Flash of Beauty and I are now safely docked at Wayfarer Marine in Camden Hardbor. I finshed the last leg alone which was fun. There was a little excitment along the way. I managed to avoid the fish traps just outside Newport, because I left around mid morning. Paul Fagan waved me goodby, and I had a very nice six knot downwnd sail to the Cape Cod Canal thinking all the time that I had mastered the timing of the currents in the canal. But it was not to be. As I was approaching the railroad bridge, I was feeling stupid because there was a two plus knots current against me. About fifty yards from the bridge, I realized, I wasn't going to make it: not because of the current, but because the bridge was being lowered down without any flashing lights or blaring horns. It took my brain, still damaged from the pounding in the Gulf Stream about twentyfive yards to turn the boat to avoid contact. After a ten minute wait, a little train went by, the bridge went up, and I went safely un der.

I enjoy going through the canal, because of the people watching. There are men fishing, couples walking, and all sorts of men and women skating, riding, running, and trolling along the banks. Fruit trees were in bloom, the daylight lingered to almost nine, it was cold, and I was back in New England.

I spent a short night on the gas dock in Sandwich at the eastern in of the canal and left around 5:00 AM headed for Monhegan Island. The sail turned out to be a bit windy and wet, and cold, but Lily steered me right to the whistle off Manana as I stayed in my sleeping bag, reading a book, with an alarm set for every fifteen minutes to check for boats. It was a long night, but it was safe.

I arrived in Camden at 5:00 AM and probably a month early as far as the season is concerned. But I am ready to be home and on to new projects. Home looks great, and Mary, the wife, looks even better. The Flash and I sailed for two weeks short of a year and 200 miles short of 13,000. She is still my favorite boat, but not my favorite girl.

This will be my final blog post of the voyage. I thank you all for thinking of me. I am sure it helped to keep me safe.

Because of a dating problem with my computer, several blogs descibing the last half of the St. Thomas to Bermuda leg did not show up in the norml location. They can be found with early blogs on the lower right part of the blog page. Look for "Signing Off", "Florida's Finest Key Lime Coconut Patties" and "Signs of Life" to hear how Lily Hamill and I finished our leg to Bermuda.

After four and half days of some very wet and lumpy sailing, Jeff Kuller and I picked up a vacant mooring at 3:00AM this morning in Newport. Jeff came to life the last couple of days as we beat into a Northwest wind for the last two hundred miles of this leg. My head still hurts from the boat slamming down as it fell out of waves. The boat might pound on twenty percent of the waves, but you still had to hold on for everyone, because it was impossible to predict which twenty percent. Now Jeff has departed for Maine, and I am spending the day drying out and cleaning up at the Newport Shipyard where I must be close to the smallest and cheapest boat in the yard. Newport is very empty at the moment, but the yard is busy preparing a fleet of twelve meter boats for the season. It is springtime in New England. The cherry blossoms are out all over town. The air is clear,and the sky is blue, and its cold. I am happy to be back and headed to Camden.