Welcome Home

Good Morning Everyone. Home at last...and it feels good. I had a great time in Texas. The hearts of Texans are as big as the state they live in. Many fond farewells were exchanged as I left the ship. Once again, this experience showed me how much the ship is her crew, not just the sails.

Spring has absolutely sprung here. I am amazed at the transformation that happened while I was gone. Two hawks, broad winged I believe, were calling as they spent the afternoon soaring over the woods behind our house. Robins are in the field. I scared a woodcock from the field's edge while collecting sap. The funny part of spring is that now we can find all the lost items that were buried under the snow banks, a mitten here, a screwdriver there, a muffler hanger down the driveway. More importantly, we find a renewed sense of energy. We'll need it for the next few months of craziness getting the boat ready.

Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

"Simple Gifts of Maine"

“Tis a gift to be simple
‘Tis a gift to be free
“Tis a gift to come down
Where we ought to be

And when we find ourselves
In that place just right
We will be in the valley
Of love and delight.

Simple Gifts - A Shaker song


One of the many questions we get every summer is “what ever happened to last year’s crew, where are they now?” There is a pattern that we see which is the crew tend to spend one or two years with us (except Mary….we won’t let her go!) and then move on to other vessels that tend to go farther into the horizon, or they do what’s right and go back to college. A few have moved on to real careers and fewer have gotten married and now have children. It’s always amazing to hear from them. One such person, Annie Nixon as many of you know who still sails with us off and on as adjunct facility, has moved on to working for the Ashwood Waldorf School where our children attend. She has spent several years teaching there and this winter has taken on the role of annual auction coordinator/director. (Yes she and Carob finally got married!) I’ve worked with Annie both on the boat and now on the auction and have to say, it’s amazing at how the two worlds are similar. Lots of organizing and following thru with the 6P’s. Both worlds giving the simple gifts of Maine.

The event “Simple Gifts of Maine” is the one and only large chance for the school to raise money to then give to the families in need for tuition assistance. The logo is called “Seeds” and is fitting as we are trying to give the simple gift of the chance to attend the school for a child, to plant the seed of the Waldorf education within them, all for the outcome of a brighter future for the child and for the world around us. Annie has done (and still is, it’s not over yet!) an amazing job of orchestrating this seed planting. I’ve been proud to work with her and delighted to see how one crew member can go from climbing the rigging one day, taking care of 28 passengers and maintaining the schooner to taking charge of her own “ship” and sailing it thru another year, past the horizon that was sailed last year. This event will be a huge success to Annie and all those involved in it and all those who will be helping us to give the simple gift. If you have a chance, take a look at the auction website (and feel free to make a bid!)
www.ashwoodwaldorf.org/auction/

Have a great day! Do well. Give a simple gift today, smile at someone!

Harvesting "Liquid Gold"

Good morning everyone… it's been a busy weekend….Maine Maple Syrup weekend! ‘Tis the time to boil and boy did we boil! The kids and I pulled a wagon loaded with a trash can plus a 5 gal bucket of sap all in one run on Saturday. We set up the funky homemade sap evaporator and set to boiling. We boiled for two days and have rejoiced in the harvesting of our “liquid gold”. It seems to be a right of passage for us here in Maine. The snow is still all around our house as we live in the woods. The driveway is ankle deep in mud ,the songbirds are showing up at the feeder, ole man porky pine has taken up residence in one of the kids climbing trees and the sap is flowing….it’s these signs we get rejuvenated from. Knowing that winter has officially passed and spring is all around us. Most folks look for flowers….well ours will surface months from now….the sap gives us hope to hold us to the daffodils.

