Well, lots has happened since the last post, but I guess I need to be better at putting pen to paper (or however electrons do it on the net nowadays) to keep this page updated. Another skill needing improvement. I guess all that has been on here so far is I got the boat home. It's true, we did. We have also used it some, but of course not as much as we would have like to have done. Covid relaxed, and family came to visit from out of province, last summer the weather was terrible consistently with the wharf barely being above water for a week the whole summer, and of course all the other reasons life gets in the way so you don't get to do all the things you would enjoy doing.

 We have managed to get some projects done, but have a list of wants and need still in progress or on the dream board. Hardtop was installed, needing some attention still but in place overall, which was a priority as we want to stay out of the overhead sun as much as possible. This is true especially for Suzanne as she is fair skinned and burns quickly. It is robust and also offers us much more secure handholds than a fabric enclosure. We also got a solar arch from Atlantic Towers, but it remains in its shipping state as we did not have the ability to get it on this last year. Last winter we removed the bigger interior items from the boat and this winter we took the smaller items, so all the doors, floors, etc were taken home and cleaned, repaired and re-varnished as needed. She is an old gal and is due for some new lipstick.

It can't be all projects and I think we are due to enjoy some of our effort this summer. We plan to splash in mid to late May, depending on this years freshet and when we are semi-organized we will head down the Saint John River and out into the Bay of Fundy. Sailing along the south shore of Nova Scotia, we will stop for a bit in Halifax to visit family and then through the Canso Causeway, NS. In the Northumberland Straight we will stop at Prince Edward Island before heading into the St Lawrence  to get to Lake Ontario. We plan to spend the summer there till it's time to head to warmer waters. We will head down the Oswego and Erie canal to the Hudson and spend the winter in a warmer climate. I'll start doing a little better at keeping a journal of our travels here from now on. Fair Winds!

August 4, we knew today we would be home and we were all very happy with this. It was a great trip, but we were also eager to be home as well. We got up and had breakfast before leaving Caton's Island. The weather was fair with light winds and a trip up the St. John river was always a beautiful trip. Internal waterways like the St. John are always much warmer than time in the Atlantic. Suzanne was eager to get moving and it was obvious she wanted to start her day moving towards Douglas Harbour, where I have my permanent mooring. We dropped the mooring line and we were off heading up the St. John River again. We past Belleisle Bay, Gagetown and the ferry, and turned into the Jemseg River. When we reached the raft channel in the Jemseg River, we called Mike's wife Bonnie, who was going to meet us at the wharf in Douglas Harbour. It was not long before we entered Grand Lake  and headed towards the entrance to Douglas Harbour. Suzanne sat on the bow seat for much of our trip and was happy to see the clubhouse come into view as we past "The Bedroom", where our boat would be homed from now on. We made our way to the wharf and tied up. We were here, home! We planned to leave the boat on the wharf for a bit to offload our supplies, luggage, etc... . There was little activity due to COVID so we would not be in the way of anyone else needing the space. Mike offloaded his things, and we loaded them into the car. We headed towards Oromocto, to drop Mike and Bonnie home. After a month at boat speed, the car seemed fast and foreign. We had begun to insert ourselves back into the world of what most people know and do daily. We dropped Mike and thanked him for assisting us to get the boat home, and hit the road again, driving back to the boat on our way home. We offloaded the fridge foods and got our luggage that we needed for home and were off. It's only 13 minutes from the boat to the house and we arrived and only had one thought; we have to go get and see our animals. We had missed them immensely, and they were excited to see us! The boat would need a going through to bring stuff home and a good cleaning, but we had time and planned to do this at a slower pace. The next day we would get it from the wharf to her mooring and start making her ours. We have some plans and we will start as time is available. She is home and that is what matters. It was not an easy trip, but it was an adventure for sure and we did well. It is an experience we will always remember.

