The Reason for Coming Home Now

                         
                                      3300 miles... and....this one moment.....made it all 
                                                              worthwhile!
                     
    One of the major reasons for bringing the boat home is my grandson, Blake.   At age 5 Blake was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a particularly nasty form of brain cancer.  He underwent 12 hours of brain surgery and over the last two years has withstood the horrors of full spinal cord radiation treatment, full course chemotherapy, a centrally placed venous access device and a peg tube (a feeding tube place directly through his abdominal wall into his stomach). He has overcome his post surgical imbalance and incooridantion  and though frail is still able to laugh and joke and sit on his Pappa's knee and drive the boat. Two years ago when I was holding him he asked if he could go for a ride on my boat...I promised him yes..... we went for that ride this weekend.

                                                                                   
                                                                                  

                                                                             

                                                                                  
    I honestly didn't think I would be able to fulfil that promise, but as I cuddled him in my arms and sat him on my knee to drive the boat this weekend, I felt extremely fortunate to be able to be with him and thankful for the Canadian Medical System that achieved such a great result.
   As the grandchildren, Kathleen, Joey and little Miss Faith tore through the boat giggling, laughing and wowing at the seals, porpoises and one whale they saw blowing, their parents kept their promise to not get sea sick and seemed equally thrilled to see the bay of Fundy from a boat perspective.
     We anchored off of Pendleton Island for a barbecue of hot dogs, red snappers (a distinctly down east form of hot dog) and hamburgers. The boys, Nick and Geordie, recalled former days when we would bring them here to swim in the warm salt water swimming pools formed with the right tide, on the inside of Pendleton Island.  One challenge lead to another and before we knew it they jumped off the boat into the frigid (52 deg!) ocean water...not quite how they remembered it from their youth! Both appeared to be talking in high squeaky voices after the event!

                                                                                   

     We broke out the fishing poles but the kids were not lucky enough to catch anything, even though we tried their idea of putting pieces of hot dogs on the hooks.
      As the temperature started to drop with the lowering sun, we cruised back to the dock, tired and thrilled that we could spend a day with family.

                                                                               

                                                              Everyone was tired!!

                                                                                    

We are looking forward to future family trips  into the Saint Croix River Valley and along the Fundy coast this summer.

The Canadians

     Its been a long time since we got to party with our Canadian friends Joan and Brian Narrowmore.

                                                                  Joan and Brian
                                                                                   
      We introduced them many years ago and wound up at a party at my then residence ...a camp on the ledge in St Stephen's N. B.  That introduction culminated in them forming a long term relationship doing something we all swore we wouldn't do again....get married!
   We met at the boat in Eastport along with Marshall and Ruth Lucas, Joe and Cindy McMahon . and Brian's daughter and husband, Frank McCallum and Staci. They brought salads, vegetables,cheese and fruit platters and of course adult beverages and we supplied the hamburgers, hot dogs and barbecue.
    The sun was bright and warm as we left the dock at Seaview campground but the air chilled as we entered the open water to Passamaquoddy Bay and got down right cold as we exited into the Atlantic past Head Harbour Light House. This didn't deter the Canadians who sat openly on the sun pads out front, braving the chilly breeze to try and spot a whale. We glided past harbour seals, cormorants and lots of porpoise as we entered Head Harbour.

                                The Canadians!!!! Stacey, Brian, Joe, Frank, Cindy and Joan.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

                                            Head Harbour Lighthouse and "The Wolves"

                                                                               
                                                                     Harbour Seals

     Head Harbour is a scenic working (fishing/lobstering) harbour that is very secluded and protected from the wind.  We quickly warmed up and they got the photo op of a lifetime as we exited with Head Harbour Light House standing proudly at the entrance to the bay. Joe actually knew a girl who lived at the lighthouse when she was young.  Her father was the light house keeper during the early years, before things became computerized.

