for either the poor lobsta’s that we’ve gobbled up; they were hoping for another night just sitting on the cold dark seabed, or while anchored in a quiet anchorage; when we hitched up with ‘The Selkies’.

With Iain in full blown man flu mode and oozing snot so green it looked radioactive he required a little cajoling from Fiona to partake in Birthday fun and frolics at The Youngs’ residence. Once ashore however and with the first big glass of wine numbing the effects there were smiles all around. The smiles were sadly lacking however on the faces of the lobsta’s who seemed to know that their moments on earth were numbered and then all their facial expressions were obliterated as they were plunged into pans of boiling water by lobsta cooking extraordinaire Mary-Ann.

Iain truly appreciated the monumental sacrifice that the lobsta’s made just for his birthday and with an expert’s advice in how to cook, prepare and eat these critters, there are going to be less of them in the waters of Maine in the coming weeks. The treats didn’t finish with the lobsta and in true American style out came super sweet birthday cupcakes complete with candles. Many thanks to TY & MA for such a great birthday.

The other big draw of Rockport, apart from ‘The Youngs’ was the engineering expertise of Rockport Marine. The fresh water pump on our poor engine was running on borrowed time and screamed every time it was forced into life. Magically the old pump came off, the bearings ‘fell’ out and quick as a flash the engine was back together. Had we achieved a fully happy engine? No. All we’d managed to do was give the engine a quick way to fill the bilges with antifreeze.

With lots of tooing and froing of antifreeze we finally found the leak. It wasn’t through the $800 pump but though a $1 o-ring. Suddenly everything was dry and the engine was running as quietly as a kiddie sucking on his favourite lollypop. The change was like night and day, never in all of Ruffian’s miles has her engine run so sweetly or quietly. From now on, while under engine, we will be known as a stealth boat.

With Ruffian all happy the sun was literally shining on us. The blues were crisp, the greens were vivid, the rocks glowed in the sunshine and it was so cold we could see our breath and were worried that if we touched anything metal we’d get stuck to it. It was time to push on, sail through the islands, around the rocks and into bays so pretty they can take your breath away. The destination was Buckle Harbour and it was indeed so petty it could take your breath away and it was still so cold we could still see our breath getting taken away.

After being the first people to ‘rediscover’ the paths on Buckle Island in a very long time we emerged from the undergrowth covered in scratches and bites and having to remove pine needles from places where pine needles really shouldn’t be present. To our delight, and maybe because Larry had gone all a bit ‘Zen’ on the beach, on the horizon was the fine ship “Selkie”, 2 bonkers kids called Cian and Ellen and their 2 fried parents Justin and Trish.

‘The Selkies’ and their fine ship had last been spotted when we slipped out of Graciosa 15,000 miles ago and there they were on the horizon. Stealth is not something that comes well to either an excitable Iain on Ruffian or two even more excited kids on “Selkie” and so our plan of ‘sneaking up’ was thwarted. Things were like we’d never parted, like we’d never crossed oceans, like we were still just a stones through from home. Meeting “Selkie” was simply brilliant.

Happy birthday to you. Squashed tomatoes and stew.


Sick Engine + Great Engineer = Purring beast.


The classic Rockport view.


Thug is turned into a little swimming pool, only a bit chillier.


Good pump. Bad seal.


Larry sports his new necklace. He thinks it’s going to be a hit with the ladies.


Fiona working hard.


Great sailing around the rocks, islets and islands in Maine.


Blue skies make Fiona happy.


But she has to move to seek out some warmth.


Brave fellows in their engineless sailing machines.


On the beaten track feels very much off the beaten track on Buckle Island.


Maine is simply sensational.


Larry goes all Zen like.


Even the Racoons go to the sea to look for lobsta.


Sunset from “Selkie”.


Iain tries to get all imaginative with “Selkie’s” posh visitors book.