Another tradition we have here is pancake Sunday. Sawyer wanted to share with all you one of his favorite rccipes to go along with your choice of “liquid gold”…enjoy

Banana Cakes

Makes approx. twelve 4’ cakes

6 T. Butter
1 ½ c. flour
2 T. sugar
2 ½ t. baking powder
¼ t. salt
1 very ripe banana, peeled
1 c. milk
2 eggs
½ t. vanilla
liquid gold of your choice, for serving

Cut the butter into 3 equal parts. Melt two of the pieces in a pan and save the third part for cooking the pancakes. Mix in a bowl the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Mash the banana in a different bowl. Add the milk, eggs and vanilla to the banana. Then mix the dry mix to the banana mix. Batter should be a little lumpy. Spoon batter on griddle and cook until a few holes form on top of each pancake and flip. They should rise a little and turn golden brown. Serve hot with warm “liquid gold” syrup.
Enjoy!

Have a great day! Be well. Do good. Happy Sap Day!

Sailing South, Dreaming North

Good Morning Everyone. Well my time here in Texas is almost through and as much as this is a special place to be I do miss home, Jen and the kids, the smell of the woods in spring, the schooner. Elissa is an incredibly special vessel, made more special by the people who volunteer thousands of hours a year to keep her is sailing condition. There are very few museums in the country that understand that the preservation of something like a ship has value only when it is used for what it was intended for. Sure there are trade offs and compromises to keep an Elissa or Mary Day inspected by the Coast Guard but without these concessions to the future the past would be sitting idle on one side of the surface or the other. We will be sailing overnight off the Texas coast tomorrow in to Wednesday before we fly home Thursday. I will be sleeping in the cabin that some other mate slept in 130 years ago excited about the adventure but dreaming of home as well. Yards will be braced by volunteers who are living and making history.

I saw this Canada goose swimming in the channel a few days ago and projected my anthropocentric thoughts in to the scene. I wondered when she would be heading home to the North, how alone she might feel, and what a long journey lay ahead. I know how you feel Ms. Goose, a little out of place against a backdrop of oil rigs but enjoying the moment none the less. Have a safe flight…I will see you on the other end.

Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

Becoming a block head...

Greetings everyone. Sorry we missed a day. Life sometimes spins faster than we can uphold. As you all know the crew are here sanding and painting, sanding and painting, and sanding and painting again. Fit out…a wonderous time of the year. The list of items is literally hundreds long all needing someone’s attention in one way or another. So it’s week two and the 70+ blocks will be finished today of being disassembled, , sanded, primed, sanded and painted then rebuilt & greased. During coffee break the other day, the “red fit out book” was being checked over and the question that every new crew member asks at some point during the fit out season, “so tell me why are we doing this?” was finally aired.
It’s more than a labor of love I tried to explain. Because we love to sail these old vessels and share the beautiful Maine coast with folks from away who may have never have ~ seen a seal upclose, heard an eagle cry, feel the foggy dew on their skin, seen a shooting star, or a full moon rising over the water, or a colorful sunset at the end of a beautiful day, walked thru a fern field, felt a starfish wiggle in their hands, or pet a lobster as well as eat one. It’s the evening of a long row while seals are barking in the distance, the morning of a quiet sunrise with a hot cup of coffee while watching the wildlife all scurry about, the afternoons of the winds caressing the sails as the water splashes against the hull, hearing the bell ring for meals, ahh, Mary’s homemade cooking, breads from scratch everyday, hot soups, salads, and wonderful pies, cakes… It’s the people….sharing stories, laughter and working together to sail a beautiful ship experiencing this all together to carry us thru to another year….that’s was my answer. Heads shook quietly, and with a shrug of agreement, we all went back to the brushes, anxiously waiting for those dock lines to be cast off…..

Have a good day! Be well, Do good and don’t forget to check for drips & holidays!
Sunset photo by Steven Latici

Square Riggers and Schooners

Good Morning Everyone. Amazing how Jen was just talking about Irving Johnson sailing aboard a square rigger and here I am in Texas aboard another square rigger. So, for those of you who haven’t heard the term, these vessels are named for the way the sails are set from the masts, square to fore and aft centerline. They do not go up wind nearly the way a schooner does. A schooner, like Mary Day, is fore and aft rigged. There are a few fore and aft rigged sails aboard a square rigger but don’t let that confuse you. Elissa has 3 masts. 2 of these are square rigged, the main and the fore. The after mast is called a mizzen and it is fore and aft rigged. This combination makes Elissa a barque, as opposed to a full rigged ship (square rigged on all 3 masts), or a brig (a 2 masted square rigged vessel). Half way in between are vessels rigged as barquentines and brigantines. It can all be confusing. The schooners in the windjammer fleet were all designed for coasting (sailing relatively near shore) and were designed for shorthanded maneuvering. Elissa sailed across the ocean with a crew of 12. Mary Day would have sailed coastwise with a crew of 2, or 3 if they had a cabin boy.

Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

Sailing Cape Horn

Good evening…we’ve survived the storm. The 6 p’s of preparation worked. We had to shovel and plow. Plowing was amazing. I’ve never plowed snow and walls of water before. The ground is still frozen and all the rain on top of 9” of snowfall made mucking about the grounds difficult. Our boots were just tall enough to reach the barn and still stay dry. Roads have been flooded out in our area and the fog as thick as the soup we sail thru in the early part of the season. While driving yesterday I found myself secretly wishing for the schooner’s compass and GPS.

Looking thru old photos on hand, this photo reminds me of the time Irving Johnson made his voyage aboard the Peking. The other evening we showed the crew the Irving Johnson film, Around Cape Horn. Which I’m sure many of you know about. It’s a wonderful classic that we show the crew every year with the disclaimer “this is what you won’t be doing in the rigging” as it shows Irving coming down one of edges of the sails pinching it between his fingers only, all while the Peking was underway!

If you haven’t heard of Irving Johnson here’s a tidbit for your morning coffee:

Irving Johnson was born in 1905 in Hadley, MA and had always dreamed of sailing from reading many seastories as a youth. Being far from the sea he had to come up with a way of preparing himself to become a sailor. Doing a headstand ontop of a rotton telephone poll and making it swing from side to side was one of his many interesting training techniques.

In late November, 1929 Johnson joined the crew of the 377(LOA) foot 4 masted barque Peking for a voyage around Cape Horn. Johnson had always dreamed of such an adventure. Little did he know the adventure it would become. He was lucky enough to bring a camera and film a home movie to capture this historic event. Irving was able to capture the crew’s daily life & activities and amazing images of a (typical) dangerous storm as the Peking sailed the tretcherous waters of Cape Horn. Some of his footage was shot from up in the rigging! Johnson narrates the video which makes the movie a well worth event. The Mystic Seaport Shop has the video available at:
(www.mysticseaport.org/index.cfm)

Today the Peking can now be visited at the South Street Seaport Museum in New York City.
(www.southstseaport.org/street/peking.shtm)

So we leave our crew for the evening with great thoughts of historic sailing adventures that have been made and thoughts of ones that lay ahead of us this summer…

Have a great day! Be well. Do good. And hang on tight! ("Why would you let go" as one wise captain would say.)

Bigger in Texas

Good Morning Everyone. Well they say everything is bigger in Texas and they aren't kidding, at least when it comes to sailboats. As regular followers know I am down here to sail aboard the 1877 barque Elissa. She is a beautiful three masted vessel with square sails on the forward 2 masts and a mizzen mast that looks similar to what you might see on a fore and aft rigged schooner. The staff and volunteers at the Texas Seaport Museum keep this piece of history alive and well. I am lucky enough to sail aboard her as one of her officers. Click here to learn more about Elissa and the Texas Seaport Museum. I will keep you posted on what we are doing here as time permits.

Have a great day. Be Well. Do Good.

A taste of Winter & Spring

Good morning everyone! Barry has or is still trying to reach Galveston. A bit of a rough day getting flights out ahead of the storm. Late last night he was still in St. Louis waiting…He thinks if they start walking, they may get there faster.

