After a lovely dinner with friends, we were able to watch the fireworks from the back of the boat at midnight on the 4th.  We slept in a bit on Friday morning before heading around Douglas Island towards Auke Bay.  Again, the water was amazingly calm and we had a pleasant trip.  I’d assured Bill when we left downtown that everyone would be out fishing for the holiday so there would be plenty of room in the harbor.  Much to my surprise and Bill’s displeasure, the harbor was plugged!  There were more boats stuffed in the harbor than we’ve ever seen.  Most of them were commercial fishing boats, which are big to start with, and they were tied three and four deep in places.  We ended up rafting on to a gillnetter named ‘Wahoo’ :).  Rafting means we tied up to the outside of the other boat and had to crawl across it to get to the dock.  Not the preferred situation but it was the only choice.  We’re on a wait list for a permanent slip in Auke Bay but until a spot opens up there’s only transient moorage available so it’s first come, first served for space on the dock.  All the fishing boats cleared out today (Sunday) so we were able to move the boat to a good spot.  We spent the day cleaning up and getting stuff off the boat that needed to come home.  Here’s a  picture of Madeline in her new home.  If you know where we live you can also see our house in this picture (off Madeline’s bow and up a bit).

So, we’ve come to the end of this journey, but it’s only the beginning of our adventures on Madeline.  I plan to keep this blog going on future voyages so if you like, you can check in now and then to see what we’re up to.  Thanks to everyone who went with us on this blog and for all the great comments we received.  Until next time, smooth sailing to all.