August 3, we planned for coffee and breakfast under way this morning and threw off the dock lines leaving Dipper Harbour as soon as we had enough light to see going out the harbour. We had a flood tide with us and made very good time; so good in fact, we had to slow down so we didn't arrive too early. We were going to leave the Bay of Fundy today and enter the St. John River system. To do this, we need to get through Reversing Falls at the mouth of the St. John River, and it has to be timed perfectly, as the currents are strong with the outgoing river fighting against the strong tides of the Bay of Fundy. You don't want to be where these two meet anytime other than slack tide. At slack tide, you only have to worry about the outgoing river currents. We had already checked the tide tables and knew when the slack tides would occur for the day. We took in the sights along the New Brunswick coast seeing a few dolphins and seals, but still no whales. Maybe next year Suzanne will see some. I did see a large sunfish at the surface, but he wasn't there long. We entered the busy port of St. John passing tug boats, ferries and ships waiting to enter to offload their cargo. There are a few checkpoints throughout the Bay, which we radioed in letting Fundy Traffic know our location. We thought we would venture in a bit to look at the state of current nearing Reversing Falls, and it was still fairly strong, as expected. We turned the boat around and headed over to the Market Slip, near downtown to tie up till we reached slack tide. We sat tied up for an hour and a half, sunning ourselves with a freshly brewed coffee waiting patiently. Confident we were now at slack tide, we got underway again and passed through Reversing Falls with smooth, reasonable currents flowing out of the river. Now through our last bottleneck of concern, we focused on the next plan of checking in with Canada Customs. The Royal Kennebeccasis Yacht Club is a check in point for Customs, so we tied up on the fuel dock and called them on the cellphone to arrange someone to come to us. While we waited, we topped up with fuel and water, pumped out the holding tank and tidied up the boat. We were not allowed on shore yet till we had met with Customs and had been cleared in. A couple hours later, we had a guy and a lady agent show up to process us. The lady was great, but the guy had an attitude you could see in his walk as he strode down the dock. He went inside the boat, with us all on the dock, and stayed inside for a half hour, coming out and bringing me aside to question and give me a hard time for the next while. So much for welcome back to Canada. We had nothing we weren't allowed and eventually he let me go, as we were in compliance with everything. We were not happy to hear we had to quarantine for 14 days, even though we were all fully vaccinated. Fly or drive in and there was no quarantine, but by boat it was the same as if we had not been vaccinated at all; government logic. I'd worked for the government long enough to not bother trying to reason with them.

The 2 agents left and we did as well heading up the river to get a little closer to home. There was now strong winds blowing astern all the way up Long reach. We headed to the protected water in Caton's Island, where there are always available free mooring balls. New Brunswick has lots of mooring balls that are help yourself, as long as you know where to look. There were not a lot of boats here today, no doubt due to COVID as many boaters never bothered to launch, and even less were out using them. During this trip, I had still been fairly grumpy after dealing with the agent with attitude. I had started to calm by now and we had supper in the cockpit with a few beverages. We were happy to be cleared in and in New Brunswick, only a few hours from my own mooring ball in Douglas Harbour. 

August 2, fresh brewed coffee in the french press and another great breakfast made by Suzanne being complete, we headed to the fuel dock to top the tanks. American fuel is always cheaper than Canadian, so this was my last chance to buy fuel at a discount, so we were going to squeeze it in. We got to the wharf, near the lobster weighing area, and climbed the ladder the 20 or so feet to the top and went inside the building to let them know I wanted to top up on diesel. The guy came out and lowered the fuel hose over the side of the wharf so I could reach the deck fill. We couldn't really see him while filling, so Suzanne stood on deck and shouted up to let him know we were ready to fill, and Mike filled from the hose, while I dipped the tank so we would know when it was full. Fuel now done, I grabbed our fresh water jugs and topped up. This is water we use for cooking and drinking. We still had lots of water in the tanks, but I wanted to give these a good clean before we used them for consumption. I did drop some javex in when we first started out in Vermont, but it had sat for a couple summers, so we decided to use jugs we knew were good till we got a chance for a deep cleaning. We were now ready and eager to start the day. Today, we enter Canadian waters.

We headed out of Cutler, with Suzanne's IPhone still sitting on the ocean floor under our mooring ball we used the night before. Her Instagram emoji still showing her at the location, and would for the next few days. Some people expressed concern later as we no longer posted and the emoji never moved. Davy Jones now has full use of the phones texting and internet plan. I hope he can get better reception than we had with roaming. Out the harbour entrance dodging lobster buoys as we went and headed into the Bay of Fundy. We headed towards Canadian waters as there are no lobster pots. We did not see anymore for the rest of our trip. We passed Grand Manan Island to our right and continued on to Dipper Harbour, New Brunswick. It was another cold trip as we left Maine, and the Bay of Fundy is not known for it's warmth either. We hoped to see some whales since Suzanne is an Ontarian and has not had the chance to see any before, other than in 2015, when I brought her on a whale watching tour out of St. Andrews, NB. She did see a Minke at that time, plus some seals and dolphins. No luck today with whale watching, just a few dolphins and seals, all of which were camera shy. 

