Tonight a storm moved in just at sunset creating the most beautiful curtain of pink in the sky. Meanwhile, commercial fishermen were unloading their catch. Itching to see lobsters Jenny & I went to investigate. Turns out the lobsters they were unloading were, in fact, sea cucumbers.

For the uninitiated, I give you an except from my tome in progress: Nasty Things I Have Encountered:

• Sea cucumbers live on the bottom of the ocean.
• Fishermen in Maine drag the bottom to turn catch them.
• They have a suction-tentacle-foot-thing on one end.
• They can be long and flacid or contract to a grapefruit-sized lump. 
• They can throw-up themselves (turning inside out).
• They stink.
• They are nasty.
• To the initiated, they apparently belong on a menu. These *beauties* are headed for the Asian market. I hesitate to include this in the food category.

Be warned. Clicking the thumbnails on a full stomach is not advised. 🙂 

[Show as slideshow]

Quinlan, Jenny and I arrived at the boat today. We flew into Boston to visit with friends, and then drove up to Maine to rendezvous at the boat. I was really impressed at how capable and comfortable Geraldine really is. For her part, Quinlan adjusted quickly to the quirks of living and sleeping on a boat. Apparently blueberry pie goes a long way in convincing her that life on the boat will be sweet! A highlight for her was taking a bath in the cooler. Between that and woof-woofing at all the dogs on the dock, she is in heaven.

On Sunday after church, we took a tour of nearby Acadia National Park while mom and dad finalized the boat. Having been to many of the “trophy” parks in the west, we found Acadia to be lovely, but missing the jaw-dropping wonder and scale of places like Bryce Canyon and Yosemite. Still, the place has a magic and quaintness to it that makes you want to stick around to try and determine which cute ice cream shop in which cute town takes the tasting trophy for Mount Desert (appropriately pronounced Dessert) Island. But it’s not to be; on Tuesday we shove off for Canada.

[Show as slideshow]

Here are some more shots to show you how Olive fits on the flybridge.  The chocks that hold her need to be fiberglassed on so the dinghy has a permanent place to sit solidly.  We plan to leave the dock Tuesday, 6/24.  They have some electronics issues to work out and chocks to complete and we’ll be ready to fill the gas tank and take off. That credit card sizzle will add to the global warming!

[Show as slideshow]

Randy, Jen and Miss Q. come in today and will see Geraldine for the first time.  Since we aren’t leaving right away they will have a chance t check out Acadia National Park and get a hike in.