The crew and I spent a good portion of Friday preparing for the storm, learning the 6 P’s of sailing: Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. This planning technique included groceries, wood, putting the plow on the truck, setting up projects to last several days… We knew we wouldn’t be going anywhere for a few days. Two of the crew have never experienced a New England snowstorm. They were awed by the beauty of a graceful snowflake coming down (that was last night at the beginning of the storm). They have yet to show their faces today to see the accumulated 7” of snow and ice that are present and still coming down. We are expected to see this all day long. Today’s lesson: shoveling, plowing, building a snowman, snow angels. We also hope to get a few blocks painted in between all the winter fun. "The mice will play while the Captain is away!"

As a treat for the crew last night, the kids and I shared one of our favorites for a spring snow when the trees are tapped and we’re thinking ahead of spring yet faced with one last bit of winter. We hope this brings back a great deal of childhood memories for many of you.

Maple Snow

Boil some maple syrup in a pan until it reaches around 230’-240’ degrees. We use a candy thermometer for help with this. It will bubble up and make a great mess on your stove so stay with it and stir. It smells terrific! Take a bowl and pack snow into it and leave it outside while your boiling your syrup. When syrup is ready pour it in a thin layer over the top of the snow. It will melt the top layer of the snow and the bottom of the bowl should be still fresh snow. The syrup will cool quickly and make a sticky layer on top. It’s ready! Grab a spoon (or fork) and enjoy the last taste of winter and the first taste of spring! Note: for those of you in the south, try making this with crushed ice. Enjoy!


Have a great day! Be good. Do well. And remember to bend your legs while shoveling snow!

I'm a leavin' on a jet plane....

Good afternoon everyone! Afternoon....just crazy. Well I am on the road today traveling to Texas (I think) to sail aboard the barque Elissa. I will write more on that later but needless to say this blog will be a little more intermittent over the next few weeks. I tried to write this morning just like I tried to fly from Portland to New York. In the end we booked flights from Manchester, NH so here we sit waiting with fingers crossed as the snow begins to fall. So hang in there and be patient. We will keep you updated on goings on with the schooner and I will post photos of Elissa under sail.

Photo by Dudley Bierau

Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

Sail Training

Good Morning Everyone. Unsettled weather here in the Northeast for the next few days. The sap flow has slowed down here the last few days, a curious thing since it has been so warm.

The crew has survived their first few days of fit-out. They seem willing to tackle anything despite the bumps and bruises and nervousness, mine and theirs. I read about sail training programs and the skills they will teach you but as one crew member and I talked about at the end of yesterday, this whole crew thing is as much about mutual respect as it is hard skills. While I appreciate a competent sailor I also appreciate the human element that makes the difference between good and great. So in this picture is a great sailor in the making. Jennie is willing to tackle head first whatever it is that needs doing, including slushing the mast with grease, as you can see here. I told her she would get a raise. She assumed I was talking about money. But money can't pay anyone for what it takes to be a great crew member. I value most that rare quality, a discipline of sorts, that allows a crew member to consider the needs of their fellow crew members and the schooner before their own. If you ever want to try being a crew member our Wooden Boat Course may be just the ticket.

Most of the emphasis of mainstream media advertising seems to me to focus our attention on how we can be more comfortable and independent people. The fanciest rain gear in the world doesn't come with the mental toughness that a deckhand needs to stand all day in the fog and rain straining to identify potential perils. Aboard a schooner there are numerous physical and emotional challenges that take the crew way out of a normal range of comfort and that can be most successfully negotiated as a team. And maybe that is what makes windjammer passengers so unique. Windjammers guests seem to be willing to sacrifice the national no tell motel chain for a little closer experience with the elements and with the camaraderie of others. I find these experiences make me feel most alive and the guests who come aboard are certainly a lively group. What a gift for our family to meet all of you. Thank you!

Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

Photo be Jim Dugan...crew member and web guru. Does you mother know where your camera has been?

Workin' on the chain gang...

Good Morning Everyone. A rainy but warm morning here on the Maine coast and the snow is going fast so get out there and build your last snow fort while you can. The new crew put in a full day yesterday sanding the yawl boat inside and out in the morning and installing new mooring chains on the beach in the afternoon. Moving 125’ of 1 1/4 “ mooring chain across the beach was a good first team building event. And who should appear like magic but Jim Dugan, our web guru, clicking camera in one hand, dragging mooring chain with the other. Thanks Jim, for the hand and the photos.

Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

Fit-Out Begins

Good Morning Everyone. The temperature is threatening to hit 50 degrees today which will be the warmest temperature we have seen in quite sometime. The rest of the crew arrived yesterday. Becki, Becka, and Sara will begin in earnest today to sand and paint anything that isn’t moving. Today they will be sanding the yawl boat and we will go to the harbor at low tide to switch out the bow mooring chains on the beach. From here on out I promise my blogs, on average, will become shorter as life becomes a whole lot busier.

The picture is of ARNO in the barn. We are making a few structural modifications, laminating in new support knees on the thwarts and replacing a plank that was a little iffy. Though the cedar was good there was one spot where the back of the plank had blown out some years ago and has been backed by a block of wood. I am not saying it couldn’t have been asked to serve a little more time but we like to fix things as we can. This also gave the opportunity to reinforce the framing at the hard turn of the bilge.

Have a great day, Be well. Do good

Navigation in the Sea of Life

Good Morning Everyone. Happy Monday morning to you all. OK so the clocks might have changed but my body is going to take a few days to get used to this. Here is the almanac here on the Maine coast for the week. Monday High tides at 0513 and 1803. Low tides at 1147 and 2354. Sunrise at 0700 and sunset at 1844.

I include for your navigational efforts this week a chart of Penobscot Bay just off Camden (the dent in the land on the lower left). While you may think this whole place has been charted accurately, such may not always be the case. As the cartographer said who created this thing…”the prudent mariner will not rely solely on any single aid to navigation” including this chart. So while life may seem clear at times, remember that like this chart, some of the assumptions made about what is out there and where it is are based on very old data from the 1800s. Goodness knows that the winter ice or the congressional knife may have removed even the guideposts we leave for other humans venturing across deep water. So take care out there in the world this week. Print this chart out to guide you on your way. But also pack along your wit and wisdom, a good compass, a coastal pilot book filled with wisdom to help keep your spirits buoyant, glasses for seeing things up close, binoculars for seeing things far away, a good leadline to get a measure for how deep you are getting yourself in to things, an intuitive radar to sense what may there in the fog, and a good crew at your side. If you get lost stop before you hit the rocks. Don’t just do something, sit there. Take a deep breathe, listen carefully, get your bearings, and then continue on. The best navigation in the sea of life is performed with a vigilant heart filled with respect for all the possibilities. We wish your fair winds and following seas. We can’t wait to read your logbook when you return safely to harbor.

Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

Blessing Camden Windjammers

Good Morning Everyone. A rainy last quarter moon morning here as we begin daylight savings time. We returned home late last night (after 9PM) having watched Nadie's dance recital debut. Best 55 seconds of dancing I have seen in a while. Even Sawyer liked it.

We dedicate this blog to all the new crew members arriving in Maine over the next few weeks. You will never meet Major Floyd S. Chadwick, USAF (ret.) but he will touch your life. The major was a fixture here in Camden for many years, always encouraging crew (and owners too) to keep a stiff upper lip in the face of adversity and "be a friend on the side of the road" to everyone you meet. Major first came to Camden to sail aboard Mary Day and adopted the place and alll its windjammers. The Major eventually became the Camden Harbor Monitor helping the harbor master with his daily rounds and even filling in after hours to help the lost get found, his voice crackling out over VHF channel 11. He blessed every schooner that came and went. He knew secrets many of us "young bucks" hadn't yet discovered. You see, he had been dead twice on the operating table and I figured that gave him a certain credibility. The morning cannon at the Camden Yacht Club signaling 0800 and colors seldom happened without the Major's morning blessing, sage advice to us all.