We got in to Dipper Harbour, which is not much more than a wharf to tie up fishing boats. We couldn't go ashore here because we had not cleared into Canada Customs yet. We had the quarantine flag up, and the American down. We were getting low on supplies at this point, and Mike called a friend that lived a short drive away. He and his wife showed up with more than we expected. Fresh eggs, bread, bacon, etc will make our morning easier. The wine they brought would make the evening happier. I happily offered to pay him for these supplies, but he refused any money, and was happy to be able to do this for us. It was very much appreciated. The harbour was deserted with numerous boats tied up waiting for the next season's haul from the ocean. 

August 1, we were up and off a bit later today. There was no hurry to leave early in the morning as I generally like to do, getting miles underway early. We are now entering the Bay of Fundy area, and the tide is as important as watching the weather. Tides here are the highest in the world and you have to pay close attention to this. The currents will fight you making the trip difficult if not impossible. We are off to Cutler today and it will be our last American stop before we cross into Canada. A cold trip again today across the long coastline of the Gulf of Maine, but calm. We are very surprised that we have not encountered any fog along our trip so far. We had expected to have some heavy fog days as we travelled the Maine coast. Nobody likes being in fog, and it can be dangerous, so we are happy with having clear weather daily. I don't have radar installed on the boat yet, but it is a priority. We entered the picturesque little harbour and chose a mooring ball to spend the night on. It was heavy with sea growth and after Suzanne and Mike had us secure, I think we had half the ocean on our bow deck from the lines. It was a bit calmer in the harbour and it had protected us from the cold wind, making it more enjoyable to sit out in the cockpit. We had supper outside, as we usually do. Sitting with a sundowner after supper, Suzanne was excited to be snapping pics with her phone to capture the views of this pretty little stopover. I thought I had a great pic from my side, so Suzanne handed me her phone to capture this moment. I took the phone, leaned back to press the the button for the capture, ....and the phone slipped from my hand. Bounce, bounce, ....splash! Uh oh!! It fell out of the cockpit, and slipped off the deck into the ocean. I glanced over and watched it swirl around as it drifted to the ocean floor. I'm in trouble, I thought! I looked back at Suzanne, who I expected would be upset. She was giving me the death stare, but surprisingly calm and much better than most would be. It is an addiction for many and the most important thing some people feel they own. I am very happy that I had taken Suzanne's phone and downloaded all the pics from our trip off of it the day before. Having a phone for keeping in contact was no big deal, as we rarely had any service while travelling, at any part of our trip. We will be doing it in a different manner when we travel again. Maybe pick up an American SIM card at our first stop, and use that while in the US. The phone was overboard, and it was deep with no chance of recovery. It wouldn't work anyway and would only be a SIM card recovery. After several apologies, we moved on to enjoying the night looking at the Cutler harbour. Yes, upon return home I did buy her a new IPhone 11, so an upgrade from her 6. A very pretty stop, but as with Winter Harbor, there is no services here. This is a small fishing village, with no stores, washrooms, or anything except a small fuel dock that the local fishermen offload their catch. I have attached pics, but some are from the internet. Another day done and tomorrow we will be in the province of  New Brunswick, Canada and happy to be nearly home.

July 31, early mornings are the theme in boat life and I was up making coffee, happy our new solenoid was working wonderfully. Appreciate the little things in life! Suzanne had breakfast made shortly after and it's nice to have the stove working again and having a warm meal. We were ready to move on again, so I went ashore to pay for the mooring. I brought the garbage with me to dispose of, then went inside to find a building steeped in history. The desk was in a wooden room filled with bits and pieces of hardware for boating, mostly fishing hardware, etc... I paid the lady the $30 fee and headed back to the boat, ready to get a little closer to the Canadian border. We were close now and getting eager to be home. It's great to be out to see new parts of the world, but the longing to be in your own home always returns. We headed East out of the channel into Penobscot Bay and towards our stop for the day at Winter Harbor dodging the insanity of floating lobster pot buoys in our path. The weather was fair and the day uneventful.

