Sailing Vacations
A Maine Windjammer

Good morning everyone. We had an amazing day yesterday. Anchored at Isle Au Haut for the morning we were able to get ashore for a good long walk. Isle Au Haut is a magical place for me. I have camped there on several occasions. I have hiked and sailed around almost all of nooks and crannies. The first pencil sketch I ever made was of the Robinson Point Light. We saw several bald eagles while we were anchored and a coyote (we had heard them yipping away during the night) swam across the Thorofare and shook itself on the Kimball Island shore before disappearing into the woods. Underway we started the sunny day with a deep reef in the main which we shook out after about an hour of going 2 knots with nothing more than 5 knots of wind. The forecast was for gusts to 30 knots but that sure wasn't what we found when we peaked out from behind Kimball Island. With all sails set flying we beat our way up to Eagle Island before we took in the topsails and began to beat into a ...

Good morning everyone. Well, here we are on our last windjammer trip of the season. Can you believe it? I will not do a whole lot of reflecting here but it has been a good summer. This is a very bittersweet time. I am looking forward to so much ashore but I will miss the bay. This last trip seems to be cramming an entire season of highlights in to 4 days. We left on Thursday morning with beautiful sunshine and temps in the 80s onshore. Within the hour that quickly became a series of thunderstorms. One passed right over our heads with a crack of lightning that couldn't have been 1/4 mile away. That storm passed off uneventfully and others passed just a few miles south and north of us. Miraculously we were in a slot between much of the bad weather. The rest of the day we drifted lazily up to anchor in Bucks harbor in a light breeze. Early yesterday morning the rain poured down as a cold front approached the coast. By breakfast time the rains had moved off and we t...

Good morning everyone. Another beautiful day here in Maine. The wind was quite light for most of the day. We had a chance to get ashore in Stonington. The Granite Museum was closed for the season but Jan and Evelyn Kok were in their store, The Sign of the Purple Fish, making music and custom hand crafted bookmarks and greeting cards. More delightful people you will be hard pressed to find. While weighing anchor a flock of Canada geese flew overhead honking away. My heart leaps when I hear geese. Aldo Leopold, in A Sand County Almanac, wrote lyrically about "goose music". I have never been the same since I read his words. Sawyer was asking about the days getting shorter and the meaning of the equinox. It is unbelievable to me that the seasons turn as they do. There is plenty of science to explain all the changes but how does one explain the emotional changes of seasons to an 8 year old. We have many guests aboard from southern states that keep telling m...

Good morning everyone. We enjoyed a sunny sail yesterday and today looks to be much the same. Can you believe we have temperatures forecasted to get into the 80s again! This is crazy. The forecasted gusty NW winds never really came to be. This time of year it is tough to trust the NW wind. It can get some feisty as the warm Maine waters exacerbate the cool Arctic air pouring in behind departing cold fronts. We tucked a deep reef in the main underway as the winds began to pick up and just as quickly they died away. We enjoyed a great lobster picnic on the beach at "Lobster Island". A trail leading to the top of the island gave us great views of the surrounding islands. There is a picture in our brochure of a woman on a hillside overlooking the schooner. As we stood on that same hill I realized that in the 20 years since this picture was taken the trees have grown to the point where we can just see the topmasts but not the hull anchored below us. It is alw...

Good morning everyone. We had a good sail yesterday. All down wind, all day long, in the fog. This wasn't one of those "thick as the hair on a dog" fogs. We had about a half mile visibility all day which is quite good by Maine fog standards. Not being gluttons for punishment we anchored around 1530 and went for walks ashore here at Fort Point 27 miles from Camden. Last night we had a sing along in the main cabin. This morning the sun is shining bright and the light NW wind promises to carry us out of the river. We had numerous swimmers here this morning. I can here the excitement up on deck right now. As I like to say, the water is as breathtaking as the scenery. The foliage here in Fort Point Cove is turning. The loons are singing. I think it is going to be another good windjammer day. Have a great day. Be well. Do good. A special good morning from Victor Hatherly who, along with his lovely wife, is enduring another cruise.

