End of our 2017 Maine adventure

All good things must come to an end - or at least a pause.  Back in Rockland, Latitudes was hauled out of the water at the boatyard.

We began the arduous task of unpacking the boat and backing the car for home.  It's always hard - what do we take, what do we leave, what have we forgotten.  You can see the pillows in a ziploc bag on the sofa.  Taking all precautions against mildew next spring!  Bottles and bottles of antifreeze line the foot of the sofa.  We used over 30 gallons to winterize Latitudes.  That's the tail end of one of the sails peeking out from under the table.

Smokey was her usual helpful cat self.

To help you appreciate the unpacking joy, take a look at the picture of Latitudes on the hard.  We use the 6 part pulley hoist (that we use to lower the dinghy motor) to lower the heaviest bags down initially. Then we haul out the rest of the bags from the interior of the boat and put them in the cockpit, where the yellow cover is over the instruments.  From there, we move them to the outside back of the boat.  Then down the boat steps.  Then down the ladder,  Then into the car.  Endlessly, it seems.

With last spring's mildew problem being still fresh, we did everything possible to cut that down this winter.  Linens, etc, in sealing bags, 4 huge tubs of "damp rid" inside the boat, 3 bottles of lestoil concentrate in bins in the sinks, and 3 jars of VERY expensive gel that is "guaranteed' to keep down mold and mildew" (and highly recommended by friends).  We have asked that larger ventilation vents be cut in the shrink wrap when it is done.  Fingers crossed!

Car packed with bags and an unhappy cat, we left for home, 1000 miles south.  Luke had a great suggestion - to stop in Wiscasset for one last Maine lobster roll.  Red's Eats had a line of at least 30 people, so we stopped across the street for an equally good and not quite as expensive roll, at Spragues.

We stopped at a pet friendly hotel for the night, had a nice dinner at Friendly's, and settled in.  Smokey is never really happy in strange hotels, but this was worse for some reason,  By 4:40 a.m. she began crying, caterwauling, and pacing.  We got a very early start to our final push home....

And we are home!  Smokey is happy, Luke is happy, and I am certainly happy.  Vacation is fun but there is truly no place like home.