We are on the hook (anchored out) just out side of Portland, Maine; you can almost see the dock.  We had a few extra days before we clear customs and can enter the US again.  This time we are doing some varnish and other maintenance on the boat.  On working ships like these there is always work to be done.

      It’s the first beautiful day we have had in a while; Canada was beautiful when you could see it through the fog.  We are drying out our rain gear, and pulling out t-shirts and shorts again.  I think I might be able to recover my tan that had faded while in Canada.

      One great thing about having some extra time like this is that we can have classes aboard.  There is a great exchange of knowledge about lots of different aspects of sailing. Today we had a class about air patterns, wind movements, what the sky looks like, the weather and how to interpret weather charts.  There is always lots of hands on learning and teaching here, as we are a sailing school vessel.