Day 17 Sat 8/8 Swan’s Island

The first lobster boat sent its waves in our direction at 3:55am, but after traps were checked and re-baited, there was a period of calm for us to catch a little more shut eye. Later in the morning we rowed to the beach for some more climbing about, and I sat on a rock with my guitar to work on a couple tunes I’m composing for Frank and for Tom. A cool breeze kept us from going for a swim this time, but lovely for wading, as the temperature was 57F. Not intending to stay long, we pulled the dinghy up several feet onto the shore without securing it. It’s a good thing I went back to check on it, as it was already starting to drift off only about a half hour later. The tides vary here by 10 feet, and come up quickly as we found out.
At the picking party a week ago, we met Doug Day, a singer-songwriter who lives on Swan’s Island, and also the person who has been hosting the after-parties at the festival on Swan’s Island, Michael Wilson. They both invited us to visit, so we sailed in that direction looking for Doug’s boat moored by Michael’s house. In addition to all the lobster pots, Mackerel Cove has many rocks to negotiate around, “sunkers” which are under water at high tide. I stood on the bow to watch for both, while Bryan was at the tiller to negotiate around them. 
We rowed ashore and sat outside for a grilled shrimp dinner, songs, and stories with Michael Wilson, Dillon Bustin, Doug Day and his son Jackson. Michael’s house is in a stunningly scenic location, probably to be our furthest point east on this sailing trip.