As we lowered the dingy and pulled away from the boat , all we could hear was Bella barking , saying where are you going without me?...To the train to Boston.. I  was very excited to be boarding the commuter train as I haven't been on a train in a long time and I love them. We got to the depot 20 minutes early for the train so across the street I went and got us coffee, tea and a pistachio scone, we never had one of those before pretty good. Boarded the train and paid for our round trip ticket. The seats were facing the opposite way as we were traveling so we had to turn in our seats to check everything going past us. I'm sure you could tell we were tourists... The train ride was about an hour when we reached the North terminal. Stopped to find out about the trolleys that stop at all the must see places, but they wanted $36.00  a piece and we all know we didn't do that. However we did get a good map to walk with and the info desk told us it was the best one. The lady said just head out the door turn right then left and we were on our way. The first stop was a Cobb Cemetery, a very old burial ground with headstones that had winged skulls,winged cherubs or an urn with a weeping willow branch all dated from the earliest 1600's but most were from the 1700's and 1800's.Stone carvers did  all the work and depending on how much money you had was what you got.Next stop was North Church where Paul Revere and his fellow patriots alerted the towns people that the British were coming, and lite the lantern one if by land and two if by sea.. The man who lite the candles had to jump out a window to not get caught by the British. The very window is on display in the church.We followed the Freedom Trail all thought out Boston. They have a red brick trail on the sidewalks so you can just follow it and get to see all of the historical places where the Revolution began and took place. We stopped to have a drink in the Green Dragon Tavern which was a hotbed meeting place for Boston Revolutionaries.We were very impressed to find out that Irish immigrants had a very large part in our history. They volunteered  for all the conflicts that took place in our early history. But were not recieved well by the original settlers..We walked the Italian section and bought lunch at a market of olives and good cheese, only thing missing was a glass of red wine..We saw Paul Revere's home and all the places that Ben Franklin had been. It made us very proud of our American heritage and to think the Revolution started over taxes, makes you think doesn't it.. We walked all the way  across town to the bar Cheer's but they didn't know my name.. Still it was pretty neat to sit where the show was filmed. We think they used both the upstairs and down for filming as the set is not big enough for all the show displayed. But we did see that they sell Norm's nuts, too funny. After that it was a walk though Boston Commons( it's a big park) on our way back to the North end for dinner. As we were walking I met a local  Italian lady who told me where to eat that wouldn't break the bank, the food was good and the atmosphere was awesome. I stopped at a bakery for our late night dessert,Italian cookies and cannole.. Yummy... That is one thing about the north great bakeries, like I  need one...oh yeah I do....When the day  in Boston was over we had a excellent time and loved all the history, this town is a must see ..If you ever get the chance do it.. Just walking the city with all the hills is a workout with a lovely view. Just don't try to live  here though, the rents start at $2,000.00 for a 2 bedroom apt.. Who makes that kind of money, I guess the working people must live outside the city..Or their families have been here for generations.. We loved our time here, it was worth a days pay from the RNC..  Back to the railway station we went and boarded to get back to Gloucester and Bella. And what a good girl she was, not a mess anywhere on the boat.. She did go on a hunger strike why we were gone, but as soon as she got done licking us, she filled her belly. Today was one of another of the amazing things we have gotten to do, we are so very grateful do have been able to do it.. This is what dreams are made of...

As soon as I finished writing my blog we headed straight over to the fuel dock and filled and emptied all tanks. The sky was gray and the sea's looked calmer and the weather websites all agreed it was a go, so off to Gloucester we went. As we were sailing to our next port Carl and I talked about how I wanted to buy lobster one more time of a lobster boat, so as soon as one got near he hailed it over. Why I didn't get a camera out when he is standing on the bow  waving money is be on me..  I was to busy watching and chuckling at the whole thing  I guess I couldn't move. Sure enough the lobsterman came over and Carl asks for 4 lobsters and says here's $12.00 and they say no $20. Well we knew it was high sea's robbery what the but  heck it would be our last time , so we paid them. They lobsters they gave us had to be at least 11/2 lb so it was okay. I stowed them below and on we went. On this trip we have commented how much we like it up here, if it wasn't so cold in the winter.We even  talked about being snowbirds but that takes money. Then crossing Cape Ann Canal we saw 2 homes we may be able to afford. Now I know what your thinking how can that be. They sail by water and that's where all the high price homes are.. I am posting a picture of both of these homes for you to see. That way you can tell me how you think we would do living there. Now remember we have been living on a 31 foot boat for 4 months now, so size is not a worry.. As we had just passed our furture homes we were coming around this bend in the river I noticed that the very small bridge for the railroad to our starboard side and said to Carl hey aren't we suppose to go through that..All I can say is thank God the bridge tender was on duty, even then it was a squezze.Windward Spirit got through there only to go a 1/2 farther to squezze through  Blyman Bridge. It amazed me once again that we fit in them. These are very old bridges as you will recall. I told you about them last time we went through on our way north. One of them being the old metal one that was built in the early 1900's and was all rusted. Once in the harbor we set anchor and had left over lentils for lunch, good to have a hot lunch on cool day. We took Bella ashore for her shore leave since she will be left on the boat all day today. We had been in this port for 4 or 5 days last time we were here so we knew how to get around. We stopped at the only  place that would let us bring Bella on the back patio and have a drink, when we met Elaine and Mark. Elaine was wearing a Wicked Tuna shirt so I asked her if she was on the show. She was sitting on a sport fishing boat just off the patio we were on. She said no but they had filmed off her brothers boat which she was on.She told us how it was filmed at this port and  seafood house across the way. Next season she thinks they will be on the other side of the camera. Her and I were having a wonderful chat when her boyfriend Mark arrived. He was very friendly and got chatting with us also. He told us how they cut the tail of the tuna off to bleed it out, and he had a tail hanging on the dock. We talked the price being up and how lots of tuna gets shipped to Japan. Just then the large door on the seafood house opens and Mark says they must be bringing in a tuna. Carl and I had seen them hang one there last time we were here. Mark says  he is gonna head over there and see whats going on. I ask Elaine if I could see the inside of the sport boat, I love checking out other boats, and it was getting cold out. She shows me the boat and then she calls to see when Mark will return, he says he is on his way. Mark shows up with a tail section and asks Elaine to give him a jigsaw and a knife . Carl and Bella join us on the dock and the boys clean the tail, Carl even had a bite of fresh tuna while they were cleaning it. It was beautiful.. They don't eat fish and gave us all of it for FREE..Was that wonderful or what... I couldn't believe our luck.. God is watching our for us..We were thrilled be on belief.. They were heading back to Boston the next day so we said we would call them and see if we could get together for a  drink there. They said they would try and we were off. I think we skipped all the way back to the dingy.. Oh happy day... Once on the boat I cooked the lobsters which were awesome, and then we tried to watch the same movie I fell asleep in last night then it was time for bed. Oh yeah , I fell asleep during the movie again.. Today its a train to Boston..