Entering Winter Harbor, we headed towards the inner harbour to the fish Co-op to fuel up. This was obviously a working dock for fishing boats with the dock being a steel grate with pieces of rope tied in the grate. We tied up, with more care than usual to ensure the fenders protected us from the steel. We filled with diesel and asked the guys about where we could tie up for the night. He gave us the phone number of the guy in charge of the harbour and he allowed us to use the big yellow mooring ball at the beginning of the inner harbour. No charge for using this. It was a big rolly being a bit exposed, but a safe spot nonetheless.  It was light winds and definitely colder in Maine than the other States we had passed through so far. These little towns along the coast are very scenic and enjoyable to pass through, but be prepared to show up well prepared. There are generally no services to speak of, with the only things to go ashore for is a nice walk along the beach and to enjoy the scenery. COVID is still spreading and we were happy enough to stay onboard most of the time in our own little bubble. The winds eased through the evening and it was a calm night on the water.

July 30, it was an immensely better start to the day today with fresh brewed hot coffee. Mmmmm. Why do people start their days with no coffee? It's dire times when we don't begin this way. With breakfast finished, I called the Boothbay Harbour pump-out boat at 8 am sharp , on channel 9 when they started their working day. No problem! They did not take long to arrive and the little boat showed up with 2 guys and we were done. The US seems to have a lot of boats like this for use as pump-outs that I don't see any of in Canada. I wonder why? Afterwards, we tossed the mooring line and we were off to North Haven. Now that we have been in Maine for a bit, I will talk about the lobster pots. Oh my goodness, the lobster pots! You can nearly walk on the buoys for these pots from one side of the state to the other. The big thing to watch for with these is that there are two joined buoys for each, about 20 or so feet apart. Between these two buoys the line lays like a skipping rope under the water, just the right depth for your propeller to snag. Snag one rope and you are done for the day, till you either dive on the prop, or get towed in and have the rope removed. The entrances to harbours and in the harbours are littered with pots. Maine has an exceptional number, much more than the other states we have passed through. They are randomly placed, so it is an obstacle course, and you are always on watch. I understand that each resident is entitled to have 6 pots set, and I am confident even the newborns have their 6 out.

We entered the channel of North Haven from West Penobscot Bay  and made our way into the harbour in search of a mooring ball. The mooring field was pretty full up, but we did locate a ball after a couple passes and called in to Brown's Shipyard. After a few calls on the VHF, I got someone to answer and they said to just come in to pay for the mooring, no hurry. There is no reservations here and it is $30/night. They also run a ferry service across to Vinyl Haven. Sounds like a tomorrow job, I thought. No Dockwa, this shipyard is definitely old school. The channel is very busy and there is an assortment of powerboats, fishing boats and sailboats, both wooden and otherwise. It was now late in the day, and supper, a few sundowners, and the night was on us. Tonight we tried 19 Crimes wine, and this red was our favourite. We would be happy to have 19 Crimes be a sponsor. Mmmmm. Suzanne was much happier with the weather today and had full confidence she would survive till the morning being gently rocked to sleep by the soft waves.  

July 29, early mornings usually start out the same now, waking just after light and heading into the galley to turn on the kettle, filling the french press with fresh ground coffee beans and hot water. There are several different methods for coffee, and everyone has their own "correct" way to do this, with even instant being an option. Today when I turned on the propane stove, there was no flame! Fuse panel propane switch on? Check? Wait a bit to let propane through? Check. Could I be out of propane? I didn't think so, but I have a spare tank, so no worries. I went on deck to check the tank to get my day running again. Looking at the tank, I found my problem quickly. Near the tank top is the propane solenoid and the magic smoke was coming out of it. Oh no! Once the magic smoke comes out, that's it for electronics. You can't put the magic smoke back in. No coffee this morning! We set off for Boothbay Harbour as it had services and supplies available and we were on the hunt for a new solenoid. Cold breakfast and no coffee today, but I will sort out a better morning tomorrow, somehow and someway! It was very calm seas today as we travelled and it was not a long day to our new port.

