Heading south

sunset in Cranberry Harbour
Originally uploaded by rosailither.

We are now well on our way south. We day-hopped down the coast from Eastport, keeping a good eye on Hurricane Florence offshore. We were safely inside the shelter of Penobscot Bay when it passed – still way offshore but the swell made itself felt, sadly a couple of lobstermen were lost off the coast.
We motored as far up the Penobscot River as we could go, up to the big town of Bangor. I’d been looking forward to a shopping spree but found the main shopping mall was miles out of town and all we could find was a decent hardware shop!
There was a big grocery store nearby so we decided to take advantage and stock up on heavy stuff. We filled a shopping trolley to the brim and were headed across the high street to unload on the pontoon when a wheel lock flipped down and jammed the front wheel of the trolley, stopping us going any further. We’d been caught out by a very effective ‘trolley security’, activated by bumpy pavements and designed to stop trolley theft!
The security guard was initially unsympathetic and suggested we catch a taxi, which seemed rather extravagant for 500 yards. He finally took pity on us when we explained our predicament and pointed to the boat visible at anchor. He disappeared around the back and found us a discarded trolley from another supermarket (with no wheel lock) and we were soon back on our way.
A nicer surprise was in store for us when we reached the pontoon and were greeted with hot pizza from the guy on the next yacht who was coming to the end of two years’ sailing the ‘Great Lakes Loop’ with three dogs and a cat on board!
Back down the river to our adopted home ground of Islesboro and Belfast, where we arrived in time for a fantastic free fireworks display in honour of a new pedestrian bridge across the river. We then spent a week doing woodwork (laying a new floor inside the boat), and the worst job of all - saying goodbye to all the people we’ve met who’ve given us such a warm welcome.