Crystalline Blue: the perfect ending

Last Sunday, I took some friends out for a sail. There were more sailboats out that day than practically any day last summer. It was a perfect day. Like this extremely blue 'postcard' above, it was crystalline blue that day, too, with a NW breeze blowing 10-15 knots, which of course, dies down in the late afternoon.
We sailed down the river with the tide, out towards Fishermans Island, passing near the Hypocrites to check out the seals, then down the Thread of Life to check on the osprey nests, and around Witch Island. I do love the names of things! Then we went back up Herring Gut and through the South Bristol bridge - a very narrow, wonderful old swing bridge, and across the river to check out the new Bigelow Lab, and home again.
It was quite spectacular. You could almost see Mount Desert Island from the bay. You could certainly see Monhegan, Matinicus and the Camden Hills. But we saw only one seal, no porpoises and no whales. I think they're still farther up north, or maybe there were just too many boats out that day. I have seen all of them in the places where we were last Sunday, and, except for the seal, I missed them that day.
But when we got back to the Marina, we sat in the sunshine for a bit drinking some beer, and eating Triscuits, on the boat. Then, unwilling to give up the pleasure and the sunshine, we walked over to Lobstermans Wharf, and ate supper - fresh oysters from the very river we were sailing on, crab cakes and lobster rolls.
I cannot conjure up more pleasure than what we had that day. So I've decided that it will be the last sail of the year. I cannot imagine a more perfect sail in October, so out the boat will come. She needs some work on the mainsail rig - its rolling furling isn't working well, and the traveller is stuck. So we'll work on it for a bit, and then haul her out. Friends think I'm crazy to give up the possibility of more perfect sails. But I prefer the memory of this one, this year.
I will search for another perfect sail next year.