Skip to main content

Sailing Vacation Memoirs




Good morning everybody. 0 degrees in the door yard, again. -10 with the wind chill but who’s counting. Am I sounding like a broken record yet. Remember, the cold is my friend. As I tell non-believers from other parts of our beautiful country, stick a banana out on the sidewalk on a hot summer day and it just won’t last long. Stick a banana out in our door yard this week and the skin may turn brown but it won’t go bad inside. Of course it will be hard as a rock too. So think of us up here, turning brown perhaps, but we are still good on the inside.

On the last days of this cruising memoir we find ourselves anchored off Castine, July 15, 2005:

Friday morning the wind came NW behind the front while we are walking ashore in the nearby town of Castine. This historic community dating back to before the Revolution is also the home to a great stand of Elm trees that never caught the wrath of Dutch Elm disease. We drifted off the anchor and up the bay in a dying northerly breeze. After a patient few hours of ghosting, the onshore breeze gave a wonderful afternoon sail. We sailed through dinner (roast pork with rosemary, sage and garlic, mashed potatoes, fresh peas, Parker House rolls, and stuffing) anchoring up in time for hand cranked ice cream (vanilla and mint chocolate chip). A beautiful sunset was all that consoled us as we thought about our Saturday morning arrival back at the dock. And as we parted company on Saturday the sentiment was shared among all our guests that the stresses of the world had been left far behind for this short time together, a feeling we all knew we would cherish for some time to come.

Have a great day. Be well. Do good. Or as my grandmother used to say, hands to work, hearts to God.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Love your blog! Hands to work,hearts to God. Great new mantra. Stay warm!!!!

Popular posts from this blog

Hail Mary

My heart is heavy with sadness as I write this particular blog. Since the beginning of August our dear friend and cook for the last 12 years, Mary Barney, had been struggling with cancer. I have intentionally respected Mary’s privacy and I apologize to you for not sharing any news about Mary’s health sooner. On Monday afternoon Mary passed away very peacefully at home, surrounded by friends and “family”. Her departure was as graceful as the rest of her life. Many people, including Jen, have been doing heroic work to support Mary these last few weeks. Oddly enough Mary was never very excited about transitions though this was about the fastest transition she ever made. And as I struggle to let go of Mary I realize I am terrible with transitions as well. We used to joke about how we liked things just the way they are, thank you very much, so why change what is working already even if it might be less labor intensive. Hard works is its own reward. I used to joke about getting Mary a Cui...

We are Nuts

Good morning everyone. Well I just had to say it before you did. Yes, we are truly nuts. Now we have gone and added one more adventure to our already full lives. As you can see she is some cunnin'. We have named her Colby. We had a sign... literally. We were in the car brainstorming names on the way to get her at WalMart (yes, you heard it right) and there at the Waterville exit was a sign for Colby College. Colby just happens to be dear Mary's alma mater. It is also the name of one of my favorite ledges in Jericho Bay, the Colby Pup. It just seemed to fit just like the way she came to us. Nothing about our Sunday was going to be different than any other except that I just happened to be helping a friend get her generator back in the barn while Jen and the kids met her new puppy Sherman. They fell in love... so easy to do. We called and there were had two pups from the same litter available... no commitments yet. We had been having the long family debate for weeks about the k...

Darkness and Light

Good morning everyone. OK, so this blog does not have a whole lot to do with schooners or windjammers or sailing vacations so if you want to leave now I will not be offended. Today is the winter solstice, as you know, the shortest amount of daylight in our calendar year here in the northern hemisphere. Of course it is the summer solstice on the other side of the equator. So I guess if you wanted to celebrate the summer solstice you wouldn't be at all in the wrong. I would applaud your ability to see outside the box. Map from Wikipedia commons Living and sailing in the mid latitudes (remember, Maine is half way to the North Pole) as we do, we experience a balance that spans a year's time, maybe many years' time. To feel the darkness of winter creeping quietly into our homes is not as bad it may appear from the outside. This is our season to rest... emotionally if not physically. We know it takes more physical energy to live and work here in winter. But when the sun goes down...