Day 102, 27 Aug

Very Few Visitors if Any

Cliffy Area of West Side of Island out North Trail

We had quite the cluster *&^%$ (a military term related to SNAFU) this morning as to going ashore. Last night it didn’t look good but then Ethan said he would check in the morning to see what was happening. We didn’t get his text message that he was indeed coming to get us – it happens sometimes that we don’t get the messages coming through. There was mass confusion on the part of the other Wednesday Warriors and no one came out on the ferry because of it. Ken did go out with Jeff to be here and work, thank goodness and we saw them at Popham departing when we arrived. We need to have someone out here to look after Sacatar when we are gone. We departed about 45 minutes later than usual and Ethan wanted us back at the dock at 2 Pm due to the increasing bad sea states that were predicted. We scrambled in the morning to do our usual preparation and also to pack up stuff to take off the island for our trip home. We felt bad having Ethan wait as we got our stuff together. He was the ever-present gentleman and welcomed us aboard the Guppy from our little dinghy with our stuff. We said good morning and had a quick chat with a gentleman on his pretty sailboat that had spent the night in our cove. We blasted off to the main land

Jewel Weed Blossom on North Trail

on a bright sunny morning that wasn’t too bad with the swells – yet.  Onward to Popham and we unloaded our few things to the car. We stopped at nearby Spinney’s for a close and easy breakfast of traditional eggs Benedict. Off we went to drop off the recyclables at the grade school and then onto Cyndy’s to deposit the trash, get water and leave some of our stuff in her house. She was in residence, sleeping away but neither her nor Hinckley awoke. Good, even though we wanted to see them both we didn’t want to disturb their precious beauty sleep – HA! We blasted off to town to the office and greeted Catherine, she was busy with another lady teaching her stuff but I left her the week’s sales and gathered a bunch of new gift store stuff to bring out. Purple T-shirts! – OOOOOO!

So then we hit Bracket’s down the street for more Cherry and Apricot Brandy to keep us going in

Fred's Route Along Rocks to Cove

Singapore Slings till we leave. Then we went to the exciting laundry mat – Oh Boy! We did two big loads (6 sets of bed sheets!) of wash and dried and folded them and finally got out to get lunch. We went over to Fat Boy’s In Brunswick – a local old-fashioned drive in place with delectable cheeseburgers – our favorite kind of eatery. We had yummy cheeseburgers with sweet potato fries for a filling lunch. We then hit the Shaw’s grocery for the few things we needed and headed back to Popham. We past by Cyndy’s house and didn’t stop since her car wasn’t there. We did regret not giving hugs and kisses to Hinckley. We got back to Popham and stopped in Percy’s store to get a Mountain Dew and continued on to the dock where Cyndy was waiting for us. We unloaded our stuff and I drove the car back to the church and parked it there in

Lobster Trap Bait Bag (We Think)

our spot. As I was walking back Ethan pulled along side with his truck and I hopped in with Pepper as my seatmate. We got back to the dock and I ran down the pier to the boat to join Fred and Cyndy. We had a fun ride in the big swells smacking the Guppy around a bit. I love sitting in front of the boat and taking in the glorious ride with the salt spray sprinkling over my face and watching the ocean scenery. I love looking at Beauty standing guard atop her island domain guiding everyone to safety. I will miss her intensely.  There she was with her 2-mile view off in the distance, beckoning me to come home to her. I am always so happy to come from shore leave and see her shining and welcoming me back.

We got back with Ken and Jeff on the shore ready to leave and a family of visitors with their dinghy. Ethan nosed

Buoys Found Along the Seldom Used Route

the Guppy on the shore and we jumped out and they jumped on and we transferred gear at our usual frenetic pace.  I watered my flower boxes at the kiosk and boat ramp and continued up the trail to the house. Fred had started the tram and I gave the hand signals to stop and got the cooler off first with the frozen stuff (pizza and ice cream) and carried it to the fridge. Fred brought all the other stuff to the house. I attended to Sac and gave her a walk around the house and then proceeded to water all the rest of my veggie and flower gardens. The weather has been warm and sunny and they needed a bit of moisture to survive and thrive.

After their care I ventured into the gift store and supplied it with our new inventory. I called my friend Pat back home who ordered a bunch of T-shirts that

Old Mooring Ring Along the Rocks

were no longer available. I told her what we had and adjusted her order. It was so nice to chat with my old friend from work. I then grabbed the computer and went up to sit with Beauty and sent Catherine and email about Pat’s order and started to work on today’s blog. It was quite warm sitting there in the sun with Beauty and I ventured down to the living room and continued to work there with Sac napping blissfully away.  While I was doing that, Fred ventured out on the North trail to check its condition.  He called me from the tip and said the trail looked good.  He then did something he hadn’t done before.  He walked or rather climbed all the way from the north tip to the cove via the rocky coast.  It was quite difficult and very slippery.  He did this while actually carrying some really neat lobster buoys he found on this seldom-traveled route on the island.

Looking Back Where Fred Traveled

I cooked up Sac’s chicken and gave her dinner. I then hurried down to the cove to look for sea glass at low tide at around 7 pm. I stayed for about ½ hour again till my feet got too cold. I found some nice pieces including a large chunk of freshly broken cobalt blue. Since it was getting dark I went back up to the house taking one last look at the empty cove – I will miss that view also. I arrived at the house to see Beauty starting to shine in all her glory and took a few pictures of the faded sunset in the pretty western sky. Time to dig out a carrot and get lettuce, cilantro and chives for salads. Tonight would be easy with salads and French bread pizzas and a glass of wine. I worked on my knitting a bit in between pizza and salad and finally was too sleepy to continue and took a nap. Got up in the night finally to get to bed but first going outside to admire Beauty and the peaceful night and seas. I finally fell asleep with dreams of sailing on a sleek sailboat along sleepy islands in an azure sea that melted into an azure sky.