Southwest Harbour Maine.

Tuesday 7th June 2016.

Anne and I are here in Maine for a week now. Shelduck is on a Hinkley Boatyard berth at Great Harbour Marina. We are nearly ready to set sail.  Shelduck is having a free lift tomorrow to replace the galley seacock which was missed in their inspection while she was ashore. I am taking the opportunity to re-connect the sea water inlet with a new seacock. Hinkley are also attending to the engine impeller pump which needs replacing and the re-sealing of two hatches which leaked in heavy rain during Sunday night. We also discovered on Sunday, when we set up the new mainsail, that the reefing blocks are on the opposite side to the old sail so the three reef lines and the outhaul will have to swop sides in the boom.

Monday 30th of May.

Patricia drove me to the 14.30 Cork-Tralee bus. I had no luggage because I had delivered it to Tralee the weekend before. Anne collected me from the bus and at Alderbrooke we enjoyed a roast butterflied leg of lamb with Anne’s son Ian, wife Julie and her grandchildren, Lucas, Harry and Zelda. Then some last minute packing and weighing of bags and early to bed.

Tuesday 31st.

Awake and up at 05.30 and straight to Kerry Airport for the 07.30 flight to Dublin. We had four 23kg bags one of which contained the new mainsail for Shelduck. We also had a 2 metre plastic tube of sail battens which was not charged for but accepted as hand luggage. Anne’s hands were checked for explosives at the airport and we were both picked out for special security checking in Dublin airport at American pre-clearance. At the gate Anne was again picked out and searched. She had to kneel on the floor to put her shoes back on. For some reason Anne is often picked out for search when we fly. On this trip four times in three hours seemed a bit much including 3 x-rays of her shoes and a full body search. We enjoyed good flights and at Boston had great lifting help from many individuals as we moved our bags and batten tube from arrivals, by bus, to Hertz car rentals. At Hertz we met a very helpful young man who correctly said our luggage would not fit in the Ford Mondeo booked and upgraded us to a Jeep Cherokee. He came to the garage with us and loaded the luggage. I had booked a guest house at Bar Harbour, near Southwest Harbour, to help us recover from the flights. We had difficulty finding Anne’s White Columns Inn, a converted church, but with the help of elderly ladies out walking we arrived. The owner had gone home but he had left the room key and a message for us on the front desk. In bed, very tired and ready for sleep by 03.00 Irish time Wednesday, 22.00 Tuesday here.

Wednesday 1st June.

After a good breakfast drove to the Hinkley boatyard Southwest Harbour where we found Shelduck afloat with few jobs remaining. We then visited John and Mary Treanor at their home and were invited for cocktails at 17.30. On our return to Shelduck I was informed they were going to move her to Great Harbour Marina nearby where they had berths. She was moved at 16.00 and we drove round. At cocktails we met Mary and John’s friends Richard and Temple whom we had met, with Patricia, almost a year ago now. Afterwards Anne and I dined in a local restaurant.

Thursday 2nd.

I started Shelduck’s engine and noticed that the impeller area was still leaking sea water and reported it to Mark Brodeur our supervising manager at Hinkley. When checking my March list of jobs to be done I noticed the galley seacock had been missed. Mark immediately offered a free lift out to deal with it. During the afternoon we went back to Bar Harbour and returned our bedroom key, found in my trousers pocket, and did some shopping in an excellent supermarket there.

Friday 3rd.

I accepted an estimate from Hinkley of $500.00 + labour to replace the Impeller pump. Nothing else has had to be replaced to the engine since I bought it in 2003. I also ordered covers for the fenders and bought a 6 foot plank to protect them when against rough walls. I received an email from Mike Saville, Mayor of Halifax, whose mother Margaret was a sister of Bernadette Perry and Cecelia Woods. I had met Mike’s late parents at a Perry wedding anniversary party in Baltimore. We will meet him and his family when we get to Halifax early July. At 17.30 Mary and John came aboard for cocktails and dinner which we all enjoyed.

Saturday 4th.

Little wind so we set the genoa and prepared the boom for the mainsail. Later drove to Bar Harbour to buy the 2016 edition of the famous Eldridge tide and pilot book and did some more provisioning. Dined aboard.

Sunday 5th.

Windless foggy day which we spent putting on the mainsail and later dined well on steak and roast stuffed peppers.

Monday 6th.

We continued rigging, pumped up the dinghy, rigged up the 6 foot plank. Enjoyed a beautiful meal at Mary and John’s house.

Tuesday 7th.

Early visit from Mark Brodeur checking and getting ready for the lift out tomorrow. Later we will go to Bar Harbour for more provisioning.