Joe and Deb of Sea Note came to visit us in Camden Friday, spending the night on the boat, and we thoroughly enjoyed their friendship and BS and a great dinner. Actually, they arrived in time for lunch, and Bruce Ray of Zingara, another sailor friend I met in VA on the way north, happened to be in Camden as well, so we all went to lunch together and had a great time. Bruce lived in Camden for something like 30 years in addition to his cruising travels, which began for him back in the 70's. He is a great guy with lots of knowledge and experience and freely offers up advice, which I can always use. Joe, Deb, Nikki and I went to Rockland later in the day and they took us to see the statue of Andre the Seal (which Brian had told us about several days prior). This is the story of an orphaned seal taken in by a guy in Rockport, was eventually given to an aquarium in Boston, who eventually, in turn, set him free. Andre then continued to return to Rockport on an annual basis for many years. A very famous character in Maine's long and storied history! Anyway, that is the story behind the statue.

We dropped the hook last night off an island called Hell's Half Acre Island (near Stonington, ME) N44° 09.068' W68° 37.301'. This was by far the most beautiful anchorage we have been in since this journey began. We were in the lee of the island, a slight breeze blowing, beautiful sunset, and we went ashore to enjoy a small campfire and cook some Smores. As luck would have it, there were two guys camped on the island who have been coming here for several years (Dennis and George) and they came over with their own bottle of wine and we sat around the campfire together. Lots of fun!

So now to Mount Desert Island (Bar Harbor): since leaving Key West April 28, we have put 2,197 nautical miles under the keel of Kristinly. This is the northern (and eastern) most point of the journey. We plan to spend a week or so here exploring the Acadia National Park on the island before turning back west (and eventually south) to warmer climes. The winds turned southwest last night and the fog we have been living in for the last week disappeared. We had great winds and sailed all the way in to the harbor. It was a beautiful day, perhaps one of the best of the trip so far, and I am feeling very lucky right now, to have had the opportunity to experience all of this.

Since we are not moving anywhere for a while, it may be a few days before you hear from us again. Hope you all had a great weekend!