Sailing Vacations
A Maine Windjammer

Good morning everyone. Well we have been very busy these past few weeks racing what wonderful weather we have had. Sunny days have placed temperatures in the 50s and low 60s. Spars have been varnished and painted and most everything on deck has been sanded. I tried something new this year by "plumbing" the main cabin wood stove up through the cover. Having heat down below will ward the chill off for another couple weeks so that painting the main cabin will be a much more comfortable event. It got so hot yesterday that I decided it was a perfect day for a swim. Have a great day day. Be well. Do good.

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

Good morning everyone. My usual apologies for the lapse in the blog. The transition from summer to winter has been especially fast… all of one week. And to be truthful I have needed a break although I haven’t really found it yet. The intensity of the end of this season was quite a shoulder full. This last week has not been much of a let up in the action either as the cold weather has us racing to get things under cover. We have been working every day and well into some evenings. All of that is personal choice of course but the cold weather has set in faster than usual this year and the weather changes so fast that a day can make a huge difference. To prove my point I enter exhibit A, the scene from the schooner last Saturday and exhibit B, the scene from our deck this morning. There is an emotional let down to the end of any season and with the loss of our beloved Mary the let down has been harder than ever. I will miss her. I will miss sailing. I will miss all of you. I have n

Good morning everyone. The light in the sky and on the islands is so clear this time of year. I know this was a favorite time for Mary and she is up there smiling as the inevitable changes come with the seasons. While the temperatures are certainly cooling off that same cold air makes everything seem bigger and so much more clear. Click on the top image and notice how the bell bouy to the left looks so tall and the Graves ledges look so dark and ominous. The clouds look darker, the green look greener, the bay looks stirred up as the light is refracted by the cold dense air close to the surface. A whole new definition to, "Wow... that's cool!" It really is cool. Have a great day. Be well. Do good.