Pepperrelle Cove just off Kittery point, ME.  This morning I was adrift, so to speak, wondering what I was returning to in Maine. Here I was, expecting to get out of my familiar habits, new frontiers, etc. and now I'm returning. Grateful to have home and friends to return to but/and.... now what? Hoping to keep some of the space, psychic space, I've enjoyed without pressure of "work" and jobs (volunteer or otherwise). Hoping to keep mornings sacred to meditate and be spacious...open space for important messages or.....intuitions.....or whatever. But the discipline to stay vacant!!! Odd as that sounds.

Classic sunset in Maine - Pepperrelle Cove near Kittery

 We had a great day of motoring with the wind on our nose. Easy, though, with mild seas. Careful decision making about York Harbor or Portsmouth  Harbor. It tickles me that I know some of the things to consider - tide, wind, time of day, etc. Reading some, comfortably while David steered. Being helms person some. Not able to get into internet to do homework. Picked up our friend, Ben Fowler, who brought Mexican take-out, and dined on a mooring with him. Great laughter. great remembering how we'd supported our parents as they passed. Wonderful sharing of difficult times and some of our regrets, knowing we all did the best we could. Getting colder. Ready to get back to Freeport and see what comes next. Sweet "sail" today. Reading interesting book The education of Oversoul Seven by the woman who wrote the seth books.

David & Nancy excited to leave Gloucester after 4 days waiting for weather to change

Annisquam Villege where Don Tison used to live

Lighthouse at entrance to Annisquam River

Just home from dinner with our friends Diane and Don who have packed up their Gloucester house and have moved to Long Island. Chinese take-out, champagne in plastic cups (celebrating the sell of above house) and a SHOWER for David and me. Wow! What good friends.

Used Toni's gift of the change purse full of quarters, plus some of my own, in the laundry mat today. Now we have clean towels and undies and jeans! Laundry mat was just up the road and a nice one, too. David tackled some wiring, successfully. Now we each have a cigarette-type plug at our seat in the salon so we can recharge our various tech instruments without creating so many tripping hazards. What a guy! Other "home" improvements - I finished the hand work on another cushion today and scraped some more varnish off railings.

It was great to have bright sun this morning, after a night of wind and rocking and rolling. And, the just past full moon on our walk back from Diane and Don's was wonderful. Mild, welcome day/night.

Thinking we may leave this port tomorrow late morning. We've been befriended by Val who works here. She gave David her card and said, "Now you call me when you get home. I worry." We'll check the wind/wave action before heading out tomorrow. I have that app (Windfinder) on my phone now, too.

Naming Grace. Sailing with Grace. This seems an appropriate topic following the, for me, very disappointing election results. 

When we purchased the boat she was named Dreamer, a name that did not resonate with us. Sounded a bit adolescent, an age neither of us misses nor would choose to return to. What sort of name would be more appropriate to our stage in life, our ambitions for journeying with the boat, and something about personal values, philosophy, spiritual beliefs.

We each made lists of names and compared notes and brainstormed off of each other’s ideas.  Pearl, Blue Pearl, Compass Rose 2, Rescue, Sanctuary, Home, Maggie, Audette, Jewel….there were many more now gone from memory and we can’t find the various lists. David came upon grace, Amazing Grace, gracious, graceful.

Grace – elegance, beauty, poise, blessing, kindness; grace of God, living in grace; referencing dance, how we’ve managed to compose our lives over many years without specific, conscious plan and goal, ….  The boat IS elegant with lovely, sweeping lines. She is sturdy and strong. We are her keepers, her stewards, as she is ours, keeping us safe in the water.

David and I are well aware of our long and hard work (David with his numerous skills and me with mine) and the contributions of our ancestors that make our position of relative wealth, good health, and privilege possible. We are grateful. We know so many people who have worked equally hard (or harder)  who are not as blessed with good fortune and good health and privilege.  

Grace seems to fit where we are now and where we hope to remain...”in a state of...in the presence of... living through/with/in...grace” 

So, we named the boat and honor the grace with which we are blessed.

Totally weird "title" to last post. And it happened again. Maybe because I'm composing in Word and Copying and Pasting??? Anybody have insights?

Nearly full moon, muffled by clouds a little, off our aft deck. We’re comfortably situated in a slip in Gloucester, MA, plugged into “shore power” so we’re not draining our batteries or propane supply for light and heat. Ah, the good life. But what day is it? Is this lost-the-day syndrome due to “Ah, retirement,”  “Ah, cruising,” or "Ah, age."???

 

(left: Scituate Light)

We finally left Scituate yesterday around 1 PM after testing, adjusting, purging, testing again the fuel filter system…getting the air out. We continued to check the filters throughout our 4 hr passage back to Gloucester. The passage was easy enough but we had to open the engine compartment to check the filters. Big, powerful engine is extremely noisy when the compartment is open. Amelia took up drinking!

We arrived in the  Gloucester harbor after dark. Oh boy, another stress for this helmsperson since I don’t see well at night. The reflections on the water add to my vision challenge. David provided sight and navigation. I followed the arrow on the electronic chart (GPS). I was reminded of flying by instruments as a kid and my Dad’s admonition to “trust your instruments” regardless of your instincts. Worked for us many times in my childhood and for David and self yesterday. We picked up a mooring in this somewhat familiar harbor and slept comfortably.

Today…fuel, head pump out (some lovely young dock hands in Cape Ann Marina in the Blynman Canal end of the Annisquam River), negotiated a slip that feels snug for the coming rain and wind, a loooong walk to the other side of the harbor to visit the Maritime Heritage Center and finally a ride on the public bus to the food store and back with a friendly bus driver...dinner onboard.

 

Rain predicted tomorrow and winds way too high for us to consider leaving port. Another opportunity to plan a different “escape” to a warmer climate this winter.

In spite of election results which I believe were based on people’s fear… I’m

feeling blessed. Hope others are, too.

David makes contact. Harbor lights in background.

Oh woe and bother. Much conversation, soul searching, weighing options and timetables - great disappointment and a bit of relief, we're postponing our ICW dream until next year. Starting back to Freeport tomorrow which will probably take a week or 10 days given the weather. Thanks to all who've lent support of so many kinds to our ambitious journey. We plan to pick up the dream earlier next fall after making even more improvements to our water home and transportation. We've already started the winter work list for Grace.

At the moment a beautiful day in Scituate. We're getting a bit of air out of our fuel system. 

 Our powerful Ford Gustavson engine plus a different view of Capt. David, the mechanic.

Way easier to do this sitting in a slip than on a mooring. We've purged those nasty mud-dobber wasp nests from the air vents which will, no doubt, help but are now checking all the hoses for any kind of leak or obstruction.

How Amelia deals with any stress she may have.

Awoke to SUN this morning and it took a while to realize that the wind was still blowing a gale, but from a different direction so we weren't getting whiplash as has been the case for the past two days. And, really, sun does make a difference in attitude. Late breakfast of French toast since we still weren't going far...only across the harbor at low tide. We (David!) negotiated a slip complete with electricity (i.e. electric heat and lights) and SHOWERS. We unshackled Grace from her mooring and motored over. Landed with help from our friend, Gary Powell, who joined us onboard for lunch and some journey planning. Gary is familiar with the CT coast and Long Island Sound and beyond. Some good advice and encouragement.

A walk to the hardware store for door insulation, rather than the chaffing rags we've been using, and a short walking tour of Scituate. Then Louise and Paul joined us for wine and snacks before dinner. Toasty in the Pilot House with Amelia snoozing between us. I wonder if the red navigation light causes by passers to think they are in the red light district.