Heading for the Yard

Good morning everyone. Well as you can see by the time stamp on this one it is actually Sunday evening. I am writing this now because I will be getting up in 8 hours to take Mary Day to the shipyard for her annual haul out and will not have time to do it in the morning. The crew has been absolutely amazing working through the weekend to get as much painting done as possible while the sun is shining. You just can’t imagine how much energy they are putting out to make this schooner shine.

The cover came off this week and Mary Day felt her first rays of direct sunshine and, yes, a little bit of rain as well, in many months under the cover. We had a chance to do a little rigging on Tuesday. It felt good to get aloft where all good sailors are most at home. On Wednesday we got under way and dropped the centerboard out of the schooner at the local boatyard. She looks to be in great shape so will need just a coat of paint and some new sacrificial zinc anodes. The diagonal line visible in the picture from the lower right corner up to the upper left defines the extent to which the board is lowered while sailing. The lifting rod is not seen here because it is threaded in to a coupling (not visible here) that is at the upper left hand corner. The rod is off getting the thread renewed. I have seen those threads get tired and hope never to see that again. Having the centerboard out gives us a chance to paint the inside of the trunk. Thanks goodness for really skinny deckhands!

In this last picture First mate Drew and deckhand Ali are towing the anchor from the seawall to the schooner dock. Well, wish us luck this week and pray for good weather. The forecasters are not so optimistic but we will pull it off as we always do and Mary Day will come out in better shape than when she arrived. The Coast Guard will be stopping by to perform a hull inspection and we will be proud to show them one fine schooner.

Have a great day. Be well. Do good. Stop by to help scrape the bottom if you happen to be in town.

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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