Cat prancing

Early morning, driving to the dock... I arrived at Portland's waterfront to see a sign for The Cat right in front of me. But oh! Where is the ferry? My first thought was that I had the wrong day, that the ferry didn't run out of Portland on Friday mornings. I know better than to worry, and it absolutely was the right morning.

Ah, the sign has an arrow pointing to the left. I turned, drove a little further, and there it was. Sitting, waiting for vehicles and people, back end yawning wide.

I arrived at the requested time of 6:30 for an 8AM departure. The first half hour was a good time to chat with the other drivers standing outside of their cars, waiting. And then, it was time to move. Rolling onboard, looping around the inside of the boat. Up, up, turn, turn, ending with my bright blue car heading slightly downhill, pointing toward the back of the boat. (Or am I supposed to call it a ship? At what point does a water vehcle change from a boat to a ship?)

I grabbed a seat in the back of The Cat. From my memory of my last jaunt to Nova Scota on The Cat, the back is a smoother ride. Makes sense since that's where the power is, pushing back. No bouncing, just a swaying feeling (and this on a day that appears to be a quiet ocean day). Not to worry, I did take Dramamine this morning, I have a stash of crystallized ginger in my back – which my mom tells me is good at fighting (reversing?) nausea, and oh look! just like an airplane, there are just-in-case bags tucked under the seats. So far, so good...

There's a narrow deck at the back of the boat, a place to get a bit of fresh air, and to watch the wake rolling to the horizon. That's the only outside spot. There are windows all around the people areas, but oh! it would be fun if we were able to stand on the top of the boat. I know, I know, it's better than a plane. I can walk around, I can pop out to fresh air. If I were so inclined (and I'm not), I could even do some gambling. Nope, that just not in my list of activities, doesn't fit!

Some interesting information about the great body of water The Cat is crossing:

The Gulf of Maine is a 77,000 square mile semi-enclosed sea bounded to the south and the east by tall land forms called “underwater banks” that rise to form a barrier to the North Atlantic. The landward edge of the Gulf of Maine runs from Nova Scotia all the way to Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Underwater valleys plunge to depths of 1,500 feed (500 meters).

It's a long ride – 200 miles, a distance that we are scheduled to cover in about 5 ½ hours. At the other end, entry to Canada, and then a drive to Wolfville, my home for the next two nights.