Major's Morning Blessing

Ohhhhhhh, Let the daaaaay begin!
The Lord is in His Heaven, all's quiet in the world.
Pray your way through the day,
Ask the Lord to show you the way,
He hears every word you say when you pray.
Oh harbor of a thousand faces,
What strange and wondrous fate will befall us today?
Give us a sign, show us the way.
Stay in deep water, keep a good DR,
Pay attention to wind and tide.
Stay away from the lee shore.
Listen to the wee small voice.
Boats are made for water, rocks are made for scotch.
If you're towing a dinghy, keep a long floating painter.
Thank you Jesus for this abundance.
For give us for our sins and gluttany.
Thus endeth the reading of the scriptures.
And as General MacArthur said aboard the
USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on August 15, 1945 -

"These proceedings are closed."
et cetera, et cetera, et cetera
AMEN
Pass the bread, meat and 'taters!

Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

Warm thoughts-Lobster Dip

Good Morning Everyone. It is 30 degrees warmer here this morning than it was yesterday at this time. Sawyer and I set out the last of the maple taps yesterday and we are expecting a busy week here with warmer temperatures in the forecast. I am hoping to boil our first run of sap next Friday before I leave for Texas for 12 days. But that is a whole story in and of itself. Becki Newcum, one of our deckhands, arrived yesterday after a 20 hour drive from Indiana (if you had seen how much she had packed in that little Honda, like the clown car at the circus, you would know why it took her 20 hours). Big day for Nadie, her first dance recital is tonight with a reception afterwards....which makes me think about food...ahh...Mary's lobster dip would be good right about now....

Hot “Lobstah” Dip

1 cup cooked lobster, chopped
8 oz. cream cheese
¼ tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. mustard
2 tsp. dry white wine
1 tsp. Seasonal
½ cup mayo
1 tsp. powdered sugar
1 tsp. minced onion

Mix all together. Heat in a pan, stirring often until hot and bubbly. Be sure to not overheat! Serve hot with crackers. Share with a friend (maybe). Enjoy!

This recipe is not in Mary's cookbook, "Ring That Bell". Lobster dip photo by Jim Dugan.

Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

Schooner Yoga

Good Morning Everyone. Brrrr….not that 10 degrees below zero is cold outside….its just climbing out of bed when your bare feet hit the 50 degree hardwood floor that you really start to notice it. Better than coffee to pop your eyes wide open. Once again the arctic air is here with meaning. We have four woodstoves to feed as of today as new crew begin to arrive.

We had a particularly busy day yesterday and the forecast for today is much the same so I will be brief this morning. The kids were home sick, I and another captain had an unexpected meeting with representatives from Senator Snowe’s office (remember my ADA blog), Jen spent half her day running errands for the school auction committee, I had a couple fire department meetings, the planer needed new knives installed (only one trip to the hardware store), the woodstove in the barn needed a new section of stove pipe and damper, (back to the hardware store, Courtney had rehearsal for this weeknd's big dance debut (all 55 seconds of it) 'til 7 o'clock last night, and all the office demands to boot. One of our guests finally got through our busy phone line yesterday and commented that he thought this was our slow time of year; not so much I say. But that is OK really. As I told him, we cram into our 5 months off the schooner what everyone else has the entire year to do. There is a certain sense of job security here and not everyone can say that. I just have to remember to keep breathing. I look forward to yoga on a warm sunny beach.

Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

Schooner Cats and Heros

Good Morning Everyone. Many of you who have sailed with us know we have a cat aboard. The schooner Mary Day has a long history of cats. The Hawkins family had at least one cat we have seen a picture of, Stump. And we have had 2 cats. The first, Chakra, came to town on a catamaran (it really did) and lived with us for many years aboard several boats. Chakra chased ducks into the harbor, literally in to the harbor. She swam like a dog and often came home soaking wet.

