Of Finns, hurricanes, and fish at the end of summer

The Finns arrived with friends George and Jane last Friday when Hurricane Earl was supposed to arrive, but did not. Pirkku and Simo, Markku and Raili, are from Helsinki, Finland and love to fish. Markku and Simo fished out of Lynn, Massachusetts, on their first day here. When they arrived in Boothbay, they were to have fished right away, but Earl decided to intimidate us all, and we postponed it until Labor Day. Priscilla came out of the water and then went right back in. So, on Labor Day, MArkku and Simo and George went fishing again, this time with Capt. Dan Wolotsky out of Boothbay Harbor. They caught 10 fish, a mix of stripers and blues; Markku had a battle with a seal over one fish and won the battle but lost the fish; and they brought home 4 stripers.
Later, we went for a brief sail, and then headed up to Castle Island Camps in Belgrade for some fresh water fishing.
Castle Island Camps is an old-style fishing camp - with small cabins and great views, and a dining room with a bull moose head and a big stone fireplace. I took Pirkku and Raili on the Great Pond mailboat while the guys went out on their own to fish. Great Pond is the place that the story and movie, "On Golden Pond," is based , and Capt. Norm of the mailboat was a wonderful storyteller. The guys caught some bass, we had a wonderful picnic and then I came home.

I can't remember when I've had such a wonderful time at the end of summer!