Sailing Vacations
A Maine Windjammer

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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...

Marketing Successes and Challenges for Historic Maine Windjammer Published January 16, 2012 Happy Monday! Today’s Maine Maven is Captain Barry King, co-captain of the beautiful schooner Mary Day in Camden with his wife Captain Jennifer Martin. Barry and Jen are both Coast Guard licensed masters and have extensive sailing and educational backgrounds. Barry has voyaged to Bermuda, the Bahamas, the Caribbean, and along the Canadian maritimes to Newfoundland. Jen’s sailing career took her to Florida and the Bahamas before becoming captain of Figaro IV, a classic ocean racing yacht, here on the Maine coast. Barry is a Registered Maine Guide, and a Nationally Registered Wilderness EMT. He also sails as an officer aboard the 1877 barque Elissa. Jen is a nationally certified Wilderness First Responder. Jen and Barry met as students with the Audubon Society’s Expedition Institute while earning master degrees in experiential environmental education. This program gave them in-depth experience ...

Good morning everyone. I found this photo while cleaning up some folders in my computer and I just had to laugh. How cool is it that a kid gets to grow up along the Maine coast building boats out of scraps of foam laying on the beach? Answer: VERY! Sawyer actually paddled this thing back out to the schooner anchored a hundreds off the beach. This was during a noon time picnic at Pickering Island and you can see the afternoon storm clouds building in the distance. I remember being antsy about wanting to get off this exposed beach and underway. I had one of the crew follow close by during this epic voyage. Silly, I know, but that is my job. Wearing his Tallship Elissa t-shirt and oblivious to the weather, Sawyer paddled serenely back out to the schooner's boarding ladder. He wasn't worried at all. What could possible go wrong? Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

If you haven't seen this check it out! Alabama Ed has done a wonderful job putting together some compelling images and fun music. Thank you Ed! It has been a while since I have seen this and I forgot how much I enjoy it especially from the dead of winter. Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

Good morning everyone. I do not often get a chance to see our cruises through the eyes of a first time sailor. Chelle Walton and her husband Rob sailed with us. As a travel writer she is no newbie to travel and leisure. She has seen a fair amount of different vacation opportunities. So any words of praise from her feel good. Of course I don't know what those folks who had a lousy time have to say but let's start the new year with a positive outlook. Check it out. Jen, Sawyer, Courtney and I wish you all the best in the year ahead. Of course tomorrow will not be any different than today really but I like the the idea of starting anew with resolutions firmly in mind. Every new day is really the same. Don't you think? I don't know why I wait for December 31st to make my resolutions. So here is my resolution: To treat everyday like December 31st, all year long. Oh yeah, if you don't mind me saying, I also resolve to go sailing as much as possible next summer. How abo...

During one of our 6 day cruises in July 2010 I was up early one morning and caught a neat reflection of this good looking schooner in Great Cove off Brooklin, Maine. It is one of the loveliest schooners with a graceful sweeping sheer that goes on forever and lovely douglas fir spars that receive a good scraping and slushing every fall. I am a sucker for a beautiful windjammer. OK, you schooner experts out there. Which windjammer is it? Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night. Be well. Do good.

Good morning everyone. Katie, Jen and I have been wicked busy trying to clean up fall outdoor projects before the snows of winter bury everything in the door yard under several feet of snow. "Twitching" tree length logs from the woods is the easiest way to get firewood to the splitter. One of our woods roads was blocked by the presence of a small building used to house our harbor tug "Chadwick". Katie was a little taken aback when I suggested we move the building to a more suitable location. "What could possibly go wrong?" Is it me or do all guys in their late 40s say, "Hold my beer. Watch this!" Hanging on to what tiny shreds of youth are still available it is like we pre-geazers are taking one last stab at believing we really are competent in the wrinkled face of our impotence. Caution thrown to the wind we jacked the building up on to our 16 foot tandem axle flatbed. With this 20'X 12' building being of economy construction, 2x4s and ...

Good morning everyone. Jen, Katie, and I decided we needed a new topmast for the holidays. What was to be a leisurely day became a mad dash when the harbormaster called with the news that the docks at the head of the harbor would be removed at noon time yesterday. Yikes! OK, so the complexion of the day changed dramatically. The holiday season was off in a rush. I am not saying we couldn't have brought the new topmast to the boat without the docks but it sure did make it a heck of a lot easier. So with a little chainsaw work the tree was down, limbed to the appropriate dimensions and onto the truck in a half hour. That was the easy part. Decorating an 18' tall Christmas tree is a little more of a challenge. We decided putting the lights together on the ground would be wisest. Next step, aloft we go. Katie sent the winter pig stick down and rigged a gantline. Thankfully Bruce stopped by and with a bit of additional Swedish steam from the harbormaster and Capt Wells of the Lewis ...

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...

