Changing Weather

Rockland Public Library
NoLL

Yesterday it was beautiful. We had low humidity, blue sky, puffy white clouds, an occasional thunderstorm. Just before sunset we saw a beautifully brilliant double rainbow that extended all the way over to the other side of Penobscot Bay.

This morning, I wanted to go to the grocery store. I went outside. Surprise; the fog had rolled in. Visibility was only 100 feet. No problem I thought. I fished out the hand held GPS and programmed it to lead me to the dinghy dock (and back to Tarwathie for the return trip). Proud of myself for being so resourceful, I set off toward shore. Well, 60 seconds later I heard a very loud and very close fog horn. I immediately regretted not bringing our own fog horn in the dinghy with me. I nervously increased speed while visualizing getting run down by a high speed ferry.

I got to repeat the whole dinghy trip again when I discovered at the supermarket checkout that I had forgotten my wallet. The grocery store people thought it was amusing when I said that I had to row across the harbor to fetch my wallet.

After noon, the fog cleared. Libby stayed on the boat and I went off for some Navy and Coast Guard tours. As a well seasoned salt now, I'm interested in all kinds of boats. The Uss Whidbey Island, LSD 41, was the visiting Navy ship. Her wartime job is to transport US Marines and their vehicles to amphibious landings. She has a cavernous hold that runs for 2/3 the length of the ship. A huge door at the stern opens to admit the vehicles, and the LSD can lower herself in the water enough to flood that hold to allow the vehicles to float on and float off. She carries a crew of 391. That's impressive.

At the Rockport Coast Guard station I also got tours of some Coast Guard vessels. Most impressive is the 36 or 39 foot vessel they use for blue water search and rescue. Perhaps you have seen videos of those boats as they train in the surf at the Columbia River entrance. They can roll right over and right themselves right away. They are very serious, very seaworthy boats. I hope we never need to call any of them.

Tonight, Libby and I treat ourselves to lobster and sweet corn. Luckily for us, this year there is a big lobster harvest but reduced demand. The price of lobster is down to $5.99 in the store. That's less than the price for many red meats.

Today's big news is that we got a call from my son John. He is bringing his son Nick to Maine next week to go sailing with us. Nick will be able to spend nearly a month with us on board Tarwathie. Oh boy. We'll have fun. We may have to cancel plans to sail to Canada though because Nick doesn't have a passport. John is checking the rules now. All I know is that the rules about passports at the border to Canada have changed a lot, and that they are inconsistent regarding travel by air, car, or by boat.