Hot water and Cool Air

Good morning everyone. Yesterday was a day of extremes. We left
Camden in a thick of fog only to find things cleared right off as
soon as we reached Mark I. From there we caught a very light
southerly breeze that carried us up towards Egg Rock. For about an
hour we drifted lazily in the heat and humidity. At last I just
could not take it any more with the temperature hovering around 80 in
the hot sun.

The pool was opened and half of us jumped in for swim.
The water was the warmest I have felt in years. The precision
hardware store thermometer indicated the water temperature was 70
degrees, at least the top 12 inches.

The swim call ended when the wind came onshore and we caught a nice
breeze for the rest of the afternoon. The breeze brought 65 degree
temperature air in off the ocean and with it came the fog again. So
we received a second chance to cool off reaching for wind breakers
and sweaters. We had a great sail and beat our way in to anchor here
in Carvers Cove.

The herring fisherman have queued their seine nets
in dories here in anticipation of the evening when the herring shoal
up at the head of the cove. Herring makes great lobster bait and,
when packed in a can, wonderful sardines. I do love a good sardine
sandwich.

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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