Our Summer Cruise 2019

 

Tuesday, June 11

Arrived home from our cruise to Norway, the Faroe Islands and Iceland to find all was in good shape at home and the Land Rover waiting for us in the driveway after some expensive repairs at the dealer. Now to get ready for the trek out to Maine after running all of the last minute errands and delivering the dinghy for some motor maintenance.

Wednesday, June 12

Fortunately, we had almost everything squared away with the house, so it was a matter of last minute clean-up of the cars, a repair to the sprinkler system, and gathering all of the "stuff" to take out to the boat. It is a never-ending surprise to see how much we end up having to load up. This year, we have only a couple of projects to accomplish but the major one, sunscreens for the rear cockpit needs fabric, the trusty sewing machine, tools, etc. Together with clothes, our summer library, food supplies, Judy's inkle loom, my art supplies, the dinghy, and other miscellaneous items, the Land Rover was soon packed to the hilt as usual. The Edge had come through with the dinghy motor and it was ready as promised.

Last year, the outboard had become more and more difficult to start and get it to idle smoothly. It ran OK at any speed but hated idling. In the Fall, I had taken it over to the Edge and they tweaked the idle adjustment which helped some but they recommended cleaning the carburetor. Using fuel with 10% ethanol is apparently the kiss of death for small Hondas as it clogs the idle tube. Few places carry on-ethanol fuel now so we will try to buy it when we can.

 

Thursday, June 13

After final packing, I took off in the early afternoon to begin the solo drive out. This year, Judy stayed behind to fly out next week. It worked out well for her to fly back early at the end of the summer to be able to help with the grandkids and school and we got a bargain priced ticket for a round trip by booking early, only $250 (actually cheaper than a one-way). Although raining most of the way, the drive wasn't too bad and I hit Toronto at the perfect time with minimal traffic and made Oshawa before stopping for the night and a well-deserved sleep.

Today's Route

Friday, June 14

On the road after a good breakfast with better driving weather. Traffic was relatively light as I cruised along at a steady 65 mph following the north shore of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, passing from Ontario into Quebec and then dropping south around Montreal to my destination for the day, Sherbrook, and the Hotel Le President. We had stayed there last year and it is an excellent hotel, especially for the price (hotels tend to be cheaper in Canada and even better with a favorable exchange rate).

Today's Route

Saturday, June 15

A pleasant sunny drive through the rolling Quebec farmland soon got me to the border between Quebec and Maine. Clearing Customs back into the USA was a breeze this year with zero wait at the border compared to last year and a very courteous Border Patrol Agent. The only issue were the blackflies that had just made their appearance in the last few days. With all the windows down for the inspection, the Land Rover was full of the nasty beasts and most got a free trip to Brooklin; and a good bit of my blood! Where we normally cross the border is quite remote and it was a little eerie as I didn't see one car for almost half an hour as I followed the Kennebac River across Maine.

Today's Route

 

Upper Reach of Kennebac River

By mid-afternoon, I had arrived in Blue Hill after crossing the newish Verona Narrows Bridge across the Penobscot River; a very impressive structure with 400' towers. The one on the left has an observation deck that we need to get up to sometime to see the impressive views of the whole Penobscot Bay.

Verona Narrows Bridge

After a quick trip around the supermarket to stock up with a few essentials, it was just a short drive to Brooklin to find Sir Tugley Blue and Carrie Rose tucked away in a corner of the boatyard. Weather was perfect - summer has arrived in Maine after a miserable Spring. It has only rained twice, once for 32 days and secondly for 26 days according to one of the yard guys!

STB at the Yard

Atlantic Boat appeared to have taken good care of the boat and, other than being a bit dusty, things looked good on the boat. After a couple of hours and numerous trips between car and boat everything was unloaded, hauled up the ladder, and stowed away in its home for the next three months. The good news was that Atlantic had messed up on a Work Order and had hooked all my batteries banks up for me and a few other minor things even though I normally take care of that myself (usually in the dark).

By dark, which comes early in Maine at around 8:20pm at this time of year, I was ready for bed.