Tuesday , June 25

Brett here – this is not a mutiny by the latest guests on Quinita - Ron and Teresa  have graciously offered me the slot as guest blogger. We arrived in Burlington at the appointed time, 2 p.m., much to Ron’s surprise. He brought the dinghy in to meet us at the dock and was pleased to see we had minimal luggage (I’m an ultralight backpacker, and used to packing light) – but had included in our booty some Pinot Grigio and a rack of Otter Creek Hop Session Ale.

It was a stinking hot day but the gathering clouds indicated relief was in sight, though not perhaps in the form we expected. Lightning began to flash beyond the breakwater and I wondered aloud about the conductivity of an aluminum mast as Ron breezily brushed off my concerns and focused on pouring a round of beers. Rain fell heavily and though we tried to wait it out eventually we gave in and donned our rain gear for the dinghy ride to the dock for our planned evening out on the town. I recommended a newish brewpub I had read about and discovered that Ron of course was way ahead of me regarding where Burlington’s best beers could be found, having already conducted numerous multi-pint fact finding missions .

We had an opening round at the Vermont Pub and Brewery, and then happily strolled across the street, which was finally rain-free, to American Flatbread/Zero Gravity Brewery, which offers the killer combination of artisanal pizzas and excellent on-premises brewed beers. Ron and I were in beer heaven after finding that Zero Gravity had a cask-conditioned bitter called London Calling, which brought to mind the best ales of that city, with apologies to and possible copyright infringement on The Clash’s song.

A post-dinner stroll around the downtown area worked off the pints and pizza, though Ron had the good sense to buy a growler of Zero Gravity’s bitter for tomorrow, and for extra weight for him to do bicep curls with as we walked.

After dessert and coffee on Quinita, we finally retired to our berths for a good night’s sleep and a silent prayer for good weather for our sail tomorrow.