Jim flew home to Nova Scotia last Saturday to do a little work and I've been having a chance to be a solo sailor - albeit a stationary one! Jim and I have each found in the past that we quite like having the boat to ourselves for short periods of time. I mentioned to a friend the other night at Happy Hour, that it is probably due in part to there being no "issues". We haven't dragged, and everything seems to be working the way it should. I will certainly be happy to see my sailing partner back on Thursday, but it is nice to know that I can manage on my own.

I walked to White Sound on Sunday and was delighted to discover Karin and Ed (Passages) there. They've been enjoying the benefits of being on the dock at Green Turtle Club. They have an astonishing rate - 60 cents per foot with metered power. Both Passages and Volantis left yesterday for points south.

Several boats came in to Black Sound on Monday. Donn and Sandi (Cypraea) are on the ball next to Madcap, and Sharpie's Dream - a Bayfield 32 with Dianne and Pat is at the Leeward Yacht Club. Minden, a Bayfield 40 was over at White Sound for a night or two. Most of the boats here are Canadian, with a healthy selection of Maritimers. Sea Horse and Long Leap are both from Saint John, NB, Ain't Ms B Haven, Sea Echo and Madcap are all from Halifax, NS. Jan and Tom (Ripple) are Ontario, as are Peter and Dianne (Cloud Nine) and Pat and Dianne (Sharpie's Dream). Catherine and David (Solitaire 1) and Bob and Gratia (Gratia) are Quebec. All those red maple leaves look good.

I've enjoyed some lovely walks on the beach, finding a few bits of sea glass and some small shells, and I've gone swimming at Gilliam Bay a couple of afternoons - the water is cool but still fine for short swims. I've even managed to fit in a little bit of boat work - stripping, sanding and cetoling the handrails on the cabin roof and making a start on some of the topside waxing. The weather has been lovely for the most part, but it has cooled off today as the next norther comes through.

The fuel boat came in this morning so boaters needing gas and diesel will be happy. The Other Shore Club has had gas but no diesel for a few days. Because the power was off in town yesterday for several hours, the generators were humming so they'll need a top up too.

On my walk this morning, I visited the sculpture garden down town to view the honoured men and women who lived in these islands in the past. So many of them are of Loyalist heritage - the same folks who came to Nova Scotia at the time of the American Revolution. Some of the names - Curry and Lowe and Russell are familiar ones back home too. I remember from my first visit that when I went through the museum, I found furniture and dishes just like the ones in my grandmother's house. The novel by Robert Wilder, "Wind from the Carolinas", is a good example of historical fiction about that era. Speaking of reading, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Timothy Findley's "Telling of Lies" that I picked up at the used book store in St Simon's, and I've just finished a laugh out loud book that I had given Jim for Christmas, "The Best Laid Plans" by Terry Fallis, another excellent Canadian read. Today, I dropped in to the excellent little library (open M,W, F 2-4 I think) where I traded some already read paperbacks for some new ones. Our son, Alex, gave us a Kobo reader for Christmas so we never need to fear being without reading material, but it is always nice to have a few books of the paper variety close at hand.

I've also been trying to keep up with the socializing here in the Sound. Pineapples is always fun and a beer or rum punch goes down well while I do a quick update on the computer (free wifi). The difficulty is that it is outdoors and it is a bar after all. It seems easier to spend longer on the computer in a coffee shop. The Leeward Yacht Club is also fun but doesn't seem to have locals as much. Some of the folks are going to Sundowner's tonight but I think I'll wait for Jim to go there.

Tomorrow, I have to rush to finish up all the things I wanted to do while Jim was away - some more waxing - of the boat, not me! Laundry, a visit to Captain Roberts' House - the ecology centre in town, picking up a fresh loaf of oh so good coconut bread.

The picture is of the beach closest to our end of Black Sound - so beautiful!!