Another week has come and gone as we venture from one beautiful cove to another. Although the temperatures have been very seasonable there has been way more rain than normal. It seems every second or third day a front rolls through with heavy rain and threats of thunderstorms. As a result we're constantly looking for the anchorages that afford the best protection. Fortunately, there's no shortage of beautiful coves to hide in until the weather improves and overcrowding certainly isn't an issue. Rarely are there more than 2 or 3 other boats in the same spot and when there is there's lots of room for everyone. One thing that still amazes us is the hospitality of the locals. The other day while relaxing with an afternoon beverage in the cockpit a couple cruised by in a small motorboat and stopped to say "hi". After the usual questions about home and where we were going they asked if we needed any groceries. We said thanks but we had recently shopped and were fully stocked to which he replied, "we live over by that dock, if you need anything just go and take one of my cars to the store, the keys are always in them."

Earlier in the week we spent 2 days in Baddeck doing the usual chores, but had to get out of the anchorage because strong unfavourable winds were forecasted for 2 days. However, we discovered it was race week and the yacht club has live music every night; after checking the schedule we discovered a great band would be playing for the closing party in 3 days time. We reluctantly headed out to seek shelter in the Washabuck River for two days hoping we could get back to the party. I guess we did something right, after 2 days of rain the skies cleared allowing us to sail back to Baddeck for the festivities. Oh and what a party, it was reminiscent of the Labour Day parties from days gone by at HYC. The band was actually two very popular Cape Breton bands that joined forces for the night. The 10 members were lead by a great keyboard player as well as a long haired, kilt wearing lead singer who also played trombone. Needless to say we all had a great time as we danced and sang the night away.

There are a lot of things on our to do list such as visit the Alexander Graham Bell museum as well as the Highland Village in Iona. We hooked up briefly with our friends Bob and Liz on Arapesh yesterday and look forward to spending some time with them. However, for now we're hunkered down in MacIver Cove with White Bird while the latest round of storms roll through. There are a couple of creeks we can kayak here as well as an old road we can hike so life is good. With all this inclement weather it's starting to look like we may not get to NFLD. this year but not to worry there's lots to do here.

Today's picture is of the sunrise of Maskell's Cove, a gem of an anchorage