Sailing the Red Accountan-sea on the Crimson Permanent Assurance

..singing the Accountancy shanty.....OH, hello there. Well you find me again this evening lounging about on the porch of the condo, listening to the sound of the waves crashing on the shore, and the tree peepers! Yes tree peepers, something that I haven't heard for 20+ years in Jersey.

Today was our sailing day and a chance to visit an island and go whale watching all at the same time. It was Dietrich's idea, although I will admit that I was leery about it. I'm just leery about most of Dietrich's ideas, naturally. The plan was to catch the car ferry in Rockport and travel 15 miles across the Atlantic to Vinalhaven Island (population 1,000+), spend 5 hours there and then sail back. When we got to the ferry station for our tickets, this sign started to confirm my fears. Check out the third rule from the bottom. Does this happen? Yikes.

The sea was calm today so overall the voyage out to the island was pretty good. No whales were detected. Vinalhaven isn't much of a tourist area, and there isn't a lot to do there, so we picked up a map at the ferry office and decided to tour the place, all 10 miles of it.

Almost immediately, Dietrich saw an abandoned quarry off in the woods that had turned into a blue hole. He insisted on going to see it. It required that we drive down an isolated dirt road, and then walk down a trail in the woods. I wasn't so hot on this idea. Suddenly every Stephen King movie about Maine popped into my head. I said "This is how every Stephen King story starts out, with the people walking through the woods on a perfectly beautiful day."

It turned out to be a quarry that the local residents clearly use as a swimming hole. No dome came down on us, and there was no glowing green object in the dirt that I felt compelled to dig up. I did however receive a text that the old-new job offer came through and I start the day after vacation.

Touring the island was actually quite nice. The views were scenic, with cottages, harbors and hundreds and hundreds, nay thousands and thousands of lobster traps piled on boats, barges, pick up trucks and in front yards. They no longer use those old wooden ones but rectangular metal traps. 90% of the country's lobsters are caught in Maine. If we'd thought ahead we could have brought along a bucket and purchased some lobstas right off the dock. 

Instead at lunch we headed to one of the only two restaurants that were open, the Harbor Gawker. This was an entertaining place. In the women's room there was a 'clothesline' that had a bra and underwear hanging from it. 

We both ordered the lobster rolls and summer ales, and the best onion rings made, ever. And then we went back outside and went to the ice cream window. In Jersey, there is a liquor store or pharmacy on every corner. In Maine, there are ice cream places. Everywhere. We actually saw two outside lines At the Dairy Queen back on the mainland. 

We located the only gas pump on the island, and then returned to the ferry for the return trip. We still didn't see any whales, but the ferry captain slowed down so we could see about 50 harbor seals sunning on some rocks. You'll have to wait to see those pictures. 

Got back to Rockport just in time to make a fashionably late appearance at the timeshare wine & cheese party. Since it was still a nice day, and the rest of the week it is supposed to rain, Deek decided to check out the putting green. This was a good move, as we got to see a Great Horned Owl that landed in a tall tree on the golf course. This is actually a photo of the snap on my iphone. 

Dietrich has turned off the outside porch light so I guess it's time to go inside. Until tomorrow!