First Migratory Boats

Shelburne Bay, N44 25 W73 15
(09/19/05) All day long I noticed sailboats heading south with their masts down. That means that the Canadian sailors are beginning
the migration south for the winter. That’s two weeks earlier than the geese pass here migrating north.

We met another cruising couple this morning. Erik and Julia were walking near the pier and stopped to admire our boat. They had
cruised in the Caribbean, the Azores, Scandinavia, Europe and the Faeroes. Erik was Danish. They had a lot of very interesting
stories to tell. Julia went onboard Tarwathie to have a look.

Not much wind today. We headed north toward Burlington mostly sailing at 2 knots but sometimes motoring. I re-rigged the second
anchor rode. We tried hoisting our spinnaker for the first time ever. It has a sock for dousing, something I never had before on
any boat. The sock makes it somewhat safer because one can get the sail down even in too strong winds. I guess someday we’ll try
the spinnaker when there’s real wind at our backs.

Tonight is particularly nice evening at anchor. It’s warmer than usual for this time of year. The air is very still and we can
hear noises from far away. Often the joy of the cruising life comes in the early morning and at dusk when one’s surroundings are so
still and so pretty. Also, we always seem to have something interesting to watch. In Cape May it was the shrimp boats, in Port
Henry it’s the fishermen. In Burlington it’s the setting sun.

The weather forecast for tonight sounds dubious, so we have a hopefully secure anchorage.