As we can all see I was able to post the pictures that Ernie sent my from the ship heading out to sea. Pretty cool how the crew lined the deck in their dress whites. It was quite the event to watch, I am sure glad I got to see it in my lifetime. Makes you proud to be an American, home of the free... I don't really have much to report for yesterday. The wind was blowing pretty hard and the waves were crashing over the jetty, plus the weather reports on the radio and websites, (all but one) said it was 4 to 7 foot sea's so in port we stayed. It was a pretty nice day with a lot of high winds and it didn't rain till evening. I had tried to rent a car so we could go get around town and check out a seafood festival but it closed early on Saturday and I was to late. So the day was spent on the boat reading and playing cards.I did however bet the pants off Carl at Rummy, about time I started to win at some of these  games.. I showed him...A big part of the day was spent checking over Bella.. She is always scratching so we are trying to find out why. We have checked her everyday, but with her hair getting longer in the cooler weather, we haven't found anything. Then today as we searched like little monkeys, we finally found on tick on her. We removed the tick and she seems a little better, but the search continues. I know she can't wait till we stop pawing all over her..We did watch on movie called the Amateurs, it was much better than Blackbeard. I made a pot of lentils and called it a night , not much else to report. Leslie the storm is really kicking up some waves up and keeping us in ports. We would go surfing, but the problem is getting there. It always seems to be in a place that is not good for the sailboat and to far to travel by land. We hope to get some surf on this trip though. We didn't just bring our boards for looks or extra weight. The skies are awfully gray and cloudy, but the wind is calmer  and the waves are not crashing over the jetty today,so we may try to move . All I know is that is defiantly colder, since last nights rain storm. Hot oatmeal sounds good to me this morning...

The day started out with a late start again for the open seas.We read all of our weather information and decide what to do for the day. John had sent us a weather site he uses when he goes out and its one I use only a different part of it, so I checked that one now too. I have 4 sites that I check and all are a little different. Its my job to decide what they all add up to and notify the captain of my finding and then we chose whether to go or stay put. The seas started out with 3 to 4 foot  waves on the bow, with light winds, but as the day went on the sea's calmed down. It became about 1 to 2 foot waves rolling a beam to us, not to bad. The wind however had increased as the day went on so that would be building sea's again. With all the storms out there it is pretty daunting chore to try to figure it out.  And boy are the storms out there.With only 45 miles to go today we arrived at Portsmouth NH early evening. Yes we are out of Maine, but only by a river crossing. That's right Portsmouth NH on one side of the Piscataqua River and Kittery ME on the other side. Still we are out of Maine.. We arrived at Little Harbor and got on the same mooring ball we were on last time we were here, went right to it. Act like you belong and nobody ever questions you. I made dinner and we watched Blackbeard a grade B movie. One of two only known actors, where killed off in the first 15 minutes. I guess the budget didn't have money for known actors. It was pretty fun to watch, as they had filmed most of it at night and never spent the money on lighting. We had to pay very close attention to the sound to figure out what was happening. Strange how they spent money on location and it never occurred to them they could need lights to see the action. It sure gave us something to ponder and laugh about while we watched it. You even had to restart the movie half way though it, back at the intro to get to part two. Very strange . I bet that director doesn't get to many more jobs.. When the film was over it was off to bed with us sailors..So here we sit waiting to see what the day will bring and what our next move will be..Today again I will try to post the pictures of the ship launching. It is really cool to see so I sure hope I can do it.