44:05.3N 68:48.6W

Saturday 24^th August

Another glorious day, with a northerly wind which suited us perfectly except that it was VERY light. We headed off out of Belfast around 0915 hours which was when we judged the tide to be right for us to slip out of this rather shallow section of the river.

On our way south we passed Dovka and Heather heading for Belfast which was a shame, but we had other arrangements, so we could only wave and chat very briefly on the VHF.

Sailing was rather frustrating but we did our best, sometimes just ghosting along at barely 3.5 knots in the light airs, but with the odd burst of help from the engine we ended up making good time down to Vinalhaven and again were pleased that we had our new big headsail. As we threaded our way through the lobster buoys and past dramatic granite rocks and islands into Seal Bay, we saw Ruffian already there sitting at anchor and so we made our way over and dropped the hook just in front of them.

They came over in their dinghy and together all 4 of us headed off to see if we could get ashore and take a walk. None of the planned options worked out, but there was a very smart jetty which clearly belonged to the big house behind it and so we reasoned that being nice Americans, they were bound to be happy about us using it to get ashore.  We approached it at the same time as a group of canoeists arrived and they pointed out the owner who was having a swim (18 degrees C). Turns out that he was the owner’s son and it was fine for us to use the dock, so we made our way ashore and headed off down the track.  It was not the most interesting of walks but it was at least some exercise and we did see a few interesting things along the way. On our return the owner and his wife came out to meet us and chat. They have had this summer home for over 50 years and evidently are very central to things on the island. Furthermore they were explaining that the gardens were looking a little ‘used’ because only a few days ago they had hosted a whole rally of yachts from the New York Yacht Club and as he had put it, “it seemed like half of Manhattan had come to visit”.  The New York Yacht Club is THE most prestigious yacht club in America as we understand things and so it seems our new friend is very well connected. They apologised for not inviting us to stay for drinks but they had two sets of ‘children’ and grandchildren staying and were a little bushed. The view from their property and buildings was truly wonderful – although you could not quite see either Serafina or Ruffian as we were anchored just behind one of the islands.

On our return to Serafina, we found Galadriel (John & Angela) anchored nearby and so we invited them to come along for dinner as well as Iain & Fiona from Ruffian.  We all had a great evening and we able to introduce the four of them to the delights of Mexican Train, creating more converts along the way – and Sarah failed to win again (she was last), but Iain, (Mr Competitive and a beginner to boot) was made up when he won overall!

Whilst we were outside having a few pre-prandial drinks, a Moody 40 called Sandpiper of Brighton came by and anchored close to us. We last saw Sandpiper in Turkey in 2009, but more significantly she was one of our two lead boats when Sarah and I were working in Greece for Seascape Holidays back in 1981. It was almost spooky in the morning seeing her and Ruffian (which is a Sadler 34) together. A real blast from the past!