Oh No, Not My Favorite Hat

Rockland, Maine
No LL

My favorite hat blew off into the ocean yesterday. We turned around to retrieve it, but just like most such attempts, we returned to the spot just in time to see it sink below the waves. I could have dived into the water making an underwater search in the cold cold deep, but I wasn’t *that* devastated.

The hat was a gift from my daughter in law, Cathy. It said Barrow Alaska. I treasured it because no one else in my circle of contacts wears a Barrow Alaska hat. I’ve worn it for more than six months, which is remarkable considering that the half life of most of my hats is much less than a week.

The good news is that it blew off because we finally had some good wind. It blew 20-25 knots yesterday, the best wind we’ve seen in Maine this year. We took advantage of it to sail from Northwest Harbor back to Rockland. Nick expressed surprise. It took us two weeks including a lot of motoring to go north from Rockland to Northeast Harbor. Now the return trip took only 10 hours under sail beating up wind. We found it exhilarating.

On the return trip we took routes and narrow thoroughfares between islands that we hadn’t seen before. My oh my, Maine seems to have a limitless wealth of scenic beauty and picturesque locations. Ever time I think that we’ve seen the best, we turn the corner and there’s another view even more pretty. Now I have a new list of places we’d like to explore further on our next trip here.

We are definitely on the southward migration path. Northwest Harbor will mark our maximum northing this year. We have to return Nick to his parents by August 29. Our plan is to get to Portland or maybe Portsmouth. We’ll leave the boat and rent a car. We’ll drop Nick off in Vermont, then continue to New York to visit my sister Marilyn. It has been a year since we’ve visited her.

Meanwhile, my poor brother Ed and sister in law Sally, who live in southern Brevard County Florida, wound up in the epicenter of tropical storm Fay’s downpour. They got 25-28 inches (71 cm) of rain in 24 hours. Their house is OK, but everywhere around them is just water. It is so flat there in Florida that I imagine that the water will not run off to the rivers and the seas very fast at all. It’ll just sit there, and when hot weather returns it will become like a steam bath.

I haven't managed to contact Albion yet. I was worried about them on their boat in Marathon in the Florida Keys as Fay passed. However, Fay didn't get that close to Marathon so I presume they had no trouble.