Skip to main content

Great Schooner Race 2011

Good morning everyone. We did have a Great Schooner Race.. of sorts. Very light airs at the start which gave Mary Day an unfair advantage against the heavier vessels. The entire fleet, save the Timberwind and Stephen Taber, were mired at the start in a big clump. We crossed the line, sailed (drifted?) clear of the others and managed to somehow tack and gain enough steerage to head from the Western I bell towards Resolution I. What light wind we had was from the south. We caught up to the Taber and Timberwind by 1300ish at which point the esteemed and illustrious race committee shortened the course in the interest of time. Of course, as luck would have it, the breeze filled in onshore and we were "off like prom shoes". We managed to sail through the lee of Timberwind and were steadily gaining on the Taber. I am not certain what happened with the radio comms but Capt. Noah was still sailing the original course and drifted to leeward of the finish line line at which point he challenged the Timberwind to finish the original course. After a kind hearted "bet you can't catch me" challenge from Noah we chose to respect the esteemed race committee's decision on the course change and were greeted as first in class, first across the line at the finish line by the perennial coaster class (three masted division ) winner Victory Chimes. The winds were quite fluky in the east bay but we weathered Stonington where the rest of the fleet anchored for the night and ripped our way with a fair tide across Jericho Bay at 10.6 knots. The anchor hit the mud in Burnt Coat Harbor in time for dinner and a sunset walk ashore.

Have a great day. Be well. Do Good.

Comments

Michele B said…
Congratulations Mary Day! You are not only the most beautiful ship to grace Camden harbor, but the fastest too! :) Thanks go to your terrific, hardworking crew. You make us all very proud!
portable 60 said…
Sounds like a great day in the life of a schooner captain. Glad you had such favorable weather conditions and was able to win the race. Must have been much more fun than shoveling snow in Boothbay Harbor!

Popular posts from this blog

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