Wednesday
July 6, 2016
It’s off-island day again already! A whole week since last Wednesday has flown by and we were up at the usual 5:30am for our day on the mainland. It was really foggy overnight but we were happy to see when we got up that it had largely lifted and it was pretty clear. Sitting at the kitchen table eating bagels (received in the mail last Wednesday from our friend Jude in Brevard and saved in the freezer for today) and having coffee, we watched the fog roll in again.
We like to get down to the cove around 6:30 on Wednesdays to have plenty of time to get our stuff from Paco’s down to the beach, untie the dinghy move it and down to the edge of the water (and pumped with air if needed), etc. Usually, after we get everything ready, we have at least fifteen minutes to just sit and enjoy the quiet and peace of the morning with a thermos of coffee. Today was no exception and we had the lowest tide we’ve seen since arriving on Seguin giving us a large beach, made even larger with recent deposits of sand that have covered a lot of the rocks higher up towards the high tide line. It was an exceptionally beautiful morning to be down there – the sun was out, the fog was clear from the cove, and it was nice and warm. I just sat on a rock staring out at the water while Patty searched for sea glass and found several good pieces.
A few minutes earlier than usual, we saw Ethan round the northern end of Seguin inside
Ellingwood Rock and head straight for the cove. With everything staged to go, Patty climbed into the bow of Hinckley and I shoved off on a wave and rowed out to meet Ethan and the Wednesday Warriors by the closest mooring. This week’s Wednesday Warriors were Cyndy, Ken, Rick, Julie, and two people we had not met before – Floyd and Kim. We had all of our stuff with us in the first run out to the boat and the WW’s made it to shore in two or three trips including materials they were bringing for today’s projects. With good visibility and pretty smooth water, we made it to Popham pretty quickly and had our truck loaded up and headed towards Cyndy’s by about 7:20am.
As per usual, we hit the laundromat, hardware store, and Shaw’s grocery store and were
done with those three major stops before 10am and had until 2:30 to do whatever we wanted. We decided to go to Brunswick to visit a natural foods store Julie recommended called Morning Glory on Maine Street. It was bigger than the one we usually go to in Bath and had a good selection of the things we like to get at the one in Bath like fresh baked bread. Afterwards, we browsed up and down Maine Street checking out other stores and then drove a short distance over to Topsham where we stopped for lunch at
Sea Dog Brewery housed in what looks like an old factory along the Androscoggin River just below a hydroelectric dam. We had nice view of the area from the outdoor deck seating where we ate. Both meals exceeded our expectations (low expectations being the key to happiness) for a brewpub type setting and the beer was good too. Patty had blackened haddock tacos with a side of black beans (Cuban style) and I had a “Rachel” sandwich (essentially a corned beef special with turkey instead of corned beef) with fries. Beer-wise, Patty tried the Windjammer Blonde and I had an IPA.
After lunch, we stopped at Plant’s Seafood for scallops and a tuna steak and Swango’s Farm Stand for a few produce items. From there, we stopped at Cyndy’s to rinse the bleach water we left to soak in the water jugs earlier this morning and then refilled them with plain water. We also picked up our mail which included another care package from Jude back in Brevard – she’s really thoughtful and spoiling us with treats from home on an almost weekly basis recently. This week she sent some more goodies from the Transylvania County Farmers Market and Bracken Mountain Bakery in Brevard including Jalapeno brittle (sounds strange but it’s really good), and another kind of brittle, two types of cookies, and fresh baked English muffins. Yummy stuff!
Back at Popham, we were a little early but Ethan had two make two trips out to Seguin to ferry all the back and forth this afternoon so we wanted to be ready when he was. First stop was the dock where we
dropped our stuff off and Ethan was there helping a family of five get their stuff aboard for the trip out to Seguin where they’ll spend the night with us. We hadn’t expected to meet them until we got back to Seguin but they were running a couple of minutes late and we were a little early so we got a chance to say hi and also help them get their things to Ethan’s boat. We drove down to the church to park our truck, as usual, and then stopped in Percy’s general store for a couple
of beers to bring down to the dock to wait for Ethan to return. The sun was shining brightly and there were lots of people around Popham enjoying the nice sandy beach when we walked back to the dock where we took our sandals off and soaked our feet in the cold water while each enjoying a cold beer. Not at all a bad way to spend a part of the afternoon.
Ethan returned before too long with Kim, one of the Wednesday Warriors, then we quickly loaded up and headed back across the water to Seguin. We got a shore with our provisions and did the dinghy shuffle until it was just Cyndy and Rick onshore except Cyndy was still up top giving a quick impromptu tour of the tower to our overnight guests. Patty headed up the hill to take over and Cyndy headed down for me to row her and Rick out to Ethan’s. I think they were all headed back to Popham in the boat by the time I got ashore and tied Hinckley up.
It had been really hot on the mainland today (90 degrees +) and lower down by the Engine House where there was just a minimal breeze it was pretty hot. I sweated my way up the hill with my pack and the cooler bag (Patty had already gone up with her pack and the other bag) passing our overnight guests who were heading back down to go swimming in the cove. I was thinking I might do the same thing after we unpack but didn’t get back down before it cooled off. Soon.
After our guests came back up, we helped them get settled in and gave the dad
(Tom) and his two older children (Riley & Declin) the full tower tour – i.e. the history spiel – while the mom (Whitney) and their youngest (Claire) stayed down below chatting with Patty. Tom was full of questions, most technical in nature, and I answered as many as I could but had to say “I don’t know” for some.
With them comfortable and eating at the picnic table, we went back down the hill to the boathouse deck to relax from our busy day off-island and the first hour or two back on Seguin. The tide was super low again but this time we just sat on the deck and looked down at the beach and out on the water. When we were just reaching the top of the hill in front of the house, Tom and Declin were lowering the flag (we asked them earlier if they wanted to at dusk) and I was able to get a short video of them, with Whitney’s help, folding it in the traditional triangle.
We didn’t have a sunset because of thickening clouds but it was still a nice evening overall. Like several previous days off-island, we weren’t too hungry after our big restaurant meal so we had a simple snack/meal of fresh rosemary focaccia bread with brie that Patty melted in the oven.
I’d like to also mention that the Wednesday Warriors had a busy and productive day and
we’re the recipients of all of their hard work that is much appreciated. A new screen door that needed to be custom fitted is now hanging on the gift-shop doorway. It gets stuffy and warm in the gift shop but we haven’t been able to leave the door open because too many bugs get in – the screen door will be fantastic. We also have a freshly painted picnic table (not only for us but also visitors who often use it) and grill table. Half of the stairs up to the lighthouse (the “inside”) and some other areas have a fresh coat of gray paint. Finally, two replacement windows in the vestibule (windows with built in screens I might add) are now fully trimmed out and looking sharp. Thank you too all the WW’s who have contributed to these projects in the six weeks since we arrived and earlier.
Visitors – 9
Favorite Moment(s) – sitting on the dock in Popham with our feet in the water and a cold beer in our hands. Hosting the Cummins family from the DC area.
Sunrise – 4:53am
Sunset – 8:17pm
#Seguinisland #seguinislandlight #seguinislandlighthouse #maine #LifeOnTheRock
