Skip to main content

Sail Training aboard a Maine Windjammer

Image
By

Good morning everyone. We were working down at the boat on Saturday with the usual gaggle of visitors checking out the boat. One young woman in particular was lingering and looking at the boats extra carefully. I asked her if she was interested in them and she informed me she worked on a similar vessel from the Chesapeake. She was on a short break before having to return to meet the schooner in Gloucester. We talked about the windjammers and all the Maine coast and she commented that almost every captain she had sailed with had cut their teeth here in the Maine windjammer fleet.

That is an amazing commentary. As owners hiring crew we never know where our young charges will go with what skills we teach them. This week is our annual Wooden Boat School week. We are giving a whole group of people from all over the US and Canada the chance to play deckhand and learn the ropes. In conjunction with the Wooden Boat School we will be offering folks the chance to learn the soup to nuts of sail handling, marlinspike seamanship, coastal navigation and piloting, and so much more. There is more here than one can learn in a week but we will certainly see a good chunk of the big picture. So stay tuned as we head off for another special week of exploring the coast.

Have a great day. Be well. Do good.
Labels:

Comments

Unknown said…
I read Al's comments on a previous entry. It seems his bags are packed. So with sincere apologies to John Denver a song to be sung to the tune of "Leaving on a Jet Plane."

All my bags are packed
I’m ready to sail
I’m standing here against the rail
I hate I have to wait to raise the sails
But the dawn is breaking
Its early morn
The crew is waking
And Mary’s baking
Already I’m so hungry
I could cry

So pass the crank and smile with me
Tell me that you’ll sail with me
Pull that line like you’ll never let it go
Cause I’m sailing on the Mary Day
Don’t know when I’ll be back again
Oh matey, heave that line.

All year long I’ve dreamed of this
So many times I’ve read the blog
And this is what I‘d like to say …
Every place we sail, I’ll enjoy the ride
Fair winds will blow, on the rising tide
Weigh the anchor on the Mary Day

So pass the crank and smile with me
Tell me that you’ll sail with me
Pull that line like you’ll never let it go
Cause we’re sailing on the Mary Day
Don’t know where we’ll be at end of day
Oh matey, heave that line.

Now the time has come to anchor
Our last time,
Let us furl the sails and coil the lines
Let’s dream about the days we had
When the schooner was fore the wind
And about the times, we’ll remember this way.

So pass the crank and smile with me
Tell me that you’ll sail with me
Pull that line like you’ll never let it go
Cause we’re sailing on the Mary Day
Don’t know where we’ll be at end of day
Oh matey, heave that line.

Sailing on the Mary Day
Sailing on the Mary Day
Sailing on the Mary Day
Sailing on the Mary Day
Sailing on the Mary Day
Sailing on the Mary Day
July 23, 2007 at 9:12 PM
Unknown said…
Thanks for the large scale scan of the MD sail diagram. With a little help from our engineering plotter I now have a 2' x 2.5' copy framed and hung on the wall in my office. One of our co-workers came in my office and looked at the white board, where Alton and I were honing our memory of the pin rails, then at the sail diagram and she said, "You're obsessed with this!"

Maybe I am but sure beats being obsessed with golf.

Ed
July 28, 2007 at 12:22 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hail Mary

By
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...
28 comments
Read more

Swimming Anyone?

By
Good morning everyone. Winter is still here in New England though it seems to be taking a rest these days. We have enjoyed a little bit of a thaw. We still have snow covering our field but it is thinning out in the sunny patches. Mary Day rests comfortably in the harbor, bilges dry, cover intact, waiting for the crew to return. Another busy week has passed so I will get you up to speed on everything that is happening here at the global headquarters. Jen is putting the finishing touches on year end taxes. Blockfest 2008 is finally finished. The blocks have received quite the massaging. And while we have the off-white paint out we are starting in on the lifeline stanchions, the davits, and a few other miscellaneous parts. Alex asked me last night how we were doing with our pace. We are doing great but in the back of my mind I know that there is never enough time to do it all. Having perfectionist tendencies is a curse. I want to do it all and know we will never have enough time. There se...
6 comments
Read more

Fall Maintenance

By
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...
5 comments
Read more