Once in the harbour, we topped up with fuel and were told how to schedule a pumpout; call channel 9. They have a boat that comes around in the mornings, 8-12. We picked up a mooring ball from Boothbay Harbour Yacht Club for $40, and set off ashore. Suzanne and I started laundry at the yacht club, then walked towards town in search of parts....and coffee. We went to Boothbay Harbor shipyard and walked into an open building that I saw a wooden boat under restoration. I explained what I needed, and the technician phoned the parts manager. He came by and met me, taking us to his office and sourced the part. He had 2 places and it could be delivered in the morning maybe. Rockland had it, but could not deliver till Monday, darn. I can pick up today till close, but I had no car, obviously. A young couple having a late 1800's boat restored overheard and after a brief conversation offered to drive to Rockland and pick it up. Wow! They were off and Suzanne and I walked the short distance to downtown, grabbing a bite to eat and, of course, coffee. We shopped for a few trinkets in the very touristy area and headed back to the boat in a cab. It was raining heavily on and off. We sorted more laundry and talked with Mike, who stayed onboard. Another cab out to meet the young couple, who refused even gas money, and we had our part. It's rare to find these people nowadays, and they were certainly appreciated. The shipyard and our cabbie here were fantastic, as was the store cashier. Great people in this town. We bought a hot supper to return with at a local food stand near the shipyard and we, just barely, made it back for the final 7 pm water taxi. Whew! 

We ate supper from the food stand while it was still hot and I set off to install my new solenoid. I was determined I would have hot coffee in the morning. Solenoids are simple devices and installs, so I got it wired up quickly before it got dark. I was back down to the stove and "click...poof", we have fire! The world makes sense again. Tomorrow there will be hot coffee. It's a happier place. Celebratory wine was had by all.

The weather front that was bringing all this rain brought lots of wind as well and it was an uncomfortable nights sleep. Suzanne was undecided on boat life at this point and wrote this to her mom......in case she didn't make it. :)
"Thought you might enjoy my midnight ramblings. Your photos and videos won’t load and it’s hard to stay connected other than to post updates to FB on my roaming plan. Free wifi is impossible out here. I will look at all your photos when I can. Here is some reality from my boat. Another loppy night. This time in Boothbay Harbour, Maine. The boat is secure on a mooring, but my stomach is really uneasy , as the rain pelts down on the boat, and the wind swooshes her around in a up down, up down, crazy eight, up down, up down motion. Joe's sleeping soundly... Of course he is! Lol He could probably sleep just as soundly in a ditch, under a plastic tarp, with a wet log for a pillow, but I wake him. It’s shake him gently, or crawl over him to get my seasickness pills, and I figure shaking him is the lesser of the two evils. He has unbelievable patience and I know he wants me to enjoy this boat life with him. I do so far, for the most part, but let’s just say, there is a price to pay for adventure! All those sunsets and beautiful afternoons in a hammock, and candlelit dinners under star filled skies, come at a price and I’m paying right now! The winds pick up even more, around 57 km/hr, the weather network said, and even though we are in a protected harbour, it doesn’t feel, it as the winds whip through and around us. I hear the splashing of the waves against the hull. I’m not too scared yet, but I’m writing to my Mom so its certainly a rough ride and very unsettling with all the hard rain and tossing about,I just can’t settle enough to find sleep. Up down, up down, splash splash, crazy eight, crazy eight, swirl, swirl…repeat. The wind is loud and there is creaking that I’m unfamiliar with, as well as some banging that confirms I didn’t stow my galley away as well as I should have… I start burping. The first signs of seasickness Mike told me the other day, so I eagerly chew on the little orange pill Joe offers me. Unfortunately its the non-drowsy formula. It’s 12:15 and I need sleep. Joe suggests turning on a movie to keep me distracted. Great idea! I pick The Bourne Identity, low and in the background. I’m thankful we have a TV in our little aft cabin. I can barely hear it, but I don’t need to. I love all Matt Damon movies and can glance over at any time and know what’s going on. It’s a good distraction but it’s not great that it starts out with him floating lifeless in an angry sea…lol I snicker to myself as I realize most of the other movies we brought onboard are all sea related adventures gone badly. lol Master and Commander, Jaws, Cast Away…Geez Suzanne, what’s the matter with you?! This was the least tragic at sea movie if you can believe it! I need to rethink my move collection. A good cartoon would be really nice right about now. A Bugs Life, Toy Story or that movie with Scrat chasing the acorn..Something funny…*gulp* The wind is just howling now and bashing us around. I wonder what force waves these are. Bounce, bounce, bounce, pull pull pull to the port side. We swirl into another couple crazy eights. I think this is the worst storm yet but I can’t see out it’s just dark and water splashing. I turn on my cellular data to check the weather. No service.... what a shocker! lol I bet it’s pretty spectacular though! Whitecaps and all! Joe’s heavy rhythmic breathing tells me he’s sleeping again and I’m so jealous. Glad though, for there is no need for us both to be tired. We hope to travel 43 miles today in the direction of home. It’s almost 2:30 now and we’ve settled into a more gentle rocking motion. I like that, but it’s short lived. And the howling winds and turbulent seas continue well into the night. I didn’t get sick and I’m safe and sound. By 3:30 the boat has settled into that familiar gentle rocking motion. My eyelids are feeling heavy and I know I will be able to find sleep soon. I feel like I’ve gained experience points today, but if this is what it’s like more often than not, it’s a deal-breaker. I won’t tell Joe that though. I imagine having the animals onboard during that, all the sickness, and scared little guys. It would be cruel to do so. Thanks for keeping me company during the storm. Turns out, writing was the best distraction. Xx"

