Sailing Vacations
A Maine Windjammer

Good morning everyone. Well just when we thought it couldn’t get any better it has. This week is one of two 6-day naturalist cruises we offer each June and we are off to a great start. We left Camden after breakfast yesterday morning and pushed out of the bay to the southward. I had a hankering to get offshore and after the last 2 days of NW winds I suspected that the ocean swell would be knocked down some. After an hour’s push with the yawl boat, during which we saw a red phalarope, we caught a SSW wind and away we went sailing outside the islands that guard the south end of Vinalhaven. Just after lunch we reached Seal I about 20 miles from Camden and a known nesting spot for Atlantic puffins and razor billed auks. I was a little nervous when just a mile from the island I wasn’t seeing much in the way of pelagic species. And then they came. A gannet soared across the bow and then the alcids began to appear. I don’t think I have seen so many puffins and auks as we did yesterda...

Good morning everyone. Tuesday was the full Worm moon, the last full moon of winter. Supposedly named because in some areas of the country worm castings became visible around this time of year. A worm in Maine would have to be tougher than a five pound bag of hammers to get through the frost that is just starting to come out of the ground. This moon seems to have many names according to where you live; the full Sap Moon, the Lenten Moon, the Full Crust Moon (in reference to snow, not Mary’s pies), and the full Crow Moon. And why shouldn’t a full moon be named according to what is going on in your reality. The full Let’s Get Ready to Go Sailing Moon. That works for us. Does that mean that April 9th will have the Full Bore Linear Panic Tax Deadline Moon. Take it easy Cap. What natural seasonal ritual is happening in your world that would name your March full moon? We could certainly call ours the full Sap Moon. The sap is slowly coming to flow in our taps (see last blog) but there is...

Good morning everyone. Happy Ground Hogs Day to all. If today’s forecast comes true folklore tells us we will see an early spring here in our neighborhood. What does the groundhog say about your weather forecast? We start a new month, albeit a short one but a month in which we gain an emotionally crucial 1 hour and 13 minutes of light. By months end the sunrise will be at 0620, a full 37 minutes ahead of this morning. Jen and I were shocked how light it was so early yesterday even though it was overcast. So while the weather is one thing we spend much time talking about the light is what really makes the psychic difference here. One of the things you will find me talking about in blogs, especially in summer, is seals. We have more lousy, unfocused pictures of little black dots on the ledges and every one of them makes me smile. Each picture reminds us how delighted we are to see seals. Harbor seals (phoca vitulina) are the most common seal here in Maine and their numbers have gr...

Good morning everyone. The docks leading to the windjammers at the head of Camden Harbor were removed for the winter on the high tide yesterday afternoon. Many thanks to the town harbormaster and the crew from the highway department who pitch in to safely get these floats in and out so smoothly. I hauled the winter commuter skiff down to the sea wall and will make visits as frequently as possible. I spent Monday aboard winterizing and installing an emergency pump, just in case. I have heard tales from the old days when schooners mysteriously sprung a leak after a bad ice up. It has been so warm here that ice does not seem likely but I know freezing winter temperatures are just around the corner…so says the Old Farmers Almanac. Now that the docks are out we find it easier to settle into finishing some late fall onshore outdoor projects. There are several cords of firewood yet to split and stack, the garden to till, year end office madness, and leaves to rake. And so our lives and...

Good Morning Everyone. The snow is falling here at a good clip. The forecast is for 6-10” depending…. We moved the yawl boat ARNO in to the barn yesterday afternoon and did our usual storm preparations…stacked a little more firewood in the shop and got things under cover. Web guru Jim Dugan and I spent some time yesterday revamping our Maine Audubon cruise descriptions and I am really excited about what we came up with. That got me thinking about puffins. We usually see puffins on our first Maine Audubon cruise with Mike and Margi Shannon. They are, of course, cute but I wonder where they are this time of year. I can tell you that after my jaunt in the harbor the other day I truly feel for them. There are storm warnings posted today for the gulf of Maine. I imagine them bobbing in the wind and the waves and diving (they actually flap their wings underwater) for their food in the icy waters. Folks always ask if we are going to see puffins not realizing that they only come to l...