Skip to main content

Schooner School



Good morning everyone. One piece of fitting-out a schooner that folks seldom see are all the trainings that we conduct with the crew. Learning to sail is actually quite easy but putting sailing into the context of becoming a crew member aboard a large sailing vessel is more complicated. We drill and we train and we study and we talk. We explore all the what ifs before they get here. Today I am off to fire fighting school to learn about pumping water. Seems like a pretty easy topic but when put into the context of a very expensive fire truck with more gauges than you can shake a stick at, well,it all requires great attention to detail. Today's class is specifically about working with other fire trucks to move water great distances. Here in Maine most rural communities don't have fire hydrants so we have to get creative, just like a schooner. We work with what we have at hand to do the best we can.

Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

Comments

AL from Alabama said…
Captain, when I first clicked on this blog and the picture came up a shock went through me. It looked like you were standing at the control panel of about a 24 cylinder Fairbanks Morse Marine diesel. No more worrying about lee shores, but how does the Mary Day handle on a full plane?
Thanks for continuing to share with us.

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...

A Golden Windjammer Anniversary

Happy Birthday Mary Day! 50 years ago today Mary Day slid out of the shed at the Harvey F. Gamage Shipyard in South Bristol, Maine marking the beginning of a whole new chapter in the history of the windjammer fleet. The Gamage yard had not launched a schooner since 1933 and Mary Day was the first commercial coasting schooner launched since 1938. That also makes her the first commercial coasting schooner launched in the second half of the 20th century and the first schooner ever launched for the windjammer passenger trade. There may be a few more firsts in there but that doesn't really matter. What is most important about this celebration is the fact that Mary Day was launched today and began her career touching the lives of thousands of people. This schooner was built by people, for people and has never done anything else but bring joy to peoples lives. She has become a legendary windjammer here along the Maine coast as part of the largest fleet of commercial coasting schooners...