We had a quiet Friday night on Sea Sharp in Northeast Harbour. It is a very yacht friendly little town; very posh with lots of gracious "summer" homes. Our boat (feels like) it just shrank 10 feet. Sea Sharp is large by Saint John River standards but is small in Northeast Harbour. There are some mega-yachts as well as numerous fantastic sailboats; Morris, Hinckley, Little Harbour, etc.

We decided to stay here Saturday night because Hannah was threatening. We had a relaxing day; went for a walk and did some provisions. On our way back to the boat I spied two couples, one of whom I recognized from Fredericton. Struck up a conversation and they were here with another couple, the lady who I knew from years of work on the national front on municipal issues. We had a great reunion and they offered to chauffer us if we needed. Well, there are two marine stores in Southwest Harbour; West Marine and Hamilton Marine; these are like very expensive candy stores to boaters. So even though by water the distance between Northeast and Southwest Harbours is probably three miles or less, by land it's more like 20. Judy stayed on Sea Sharp, I hitched a ride with them and spent a couple of hours spending a couple of "boat bucks" ( for the non-boaters, a boat buck is US$100 - somehow feels not as bad this way). Anyway, bought a bunch of stuff I didn't really need and hitch-hiked back to the boat. Despite the ominous forecast, people around the harbour were relaxed (not usual for high-strung, boat protective boaters). I doubled our lines, tied up our sails, but decided against taking down the Bimini (the large tent-like enclosure surrounding the cockpit. We went to supper at a great restaurant and by the time we left it was raining but no wind. I have to say that I was anxious; Sea Sharp presents a lot of surface to the wind and with the dodger and bimini, it is significantly affected by wind. Anyway, we got back to boat, relaxed, read and went to bed.
We were both restless; it started to rain, heavy about 2:00 and the wind started around 4:00. While it pelted rain, the wind was not bad; I'd estimate 30 knots - we've had lots of these in Douglas Harbour.

Got up around 8:00 - wind was still blowing but it was clearing. While not much of an ordeal, we were relived that it was over; more hype than substance. By the way, Ellis and Karen, a boat pulled in behind us; a C&C 34 - Carpe Diem (how many Carpe Diems (Sieze the Day) have us boaters seen). Came from Nova Scotia and headin' south.

Tidied up the boat, and around noon it had settled enough that we wanted to get going. So, off to Stonington - a 24 mile run. The first part was very boisterous; huge seas rolling in from the Atlantic, left over from the storm, winds more than 25 knots and very, very tricky passages (some of you know Western Way, Bar Harbour Bar, Casco Passage, Deer Island Thoroughfare), strewn with lobster pots. Judy drove; I navigated and Chopin slept. Arrived Stonington around 4:30 and picked up a vacant mooring.

Stonington is a very picturesque village; it is on Deer Island, was and still is a fishing community but is also frequented by artisans, artists and other types. The other aspect of Stonington is that it used to be a major quarry where many buildings in eastern US procured their stone. We've been here several times and one memorable time we went to the quarry. We were given a guided tour by the young (10 yrs old) but very intelligent son of the current quarry manager; they still do some limited quarrying. One can only visualize the large, sail driven vessels loading huge granite blocks and sailing they to Boston, New York or Philadelphia for libraries, congress buildings and the like.

Getting into cruising mode; to bed early, can't keep our eyes open, up early and sketch out another day. Life is good!