                                                                                
                                                                          Joe

     We meandered through the islands around Deer Island, avoiding the ferries and struggling somewhat against the tidal currents to enter Little Letete Passage.  Rocky granite and sandstone cliffs were topped with towering evergreen trees that added an extra fragrance to the pure smelling salty sea air. The passage is narrow and though not a fiord, gives one the  uneasy feeling of being up close and personal with the towering cliffs.  We rounded the point and easily glided into an anchorage off of Pendelton Island. 
     The party began in earnest, after an impressively rapid consumption of Black Velvet Whiskey and Beer. The occasional roll of the boat from passing whale watching cruises didn't deter the dancing and frivolity on deck.  There were a few stumbles, but no significant injury and everyone was enjoying the music when Stacey decided to relive her youth and go for a swim in the frigid water of the Atlantic.  Now we are not talking a quick jump in jump out dip.....no, a true down home Canadian is much heartier...she went for a 20 minute swim around the boat.

                                                                                      

                                                                                  
     As the sun sank in the western sky we turned on Jimmy Buffett and watched from the upper deck as Joan and Brian and company danced most of the way back to dock.

                                                                                     

      They had drivers waiting for them at the dock knowing that they probably wouldn't be able to navigate their car safely home. With hugs and kisses we said goodbye as they playfully laughed and giggled there way up the hilly driveway to head home.
 Beth and I looked knowingly at each other as she commented,"I bet there will be some headaches in the morning!"
      "Probably not." I replied. "After all, they are Canadians."

Best Friends

     I have known Jay and Karyn Hinson for over 30 years and they have been special to me since day one.  Sitting in my newly acquired family practice office one cold, blustery winter morning in 1983, I received an urgent call from Karyn requesting I make a house call, since Jay was having significant difficulty with depression and would not come in to town to visit a physician. They were not patients of mine at the time, but it sounded serious enough that I acquiesced and found myself trudging through hip level snow into a home Jay had designed and built, known throughout the area as "the tower". We immediately became friends and eventually I wound up living with them when I went through my divorce.
     The tower was octagonally shaped and 3 floors high with sliding glass doors that opened on to balconies on the river side, allowing expansive view of Devil's Head and the Saint Croix River. The third floor which had soft carpet covered stadium seating, opened to a balcony that had a ladder leading to the roof.  The roof had a railing on which one side had a green navigation light and the other a red.  From the river this gave the appearance that the tower was a huge ship coming across the cliff to the river.
     Music was piped in to all the floors with a stereo system that Jay would claim was so exquisite "you can hear the saliva dripping from the french horns!" The second floor had a player piano which accompanied many a hoarsed voiced singer into the wee hours of the morning. Fun, romance (I treated a few rug burned knees from the 3rd floor) and drama, all combined to make this a secure refuge from the work world, but the biggest attraction was Jay, himself.
     Jay was the owner and publisher of not one but two newspapers, the Calais Advertiser and the Machias Daily News.  He is known for his articulately written cutting editorials, his intriguing photography and his love for music, jokes and storytelling. It was he who in fact sealed my fate for the love of boating. He once told me a story that put an image of boating in my mind that still fills me with the romance of boating in down east Maine.  At the time his son Eric was just a small child.  Jay, after putting up with the pressures involved with running two newspapers would come home late, bundle up his sleeping boy, and take him to the boat, "Page One".  After Eric was placed in a warm comfortable and secure spot, jay would start the motors.
 "Ralph. You have never seen anything quite as beautiful as the sparkle of the moonlight off of the splashing sea drops as you throw off the mooring line.  Its serene and liberating at the same time." he reflected.  He would then mix a cocktail, put the boat on automatic pilot, turn Frank Sinatra on the stereo and glide along the smooth moonlit water arriving at Eastport as day was dawning.
     Together we survived divorces, child rearing problems and the vicissitudes of politics in town and at the local hospital.  I have only been able to see Jay and Karyn intermittently over the last years because of my working in Texas, but at age 90 talking to Jay is as easy as when he was in his 60's.  He is still quick with a joke, a friendly smile and hug, and it is as if there is no time between our conversations...we just pick up where we left off.  I have been promising him that I would get the boat home and take him for a cruise, and last week we did .   It was thrilling to have him name and describe the islands with their own unique beaches and stories, and even though we have heard most of the jokes before...he still tells them with a flourish.

                                                                                 
                                           30 year conversation continues                                                    
                          

                                                               
                                                          Marshall, Ruth and Karyn       
                                                                                      

                                                                                       
                                                                Head Harbour Marina

                                                               
                                                             What do you see????
                

