Update 6/29/08 - Back to Portland

Update 6/29/08

Its 50-60 degrees and rainy here in Maine - makes me wonder what we are doing here! Actually June is normally nice so this is unusual - and a big contrast from the great weather we had in New York State while on the loop at this time last year.

We had a good trip up from Hilton Head to here. We had a nice visit with Jean’s sister Gail in New Jersey and then a nice lunch with my sister Sue and her husband John the next day in Connecticut. We then spent 2 days with my brother Ron, Brenda and my mother on Cape Cod. We arrived at (son) Steve’s about 11Pm on Friday night and on Saturday attended Opening Day at the yacht club where we met many of our friends. It was a good homecoming!

The next day we started working on Trader to get her in the water and to our surprise we were able to launch her 4 days later with the bottom painted, new zincs and the engine tested. She was in great shape for having sat on the hard for almost 2 years, the only issue being a frozen fitting on the propane hot water heater. While we were working on the boat, we stayed with Steve and our friends Larry and Cathy Clough and enjoyed several nice dinners with them as well as with Eldon & Dianne Morrison.

We spent the next weekend visiting (son) Bill and Stephanie and helped them move some items into their new home. The next day, we stepped the mast at the yacht club with help from 10 or so of our friends. Trader’s is definitely the largest mast to be done at the club but it went fine and it was good to be ready to sail again!

However, before going sailing I took a short trip and helped Eldon move his boat from Yarmouth, Maine to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Eldon is doing the Great Loop but adding a significant number of miles to it by going around Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and then up the St. Lawrence. It should be an interesting trip and we’ll be ready to see the pictures. We had a somewhat rough overnight crossing to Yarmouth but I enjoyed a day or so of visiting friends there. It was good to see Jane Smith, Brian and Sheila Lewis and Jim Quick again. It was interesting sharing boating adventures with Brian and Sheila as they had done a number of trips to Bermuda and had lost a boat in the process. I had originally planned to travel to Halifax with Eldon but decided to jump ship early and came back on the Cat (a fast ferry) as there was still a lot of work to be done on Trader.

The rest of the month has gone by swiftly. During this time we did a cruise to Jewell Island and the Goslings on Trader accompanied by Larry and Cathy on Moondance and Andy and Gay Howe on Keywaydin. We also took another trip to see Bill, raced in several Wednesday night races, attended the “summer solstice” party at the yacht club and made up for all of the medical appointments we missed last year. Earlier this week, we had a visit from fellow loopers Larry and Lola from Lola Marie, who were touring Maine and Nova Scotia by car.

A number of our friends have wondered how we would adjust to the sailboat after spending so long on Sun Cat, which is both bigger and has more amenities. I’m pleased to report that it has been an adjustment but we are doing fine. I think we miss the refrigerator the most but are getting along fine with the ice box, especially as friends keep giving us ice they’ve frozen for us. Now if the weather would just return to normal, we could really enjoy sailing!

Have a great summer!

Steve & Jean
Aboard S/V Trader
Currently in Portland Harbor