Departure

     We had a goal of being in Portland by boat, on Sunday May 17th to watch our younger son graduate, but that didn’t happen.  We did get to the graduation, though, and can brag about our son’s accomplishments - phi theta kappa, high honors, highest GPA (4.0!) in his program.  So, Sunday: Portland by car.

     Monday, May 18th: it was a beautiful day - we both hit the ground running. We planned to leave on Wednesday May 20th. We brought a lot of stuff down to the boat.  A LOT of stuff.   Why did I ever think the bags and crates of food sitting in the dining room would fit into the food lockers on the boat??  Dan suddenly realized his list of ‘last minute’ projects was a lot longer than he thought.  My own list of what to do suddenly seemed overwhelming.  We did get a lot done, but it didn’t seem like it.

     Tuesday May 19th: the forecast was for a rainy, raw day.  Dan turned to me first thing and said “I need another day.”  I did too.  So we agreed.  We would depart on Thursday.  He spent the entire day in his boat barn/wood shop.  I spent the day in the house, boxing up what still needed boxing, and cleaning as I moved from room to room.

     Wednesday May 20th: People keep letting us know they noticed our satellite tracking shows the boat is still in Camden.  Is there anything we need?  Anything they can do?  We need sanity.  Maybe another twelve hours in the day.  Around eight pm, we finally moved aboard the boat.  All we intended to do was get the bed ready, a gymnastics feat as anyone with a forepeak berth knows, but made more daunting by climbing over and weaving around the obstacle course of crates, bags and loose piles of stuff on every surface.  

     Thursday May 21st:  departure day.  Sort of.  8:00 am - we’re sitting in Boynton McKay downtown Camden enjoying a leisurely breakfast. Dan says “Hey!  We’re officially in retirement!”   9:00 am - we’re back at the house.  One last load of dishes, one last load of laundry.  I clean out the refrigerator, find more food than I thought there’d be in the freezer, and remember there’s a litter box to empty and wash.  Dan works on more last minute projects in the barn.  12:30 pm - I bring the ice cream and two spoons to the barn and we have lunch.  2:00 pm - Dan and I make a dump run.  He says he’s almost done in the barn.  We get ready to lug the last car load to the boat.   3:30 pm - we walk up to the Camden Deli to split a sandwich.  6:00 pm- Dan invites his parents down to the dock to take pictures of our departure.  We aren’t really departing, but he has this thing about beginning a voyage on a Friday (bad luck) and all he plans to do at first is a mini harbor cruise and return to one of the floats for the night.  Dan’s parents dutifully take pictures and we all wave as if we won’t see each other for a long time.  We decide not to return to a float in Camden harbor and proceed on to Rockport harbor to officially call it a departure.  At 7:45 we call Dan’s father to come get us and bring us back to our car in Camden.  8:00 pm - we are back at the house, bagging up our foam mattress and memory foam topper for storage.  The house echoes and is pretty damn clean, and minimally furnished, ready for Lindsay, our renter.  8:45 pm - we are back aboard the Willie Dawes.  Dan installs the cabin door - a novelty, we never had one before - and we entertain the cat who is now perking up in anticipation of boat life.  10:00 pm - we’re in bed.  We haven’t gone very far, but we are on our way!  

     

Friday May 22nd:  After a few early morning errands, we set off from Rockport harbor.  It was a chilly day, and the sea was full of swells, but we made it to Boothbay Harbor where we are spending the night at the town dock after enjoying a great dinner at McSeagull’s, courtesy of Dan’s parents Alan and Marnie who came down to deliver some mail.