Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Home, Sweet Home

We crossed our wake today at about 2:00pm as we entered Gloucester Harbor.  Hooray, it's great to be home!  Our ride down from Portland was uneventful, and we are safe and sound in our house watching the downpour that hit a few hours later.

Crossing our Wake, Gloucester, MA

Speaking of Portland, we were feeling a distinct wobble in the boat on the way from Southwest Harbor to Portland, so on our way out this morning I decided to try giving the engines a good goose in reverse to see if there might be some residual lobster trap gear wrapped around our props and shafts.  Well, will you look what spit out!

Stow-away On Our Running Gear

We dragged that little bugger all the way from Southwest Harbor to Portland wrapped around our prop shaft.  All I can say is I hope it was dizzy and puking the whole time.  Afterwards the boat ran much smoother, but I can still feel a little wobble in the rudder and am pretty sure we still have a stow-away or two down there.

On the small-world front, we arrived to a tall ship anchored in the harbor.  I took a spin over in the dinghy, and guess who it was?  Unicorn, which was one of the tall ships that we saw in Shelburne, and we probably saw it in Halifax too from a distance.  Laurie was even wearing a t-shirt she bought from them.  They had sailed here directly, leaving the same day we did, and actually beat us.  They were just hanging out waiting for Customs to clear them through.

We continue to keep track of Ke'Ola Kai, Adirondack, and Tai Chi, all of whom are still up at the northern end of Nova Scotia taking their time.  They are all a long way from home and unlikely to visit that area again, so are soaking up as much as they can.  We did a quick skip of the area since it's very reachable for us from home and we will surely visit several more times.  When they get down this way, we hope they will stop in Gloucester for a visit.

Here's the final map, with the final leg filled in.  2850 miles covered and 77 locks transited in 10 weeks to the day.  2 countries, 2 languages, 5 Canadian Provinces, and 5 US States visited along the way.  And I just used ALL the water I wanted taking a shower!  Now if only the house would stop moving.....

Loop Completed, August 1, 2012