Some fog, dinghy trip, visiting, and finally off the dock

Time for some catching up. 

The weather continues to be far less than perfect. So what do you do?

Why make lemonade of course. These are grandkids Mitchell and Charlotte (the smaller pair) with friends a week ago. They made $56 - nice business I would say.

So back at Robinhood the weather has been still less than perfect. And we need to make our own lemonade so to speak. With the day being foggy I decided that this might be a great photo op - trust you agree.

You will notice from his pose that even the Chief seems rather fed up with the weather.

This is a rather handsome small craft - as you can tell from the laundry hung out that there is no washer and dryer aboard - but I would have to speculate that it will be a rather long time before the washing is dry.

Several days ago the weather broke long enough to give a couple of fog free hours. We decided to take a dinghy ride to Five Islands. From the blue dot to the orange one is about 3 miles. It was a nice little sightseeing excursion.

Here is the approach to the Five Islands area

And there is an osprey family in this day marker as well.

The shore front

The harbor is a lobster working location

But the lobster co-op also does run a seafood shack that is very good. We had already had our lunch and thus were not tempted to buy a lobster roll that I am sure would really dent the wallet as the price of lobster is over $14/pound compared to recent seasons that it was at $5/pound.

This is a really neat cottage on one of the "five" islands. It looks like it hasn't been opened up this year.

As the weather was going to be lousy for this past weekend we arranged to meet some more cute grand  kids. So off to Wolfeboro we went on Saturday. Bree was sporting a funny moose shirt. I called Rob, her dad, "Moose" when he was young.

And Lauren is the baker of the family. She also is a dancer (Lauren - be sure to read all of the post!) and is constantly moving so she can eat some of her creations and still stay in dancer shape.

Fresh whipped cream for the muffins - yum.

And let the frosting begin!!

And of course we need to dress all of our barbie dolls for the fashion show!!  I always smile watching Nana with the girls as upon hearing that Madelaine, our first granddaughter, was born she rather worriedly said, "A girl!! I don't know what to do with a girl! What am I going to do with a girl????" To which I laughed and said, "I'm sure you will figure it out!!"  I would say she did rather nicely wouldn't you?

I'll take two please!!!

And today Monday, we finally got a few days that look promising so we headed out and decided to hang out in Boothbay. It was nice and we did the tourist thing on a still cloudy - but fog and rain free day - wander the shops. Our best buys (and only ones except a calendar for 2022 at Mung Bean) were at the hardware store where Faye found new burner liners for the boat stove and wood soap for cleaning the wood in the boat and at home. Now that is some tourist buys if ever I heard it.

But the amazing event of the day occurred following our walking out of the main shopping area and over to Bristol Ship Yard. It was formally called Samples Shipyard for years and years.  I noticed in the office building a sign indicating a shipyard museum space. So we ventured in for a look.

 

This photo shows Boothbay in the 1890s = look at the ships anchored in the harbor!!!

And do you know what this is? Think fishing nets - and long before plastic.

While we were enjoying the display a rather young (by my perspective) fellow came in and stopped to talk with us. It turns out that Andy is the new owner. He was extremely engaging telling us about the history and plans to maintain the yard with its focus on wood boat repair and restoration. He invited us to walk around the yard and ask anyone questions. I thought that was rather amazing. We did take him up on his offer.

The only sad part was that there was a large ship on the ways but it was under a big cover so we could only see a little bit of it. Here you can see the railway that they use to haul and launch ships.

Some of the extremely large timbers that are used in the ship.

And the rudder and propeller pocket.

As you see the cover masks most of the ship. By the way as I am writing this very sentence the Beach Boys song Sloop John B has started to playing on my shuffle. 

While we looking at the ship a fellow from the shop came out and asked if he could help us. It turns out his name is David and he is the yard superintendent!. He explains a little about the ship the Ernestina - Morrisessy  (be sure to check out this link) and asks if we would like a tour. YES PLEASE1

So here is the main deck. As it turns out the boat will essentially be completely rebuilt. There is only a small portion of the deck at the bow of the ship that will not be new. The ship was used a pattern and everything was then recreated - amazing

This is the manual powered winch capstan for raising the anchors.

The bow of the ship where the bowsprit will be added.

The ship is being fitted out as a sail training and research vessel. So there are a large number of berths being added. The forward area seen here is the traditional area where crew quarters where located.

And in this area is also the galley

In the middle part of the ship there are also berths. This is where the fish holds had been located.

Look at the size of the ribs. The idea is the reconstruction will be good for another century or two.

A modern engine and mechanical system.

And the stairs in the aft section that will be for captain and mates. Beautiful work.

How amazing was that!!

And some interesting art on the way back to the town dock.

And Lauren I trust you have read though this lengthy post. I loved this quote that reminded me so much of you. Your dancing is so natural that we can see you don't need to think about it - comes from within.

So we have played games back on the boat (seen in the middle of the picture to the left of the sloop) had dinner and watched some NCIS re-runs (but new to us). So you can see it must be time to hit the sack and say ....................

Good Night and May God Bless