Day 353, Year 9: Shopping, Cooking, and Hanging Out with SJ&O
Date: Thursday, October 9, 2014
Weather: Partly Cloudy, Getting Cooler, High in the 60’s F
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, Massachusetts

Today was the day to do food shopping for our upcoming sail southward. Two shopping carts later we were done and we headed to Heather and Jed’s so I could start cooking. I made chili and Shepard’s Pie. I also prepped all the ingredients for making a double batch of apple chutney to can for us and for Heather and Jed. Heather was in Boston today, so we didn’t see her. But we absconded with her children and brought them to Windbird for one last overnight before we leave. We love having them here and are going to miss them terribly while we are gone for the winter months. I can’t think about it without crying. But the wind is roaring tonight and the temperature gets a few degrees cooler each day, so it is definitely time to head south. The plan for tomorrow morning is for the boys to help us row the dinghy to shore to flip it over and clean the bottom. Then we will row it back to Windbird and raise it up on the deck to check to make sure we have a good way of securing it. This dinghy has never been on the deck, so best to check that out before we are ready to leave. Tomorrow afternoon we have a few things we need to do in town and then we will go to Heather and Jed’s and fix the traditional salmon cake departure dinner. I’ll make a few extra so we’ll have them for our trip south as well. Heather, Jed, and boys will then bring us here to Quissett Harbor and we’ll say our farewells on the dock. We plan to set sail early on Saturday morning. The temperature will be in the 50’s and it will be raining, but at least the wind will be coming from the north. Things look a bit nicer on Sunday, but the wind will switch around to the SE on Sunday night. The good thing is that there should not be much wind and by Monday morning we will turn into the Delaware Bay with the SE winds behind us. That’s the plan, but when you sail you know that the weather has a mind of its own and things could change.