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September 5, 2013 Day 106  Back in the United States!

At anchor off Roque Island
Roque Island, Maine

What a day! We departed our mooring ball on the beautiful Grand Manan Island at 11:00 – in the rain - and headed around the north end of the island and then back down the west side, enjoying the view once again.

Love the colorful little puffins!

We spotted several dolphin, seals, and puffins but no whales as hoped.  At 11:50 (now back into our EST time zone), we entered US waters.  Richard, on Esmeralda was so excited he started sounding the horn!  Shortly afterwards, the sun came out as if to welcome us home!   Our biggest challenge was to dodge lobster pots – and they were plentiful.

Outbound anchored near us at Roque Island

Following Outbound past Libby Island Lighthouse

Carried Away at anchor off  Rogue Island

We arrived at our destination of Roque Island, an incredible setting with a white sandy beach and evergreen trees surrounding it.  It is part of an archipelago of islands and made a perfect first night back in the US.   After we all got anchored, we each took our dinghies to the beach and enjoyed walking on the beach and visiting with each other. The guys then helped Allan on Stray Cat fix a halyard on his sailing catamaran.

A view from our anchorage

We had a spaghetti dinner on board and then spent the evening reading and using our access to wifi to “reconnect”. 

It is good to be back in the US but we had an unforgettable time in Canada. We loved the small fishing villages as well as the charm of the large cities, the jagged coastline with cliffs and rocks, the colorful fishing boats, the local museums that proudly displayed their trades and heritage, the extremely friendly people, the sighting of several whales, seals, dolphins, puffins, shorebirds, the small shops with the talents of local artists, the seafood… and we will cherish those memories.  We were challenged by rough seas and fog at times and certainly had to be mindful of strong currents and large tide changes, but we, along with our friends on Outbound and later Esmeralda, who joined us, came through just fine, gaining more experience and knowledge!

Tomorrow we will go to Southwest Harbor (instead of Bar Harbor) and clear customs and plan our trip down the coast of Maine.