Sunday 26th June.

Another beautiful day.  The winds were light, we were on a mooring so always head to wind and we bent on the 3 sails.  We finished about 2pm after Ron lost the reefing lines in the boom, TWICE!  That’s what you get for hurrying. 

Hodgdens, the yard where Quinita wintered, had a customer appreciation party this afternoon, and we felt it would be rude not to attend.  So we did – it was very nice – BBQ, beer, wine and live music.  

We cycled there from Dave and Genie’s mooring and after the party took a detour to cycle around Southport Island. 

Ships Log: 5705.5, Todays Log: 0, Seasons Total: 10.3

Saturday 25th June.

The DEYC had a Day Tripper event today.  Boats met up at Burnt Island, 43 49.61N 69 38.50W, for lunch and to explore the island.  We had 7 boats rafted up on a single mooring.  Luckily the wind was light! 

We were the 6^th boat to arrive, and Melanie on Windependence arrived shortly after us.  She was sailing single handed and rafted to us.  We all had lunch, Melanie had to leave shortly afterwards, and soon after that everyone else left.  We returned to the mooring to explore the island. 

Just before we set off in the dinghy, we had a call from Melanie who had snagged a lobster pot.  (Did I mention that there are lots of lobster pots in Maine?)  It’s hard enough getting free of a lobster pot when you have a crew, let alone when you’re single handed, so we jumped into our dinghy and set off on a rescue mission!  She wasn’t too far away, and between us, after an hour of struggling to free the pot wrapped around her rudder, we cut the line, tied a plastic milk bottle to the lobster pot line (so the lobsterman could retrieve the pot), and Melanie was able to sail home. 

We returned to Quinita and went ashore to explore the island.

We returned to Dave and Genie’s mooring, had dinner aboard, and joined Dave at his campfire. 

Ships Log: 5705.5, Todays Log: 9.3, Seasons Total: 10.3

Friday 24th June.

Tidied the boat up and did a few more jobs.  Teresa went for a bike ride.  Then we went into the dock to fill with water.  Our friends from DEYC, Dave and Genie had invited us to use their mooring after we launched, so we motored over to take them up on their offer - 43 50.46N 69 40.33W.  Dave was home alone, so we invited him for dinner aboard and had a very pleasant evening. 

Thursday 23rd June.

Launch day – yippee.  Everything came together today.  A VHF connector arrived, this morning.  Hodgdens stepped the mast at midday.  Midcoast Marine Electronics tested out the VHF at 1pm, and we launched at 3pm.  I’ve said it before, but the boat feels so much happier when she’s in the water. 

We still have a few jobs to do, but we’re really happy to be afloat and master of our own destiny. 

Spent the night on a Hodgdon mooring, 43 49.98N 69 40.75W. 

Wednesday 22nd June.

Another good day.  The sheaves arrived and Ron fitted them to the top of the mast and replaced the mast head fittings.  Unfortunately the VHF connector did not arrive, so we may have to step the mast without the VHF antenna and send someone (I wonder who) up the mast when the VHF connector arrives.  Oh well, not a disaster and we’re hopeful to get the mast up and launch tomorrow.

This evening we went out to the Carousel Dinner Theater.  Dinner and a show performed by aspiring theatre actors.  It was very good.  For the first part of the evening, each of the 4 actors took turns in singing a song, while the others took our orders and waited on table for us.  Then when dinner was over, all 4 put on a very enjoyable show. 

Tuesday 21st June.

A good day.  Sean turned up to service the engines.  We usually service them ourselves but last season they were both running rough, implying that the carbs needed cleaning, which is difficult without a workshop.  We’re suspicious that the fuel in the US has more ethanol than the fuel in Canada, which is bad for marine engines in their high moisture environment.  So, while Sean cleaned the carbs, Ron installed fuel filters and cleaned up the wiring in both engine wells to make room.  The engines are now running much better and hopefully will continue that way.  Teresa scrubbed the cockpit and did some more polishing.

Thursday 16th – Monday 20th June.

Life has been frustrating trying to line up various contractors to fix our VHF, service our engines and then we discovered on Friday evening that the sheaves at the top of the mast need replacing.  Of course noone was working the weekend so had to wait until Monday to find out if we could even find the replacement parts.  Things came together on Monday however and we’ve now ordered the replacement parts, Hodgens have started work on the engines.  So, fingers crossed, we’ll hopefully launch on Thursday, a little later than we had hoped.    Southport, where Quinita is stored, is a beautiful island just outside Booth Bay Harbor.  Teresa has been enjoying the peaceful nature and beautiful scenery  biking around the island.

Monday 13th – Wednesday 15th June.

Returned to Jay to deal with some condo business (leaking underground water pipe!)

Friday 10th – Sunday 12th June.

Set about the long job list.  One of the not so fun jobs was replacing the window that Ron broke last year.  We managed to remove the old window and were relieved when it came out intact without dumping shards of glass everywhere.  However we chose too cool a day to install the new one.  It didn’t feel particularly cold. But at 60°F the adhesive was too cold to flow from the tube easily.  It took way longer than it should have, but eventually we got the new window in.  Thank goodness. 

We discovered that the water heater had developed a leak over the winter which prevented us from running our pressurized water system.  So we bypassed it and at least now have cold water plumbing. 

Teresa cleaned the boat inside and cleaned and polished outside.  Great job Teresa!

Thursday 9th June.

Teresa was in CT this morning and Ron in VT, so we drove both cars to ME and met on the boat.  Quinita was in great shape and a lot cleaner that she had been the past 2 winters in PEI.  (PEI had a lot more commercial activity).  We installed the batteries, hooked up the charger, commissioned our bunk and went out for dinner.  Then we spent a very comfortable night aboard.