Good morning everyone. We have had a couple of wonderful three day cruises this past week. The weather has continued fair and the sailing has been brisk. We are all hunkered down for Irene and the tropical storm warnings she brings to the Maine coast. Looks like we will get a bit of wind and rain. We take these storm warnings seriously even if we know in the back of our minds that seldom are they as bad as the forecasts predict. We would rather err on the side of caution. One thing I try not to take seriously is myself. Guests peeking into my office last week wondered about the carbide scraper I was hiding. I shave with it of course. No silly little razor for me. With a beard as tough as mine a carbide scraper is still kind of skimpy. With a little "help" from one of our guests I managed to apply some shaving cream to my beard. Washing up with a swab? How salty is that? Maybe I should try a weed wacker next time. Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

Good morning everyone. We enjoyed a wonderful lobster bake Wednesday afternoon at one of my favorite little haunts. We managed to work our way out the bay against wind and tide in a lovely and light southerly wind. The fog hung thick until noon time and gave way to deep blue skies and plenty of sunshine. We anchored last evening in Bucks Harbor where the water is quite warm for swimming and the phosphorescence flashes in the wake of evening swimmers. We sailed close to this ledge earlier in the day and, by luck, I captured this seal waving to us. Have a great day. Be well. Do good. PS We have a couple last minute openings for the 3 day cruise we are offering in the second half of next week. The trip boards Wednesday afternoon, sails Thursday morning and arrives back in Camden Saturday morning. Wouldn't it be nice to have a last minute get-away?

Good morning everyone. After an overcast Monday and a mostly rainy Tuesday the sun finally poked out yesterday afternoon and the skies cleared beautifully. I wish you could have been here to witness the grandeur. I have not seen a full rainbow in quite some time. At one moment a double rainbow began to tease us but faded as the rains pulled further and further away. After dinner the sky turned the deepest golden color that I can remember. Could I have bottled it up to send to each of you I would. Low clouds scudding across the sky were in constant flux against the high clouds that held a glow of their own. If you look closely at the middle image you can even see a tiny wisp of a rain shower delicately falling. And while the sunset faded over an hours time the memory will warm me through the coming winter. I remind myself that we have plenty of sunsets to go before this season reaches any kind of finale. Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

Good morning everyone. We are very excited to announce that we are partnering with the American Lighthouse Foundation (ALF) for our September 5th, 6 day, lighthouse tour with pharoalogist Ted Panayatoff. We are offering a 10% discount to anyone that mentions supporting ALF and then donating 10% of that fare to ALF. Your cost will be $832.50 and we will donate $83.25 per person to ALF. You win, ALF wins and we get a chance to show off Maine's extraordinary lighthouses and give back to our community. For more information check out the ALF web page . Call or email Jen in the office to make reservations. Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

Good morning everyone. Epic seems to be the word for everything these days. So pardon me if I go with the trend but yesterday was "epic." We took a hitch offshore to tour Mt Desert Rock Lighthouse. The storm damage from several years ago is still apparent but the stone tower stands true and the horn still sounds. What struck me most about the day was the number of birds we saw. The air was just alive with gannetts, shearwaters, storm petrels,and semi-palmated plovers. Watching the gannetts diving from 40 feet up gave me a headache but nature has provided airbags in their skulls to absorb the shock. Watching the shearwaters take off I realized that they run across the water in an effort to become airborne. How cool is that? We also saw a shark that passed just under the stem of the schooner and the flapping flipper of an ocean sunfish, also known as a mola mola. It was big! Last night we had some good soaking rains here along the coast but things have cleared off nicely ...

Good morning everyone. Well this has been one crazy but beautiful summer. I am not certain how it happens but life gets busier by the day. And not necessarily easier I might add. Of course it doesn't help that this writer tries to do more than one person is capable of. I know the lack of a blog may appear as though I am not doing much but any of you that have been aboard know we have been busy little bees. This years Sweet Chariot Folk Festival was another great success. We were quite fortunate to have the performers come aboard to perform a few shanties. Cameras were clicking and I am guessing a few videos will appear online somewhere. I will hopefully upload a video to our Facebook page . I have never done this so let me know if it doesn't work. If you haven't been to our Facebook page you should check it out. Some cool stuff there. Guests really enjoyed this years show. Leaving Camden on Monday was quite interesting in a very thick fog. As happens often we found a scale...

Good morning everyone. OK now... two deep breathes... then back to the boat. Today's list... fill wood crates, paint bob chains, change oil and filter in yawl boat, meet guests at 1600, empty compost bin and build new lid for same, update home page. But I did have to take a moment this morning to "smell the roses". Suzanne Twigg sent along these 8x10 photos of her trip in August of 1979. I have done as little "monkeying" with these as possible. Dirt smudges on the originals were left intact. There are memories in the photos that have meaning for Suzanne and for the rest of of us who were not even there. Capt Buds Hawkins was still at the helm and the schooner was painted white. The topmasts were only a few years old and the staysail club had yet to appear. The schooner still had her original raised whale strakes. But the experience was largely the same. A lobster bake ashore was as treasured then as it is now. Sunsets were as breathtaking as could be. Have a gre...