Paint and Tar and Elbow Grease

Good morning everyone. The weather here in Maine continues to hold for us. The blackflies have appeared inland at our home and drive us to the coast where the cool sea breeze makes life more tolerable. Temperatures inland threaten to reach the 70-degree mark. Yeeeesh! Let’s go sailing.

Our schedule is currently driven by our annual Coast Guard deck inspection on the 19th of the month. With most of the rigging finished we now turn our attention to passenger accommodations. We will brighten things up with new paint on the overheads and in the companionways. In the past these have been painted off-white. We are going to try a bright eggshell white this year. Some of the bright work needs renewing with a hand rubbed effect varnish. The whole combination feels bright and cozy all at the same time. Not that any of us spends much time in our cabins but we do think the little touches make a huge difference.

Our last crew member Molly has finally joined us. She is currently attending the Maine Maritime Academy where she specializes in small vessel operations. She was thrown straight to the masthead where she sat for the better part of a day hooking up all of the wires that support the foretopmast. From the photos you can see that she can eye splice with the best of them. You can also see that rigging a schooner sometimes takes a few schematics to accurately describe how the rigging should be lead. Every boat is rigged just a little bit differently and every year I change one or two things. There is nothing static about these boats.

Jen and Alex spent yesterday prepping and painting the green accent on the stern. There are some folks in this world that can’t paint a straight line working right side up on hard ground (I know... I am one them!). Imagine painting an ellipse on a bouncing paint float upside down. Once again my amazing wife proves that defying gravity is not all that difficult. At least she makes it look easy. Alex learned not to paint with his mouth open. Of course Dad does what he does best.. stay out of the way. As you can see it did not take much bait to lure him and Sawyer off the schooner. There is something about men in plaid.

Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

Thanks to Professor Jim Dugan for grabbing our camera during his lunch break and taking these photos.

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...

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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...

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