Good morning everyone. These short cruises take the most time and energy so the blog has been catch as catch can these last few days. Seems like we just departed and then we are back again only to spend a couple days getting the boat ready again. We returned from our last 6 day cruise to some very sad news. The schooner's namesake, Mary Day Hawkins passed away last Friday morning. Mary has been sick for the last few years, in and out of doctor's offices with congestive heart failure. I think I might have given up long ago but Mary was never a quitter. When I visited with her in May she was short of breath but smiling just the same. I think that is what I admired most about Mary. I never felt like I had room to complain in her presence. Mary lived a very full life and though I only heard small snippets of it I feel honored to have known her. The medallion on the ice box belongs to the Hawkins family. Each spring for the last 9 years we have visited with Mary and she has ...

Good morning everyone. The season is clearly changing as summer winds down and fall begins to make it first appearance. A few of the maples are turning and the island fields are turning brown. The days are noticeable shorter. The deer are more active in the woods and fields. The first of the scoters are arriving. Guillemots, eiders, and loons are all changing colors. We are savoring this time of year knowing that the end is coming too soon. The weather here has been magnificent. The dew clings fast to the cabin houses even after the crew has chamoised but the morning sun eventually has its way. At coffee, guests line the rail, backs to the sun in solar collector fashion, drinking in the first warmth of the day. I have still been swimming each morning as the "warm" ocean temperatures mediate the change of seasons. Cooler evening temperatures trigger us to light the wood stove each night. I think everybody appreciates the cabin radiators this time of year. Pumpki...

Good morning everyone. We have had another great week. The fog came in thick yesterday afternoon and with impending showers we came to dock early. Had we anchored out I would have been underway as I write gunning to get to the dock before the rain. Hardly a relaxing way to finish what has been a great week. After we finished playing music last evening one guest asked if we ever have "bad" cruises. Well all cruises are different and this has been a particularly high energy week. As human beings the crew would have a difficult time sustaining this high energy pace for 22 consecutive cruises. Without any control over the mix of guests that come aboard, each cruise becomes a reflection of the individuals present even if the crew could spend the entire day doing cartwheels and back handsprings. So is there such a thing as a "bad" windjammer cruise? Hardly! Is every cruise different? You bet! Do I hope everyone aboard has a good time? Of course. Can e...

Good morning everyone. We enjoyed a very long sail yesterday. Beautiful weather blessed us once again and we sailed off the hook in a NW wind that carried us out of Blue Hill Bay and across Jericho Bay. We sailed from the NW wind straight into the SW onshore breeze without a hesitation, a rare occurence. Often the wind dies out for a few hours while the sea breeze builds and I had planned to stop for shore trips during the intermission but I guess the wind had different ideas. Several bald eagles and porpoise graced us with their presence. Sunset was spectacular. We are anchored here in North Haven this morning and will get ashore for walks after breakfast. Have a great day. Be well. Do good. Photo by Neil Parent.

Good morning everyone. We have had an awesome last few days. Tuesday we sailed in to the home of Wooden Boat magazine and the Wooden Boat School alog with the rest of the fleet. There were a dozen of the windjammers present. The rains just poured all night long but we were cozy by the fire under the awnings. There was even a brief brake in the rain, enough for a small fireworks display to put an end to a great day. The wind swung around to the west and blew hard yesterday. We tucked a deep reef in the main and along with the rest of the fleet flew up and down Blue Hill Bay. The wind gusted to 30 knots at times and with just 3 lower sails we were still clipping along, at times exceeding 10 knots. We anchored here in "lobster cove" for an evening picnic ashore. The stars last night were just phenomenal. One of the guests brought a laser pointer and she was able to give us a tour of the constellations. I read some poetry from the islands by my favorite Maine writer,...

Good morning everyone from Isle Au Haut. I have been here numerous times over the years though less and less these past few years as the tiny anchorage at the village has gained a few more moorings. We did not have much wind yesterday and pushed most of the afternoon. We managed to squeak in to anchor at one end of the thorofare and get ashore for a walk before dinner. The kids and I visited the church complete with its traditional New England codfish wind vane on top and some lovely stained glass windows. Built in 1857 it is a spiritual place on the hill overlooking the bay. I read the proverbs while the kids played preacher in the pulpit.On this day I am especially conscious of how fragile our lives can be. I am thankful to be here, thankful for the guests that share themselves with us, thankful for the life in the bay. It is all good, even on a rainy day like this. Have a great day. Be well. Do good. Photos by Neil Parent.

