Waiting for Irene

It is such a beautiful day.  Sunny, clear, warm.  The cold front passed through yesterday with the rain, leaving the gorgeous weather.  It's hard to believe that in 36 hours the first waves of Irene will be reaching us. The storm should hit around 1 a.m. Monday morning ---why is it always at night!!??

We are determined to enjoy it while we can.  The other anchored cruiser boat came over today and introduced themselves.  In true cruiser fashion, off we went to go exploring with them.  We are anchored in Snow Cove at Snow Island. Snow Island is a small private island, but the owners generously allow hikers on their trails.  Very nice.

As we got back to Patty & Roland's dinghy (actually a Fold-a-boat:  it does fold up!) we realized that there were mussels to be had on the rocks.  Low tide and lots of mussels.  We collected a couple of big bags full.  Here is Patty, gathering.

Back at the boat, we called the red-tide hot-line.  Sigh.  We are in 1 of only 2 areas in Maine that are at risk of red tide (causes paralysis or death....).  So, back into the water went the mussels.  Oh, well, it was fun gathering them.

Those Blue Angels yesterday?  Practicing for today's Mane Air show!  We  couldn't see the low maneuvers like the belly-to-belly passes from Latitudes, but we sure got a good show anyway.

Sun-downers with Patty & Roland, dinner, another check of the weather, and we are settling in for the night.  Even Smokey has finished with her wild evening romps up and down the boat.  Lots of mosquitos out there - she enjoyed jumping for them. 
So far we have convinced outselves that the worst this anchorage will see is  tropical storm conditions. We've done that a couple of times and aren't very worried about it.  Apparently others feel the same way.  The two boats anchored here have grown to 6-8.  We expect  more will drift in tomorrow.  Safety precautions are started - ropes around the jib to keep it from flapping open and tearing, ropes secured, most stuff brought in.  We went to the local marina today and filled up with diesel, gas, and water. If it looks like the storm will be worse, we can go to shore by dinghy (early, not after she starts!) and local friends will pick us up.  It's better to stay on the boat if we can. We'll keep you posted!