Wednesday, June 21, 2017 – Summer Solstice
Today is the Summer Solstice. It is a day where Brian and I would try to be out on our boat enjoying the sunrise and sunset on the longest day of the year. We have enjoyed this day on Long Island Sound and as we have been cruising for the past 3 years, we also enjoyed in North Carolina. Today is a little different, even though we are surrounded by water, our home is not swaying with the waves. I did wake up to a beautiful sunrise, Brian very rarely is up for the sunrise on the island, it is usually just me, the dogs, and a cup of coffee. If it is not foggy, the sunrise never disappoints, however, this morning it had a lot of pink/red in it, so again the sailor’s old tale, sailors take warning.
Today was yard maintenance day. It takes Brian and I about 6 hours to get the grassy areas cut and trimmed. This doesn’t include any trails. It did keep up busy on what was to be our day off and the sun was out, seas were still up but the forecast for tomorrow definitely looks like we will get a day off. Our hopes are to get a bike ride in again in Portland along with a few chores like haircuts.
Before sunset, we made sure all empty 5-gallon water containers were down at the engine house, along with our laundry and back packs for shopping. This week we need to fill 4 water containers, it seems we ended up with 2 contaminated last week and we were getting close to no drinking water on the island. We now check the containers regularly and will plan ahead. Normally we only use about 13 gallons a week for drinking and yes, all the water we drink is carried up the hill. We are not looking forward to our return to the island tomorrow after a day off knowing how much heavy water needs to be carried up to the cottage.
I received a call from the USCG group we met a few weeks ago when they were out to the island to fix out light after the storm we had. They asked if we could report back to them about the Pond Island Light. It was reported to them the light was out but they were hoping for confirmation from us before heading out to that island because it is not an easy island to land on. They had the boat scheduled for the morning, but would rather know the light was out before making the trip. I think this is so cool getting to help the Coast Guard like this! I told them this was the first clear night we would have been able to see the island and I would call after 9pm to let them know it was dark.
We went up to the top of the tower for sunset to end the longest day of the year with what we hoped would be a spectacular sunset to match the sunrise. As always, even if it is a so/so sunset, it is great watching it from the top of a lighthouse! We did wait up in the tower until 9pm and confirmed with the USCG in South Portland that indeed the Pond Island Light was dark.
Guests today – 0
Guests total – 93
USCG – 0
