Sailing Vacations
A Maine Windjammer

Good morning everyone. We had an amazing day yesterday. Anchored at Isle Au Haut for the morning we were able to get ashore for a good long walk. Isle Au Haut is a magical place for me. I have camped there on several occasions. I have hiked and sailed around almost all of nooks and crannies. The first pencil sketch I ever made was of the Robinson Point Light. We saw several bald eagles while we were anchored and a coyote (we had heard them yipping away during the night) swam across the Thorofare and shook itself on the Kimball Island shore before disappearing into the woods. Underway we started the sunny day with a deep reef in the main which we shook out after about an hour of going 2 knots with nothing more than 5 knots of wind. The forecast was for gusts to 30 knots but that sure wasn't what we found when we peaked out from behind Kimball Island. With all sails set flying we beat our way up to Eagle Island before we took in the topsails and began to beat into a ...

Good morning everyone. Well, here we are on our last windjammer trip of the season. Can you believe it? I will not do a whole lot of reflecting here but it has been a good summer. This is a very bittersweet time. I am looking forward to so much ashore but I will miss the bay. This last trip seems to be cramming an entire season of highlights in to 4 days. We left on Thursday morning with beautiful sunshine and temps in the 80s onshore. Within the hour that quickly became a series of thunderstorms. One passed right over our heads with a crack of lightning that couldn't have been 1/4 mile away. That storm passed off uneventfully and others passed just a few miles south and north of us. Miraculously we were in a slot between much of the bad weather. The rest of the day we drifted lazily up to anchor in Bucks harbor in a light breeze. Early yesterday morning the rain poured down as a cold front approached the coast. By breakfast time the rains had moved off and we t...

Good morning everyone. Another beautiful day here in Maine. The wind was quite light for most of the day. We had a chance to get ashore in Stonington. The Granite Museum was closed for the season but Jan and Evelyn Kok were in their store, The Sign of the Purple Fish, making music and custom hand crafted bookmarks and greeting cards. More delightful people you will be hard pressed to find. While weighing anchor a flock of Canada geese flew overhead honking away. My heart leaps when I hear geese. Aldo Leopold, in A Sand County Almanac, wrote lyrically about "goose music". I have never been the same since I read his words. Sawyer was asking about the days getting shorter and the meaning of the equinox. It is unbelievable to me that the seasons turn as they do. There is plenty of science to explain all the changes but how does one explain the emotional changes of seasons to an 8 year old. We have many guests aboard from southern states that keep telling m...

Good morning everyone. We enjoyed a sunny sail yesterday and today looks to be much the same. Can you believe we have temperatures forecasted to get into the 80s again! This is crazy. The forecasted gusty NW winds never really came to be. This time of year it is tough to trust the NW wind. It can get some feisty as the warm Maine waters exacerbate the cool Arctic air pouring in behind departing cold fronts. We tucked a deep reef in the main underway as the winds began to pick up and just as quickly they died away. We enjoyed a great lobster picnic on the beach at "Lobster Island". A trail leading to the top of the island gave us great views of the surrounding islands. There is a picture in our brochure of a woman on a hillside overlooking the schooner. As we stood on that same hill I realized that in the 20 years since this picture was taken the trees have grown to the point where we can just see the topmasts but not the hull anchored below us. It is alw...

Good morning everyone. We had a good sail yesterday. All down wind, all day long, in the fog. This wasn't one of those "thick as the hair on a dog" fogs. We had about a half mile visibility all day which is quite good by Maine fog standards. Not being gluttons for punishment we anchored around 1530 and went for walks ashore here at Fort Point 27 miles from Camden. Last night we had a sing along in the main cabin. This morning the sun is shining bright and the light NW wind promises to carry us out of the river. We had numerous swimmers here this morning. I can here the excitement up on deck right now. As I like to say, the water is as breathtaking as the scenery. The foliage here in Fort Point Cove is turning. The loons are singing. I think it is going to be another good windjammer day. Have a great day. Be well. Do good. A special good morning from Victor Hatherly who, along with his lovely wife, is enduring another cruise.

Good morning everyone. These short cruises take the most time and energy so the blog has been catch as catch can these last few days. Seems like we just departed and then we are back again only to spend a couple days getting the boat ready again. We returned from our last 6 day cruise to some very sad news. The schooner's namesake, Mary Day Hawkins passed away last Friday morning. Mary has been sick for the last few years, in and out of doctor's offices with congestive heart failure. I think I might have given up long ago but Mary was never a quitter. When I visited with her in May she was short of breath but smiling just the same. I think that is what I admired most about Mary. I never felt like I had room to complain in her presence. Mary lived a very full life and though I only heard small snippets of it I feel honored to have known her. The medallion on the ice box belongs to the Hawkins family. Each spring for the last 9 years we have visited with Mary and she has ...

Good morning everyone. The season is clearly changing as summer winds down and fall begins to make it first appearance. A few of the maples are turning and the island fields are turning brown. The days are noticeable shorter. The deer are more active in the woods and fields. The first of the scoters are arriving. Guillemots, eiders, and loons are all changing colors. We are savoring this time of year knowing that the end is coming too soon. The weather here has been magnificent. The dew clings fast to the cabin houses even after the crew has chamoised but the morning sun eventually has its way. At coffee, guests line the rail, backs to the sun in solar collector fashion, drinking in the first warmth of the day. I have still been swimming each morning as the "warm" ocean temperatures mediate the change of seasons. Cooler evening temperatures trigger us to light the wood stove each night. I think everybody appreciates the cabin radiators this time of year. Pumpki...