Winter and the 4th of July

Late last week the Whaler went in the water and the kids took a preliminary spin around the harbor. All members past and present of our crew have loved the Whaler. It goes fast, it's close to the water, and it generally means we're going somewhere fun - like swimming!

For the past 12 years we have split our time between our house in Maine and the boat. Typically we spend 9 months on the boat and 3 months in Maine. And of course the 3 months in Maine are in the summer.

We love Maine summers. They are pleasant warm days and cool nights. Well, usually they are. It seems like this summer we are being punished for not having endured this past winter - even the natives are saying it was one of the worst winters they could remember.

So far it has been one long tease. We get one beautiful day followed by cold, wind, and rain. While we were able to get the Whaler in, it has been just too cold to take the kids across to Indian Bar for a swim. The problem isn't Dylan and Dee Dee swimming in cold water - Labs don't care about that. It's that we have to wade ashore and then come back with soaking wet dogs, usually draped across my lap. That just seemed too cold for us to endure. We keep watching the forecast and it looks promising later in the week.

In the meantime, Dylan and Dee Dee are trying out a variety of harnesses that we will be testing in a live swim to determine what will be their next safety harness. If you are new to Dylan and Dee Dee's blog you may not be aware of Dee Dee's "adventure" this past winter. You can read about it here.

There's a saying up here that Maine has two seasons, winter and the 4th of July. We're hoping the 4th will come through...