August 1-8                                       Southwest Harbor, Maine

Saturday was a beautiful day and the harbor was filled with visiting yachts and sailboats from the annual New York Yacht Club’s cruise to Maine.  Regatta races and kayaks added to the number of vessels in the area.    A good breeze aided the sailboats and everyone seemed to be having a great time.  We were invited guests of Jerry and Jill, owners of the boat docked behind us for most of the summer, along with Miller and his family for a cruise to Bass Harbor.

Miller’s wife, Aga, their six month old son, Junior (sometimes known as “Miller Lite”), and Aga’s parents from Poland had arrived from Rhode Island to spend the weekend.  Aga came to the United States almost fifteen years ago on a basketball scholarship to a small Midwestern college.  She is 6’9” tall, very slender, and loves sports.  She speaks excellent English and works with petroleum companies to determine if they are in compliance with all regulations.  Very smart, friendly, and gracious—we liked her immediately.  Her parents speak no English, had never been to this country, and were captivated by their handsome smiling grandson.

Jerry knows this area well and, without hesitation, cruised quickly through the rocks and shoals in the passage from the harbor to the open ocean.  Once he had to quickly adjust speed when a flotilla of kayaks made an unexpected turn in front of us.  We had a great view of the Bass Harbor Light, which like many lighthouses is now a private residence with the light electronically controlled by the Coast Guard.  We were pleased to see on our return to the marina that the large nest on the shoal marker finally had been inhabited.  We could see two ospreys peeking over the mound of sticks that comprised their new home.

After the cruise, we joined Miller, his family, and other guests on the dock for a feast of steamed lobsters, baked salmon, Asian marinated salmon, corn, potatoes, plantains, and salad (all prepared by Miller).  He insisted we take home some of the leftovers and we gladly obliged.  Aga, the baby, and her parents left on Sunday after coming to the boat to say goodbye. We gave her father a cap with The Bottom Line logo on it and he appeared to be delighted.

The remainder of the week passed quickly as we joined with Miller to complete all the work needed to be done before our planned departure on August 21.  Of course, there was a lot of down time, too, as we read napped, went into town, and made numerous trips to the marine store for supplies.  We have noted that if a product is made or labeled for boats, it is always significantly more expensive than a similar item for common use (even soap!).