Where traditions start . . .

I didn't know it at the time but Debbie and I started a sailing tradition this day.  She slaughtered me in 5 games of Russian Bank!  It's a fast card game with 2 decks.  Yes, there's luck involved but the ability to recognize quickly when the other player missed a move they had to make enabling you to yell, "STOP!" and take over their turn  . . . is invaluable.  Can't say I was a quitter.

Our course took us close to Boon Island.  A forlorn, windswept speck of land with a lighthouse it sits roughly 6 miles out to sea from the town of York, Maine.  On December 11, 1710, the British merchant ship Nottingham Galley wrecked on the rocks surrounding the island.  All 14 sailors survived the initial wrecking although 2 sucombed to their injuries.  Two more died while trying to make it to the mainland in a raft.  The rest managed to survive in winter conditions with no food or firewood for 24 days until they were rescued.  They resorted to cannibalizing their dead comrades before their rescue.  

After picking our way in in the dark, our anchor touched bottom at Cape Neddick.  I fixed dinner while Josh & Tyler went for a swim in the refreshing Maine water.  They tried to talk someone over the age of 16 into going in but no takers.