July 28, we were up and went outside to assess if there was any damage to the boat as it got dark after last nights storm and this was our first chance to get a good assessment of how we faired. Other than a missing boat hook, it was in good shape. The main sail halyard did come unhooked and was now a bit of a snarl. Freeing itself on one end, the wire halyard had been tossed even more than the boat had been and was now wrapped around the backstay, mast, spreaders, etc. This was a snarl that would take some time to straighten. The weatherman from each service all disagreed on how our day would be today, and we headed out with a loose plan of where we would finish our day. We were now in Maine, and that state touches New Brunswick. Yay!. Maine does have a lot of coastline though.  Wells, Kennebunkport, and Biddeford Pool, were all options. It was poor weather as we left and the winds made it pretty lumpy, lessening later in the day. As the weather improved, we opted for Biddeford Pool. We entered the harbour and picked up a mooring ball. The Biddeford Pool Yacht Club has fuel and water available, but no pumpout. Due to the strong current, they only do this at slack tide. Water was all we decided on as the fuel was $6.40 a gallon. No thanks, I'll wait till the next place. We paid $40 for the ball on Dockwa and went ashore in the water taxi. There is a cute little clubhouse with lots of trophies inside from it's history, as many clubs have. We showered and walked a short distance to a small store that had fish and chips and a few grocery items called Goldthwates. It was okay, but took an awful long time to come. We sat outside at a picnic table with a lot of people there having take-out and ice creams. It is a very scenic place and it was now a warm and sunny evening. This is a small town and not a lot in this area if you need to come ashore. We got back on the water taxi, no charge here, and were back on board. Another enjoyable evening and ready for the next days travel.

July 27, coffee and breakfast at a bit more leisure pace today and we got ready to pass through the Blynman Canal  which is certainly worth a trip through if you can. This is a pretty, although short journey. After breakfast we threw off the mooring lines and made our way over, calling on the VHF to ask permission to enter the canal. There was some bridge construction as we entered, but easily passable. Through the canal there are many waterfront homes, and moored and docked boats. It was very scenic and one of our favourite spots to pass along during our trip.

We exited the canal and made our way to the Isle of Shoals, to moor in Gosport Harbour. This tiny group of islands, ten kilometres off the US coast, straddles the border of both New Hampshire and Maine. We arrived here noonish and picked up a mooringball. No charge for the balls, but there are not many of them. Now moored, we had lunch and enjoyed a lovely day of sunshine and a warm breeze. Suzanne tried out her new hammock we bought, on the bow, lightly swinging while reading a book. We all enjoyed the afternoon and by now needed a break in our schedule to recharge. We then had a BBQ and supper in the cockpit, watching the skies darken. There were several tour boats that came in to the dock here and they went ashore for brief periods. There are no services available here for transient boaters we were aware of. There was also a large wooden training boat there for most of the day, that left around supper. It seemed to have a bunch of late teens aboard, and they were swimming around the boat when we arrived. Work and play helps learning and it's good to see young people involved in sailing. After supper, the skies were getting pretty ugly and we watched a group of boats which looked like it was doing a yacht club race night (Portsmouth maybe) in the distance. Mike and I, watching the race night mentioned they must have been getting their butts licked as the storm front passed over them. That's when we noticed that this big ugly shelf cloud was heading directly at us. Oh my! We were up and getting things tied down and tidied up. All hatches closed and it was not long before it was on us. We went below decks as the torrential rain hit us, and the wind grabbed the boat and threw it wildly in all directions. I was glad I was on a mooring at this point, and hoped it held. We held on below and watched the other boats swing with the wind. It was our first big storm to be caught in and luckily we had been prepared. Although exciting for a brief period, it was mostly uneventful with nothing broken, or lost other than one boat hook that I had missed stowing properly. Night came and we stayed below. Stories were told and the seas calmed to give us a good nights sleep.