Today was our first day of real port liberty, and where better to spend it than right at home in Castine! After so much time at anchorage our favorite trash compactor, WALL-E, was struggling to keep up and we were starting to fill up the ship’s recycling center so it was time to begin hauling it off. Alpha and Delta Companies craned and carried out 40 yards of trash just in time to take on more stores, with some more to go tomorrow.

Everyone had fun taking the rest of the day off spending time all over Castine, at the backshore, in Witherle Woods, and some of us were even fortunate enough to have dinner at home. A bus went out to Bangor, allowing people to stop by Walmart to stock up on snacks, or go out for a bite to eat somewhere else but the ship’s mess deck.

It was nice to be able to get out and touch grass for a while, it’s much more forgiving than the steel of the ship. With any luck the new lifeboat parts should be here today or tomorrow, and we should be underway for New York City in a couple days. Every day brings a new twist and new adventure.