Day 12, 29 May

12 visitors

Usually Cynthia writes the blog entry, but this time, I thought I would. This morning we left the Island at 0700. Normally this would happen Wednesday, but due to small craft warnings yesterday it was delayed till today. We moved our empty water and gas containers as well as other stuff down to the cove the night before, only taking our laundry, trash and small stuff down in the morning. We were lucky that the tide was low so we didn't need to use the dingy and Ethan could gently put the bow of his boat on the sandy beach. Once he does this starts the frantic transfer. Four people came over in the morning to spell us and perform a bunch of work on the Island; hence they are called Wednesday warriors. They quickly jump off the boat in the knee deep cold water and unload their stuff. Simultaneously we load our stuff and awkwardly get in the boat. Ethan wants to minimize the time his boat touches the beach. And off we go on the 25-min ride back to Popham beach. We both wear lightweight shorts and water shoes. On the way back I changed my clothes into Jeans and flannel shirt. The brisk breeze feels good. The swells were still pretty big from the day before. 

Diesel Tram Engine, I was being taught by Cyndy

It’s easier at Popham with small dock to unload. One of us goes and gets the car, we load up and off we go. We have 7 hours, which seems like all the time we would need. But it is very rushed. We briefly stop at Cyndy's home to fill our water jug and hug her big dog Hinckley. Cyndy, is on the island as a Wednesday Warrior and we saw her briefly during the transfer. She lives in a neat 200-year-old home. We then stop to have a coffee in Bath while we wait for the lighthouse office to open. At the office we take care of business (donations, gift shop receipts, get mail and other stuff). This time Cyn wanted to buy a few T-shirts and gifts for both us and to use as gifts. While she is doing that I run to the bank a block away and introduce myself to the organizations treasurer. She is going to get me a credit card reader for my iPhone to use in the gift shop. We went to Reny's (a really cool old fashion general store in an old building in downtown Bath) to purchase some throw rugs for the lighthouse and step stool. I bought some Crocs which everyone seems to wear at the lighthouse. Since Cyn's birthday was the day before, I droped her off at the Halcyon Yarn store. It is a very nice very large yarn store in Bath. She is in heaven. Some of the pictures for their very colorful and lengthy catalog were taken at the lighthouse!  I then take off for the laundry mat. Oh boy!  Start the laundry and head over to Roger’s ACE hardware, pick up a few items the lighthouse needs. Back to the Laundry to put stuff in the dryer, back to ACE to get a new air filter for the riding mower, the gas station to fill the gas cans, Walgreens to get a prescription (they didn't have it, will have to wait a week) and back to laundry to fold clothes. Cyn calls me that she is done at the Yarn store. She bought yarn for two sweaters and ordered yarn for a third. Pretty good timing. I pick her up and we get a few more items at Reny's. Then we had lunch at the Thai restaurant in town (Cyn loves Thai food and this was her Birthday lunch). Veggie Pad Thai noodles, spring rolls and Coconut soup with chicken. Very good food!  I then drop her off at the farmers market and Gilmore's Seafood where she buys supplies, I head back to the bank to take care of more business, pick up Cynthia and off we go to Shaw's Grocery store to get food. Pack up our food containers in the parking lot for transport to the island and then race to the dock at Popham beach. We get there minutes before Ethan shows up for our 1500 crossing.

Tram looking up

Reverse the process at the lighthouse unloading our now heavy containers and loading up the Wednesday Warriors. When we arrive there were 12 very colorful ocean kayaks on the beach. They were getting ready to leave. Cyn ran to the lighthouse to see if anyone needed a tour, I carried all our stuff off the beach to the base of the tram and then fired up the 2-cylinder Donkey engine, loaded the tram with our stuff and started it up the hill. Takes about 8 minutes to get to the top. Cyn stands at the stop and, using hand singles, tells me when to stop the tram. This was the first time we ran it by ourselves!  We carry everything

Irish Death Beer

from the top of the tram to the house, unpack and put stuff away. It is now 1800 and we are are exhausted. We watched the sun go down and had a nice relaxing evening with Sacatar at our feet. Cynthia finally got to enjoy her "Irish Death," a very dark beer Drew and Cathy gave her at the Dungeness Spit lighthouse which got dragged home to California and all the way to Maine.  Cyn started to knit a dress while I surfed the net. Watched the news at 2200 and then called it a day.