Most photographed Lighthouse....Head Harbour

                                                                                    
      Jay, getting you out on Doc's Holiday has allowed me to accomplish one of my goals in coming home....Thank you and Karyn.  Don't worry I will do the night trip without you.....but I have an exquisite sounding stereo system and all the music you want to hear...just in case you want to come along!
 

Getting situated down home

     Its hard to believe that we have been here only 2 weeks.  It seems we have done so much, so I will try and give you a quick update.

Seaview Campground

                                                                                  

                                                                                
     First we had difficulties with the batteries, they just wouldn't hold a charge for 24 hours.  When first installed the 8D (read huge 150lb truck size batteries) would allow me to anchor out for 2 days without running the generator to recharge them.  This was all important for someone who wants to listen to their stereo all day, keep the beer in both refrigerators cold and make and enjoy coffee in the mornings without the sound of a generator drowning out the morning bird songs. Now I had to run the generator every morning as the voltage was dropping below 11 volts overnight.
     Marshall Lucas, a very practical and mechanically adept person pointed out the obvious and said, "Just change them out.  Put in all new batteries. We can get them from Nappa and have it done in a day!"  Well, it would solve one problem...I had 3 gel cell batteries (which weigh 30 lbs more than the wet cell!)  Apparently it is a no no to have gel and wet cells in the same system and may be part of the reason we were having problems now. The other reason was likely that the batteries were 5 to 7 years old.  Given that I could buy 4 wet cells for the price of one gel cell ($760.00) we sent for the wet cells and with a great deal of exertion, we dove in to the challenge. (let me see....150 to 180 lbs lifted at least 8 batteries X 10 times each....I figure 1300 lbs we lifted that day! At least that's what I'm going to tell the grandchildren...along with when I was a child I didn't get a car ride to school... I had to walk to school in the wind and snow... uphill.... both ways!) Marshall and I both took 2 days to recover but I say, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger!" so I guess we are a little bit stronger, ugh!
     Why didn't I just plug the boat in to power?  This is true down east Maine.  There are no full service marinas, but there are some very resourceful people and Basil Pottle is one of them. Basil owns and operates Seaview Campground in Eastport, Maine.
 "No problem Ralph, I've got a dock and we will just run you some water and power right to your boat." he said.  It took a few days but he was true to his word and now I don't have to visit the boat daily to charge the batteries and my beer stays cold. 
     Basil is a true "down homer" and really deserves to have a whole book written about him.  He has been a fisherman/lobsterman most of his life and has successfully built a campground and, along with his son, is in the process of completing what will be the largest lobster pound on the coast of Maine.  Energetic, resourceful, a reputation for treating people fairly and a hard worker, Basil can be found each evening in the kitchen preparing superb down east seafood, served well and fairly priced.

                                                                               Basil                                                                           

     Frank has been a fixture of the Seaview scene. His home is Fort Lauderdale in the winter and has helped Basil with the cooking, building and bar tendering ever since his first visit 14 years ago.  Friendly, informative, helpful and makes a cocktail that is worth the price. Together they organize weekend "all you can eat buffets, parties with  either a band or DJ, Luaus, and dances.  It is a fun place to be.
     

                                                                               
                                                                              Frank 

      It's rustic, scenic, and I can only describe the air as something you have to experience to appreciate.  If there is a healing power to the smell of sea air, this is the place you will heal. The air has a refreshing, clean, cool scent that is totally different from anything we experienced in our 3,300 miles of cruising.  Temperatures in the 80's and 90's during the day felt cool with the constant ocean breeze and no air conditioning required with temps in the 60's at night.

                                                                                     

                                                                       
                                                   Seaview Campground Sunset   

      A slight morning chill demanded a wrap with a blanket as we sat with  steaming cups of hot coffee watching the morning mist rise from the calm sea water.  Peaceful, serene views of Deer Island, Eastport and Campobello Island reminded me of the reasons I call this home.
     For you cruisers following this blog, I hesitate to tell you to head this way because I enjoy the solitude, the remoteness, and the feeling that I have this mostly to myself...but I would feel selfish and remiss in not advising you stalwart cruisers to come on....come enjoy the scenery and and pure down home friendliness of the Saint Croix River Valley and Passamaquoddy Bay.