Timing our currents, we left at 9:30am and arrived at Guilford around 1pm. We were again making a somewhat short jump of about twenty miles. We were finally catching up to our friend Mick, who I mentioned, had told us about this New England side trip. He had been hanging out here in Guilford for some time and was waiting for us. I had spoken to him and told him we were on the way. He told me the dock master was aware and there was room for us. On the way I called the dock master to confirm and he told me “ A friend of Mick’s is welcomed and we trust him”. Wow. We found our way in to the marina and I saw that there was space, but it was tight. Not only was it tight, we had to back in. Ouch. This will be interesting with one engine and no thrusters. I maneuvered in to position and attempted to back in. I wasn’t confident on the first try and started to pull back out when everyone, including Lauren, said I had had it good. I continued to back in and got us perfectly in line behind Mick on Phantom. Both Mick and the dock master were there to assist and we were soon secured to the wall. We chatted a bit and lunch was in order once we got settled. Frank was walked and we met Mick for lunch at Guilford Mooring House. We caught up with each other and had a delicious lunch. Mick beat me to the check and picked up tab. I was not expecting that! We chatted a bit more and then returned to our boats. Later I rode with him to the West Marine to pick up some stuff and got a tour of the country side. Once back to the marina Lauren and I walked around town a bit then finally retired for the evening.
Day 2- Mick met me in the morning and gave me the keys to his truck. He was departing in his boat but told me we could use his vehicle to explore. Nice! We have not had a vehicle since I don’t know when. We drove to Walmart and a few other stores and really stocked up. This might be the last stocking of large major items like dog and cat food, kitty litter and the likes before we get home to Cleveland. It’s crazy to think we’re actually almost home- we’re still quite a ways away, but much closer to home than when we left. We filled the truck with our bulk supplies and returned to unload everything. Lauren had scoped our a place for dinner: The Place. This was an amazing dinner and a perfect one year anniversary of our trip. New England at its finest. Clams and lobster was had for dinner, with more clams for dessert. Who knew butter and cocktail sauce on fire roasted clams would be so delicious? They did. Lauren even brought a table cloth to cover the wood slab/ table and we had wine too. Nothing was lacking. This might have been a pinnacle of this trip. Dinner was complete and we made our stuffed selves back to the boat. We had decided tomorrow’s trip will be a longer jump to get us close to the Hudson River as there is a hurricane/ tropical depression forming and expected to come this way. We don’t really want to take a chance so we figured it would be best to get back inland a bit.
