Sailing Vacations
A Maine Windjammer

Good morning everyone. Wow. What a difference a day makes. Friday was t-shirt weather and Sunday morning we dressed to make snowmen and shovel the deck. The first big snow event hit the East coast Saturday night into Sunday morning. The wind on the bay was gusting well up into the 30s. The heavy snow brought a pine tree down across our wires blowing the fuse at the end of the driveway. Since it was just us and no one else on the street I knew we were in for a long wait. Thank goodness for the outhouse, the hand pump at the well and 5 gallon buckets that balance well on a sled. Sawyer and I have been walking the woods looking for something to fill the freezer. Our new game camera allows us to be where we aren't and see when the deer and other wildlife are passing through. I love being in the woods this time of year, even if I am sitting in a snowbank. The closeness of the trees is no less marvelous than the wide horizons of summer sailing. It is all "chicken soup" in my bo...

Good morning everyone. This postcard was sent to me by Oscar Richardson. Oscar and his great Uncle Jack DuBose sailed with me years ago. I thought the world of Jack and he sailed annually for several years running until declining health forced him to "swallow the anchor." I will never forget Jack, in his thickest southern gentlemanly drawl, asking, "Capt Barry, can y'all have yaw man build me a fiah in the fiahplace?" "Jack it's 70 degrees and it's only 8AM!" When Jack was a child his family summered at Sedgewick on the Benjamin River, a beautiful little "hole" off the Eggemoggin Reach with a well marked but none the less tricky winding entrance. I say "hole" because the harbor is literally a hole in the ground running along a fault line that bisects the Eggemmoggin Reach and forms the Benjamin River. In the middle of this small anchorage is what I assume is a glacial pocket 60' deep, perhaps a kettle hole created when ...

Good morning everyone. Holy cow doesn't time just whiz by. Do any of you have any ideas on how to do more in a day than humanly possible and still be present with those you love and care for? Well, the 2011 season has come to a close. The schooner is blanketed in shrink wrap for the winter and most of the crew have moved on. Katie will be staying on part time to varnish, paint, and maintain everything. I will be devoting my winter to maintenance as well. The office comes first. This is the first day I have been in the office since????? I still have some winterizing projects aboard the schooner before the docks come out but now is time to sit down and get next season organized. Have you seen our 2012 schedule ? JimDugan.com has created a wonderful way to sort cruises by date, length, or cruise number. Check it out. I finally have an answer for you folks who wonder what we do for vacation. This past Columbus Day Weekend, one of the most beautiful anyone can remember, we went "up...