Jas and Kate drove down yesterday, bringing loads of fresh corn and tomatoes, and some lovely bluefish.  Today we rented bikes and rode out to Race Point.  We took a swim- the brave ones with wetsuits.  Jas and Kate just rode ashore to take a walk on the beach.

A fierce storm is blowing, gusts to 45 mph, seas 3 ft and choppy and we're less than a mile from a protecting shoreline.  Seas 10 to 15 ft on the outside.  The cats have become very affectionate, very clingy.  We are managing to top off our water tanks. It's supposed to quiet down in a few days.

Pinnipeds guarding the entrance to Wellfleet Harbor.
We came back to Great Island to hang out for a few days, Ptown was in the midst of Jungle Carnival and even a mile away at Long Point we could hear the howling of the natives.
We decided to take the opportunity to dive down and scrape the sealife off the bottom of the hull, what a mess! Poor Joyce came up after a half hour down there completely covered with tiny little critters frantically clinging to her wetsuit looking for a new home. More today.
It is absolutely beautiful here.

Whale watching today at Stellwagen Banks, a vast marine sanctuary off the Massachusetts coast.  Whales come here to dine before heading south, a long trip with no decent restaurants.  Most we saw were Humpbacks, feeding in pods of 5 or 6, and in mother-and-calf pairs.  Also a few Minkes and several dolphins.  They were feeding on schools of sand lance; the pale green pools in the picture are bubbles the whales are making to confuse the sand lance.  Suddenly a whale surfaces in the pool of bubbles with his mouth wide open.  We saw this repeat dozens of times, and it never got old. The guide finally gave up calling out locations- we were just surrounded by feeding whales.

more pix

Dugan came out on the ferry Wednesday night, so we've been running around doing stuff, all the more fun because she's here.  Today we went out to Race Point and hiked back to Herring Cove.  (The shuttle conveniently covers those parts you don't feel like walking.)

Yesterday was Marcel's birthday, so we went down to Eastham to have dinner with him and Kristina.  They made a braised pork shoulder- truly spectacular.  His granddaughters are teaching him how to Skype- so they called and sang him happy birthday.

Look at these little darlings, just reach down and pick them up. Yum, Yum.

We swim, we eat, we read, we take naps, then swim some more. Low tide I swim in to shore and fill my pockets with more oysters.

Went into Wellfleet this morning for breakfast and then the library, picked up some fish for dinner.

Just too much excitement, came back to the boat and took a nap.

In a few days we'll go back to Ptown to meet Dugan. More party fun. 

Marcel and Kristina came out yesterday, which was lovely.  Very noble gesture, as Great Island, where we anchored, is a 25 minute ride to the town dock.  We hung out on the boat for a while, and then took the dinghy back in to Wellfleet for dinner.