Good morning everyone. The winds lightened up quite a bit despite the forecast for 15-20 knot winds. They just never came. So much of the day was easy sailing back and forth, upwind towards Camden. The heat and humidity have settled back in to the state as one more (final?) blast of summer temperatures settles back into Maine. Even the deer take a dip in the water, swimming from one island to another. A fabulous event to behold! The cormorant I mentioned in yesterday's entry spent the night sitting on the boom. Jen finally woke it up during washdown when it stretched slowly, nodded its head, and gracefully flew off. This has been a wonderful week. Great people are the name of the game for us and this week has been no let down. We have sailed many miles, seen many lighthouses, and had many laughs. I was up on deck last night and the canopy of stars reminded me of the richness of what happens here. When I look up I can either see the sky as a flat assembly of twinkling l...

Good morning everyone. This has been the windiest week of the summer. The fall winds have come on as if someone threw a light switch. We passed our weekly average for miles sailed yesterday morning. As for the lighthouses, well, one guest has counted 25 thus far, although some of those were just visible with binoculars. We went ashore yesterday at North Haven and sailed down wind all day to Fort Point Light where we will get ashore this morning. A cormorant has been sitting on the tip of our main boom since we arrived here yesterday. Go figure. The bird doesn't appear injured nor does it mind having its picture taken. I admired its balance in the gusty winds we had last night. Have a great day. Be well. Do good. Photos by Barry & Jen.

Good morning everyone. We had a another wild and wooly sail yesterday. After a walk ashore we left Bar Harbor with a reef in the mainsail. The wind had come NW and was gusty at times, maybe blowing as much as 20 knots. Our sail of Frenchman Bay took us quite close to Egg Rock. The once painted red roof was faded by the elements. A lone bald eagle was keeper of the ledges. I had grand hopes of getting out to Mt Desert Rock but alas the wind and tide had other ideas. So we tacked offshore as far as I dared in the confused swell caused by the previous day's SW wind. We did get a not-too far-off look at Great Duck light and a a very distant glimpse of Mt Desert, 13 miles away! The cold air next to the horizon was bending the light in just the right way that we could see the tower and keepers house. Once again gannets were everywhere. I feel like the lighthouses are more elusive this week just because this is a lighthouse cruise. The wind and tide are what they are making ...

Good morning everyone. We had a great sail yesterday. We left Camden with the a promising forecast and it came true. This week is our fall lighthouse cruise and we have aboard with us Courtney Thompson, author of several books on lighthouses including one on the Maine coast. She has been in most all of these lights and we are delighted to have her here. The incoming tide and south wind began shortly after leaving Camden and 7 hours later we were anchored for dinner in Bar Harbor, 55 miles from our home port. I think that means we averaged about 8 knots all day. The kids were laughing hysterically at the smother of foam and spray at the bows that we experienced from time to time. We did manage to see a few light as well...Curtis I, Deer I, Bass Harbor Head, Bear I, Baker I and Egg Rock. We do not get to Frenchman Bay often so seeing Egg Rock was a rare treat. Frenchman Bay was filled with gannets diving head long from high above the water like avian missiles. At one...

Good morning everyone. What a beautiful week we have had and this weekend just keeps the trend going. All of the windjammers came to Camden harbor this weekend for the festivities celebrating the windjammer fleet. There was a parade of sail outside the harbor around the USS Oak Hill, a 600' naval vessel anchored here for the weekend. There have been a ton of festivities ashore including an open house aboard the windjammers yesterday and today. Mary Day's guests and crew performed for the crowd in the "Schooner Bum' talent show. The guests did a great job hamming it up despite a few passing showers. There was also a "ditty bag" competition which Sawyer entered his own bag in and won honorable mention. Afterwards there was a spectacular fireworks show over the outer harbor. For me Windjammer Weekend is really about the people most responsible for keeping these windjammers alive, the guests. I beat this drum frequently but it never grows old to my ears....