I just returned home from the Maine Cruise. If a better group of people or a better place to cruise can be found please let me know. We had a wonderful time. Thanks Kate, Thomas, Doug, Tod and Abbey. We had a Pearson Ariel (Kate and Thomas) for a few days and one M17 and three M15s for the entire two weeks. We had two days of rain, one of high winds and the rest was beautiful, warm and sunny. We sailed all around Penobscot and Blue Hill Bays and into the Gulf of Maine where the swells were so high that I lost the top of the masts of the boats that were ahead of me when I was in a trough. All boats performed well and I always felt safe and secure in my M15. We had some great hikes and the contrast between sailing and hiking was a good balance. Maine seems full of these contrast ie. rocks and water, sun then fog then sun, and forrest so thick that they are impassable without a trial just a hundred feet from the shore line. We ate plenty of lobster and saw more beautiful classic sailboats then I have ever seen in one area. Every harbor was like thumbing through ten issues of Wooden Boat magizine. Oh yeh, we went to Wooden Boat School too, very cool. If you like cruising Maine is not to be missed. I love my home waters, the Hudson River, but I have a feeling it's just not going to be the same after sailing through those beautiful islands. Rick Langer "Bluebird"