Sailing Vacations
A Maine Windjammer

Good morning everyone. I am home at last after two weeks in Galveston, TX sailing aboard the barque Elissa. Frequent flyers on this blog know this is an annual trip for me. The barque Elissa is a very special ship, a “project” of the Galveston Historical Foundation and the Texas Seaport Museum. When I saw pictures of the devastation left by Hurricane Ike I had very strong doubts about how the volunteers who sustain Elissa could ever put the boat and the docks back together in time for her annual spring sea trials. Well, they did it! Once again determination and will win against all odds. And that is the story of boats. Late this afternoon a new crew will come together for the first time aboard Mary Day and fit-out will begin in earnest. As I look at the work list ahead of us I am just a little over whelmed. There are always more things to do than there is time to do them. The weather this next week doesn’t look as warm and sunny as I would like so working and living aboard will...

Good morning everyone. Tuesday was the full Worm moon, the last full moon of winter. Supposedly named because in some areas of the country worm castings became visible around this time of year. A worm in Maine would have to be tougher than a five pound bag of hammers to get through the frost that is just starting to come out of the ground. This moon seems to have many names according to where you live; the full Sap Moon, the Lenten Moon, the Full Crust Moon (in reference to snow, not Mary’s pies), and the full Crow Moon. And why shouldn’t a full moon be named according to what is going on in your reality. The full Let’s Get Ready to Go Sailing Moon. That works for us. Does that mean that April 9th will have the Full Bore Linear Panic Tax Deadline Moon. Take it easy Cap. What natural seasonal ritual is happening in your world that would name your March full moon? We could certainly call ours the full Sap Moon. The sap is slowly coming to flow in our taps (see last blog) but there is...

Good morning everyone. Well we hope you enjoyed as fabulous a weekend as we had. The weather was just incredible with the thermometer reading near 50 degrees for the first time in many, many months. Surely spring is not far off now. As the seasons turn another annual ritual is at hand and that is the quest for “liquid gold.” Each year we hem and haw about when to tap the maples but this weekend there was absolutely no question about it. Warm days and cold nights are required to get the sap flowing and the forecast for the next week looks perfectly sappy! The energy of sap rising in the maples is the same energy we feel as we get ready for another season of sailing. Tapping maples is a vernal ritual for our family. Sawyer likes drilling the holes and Courtney enjoys hanging the buckets. Both kids enjoy tasting the first drip of maple sap straight from the tree. On a good day it only takes a few moments before we hear the tink, tink tink, sound of sap dripping into the buckets. Since...

Good morning everyone. Though morning temperatures have been in the single digits for the last few days we know spring is near. For one Drew, our chief mate, arrived this week and he and I have been building new paint floats in the barn. More on those later. Jen went down to the harbor yesterday to photograph some more of our unique winter ducks and was instead greeted by robins. I don't know what birds are unique to the place you call home but here in Maine robins give us hope that a new season is right around the corner. This particular robin seemed most interested in our anchor chain. I have a theory. As you can see, the part of the chain stack that faces south certainly gets some solar gain and provides about the only open ground one is likely to find here. I am not sure how the worm hunting is on the granite bulkhead but who are we to argue with a robin. That bird must have one tough beak! Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

Good morning everyone. This blog is way too long so you unless you have 2 minutes you may as well just skip to the last paragraph. It took three days but we are finally all dug out. We plowed and shoveled for several hours on Monday and then plowed and shoveled out the neighbors. The weight of the snow snapped limbs off trees everywhere and branches that are normally out of reach arched into the roadways making a snowy slalom course for cars and trucks. Wednesday after an early morning trip helping a neighbor take her pigs to market I borrowed her bucket loader and spent the rest of the day moving snow banks. One resultant bank is about 7 feet tall and 10 feet thick. For those of you sailing with us this summer our kids will have genuine organic homemade Maine snowballs for sale. Please don’t be confused by cheap imitations you might see on TV. One frequent flyer here on the blog recently wrote a moving comment about caring for our one and only planet. Now I am not here to talk ...

Good morning everyone. Please be patient while we dig out from yet another snowstorm that has us buried. Even the birds need to shovel their way to breakfast. The blue jays with their very large beaks shovel a path for the waiting nuthatches. This is the second storm in the last week although this 12” of snow is much lighter than the last 7" of what can only be described as cement. I will keep this quick as the lights have been blinking. The weight of the snow on the branches causes tree limbs to lean heavily on the wires. We have listened to the rumble of snow sliding off the tin roof all night long. It is all beautiful in a wintry sort of way but does cause us to shift priorities on a morning like this. Thoughts of summer sailing adventures are in our hearts but the present is calling in the door yard. This is a good morning for blueberry pancakes from the wood cookstove. Then again... what morning isn't? Have a great day. Be well Do good.

Good morning everyone. A mid-winter thaw has come to Camden, Maine. The temperatures have been up in the 30s for the last week. We even had rain last Thursday. I for one am not ready to see the snow go away. The bees in our field have been taking advantage of the warm weather to clean house. Bee scat and bee carcasses stain the snow all around the hives. This last week I have been working in the barn repairing hatches and skylight screens. My dear friend Bruce is a master machinist and has been helping set up a small lathe that I found on the side of the road. With any luck and a lot of patience on Bruce’s part I am looking forward to machining new bearings for some of the blocks and might even try my hand at making a marlinspike. To see what Bruce can do with a spinning piece of metal is pretty darn cool. Like any master, he just has a way with his medium that is inspirational. If you don't believe me try it yourself. The ice during this warm weather has finally begun bre...