Great Beach, Roque Island 44°34.644’N, 067°31.100’W

If it had palm trees instead of firs and spruce, this mile long white-sand beach could be the Caribbean. And of course, that the water is freezing: about 14C. In fact, it’s notably cooler up here 44 degrees north of the equator. The days are warm and sunny, almost hot, shorts and shirtless weather, but the nights are chill, and in a month will be cold - I’m already sleeping with two blankets.

This is Roque Island, and Great Beach, a private, beautifully protected spot sheltered by the small archipelago formed by Halifax, Anguilla, Double-Shot and Great Spruce Islands. And when we saw this beach, we thought of one thing…

…Frisbee! For those who don’t know Max, he is a super-showman with a low center of gravity, so flying-dives and mid-air rolls are his specialty. We became master frisbee throwers at university (simply through dedication, focus and hard work) and this beach was simply begging for it! There’s simply nothing more fun than fully-extended Frisbee throws, with lots of yelling, jumping and horsing around, on a beautiful, white sand beach in Maine, with your boat just visible out of the corner of your eye.

We were just visited by the Coast Guard in a high-powered offshore RIB. I a got a fright looking up to see a big orange ship with uniformed officers closely circling us in this remote spot . They patrol around here for boats that have entered the country (from Canada) without clearing customs. Our Kiwi ensign on the stern, I suspect, attracted their attention, and they had a few questions for us about our registration (we’re registered in Newport, Rhode Island). Very polite and professional, and they called their base and got us the cell-phone number for clearing customs in Eastport when we get back from Nova Scotia (if my visa ever gets through, that is).

We’re also in hysterics listening to National Public Radio’s Car Talk…I especially like their lawyer’s name: Dewy, Cheetham & Howe.