We are gradually getting more settled in to life aboard Thalia. The anxiety level is coming down, a general routine is setting in, and the atmosphere is more relaxed like we had intended the trip to be!
We spent several days this week visiting with our friends the Withee’s and their relatives in Boothbay Harbor. After a romping sail from Sebasco Harbor, and an early evening arrival, they were kind enough to let us barge in on their lobster dinner!
We also made an excursion out to Burnt Island for an enjoyable picnic…
… and a couple non-Olympic quality dives off of the Capital Island bridge!
Boothbay Harbor gets a lot of boat traffic in the summer and tourists ashore, so there are a decent number of facilities for the boater. I took advantage of a local cafe with free internet service, the boys did some exploring in the shops, and a few necessities were purchased at the local hardware store — a task I anticipate will be a regular occurence ashore. This stop gave us a chance to regroup too. On our passage from Sebasco, the brand new Garmin GPS chartplotter I bought began making strange beeping noises and shutting down. My fears of sending it in for repair and trying to find a way to get it back to us were allayed by a long call to Garmin support and the download of a software patch (those darn software programmers… why can’t they do better testing!). We also paid a visit to Boothbay Region Boatyard to get their help troubleshooting an intermittent propane leak. This is a very well run yard and we were pleased that after an hour’s work, we had a fix in place and were hopefully done with the stress of having an explosive gas loose on aboard.
Having enjoyed the comfort and convenience of Boothbay Harbor, we bid farewell to the Withee clan and headed east for our first night out anchored, in a snug little cove at Burnt Island in Muscongus Bay, where, after a vigorous kayak trip we relaxed to enjoy the sunset.
