Sailing Vacations
A Maine Windjammer

Good morning everyone. As you can see we are in the shipyard where the dampness has slowed progress but not our spirits. We have scraped and sanded every square inch of the bottom. She is smoother than a baby's butt. The next few days look sunny so the paint should be flowing. We hope to launch on Sunday. Have a great day. Be well. Do good. Our hearts and prayers go out to our neighbors to the south who have been devastated by the weather.

Be patient while these two short videos download. Here is a low quality video taken with my cell phone while standing up on the hill in the park overlooking the inner harbor. Holding the phone steady was a challenge as you can hear the wind just blowing. One small schooner parted her bowline about an hour after I first posted this. I lent a hand while the vessel's owner and the harbormaster struggled in a small skiff with an outboard to set things back in order. And here is the view from the launching ramp. The rock in the foreground started the morning at the bottom of the concrete walk on the right, and yes my feet got wet when the wash from the first wave rolled up to my truck tires. Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

Good morning everyone . I am sitting here watching from the town landing in Camden at the height of yet another Patriots Day weekend storm. The harbor is feather white with spray blowing off the tops of the waves. The schooner is rocking and rolling. Hang on tight Auntie Em... You too Toto. Power is out at the global headquarters and trees are down all over the place I hope the cover hangs on through the day. Stay safe in your world. Be well. Do good.

Good morning everyone. Today is a shop day here in Maine. Torrential rains and thunderstorms are working their way up the coast as we speak and easterly winds are gusting in the harbor. So in their infinite wisdom the crew decided it would be best to work here at the global headquarters. Jen and I backed the yawl boat Arno into the barn last night. Our small sailing dinghy Rosie is in the shop getting ready for interior painting. Jen and Katie are putting the finishing touches on the quarterboards, carved by Havilah and Ron Hawkins back in the 70s when they were sailing with Buds Hawkins, their dad. 40 years old they require a little nursing each year to keep them going. The gold leaf detail is just beautiful and we don't mind spending a little extra of your hard earned money to keep them shining with the real stuff. Gold paint just doesn't even come close. Colby is overseeing everything from the comfort of her office (the couch) with occasional trips to the schooner for deck i...

The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month. -Henry Van Dyke We started our week with flurries bordering on heavy snowfall. As Monday progressed the skies eventually cleared and the thermometer hit 39 degrees. The sap could heard "tinking" in the snow covered aluminum buckets. That my friends is a joyful music this time of year. The sap is flowing strong so we will be boiling another round of sap this weekend. Ya-hoo for spring! Be well, do good.

Good morning everyone. Well after a long hiatus the big dog is back aboard...the big dog being Colby of course. The docks are back in and after a winter of out of town carpentry I am getting back into the groove. Jen and I had an extremely busy winter with kids after school activities (namely skiing), volunteer activities in town, and work. Katie has kept the barn fires burning all winter long. We have tackled a whole pile of projects and now Katie is enjoying a well deserved week of rest. Next week chief mate Rob will be back and we will climb aboard with sandpaper and paint. I for one am very much looking forward to getting out on the bay. I hope you will forgive my absence and hope the e-newsletter has helped. If you haven't signed up for the e-news it is filled with more nickel knowledge and shameless banter about windjammer cruises. In the meantime... Be well, do good.

Good morning everyone. As any of you who have sailed with me know I love gadgets. Creating new and easy ways of doing things is a fun challenge for me even if I am slow on the uptake. So here is a gadget I have tried before that I felt I should share with the universe. I am sure I am not the first person to think of this but, hey, this works slicker than greased owl droppings and it reeks just enough of red neck that the devil in me just has to laugh. We buy our peanut butter by the 9 lb. tub. The stuff we buy is that organic, all natural stuff with the hefty layer of oil on top when you open the lid. I have tried inverting the tub every few days to get the oil to work its way through but getting even consistency is still a challenge. Who hasn't got to the bottom of this kind of a peanut butter tub to find a layer of peanut butter cement? The mother of invention was not necessity. It was laziness as any of you who have tried to hand stir peanut butter will know. If you do not own a...