Sailing Vacations
A Maine Windjammer

Good morning everyone. Another busy week has passed here in windjammer wonderland. Rain forced us into the barn for a few days this past week but that allowed us to get some good indoor work done including painting the rowboat Rosey, sanding and painting our yawl boat, Arno, and beginning work on the trailboards. Towards weeks end we started working on the topsides in the bright sunshine and varnished the main cabin sole (floor). This weekend the crew of Mary Day, along with the captains and crews from four other windjammers participated in a very special weekend long first aid and CPR course specifically focused on providing emergency care for our guests in the windjammer environment. Taught by yours truly along with my friend Becky we challenged the participants with scenarios and presentations that generated great discussions on how best to prevent and respond to the medical concerns of our guests when 911 is not just a phone call away. Because we rarely experience medical problem...

Good morning everyone. The weather this past week was absolutely stunning with temperatures in the 50s and very low humidities all week long. We even hit the 60 degree mark on Friday. That equates to t-shirt weather here in Maine. A 6 day stretch of dry weather in April comes along at some point most years. The trick is being poised to take advantage of the moment. We were ready! We spread several gallons of paint and varnish this last week on everything under the cover. Each day we would prep until lunch time and then paint after lunch being sure to finish before 4 o’clock. With sunset after 7 those three drying hours were critical to making sure that the paint kicked before the cool evening temperatures caused things to flatten out. On Monday we painted burgundy in the forward section of the bulwarks. On Tuesday we painted the pearl gray waterways. On Wednesday we painted the beige and off-white on the galley house, the fo’c’s’l hatch, the inboard end of the bowsprit, the pin rai...

Good morning everyone. By the looks of the forecast good painting weather may finally be reaching the Maine coast. Snow drifts still dot the landscape here in Appleton and the last few weeks week have been largely overcast and rainy. But Sunday through Wednesday look positively brilliant and we plan to be on the boat spreading paint fast and furiously. Yesterday the crew had a chance to get aloft and tar the rig. The saltiest of fit-out work tasks,tarring the rig,involves spreading a mixture of pine tar and boiled linseed oil with a dollop of varnish(approximately 3.274186 ounces per gallon of mix, give or take a drop)on all of the standing rigging. We tar the rig in order to preserve the serving of tarred marline that covers the canvas parceling (also tarred) which covers the marline wormed between the strands of the wire rope (which has an oil impregnated fiber core) that are the mast stays. Did you catch all of that? The smell of pine tar alone does more to preserve my senses th...

Good afternoon everyone! What did he say? Yes, good afternoon from Houston. I am here again with Capt Kip Files of the Victory Chimes having moved Elissa from the Houston dock where she has been open to the public and school groups for the last week back to her berth in Galveston. As is the way with boats weather had us pinned down and we are now at the airport hoping to get home by midnite. Gusty NW winds blew 25-30 all of yesterday. We left this morning at dawn and motored down the Houston ship channel back to Galveston. Getting in to the berth was complicated by our inability to contact the dock because of damage from Hurricane Ike. Kip did a masterful job of easing Elissa alonside her berth and we pulled it off in fine fashion with a little help thanks to a push boat donated by the Kirby Corporation. The good news is that the Juan Sebastian de Elcano is currently visiting Galveston. She is a magnificent 370’, 4-masted, schooner and the official training ship for the Spanis...