Day 78 – The Home Stretch

We left Boothbay Harbor after saying goodbye to the great people we met there, and made a short 26 nautical mile hop to Harpswell Island, the last stop before our final destination of Portland.

Boothbay Harbor was one of our favorite stops and it was sad to leave, knowing we were heading out on the home stretch to Portland, and nearing the end of this amazing adventure. We anchored for the night in a quiet bay adjacent to the Harpswell Sound.

The reality that this cruise is coming to an end soon is bittersweet. On the positive side, we are proud of the accomplishment of making it this far and overcoming challenges. We are also delighted with the beautiful places we saw, the wide variety of people we met, and the seals, porpoises and whales we encountered. We’re also happy about seeing our friends and family back home again. We missed them, and and appreciate the support and encouragement they gave us. On that note, a special shout-out goes to the following people:

  • Judy – handled our mail and other business in Rochester
  • Alex – checked the house, watered the plants and started the cars
  • Laurent – handled the mail in Switzerland
  • Pete, Carol, David & Barrie – kept a vigilant eye on our house
  • Metrolab and BioSked colleagues – supported remote communication and flexed schedules

On the bitter side, we are going to miss the daily excitement of discovery, adventure and challenge. And we feel some anxiety about adapting to a normal land-based lifestyle.

This blog is NOT over. We still have the final leg to Portland and a few days to enjoy that city before we put the boat away. Then, we’ll experience something new, which is leaving it in a boatyard that’s not our home port. We’ll share some best practices on that for those of you who are cruisers. Finally, we are facing our first ever hurricane. Lee is scheduled to hit the coast of Maine on Saturday. Yikes!!!

Saturday forecast for Hurricane Lee

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4 responses to “Day 78 – The Home Stretch”

  1. Bernard Avatar
    Bernard

    I hope Lee will weaken a bit so it won’t have an effect on the boats and the houses near the coast in Portland.

    BTW are you planning to sail on the Atlantic from now on that you decided to leave True North in Portland, rather than finishing the Down East Circle Route to Rochester?

    It was really nice to follow you and your adventures thru that blog. Long life to it and cruising!

    1. dkerpnc Avatar

      Merci, Bernard. C’est la bonne question sur laquelle nous nous penchons en ce moment. On fera en tout cas une autre année sur mer. L’idée des lacs n’est plus très inspirante après avoir goûté à l’eau salée.

  2. Larry Kerpelman Avatar

    Is the “Another lighthouse” a photo of the Cuckold Islands Lighthouse? If so, here’s how it got its name (courtesy of newenglandlighthouses.net):
    This oddly named lighthouse is one of the last to be built on the Maine coast. The name Cuckolds, given to a pair of treacherous ledges at the entrance to Boothbay Harbor, is apparently after a point of land on the Thames River in England that was granted to a London man to assuage his anger after King John had an affair with his wife. The Cuckolds in Maine may have been named by a transplanted Londoner.

    1. dkerpnc Avatar

      Larry, Thanks. We were wondering! Before your forensic research, the question was left to our imagination and, I must say, the explanations we made up were much juicier than the real one! 😀

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