This was one of our shakedown cruises that was planned in a certain way and didn't turn our quite as intended. We always have big plans for cruises limited by our vacations. In this case we were going to head out for the first weekend in Prospect with a CPS raftup (so far so good. Except for the fact that no one other than ourselves, the event organizers and NOONAN KNIGHT showed up. Regardless, we had a great afternoon and some of us (not me) even braved the North Atlantic for a swim. When the organizers arrived they had some great food and wine, enough for 10 boats so we had to force ourselves to eat it all. Oh dear!

We had kept to the plan up to this point so we were supposed to head out to Shelburne and then to Maine.

Well. That just didn't happen and I can't even blame the weather. Instead, we did what cruisers should be able to do only on a much grander scale, and that's go where the spirit moves us. In this case we were moved to stop at the La Have Bakery for coffee, sticky buns and preserves and then to motor up the La Have River to the town of Bridgewater past the village of Rhodes Corner where we used to live.

On a boat, Bridgewater is a nice place to visit, but you can't stay there. On the side of the river farthest from the town is a tumbledown dock with a variety of derelicts tied up against it and you'd have to climb over a fence to get to your boat. There is a town dock on the other side closest to the town, but there is a very prominent, very unfreindly sign stating "No Overnight Docking". Sounds like they don't want visits from the cruising tourist.

The La Have River, on the other hand, is magnificent. It looks reminicent of a small European river, or the Rhine up near its source. As we sailed along towards the mouth in the early AM I kept expecting the Rhinemaidens to surface, long flowing locks of hair and seaweed covering their more interesting bits and ask me to help them find their Rhinegold. Ah well, my wife probably wouldn't have let me talk to them anyway.

We continued our trip to Brooklyn near Liverpool, a must stop site if you have the time. The Brooklyn Marina is really a club, run by volenteers with a very nice dock with space for transients. Best of all, stopping there is FREE! They do ask for a donation, but even that is more than reasonable.

Next stop - Shelburne and our other yacht club. Shelburne is fast becoming the entry and exit point for yachts arriving and departing from ant to the USA. This is due to the convienience of the club, the sheltered port and the pleasant nature of the town of Shelburne, to say nothing of a really excellent restauraunt, Charlotte's Lane. We spent 4 days here relaxing and taking in the sights before heading back.

On the way back we stopped at Lockeport a small community midway between Shelburne and Liverpool. They have a very sheltered horbour with a nice little marina that will charge you $0.50/ft to stay there. No power but there is the convenience of a restauraunt at the foot of the dock, a liquor store just the other side of the road and a general store 5 minutes walk from the dock.

After that and a morning sail we got to Carter's Beach near Port Mouton, another spot where the Turney vagabonds once lived. From there we went to Lunenburg and had some work done on the engine. Four years of worrying about the engine apparently overheating only to find out that we needed new instrumentation.

Can you spell frustration?!

Next stop was the back harbour in Chester to visit some friends and from there to we traveled to Hubbard's where we were had a visit from our daughter and then we headed out to to Deep Cove and then to St. Margaret's Bay.