Rockport literally rocks!

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Oh does it ever rock! Our first attempt at anchoring on the rocks resulted in a bent point to our hefty Mansson. Now re-anchored in a nice curvey, sheltered harbour, Melodeon is very busy doing 'the pony' as ocean swells compete to fill up the harbour cup. In boating terms 'sheltered' means you're lucky if there's a patch of land on 2 or 3 sides, with prevailing winds coming from the land side. We're situated in a classic, jig-saw puzzle style rock basin with a huge, semi-submerged breakwall making up the fourth wall a mile or two off. Should be ideal but we noticed that one bunch of sailors got fed up with the rock n'roll pace and fled this morning at 3 am.

I must admit thiat this is another touristy town, with surely the highest density of art galleries in the world, maybe barring Paris. The first 2 days here were idyllic. The $10, 1 1/4 pound lobsters are a perfect incentive to linger while we wait for smoother seas to continue north or east.

Even the elegant white begging swans that make the rounds of the boats in the out harbour are intriguing. I swear they can count and keep schedules. There are 2 males, a junior and a seniour and 5 females. The 2 males ride herd or uh, flock, at each end of the group, making sure the females are getting the food they need as we toss down bread from the boat. This was a new challenge for Ginger, who is smart enough to keep her distance from strange creatures until she knows they are leaving or she's sure she can win. These swams knew better than we how to imposed the cone of silence on our feisty terrier. After being hissed up one side and down the other by the males, she chose silence. After our bread offerings ran out and the swans started to depart, she foolishly tried a volley of back-barking. The big male was more than pleased to race back and offer to fight her. Wonder what she would have done if he had risen out of the water to make his point. I'm guessing they'll be back this aft and Ginger will be more discrete.

Tomorrow looks like a good day to do another bit of northward coast hopping. Keep you posted as best we can. Today we are thanking the downtown public library for the wonderful wifi.

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