A New Day on Peaks Island

I had to make a trip into town this morning which didn't please me much at all. It was simply a beautiful day; not a good day to leave the Island. After walking to the boat and stopping to talk with a number of friends I hadn't seen in awhile, I was feeling much better.

I had forgotten it was Wednesday which means a no car ferry day. It was a big smile to see the oldest boat in the Casco Bay Lines fleet, the Island Romance, steaming into Peaks. I've been riding that boat since 1974 so it's very much like finding your old comfortable, well worn shoes in the back of your closet. I hadn't been on the Island Romance since last Winter so it was interesting to see more than one islander commenting on having missed it as it pulled into the dock.

There are no different cabins on it like all the newer boats so you can see everyone who's on the boat the moment you come over the gangplank into the boat. There was nothing like riding the 7:15am boat into town back in the '70's, checking out any unknown faces to see who had "missed" the last boat from the night before, who they were sitting with and not getting caught doing it. Islanders are indeed a curious group of individuals. Being just one cabin, it's perfectly situated for a lot of communing with your neighbors as you head uptown into Portland. I just couldn't help taking a couple of pictures of this "maiden" voyage of the Fall season. The last picture was just an "oops" as I was heading around the Island after picking up some milk at Hannigan's Market. The light was fading but the schooner Bagherra was coming through Whitehead Passage heading for home and I just couldn't help myself.