August 12, 2022 Friday

We dropped the mooring ball around ten and went into the town dock for water, pump- out and ten gallons of fuel and it all went smoothly with a very competent young man working the dock. A power cat was on the other side of the dock getting fuel and Sharon and a woman on the cat recognized that we had met before at the Dismal Swamp Visitor Center so while I took care of the fuel and Sharon filled the water tank the ladies caught up on each other’s adventures from this summer. The cat, “Bell Gatto”, was on their first trip to Maine and the information we shared with them at the visitor center in early spring has been very helpful for them and they have loved Maine.

After finishing at the fuel dock, we headed to a town slip which is a little expensive at $3.25 a foot but we wanted to make it easy for our son Andrew who was driving up from Boston to join us for the weekend. With Friday traffic we weren’t sure how late he would arrive so better to have a slip than trying to pick him up in the dinghy in the middle of the night.

We lugged three weeks’ worth of laundry to the laundromat and we started feeding coins into the big washing machines which were expensive. There were plenty of machines and only a few people around. I bought a pre-made sandwich at the Belfast Co-op and ate it at the picnic tables out front while Sharon finished loading the washing machines. I offered for a woman to join me as the other two tables were full and while we ate, I learned she had been in the area for twenty years and came into the “big town” of Belfast to do her shopping. She was from the Netherlands and had just been back this spring for a visit. Sharon came out and joined us for a little bit.

After lunch I watched the laundry machines and moved everything to the dryers while Sharon did some grocery shopping. Sharon returned with a load of wonderful looking vegetables and heirloom tomatoes and she help me fold all of the laundry.

We loaded up the groceries, some beer and the laundry and returned to Monarch. Sharon then did some more exploring in town while I straightened up the boat in preparation for our son’s visit tonight.
Sharon made a delicious chopped fresh tomato dish with lots of herbs and mozzarella cheese and we enjoyed it over pasta for dinner.

Andrew arrived around ten and it was great to have him aboard again. We shared some rum to celebrate his arrival as we sat in the cockpit and enjoyed the cool calm of the harbor while we talked.