Sailing Vacations
A Maine Windjammer

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. Sorry to bore you with another broken record tale of a great day sailing. But yesterday was quite exciting. The wind came onshore from the south about 1030 and away we went. We saw 5 lighthouses including a close up view of the Blue Hill Light. The light is long since gone from the lantern room but the green beacon atop the skeleton tower stills guides mariners into the bay. The light was very conducive to taking many pictures. The lobster boat pictured here pretty much says it all. Though built of fiberglass her handsome lines caught my eye. Notice the windjammer in the background. Is the irony lost on anyone else? The Maine windjammer Angelique looked particularly stunning in the light. As a replica of a Brixham trawler she comes from a traditional background on the other side of the pond. We didn't tire of watching her ease between the islands. Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

Good morning everyone. The weather here continues to be dry with chilly mornings and warm sunny days. This week we are looking at lighthouses and our resident pharologist and friend Ted Panayotoff is sharing marvelous stories about the keepers that made these lights live and breathe. On Monday we saw 8 lights close up and one off in the distance. Tuesday we sailed offshore to visit Mt Desert Rock Lighthouse and Great Duck Lighthouse. Hurricane Bill really battered Mt Desert Rock several weeks back and destroyed the bottom floor of the barn adjacent to the keepers house. The boathouse is completely gone, save on wall that is still standing. Just imagine the seas that must have been washing over the Rock to have done damage the likes of which hasn't been seen in many years. I have been told that the water was up into the first floor of the keepers house. Yesterday we had a chance to walk out to the Bass Harbor Head Light from the harbor of the same name. We also had a fine ch...

Good morning everyone. We sailed off the anchor yesterday morning after breakfast and enjoyed a light onshore breeze all day long. Once again sunny skies were the rule. Eider ducks are everywhere. I love seeing the males skittering across the water as we approach the ledges. We sailed through the dozens of islands in Merchant Row and ran down the East Bay passing very close to the Deer Isle Light, Eagle I Light and Dice Head at Castine. We had a distant glimpse of Pumpkin I light which marks the west entrance of the Eggemmoggin Reach. We finished our day with walks ashore at Fort Point State Park. Ranger Terry Cole welcomed guests with tours of the tower and the original 4th order fresnel lens. How cool is that! Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

Good morning everyone. We had a fabulous weekend with the kids playing tourist in our own backyard. Guests always ask what we do during the winter and this weekend was “Courtney’s Pick.” We were celebrating her 8th birthday and she wanted to go visit Fort Knox (no gold here) and Fort Point State Park. Just a 45 minute drive from home and with a few friends in tow we explored the coldest day of the season. Wow, was it cold! See what I mean about bragging rights. It was so cold… well, you get the point. Fort Knox is a small state park built around the largest granite fortification in Maine. Built between 1844 and 1864, long after the Revolution was over, the fort protects the narrowest section of the Penobscot River, the key to the highly valued timber resources up river in the deep Maine woods. I can’t imagine the amount of energy it must have taken to cut, move and build the fort from the tremendous number of granite blocks that are still as intact as the day they were placed. I...