Blessing Camden Windjammers

Good Morning Everyone. A rainy last quarter moon morning here as we begin daylight savings time. We returned home late last night (after 9PM) having watched Nadie's dance recital debut. Best 55 seconds of dancing I have seen in a while. Even Sawyer liked it.

We dedicate this blog to all the new crew members arriving in Maine over the next few weeks. You will never meet Major Floyd S. Chadwick, USAF (ret.) but he will touch your life. The major was a fixture here in Camden for many years, always encouraging crew (and owners too) to keep a stiff upper lip in the face of adversity and "be a friend on the side of the road" to everyone you meet. Major first came to Camden to sail aboard Mary Day and adopted the place and alll its windjammers. The Major eventually became the Camden Harbor Monitor helping the harbor master with his daily rounds and even filling in after hours to help the lost get found, his voice crackling out over VHF channel 11. He blessed every schooner that came and went. He knew secrets many of us "young bucks" hadn't yet discovered. You see, he had been dead twice on the operating table and I figured that gave him a certain credibility. The morning cannon at the Camden Yacht Club signaling 0800 and colors seldom happened without the Major's morning blessing, sage advice to us all.

Major's Morning Blessing

Ohhhhhhh, Let the daaaaay begin!
The Lord is in His Heaven, all's quiet in the world.
Pray your way through the day,
Ask the Lord to show you the way,
He hears every word you say when you pray.
Oh harbor of a thousand faces,
What strange and wondrous fate will befall us today?
Give us a sign, show us the way.
Stay in deep water, keep a good DR,
Pay attention to wind and tide.
Stay away from the lee shore.
Listen to the wee small voice.
Boats are made for water, rocks are made for scotch.
If you're towing a dinghy, keep a long floating painter.
Thank you Jesus for this abundance.
For give us for our sins and gluttany.
Thus endeth the reading of the scriptures.
And as General MacArthur said aboard the
USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on August 15, 1945 -

"These proceedings are closed."
et cetera, et cetera, et cetera
AMEN
Pass the bread, meat and 'taters!

Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

Comments

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

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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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