Under Cover Schooner

Good morning everyone. We have a rainy drizzly day on our hands today. The crew will be out here in Appleton working in the barn on a few final miscellaneous painting projects. Mary will be aboard painting cabin thresholds and I will be working in the bilges today finalizing a new fire pump installation. The last minute details are many but we are in good shape for our annual Coast Guard inspection on Monday at noon. We even have the awnings set as you can see in the picture. Of course if you're a loon you don't need an awning.

Becki, Sara, and I finished rigging the main and fore peak and throat halyards yesterday. That just about finishes the rigging work aloft. The lesson of the entire rigging process these last few days is the "devil is in the details." One shackle put in the wrong place, one line lead unfairly, one missing cotter pin, one block put together incorrectly during "Blockfest" 2 months ago, and the entire process comes to a screeching stop. We were musing about how many places on earth that lack of attention to detail can have such a big impact.

All this goes back to what I was saying yesterday about seeing ourselves in the bigger picture of life. Thoreau must have been thinking about sailing ships when he made his wonderful analogy, something to the effect, that when we pull on one string in nature we find it connected to everything else. I often remind the crew of Bill Cosby's humorous recounting of the conversation between God and Noah, indignant about having to build an Ark to God's specifications, when God pointedly asked Noah how long he could tread water. I think about it from my modern perspective and often mention how much I hate to fill out paperwork for the Coast Guard.

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

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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