Arrival at Rockland, Maine

6/2/12: We are up and on our way early.  It is a short drive to Rockland and to the boatyard where our motorsailer is stored.  The boat is out of the water with its masts down, and still "shrink-wrapped" for winter.  This is the first time I have seen the boat, other than in a photograph.  Conrad flew here a year ago to check it out before we bought it, and see if the boat was really as great a deal as we hoped.  To me, seeing it at last, and out of the water, the boat looks enormous: set up on tall saw-horses, all wrapped in white plastic-like material, with its keel exposed.  It seems a bit surreal, and very exciting, that this is actually our boat!

Although the gate to the boat storage yard is open, no one is in the office or the yard.  It's a rainy, windy Saturday and not a great time for anyone to be out working on a boat.  But me?  I'm dancing in the rain!


Me and Our "Shrink-Wrapped" Boat; the Masts are in the Foreground



Now we need to find somewhere to live while we work on the boat.  Since we left Grand Teton National Park over a week ago, it has been raining or threatening to rain every night, and we have stayed in a series of motels.  But, we don't want to pay motel rates while we are getting the boat ready for our sail to New York. 

I'm the delegated spouse to go to the Visitors Center in Rockland and poke around for information on the area and living accomodations.   I acquire a list of vacation rentals from the center, and start calling the ones that look small, hoping someone might want to rent to us at a bargain price since it is not really the tourist season here yet.  I leave voice mail messages at what sound like property rental services, but on one call I reach a real woman on her cell phone while she is shopping.  I'm thinking that this is a rental agent but no, it is the property owner.  We very quickly strike it lucky!  After she has time to think about it for a bit, she invites us to meet her at her home.  (She likes my "bubbly" voice.)  She has a charming old cottage and a four year-old home on the same piece of property in Camden, within a few miles of our boat, and we end up with the house for half the price of the cottage through the end of June.  "Phyllis" says she has never done a rental this spontaneously but she feels good about us.  She has been talking to flakey people all week, saying "no" to all of them, and is worn out.  She likes and trusts us (it's that bubbly voice).  July and August are busy and her property is booked for then, but she is happy to make a deal with us for June.  Everyone's happy!

And to top  it off, Phyllis will be living next door in the cottage and is a hoot!  She's an artist, has a shop in Camden, takes care of a 99 year-old woman several hours a day, and a 60 year-old woman with multiple sclerorsis three hours a day.  Phyllis is our age and a dynamo; unending energy, upbeat, talkative, happy, generous, funny....  I could go on and on.  I write a check and we agree we'll move in tomorrow. 

Our Last Night in a Motel

We spend our last homeless night at the Claddaugh Motel, recommended by Diane at the Visitors Center - and it turns out to be the nicest place we've stayed so far.  Our Irish hosts have created a cozy, welcoming retreat.  It is pouring nonstop outside, and we are so happy NOT to be in a tent.  Instead, we are all tucked up in a room upholstered everywhere with rose-covered fabric, and trimmed with red-painted molding and ceiling beams.

6/3/12: Phyllis calls at 7 a.m. saying, "Would you like to come over and take a hot shower?"  She thought we were camping and was worried about us when it rained all night.  Everyone needs a land lady like Phyllis!  We move in, unpacking our Tupperware-like boxes of clothes (4), food (1), and assorted other sundries (4), from our tiny tent trailer.  Phyllis thinks it is all a riot and can't believe how little we have with us.  She's already planning to take us to her son's four-star restaurant for lunch next Sunday.  It continues to pour and pour, and the wind blows and blows - it's a Nor'easterner - now I truly understand what that term means.  And, we have a wonderful home to cuddle up in while we wait it out!

 

69 Mountain Street, Camden, Maine - Our Temporary Home Away From Home.  Mt. Battie in the background.