American Windjammer

Good Morning Everyone. And happy Lincoln’s Birthday. 10 degrees in the dooryard, crystal clear skies and just flat calm and still in the woods. I can hear the occasional pop of a tree in the frozen darkness. First light is already here. Sunrise 0645, sunset 1706 (5:06 PM). It is another busy day here with a meeting in Camden.

Sawyer enjoyed his first downhill ski race yesterday. Shades of his father and grandfather before him flashed through my mind. Skiing was a big piece our family experience back in the days when it was more affordable. Just being outdoors in the crisp air together enjoying winter was a bonding experience. Our family sailing vacations were the summertime equivalent. There are not too many places in the world where you can ski on a mountain and sail on the ocean within a few miles of each. One curiosity of the Camden Snow Bowl is the fact that you can see the ocean from the top. I don’t have a picture of that to share but the breathtaking beauty of the snow covered Camden Hills and Penobscot Bay on a crystal clear bluebird day (okay, maybe penguin is more appropriate) … well it just makes you happy to be alive. Katherine Lee Bate’s 1895 poem inspired by a trip to the top of Pikes Peak came to mind.

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!

America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

Have a great day. Be well. Do Good.

Comments

grammy M said…

Thanks for the picture. What a "zoomer' Wish I could have been there. Happy V day Love Grammy M

February 12, 2007 at 5:35 AM

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

Fall Maintenance

Good morning everyone. The sun has been kind to us these past few days and the crew has been spending much time aloft prepping and painting the mast heads and tarring the rig as part of our annual fall maintenance schedule. They were a little silly on tar fumes by the end of the day hence the rat board dance moves. Am I the only one who is reminded of Willy Wonka's little friends at the sight of the crew in their tyvek suits? Schoona-loompas? The smell of tar, after all, is what we sailors live for. Extracted from the stumps and roots of pine trees through dry distillation pine tar will cure what ails you especially some skin conditions and any emotional maladies from being too long away from the sea. All we know for sure is that Mary Day’s rigging is kept hail and hearty by coats of tar mixed with boiled linseed oil. Notice that I specified boiled linseed oil and not raw linseed oil. Tar mix with raw linseed oil will not “kick”. Don’t ask me how I know this… just take my wo

Oh Captain, Oh Captain, Please Don't Rumba!

Good morning everyone. Another 6” of snow fell this weekend and we took a few hours to enjoy the wonders of winter here in New England skiing in the woods. The full Wolf Moon on Saturday causing astronomical high tides plus a 1’ tidal surge brought by the low pressure system meant we had tides over the bulkhead in Camden. At low tide just the opposite happens and the tides dip well below normal. I was able to step to the docks from the beach and get aboard the schooner on Friday after work and all was well. I had an interesting email this morning from a wonderful gentleman looking for a vacation to replace a now defunct “windjammer” sailing experience that formerly sailed in the Caribbean. He sent us a very humorous swashbuckling note, complete with colorful pirate party images, wondering if we might be able to fill the void, complete with canons and limbo parties and would the captain be leading the rumba line? I regretted to tell him that we probably did not offer the booty he was

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