Sailing Vacations
A Maine Windjammer

Good morning everyone. Well I may not be good about writing blogs regularly these days but at least I am slow. I don’t know if that makes any sense to you folks but my life has been a bit like a runaway train these last few weeks. The train has slowed temporarily. We are out on our annual naturalist/photography cruise this week with JimDugan.com and naturalist Eric Snyder. We sailed out to Seal I on Monday to see the plentiful pelagic birds nesting there; puffins, auks, murres and even what we are fairly certain was a Manx shearwater. Eric and I both did a big double take when we saw that fly by. By some stroke of luck we anchored here at Lunt Harbor, Frenchboro, Long Island yesterday afternoon. We will most definitely get to shore to visit the boulder beaches and remember what it is like to see the bay from the land. If you haven’t made your reservations yet there are still a few empty bunks this summer. We just had a cabin open up for the Great Schooner Race. Yes, that is next week. ...

Good morning everyone. Jen doesn't know that I am about to publish this so don't tell her. It'll be our little secret. As any of you who have sailed with us know, Jen has the touch. She doesn't sail often enough. She wears many hats around this place and is the shore side piece of the puzzle that keeps everything moving. Just the same, her heart is aboard the schooner with the guests and crew. I woke up to find these rocks on the binnacle (the compass housing) on Memorial Day morning after she had returned from her expedition ashore with Colby. Kinda sums up the whole shooting match doesn't it? Well there you have have it. We don't have a cruise this week so we will be tackling a whole pile of projects that we normally wouldn't have a chance to get to until fall. I hope you are all well. Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

Good morning everyone. We had a marvelous sailing day yesterday. Just enough breeze to make her go without the need for topsails. 7-8 knots all day long. Of course we started the day exploring ashore on one of my favorite islands. The clouds and low fog brought wind. The sun brought many smiles. A bald eagle spied us invading their territory but never raised its voice in protest. Seal pups were a little more wary. Thanks to the crew and guests who made this such a great way to kick off our 50th season. Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

Good morning everyone. We are off the dock and underway for our first cruise of the 2011 season, our 50th season! Can you imagine what this boat would say if she could tell the many stories that have been absorbed by her wooden hull. Everyday becomes another chapter. I am as amazed today as I was 19 years ago. The scenery (even in yesterday's pea soup fog) is still breathtaking. The guests and crew are an inspiration. Each face has a wonderful story. I will let the pictures do the talking. Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

Good morning, afternoon, night....it's all a blur at this point. We board in 9 days and the rain has been blessing us with it's wonderful gift of moisture. Grass is high, flowers blooming, bugs are present. Oh the joy of heading to the harbor to leave that all behind! The crew are working incrediblely long rainy days, sitting on mastheads rigging topmasts, bending on sails, varnishing galley sole, main saloon tables and putting last minute touches to small boats. It's a good feeling to walk in the shop and realize there are few pieces left needing paint. Bunks will be made up this weekend and the galley unpacked! It's all coming together with the dock lines still taught, Mary Day tugging alongside us with high emotions to get her 50th sailing season underway. What a day that will be. All too soon. So back to the brushes we go. We'll be ready and we hope you get the chance to sail with us this summer! Be good. Do well. And yes that's the cook Cara, who next time ...

Good morning everyone. Building a new crew each year is one of the biggest challenges and joys that Jen and I have each year. Each year is so different even if the same people are sailing together. But I am not telling any of you anything that you don't already know. For those of you who have sailed with us you know that every cruise is different even if you see the same familiar faces you may have sailed with before. With Katie and Rob in the lead our crew is now complete. Morgan, our new assistant cook, Rebekah, our new deckhand, and Cara, our new cook, are all here ready to go. I picked Morgan up at the airport on Friday afternoon and she was painting the bulwarks less than an hour later. Friday was the last sunny day we will see for a while so we worked right up 'til early evening. Saturday was a rigging day and this crew did something I have not seen accomplished in many years. The head rig (jibboom, whisker shrouds, martingale and it associated wires) and both topmasts in...

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.