June 22-28                                       Southwest Harbor, Maine

Miller, Troy from Ellis Boat Company, and various guys from Hinckley were in and out of the boat during the week before David’s return on Thursday.  Miller is an amazing craftsman and painter.  He varnished the doors into the aft deck and continued to work on the bridge to remove and replace badly applied caulking.  A major repair involved leaking from the hatch onto the carpet on the aft deck.  Troy was making necessary adjustments to install the new AC unit for the master stateroom (do you hear dollars going ching, ching, ching?)  The new unit, although the same brand, has modern technology which does not interface with the old system.  We are fortunate to be in an area where skilled and knowledgeable workmen are available.  We have had some experience with those who were not and it has been expensive and inconvenient.

David arrived on Thursday with Blake and Winn.  Although he reportedly had talked incessantly from Philadelphia to Bangor, Winn continued to talk all the way to Southwest Harbor. Occasionally, he would transform from a little boy into a howling wolf and would threaten to “huff and puff and blow the house down.”  Other times, he demanded that I “yook, yook, gwanmommy” at some sight on the way.

Our neighbor lobsterman had saved us four beautiful lobsters and Debbie had made us another blueberry pie.   Although it was late, we made our usual welcome dinner which was much appreciated.  David was excited to be on the boat and eager to resume his projects.

On Friday, we walked to West Marine and viewed our new dinghy and motor.  Although not part of their usual service, the staff inflated the boat and transported it to the marina for launching.  With Winn in a new life jacket, we took a voyage around the harbor.  David was pleased with his purchase and found the 15 HP propane motor to have sufficient power for our purposes.

 After returning to the boat, David realized his phone was missing.  Searching was futile.  He concluded it had fallen from his rear pocket while on the dinghy and was probably at the bottom of the harbor.  Our call to report a lost phone brought good information—the phone was insured!  A new one would be delivered to David on Tuesday.

We made a visit to Northeast Harbor to visit a lovely children’s shop recommended to Blake by Stephanie.  He bought Winn another pair of Tom’s shoes and a red plastic lobster toy that kept him fully occupied.   Northeast Harbor is a small, unassuming village that is summer home to many wealthy families.  The harbor is visited by large sailboats and yachts.  The extensive gift and kitchen shop displays the same china as Neiman's and the clothing stores have the epitome of casual chic.We met Christopher Smith, a noted wildlife sculptor who has a shop only open in the summer.  He lives and works in Caldwell, Texas when not traveling the world showing his sculptures.   (Look at his website and admire his work.)

No trip to Mount Desert Island is complete without a visit to RATS, a popular seafood supplier who does his own clamming.  Hidden about a quarter of a mile off the main road to Southwest Harbor, he has a charming little home and a ramshackle building for his store.  His mussels and clams are the largest and sweetest we have found.  We always enjoy conversation with RAT (Robert Allen Taylor) who is a genuine character.  Browsing in his store, I found an old copy of Bride’s Magazine with an article featuring RATS as one of the highlights of this part of Maine! Five pounds of large, sweet mussels were our dinner entrees and not one was left!