Today, for only the second time since we started the Grander Scheme, we set off and arrived where we intended to go!

There was a dramatic change in the weather forecast which now calls for rain and 30-knot winds for much of the coming week: We aren't likely to be moving much at all. Now Cape Sable Island is very nice and scenic, and the folks are very friendly and took good care of us, but it is a harbor for fishing boats and there are aren't any of the amenities that make staying someplace for an extended time comfortable. Things like showers, water that doesn't have to get carried to the boat in 5-gallon jugs (including lugging across the three fishing boats that separated our boat from the dock, etc...

So we decided to try out our spiffy new prop shaft by motoring through the inshore route between Cape Sable and Yarmouth. This route is pretty fast because the only way to do it is with the tide going your way and, when it does, it gives you quite a boost. Of course, the tides weren't lined up especially well today so we couldn't leave until 3:30 in the afternoon. Not only that, we needed to get our rental car to Yarmouth So at 3:30, we cast off and motored away from the harbor leaving Anne alone on the shore. Needless to say, this felt very, very strange to all of us.

The run to Yarmouth was actually pretty quiet as there was virtually no wind, we didn't get into any of the fog banks, and the sun didn't set until we were well past the navigational challenges. The navigation was interesting because the route lies through a whole set of islands with very strong currents and tide rips setting you one way and then another. At several points we were doing more than 8 knots over the ground. The islands themselves were very pretty with lights, houses (some occupied, others clearly not) and even sheep grazing on some of them.

It was dark as we picked our way up the long Yarmouth entry channel and just after nine when we found Anne waiting on the dock to help us tie up. At last...an uneventful passage!