As planned, we returned to Tahu Le'a in Northeast Harbor, Maine in June of 2009. Although we love cruising in Maine, we also had fond memories of our brief visit to Nova Scotia in the summer of 2006, and our friends on Symphony were still living there, with their boat at the Lunenburg YC (LYC) in Mahone Bay. So, we decided to return for a longer visit this summer. After the requisite stops at some of our favorite spots in Northeast and Southwest Harbors, and waiting out too many days of rain and blustery weather, we headed back across the Gulf of Maine on an overnight passage to Shelburne, NS. After checking in with Canadian Customs and Immigration, we headed on to Mahone Bay and the LYC. We spent most of July there (photo is from deck of LYC, overlooking docks, moorings, islands...), spending lots of time with our friends (who were living on there boat much of the summer), exploring the local area, and just enjoying the beautiful location. Kaela took a 2-week dinghy sailing class, and I spent the same two weeks practicing in 420s with the LYC high school racing team. We loved both the sailing aspect and the chance to get to know people our own age from a small coastal town in Nova Scotia, rather different than our suburban home in California! We had a great time, although it was one of the wettest summers ever in Maine and NS, with only a few days without rain or fog (or both) through all of June and July. This made for an unforgettable island camping trip with the kids from Symphony - the mosquitoes were voracious, the rain unrelenting, and our mood alternating between hysterical laughter and tears. We left LYC in early August and headed back to Northeast Harbor, but only after one last stop at the world famous Lahave Bakery (on the Lahave River about 20 miles from LYC), the only bakery we know of with a dock for visiting boats (and a café, and a craft coop, and take-out pizza - our kind of place!). Back at MDI, we packed up Tahu Le'a once again, said our good byes to all our favorite places, and headed for home (which would turn into one of the worst air travel experiences yet, taking almost 24 hours from Northeast Harbor to Los Altos...). Overall, we had spent part or all of 5 of the past 11 summers in Maine and especially around Mount Desert Island. Although happy to be back home in California, we are definitely going to miss it.