Friday, July 5th.

The weather was looking good this morning, with a gentle breeze, so we went for a sail.  Even though Mary, Rick and Laura had all been on the boat before, none of them had ever seen the sails hoisted.  It was a perfect sailing day and we had a very pleasant trip.  We returned to anchor and drop Rick and Laura off.  Mary, Teresa and Ron rode the “Cycle the City” route, stopped at Splash on the waterfront in Burlington for lunch, and returned to the beach where we said farewell to Mary.  We had left most of our wet clothes hanging on the boat to dry during our ride and, of course, the boat had a rain shower while we were cycling so everything was wet again.  (We missed the shower though!). 

Ship’s Log: 2620.7nm, Today's log: 13.6nm, Season total: 166.8nm.

Thursday, July 4th

Rick arrived in the morning and parked his car in Burlington.  Ron went ashore to pick him up and brought him back to the boat in time for breakfast.  (The ladies were kindly waiting for us before starting to eat).  We then went for a great bike ride along the Colchester Point Causeway, crossed on the Bike Ferry and cycled to South Hero.  We stopped at a store for lunch and it poured down for about an hour.  So we had to have ice-creams until the rain stopped.  Actually, it had almost stopped, when we set off, but fooled us, because after about 15 minutes when we were in the open, it started again.  Oh well, it was warm rain.  We were pretty wet for the return bike ferry trip, but by the time we got back to the boat we were only damp.  It was hot now so we all took refreshing swims from the boat.  Ron & Rick then went off in the dinghy to catch dinner, but came back empty handed just as appetizers were being served.  We had hoped to visit the Vermont Symphony Orchestra in nearby Shelburne for an outdoor concert and picnic, but the weather still threatened rain so we called it off.  Instead, we had hamburgers and beer again. 

Wednesday,July 3rd

Raining again!  Putzed around on the boat.  Ron went ashore to fill his growler with Zero Gravity Beer.  Brought home some Summer Gruit – a very nice summer beer. 

Over the past few weeks, we had noticed a guy running a sailboat offering sailing trips.  We had been impressed to see him sailing on and off the dock without using the engine.  Then, a week or so ago we met a friend of Ron’s from Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports – Gidon.  It turns out that Gidon was the guy sailing on and off the dock!  Since we would be leaving Burlington soon, we invited him over for a beer and he joined us in the afternoon. 

Laura and Mary coincidentally arrived together at around 5pm just after the rain stopped.    Unfortunately, Rick got tied up at work and couldn’t make it.  We settled our guests into the boat, had hamburgers and beer for dinner and watched a great firework display put on by the City of Burlington.  

Tuesday, July 2nd

Woke up to another gloomy, overcast day.  Our solar panels are not having much of a chance to charge our batteries, so we opted to go onto the dock at Burlington Boat house for a few hours and charge them up.  We also took the opportunity of making a couple of bike trips to Price Chopper to replenish our supplies. 

Returned to an anchorage at North Beach, where we hope to receive our guests and watch fireworks tomorrow night. 

Monday, July 1st

Woke up and were surprised to see a lot of boats anchored at North Beach, where we had anchored previously and where we were planning to anchor for July 3^rd/4^th.  We guessed, (incorrectly as it turned out), that they were claiming their spots to watch the July 3^rd fireworks.  So we up-anchored and re-anchored at North Beach to claim our spot.  We think, (hope), that we’ve got a pretty nice spot to watch the fireworks, so all we need now is some nice weather. 

Today, July 1^st, is Canada day, so we raised a few Canadian flags in honour of their day.  First, of course, is the Canadian flag, followed by the provincial flags that we have either visited or plan to visit – Quebec, Ontario, PEI, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. 

We cleaned and polished the boat in readiness for July 3^rd/4^th.  Then the rain started again so we “clocked out”, adjourned into the boat, where Teresa produced another marvelous concoction from leftovers – (we forgot to go shopping). 

Sunday, June 30th

It rained most of the night and the day dawned pretty dismally – no rain, but heavy cloud cover and a wet cockpit.  After a while the skies cleared, we dried off the cockpit and started to feel like venturing out.  We went ashore and rode the “Bike the City” route around Burlington.  Had a late lunch ashore in the Skinny Pancake, and just as we finished it started raining again.  So we dashed back to Quinita and managed to arrive without getting wet.  It turned out to be a false alarm however – the rain didn’t appear, the skies brightened and we left the mooring, refueled with gas and dropped anchor south of the breakwater for a change.  We went for a swim, Ron dived on the anchor and was pleased to see it firmly buried.  Later we dinghied ashore for a meal at the “Shanty” – it was OK but nothing special.  We watched the last of a nice sunset, then noticed some ominous, dark clouds so returned to Quinita, just before the next batch of rain. 

Saturday, June 29th

We moved our car back to Jay today.   Since the wedding last weekend, it has been in a parking lot in Burlington, however, next week we’ll start our trip north to the St. Lawrence, Quebec City, Saguenay River, Gaspe Peninsula and Prince Edward Island. So we rented a car, drove both to Jay and drove the rental car back.  About half an hour before we got back to Burlington the heavens opened and it hissed down.  We got back to the dinghy, which was full of water, during a slight reprieve from the rain.  Ron emptied the dinghy and Teresa transferred the laundry we had done while at home to contractor bags, in case the rain started again.  We got back to Quinita with only a showering of rain.  Ron returned to the dock, and drove the rental car back.  On the way back, (by bike), the heavens opened again and Ron got thoroughly soaked.  Fortunately, it was warm rain, and by the time he got back to Quinita, Teresa has a delicious turkey stir fry waiting.