Our current cat, Gus Hodgkins, is Chakra’s alter ego. She is not a big fan of water though her namesake was a rescuer at the Hunnewell’s Beach Lifesaving Station, built in 1883, at the west end of the Kennebec River. Legend has it that Mr. Hodgkins, after finishing saving a group from a schooner stranded on the ledges at the end of the river, rowed back out to the vessel because he thought he heard the ship’s cat yowling over the howling. This compassionate man rowed back out through the tempest and chased that cat from stem to stern until he reportedly cornered it. With the cat stuffed in his coat he rowed back to the beach and the cat, soon to be known as Hunney, took up residence there for the rest its days. Because we are intrigued by the history of lighthouses and lifesaving stations we thought it was only fitting that we name our cat in honor of this hero. Gussie does share one thing in common with all the other cats that have been aboard the schooner, and this is no tale…none of them have had tails.

Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

Hangin' On

Good Morning Everyone. Hang on tight…winter surely is. One last (we hope) blast of arctic air is funneling in to the Northeast. 4 below here in the dooryard, no wind chill factor yet, but the National Weather Service promises heavy freezing spray on the bay in a westerly breeze.

This morning’s temperatures and this picture inspired me to think about hanging on and letting go. We are not really ready to let go of winter. The trip to the barn to stoke the fire brought that familiar sound of sub-zero snow under foot sounding much like a Styrofoam cooler does when you put the lid on. Squeak…squeak…squeak. I will miss that soon as much as I will welcome spring. The frozen darkness appeals to something in my reptilian brain as much as the coming season. The barred owls were hooting in the woods outside our bedroom window this morning, welcoming spring I imagine. They know it is coming, sooner or later.

Yesterday was my dad’s birthday and I know he was off sailing in the warmer climates of heaven. He had a firm policy not to step foot polewise of 20 degrees North before the 4th of July. He also had this saying that pretty much sums up the balance between hanging on and letting go… Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift…and that is why we call it the Present.

Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

Photo by Jim Dugan.

Tappin' Maples

Good Morning Everyone. We finally had a chance to tap the maples yesterday. The kids and I went down the west facing drive to tap red maples that have historically done well for us. I mentioned the other day that neighbors have been tapping around us but that conditions have been quite slow. Given yesterday’s weather and the snow squalls that were pouring from the sky off and on I didn’t believe anything would be moving. But there it was flowing like…well, like water.

The kids and I were equally delighted by the moment. They live to suck the sap straight from the tree, nursing at the spiles as if they were starving for the barest essence of the maple’s life affirming sugar. Carefully spacing our new taps a fair distance from older tap scars we drilled new holes with brace and bit, by hand. Sawyer would carefully tap a spile into its hole and wait. On the first hole he stuck his finger in and out flowed sap. Like Midas he made sure he pressed his finger deep into each spile thereafter. A dozen buckets was all we had time to put out in the cold wind and snow but hearing the tell tale tink…tink…tink in the metal buckets as we walked back up the drive warmed our hearts. We will get some more taps out in a few days.

I celebrate tappin’ maples perhaps like some may celebrate Easter, when nature is discovered to be rising again from the death of winter. All is not lost, and though March is a long month here in New England, the maples let us know that this too shall pass and life is full of sweetness. You just got to work a little to find it and sometimes having someone with the right touch helps too.

Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

Dreaming towards Memorial Day

Good Morning Everyone. A new week begins here full of promise. Sunrise begins this week at 0612 and sunset is at 1735, almost 11 ½ hours of daylight. Though the sun’s warm rays shine down upon us winter is still here with wind chills forecasted to dip well below zero. Our efforts this week will be focused in the barn on the yawl boat. I have one plank to remove and replace. I want to check the shaft alignment and clean the fuel tank. And the varnish and paintwork will get a good rub and recoating. Crew will begin to arrive later this week. March is a awesome month for us. As the sap rises so does our energy for getting ready to go sailing. It is hard to believe our Memorial Day Weekend cruise is only a few short months away. So much to do and so little time to do it. But I am dreaming of visiting the islands, smelling the sweet spruce, tasting lobster on the very first day we sail, and feeling Mary Day heel to a full press of sail and carry us away.

Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

Photo by Neal Parent.

Getting Pushy-Schooner Yawl Boats

Good Morning Everyone! We have all the makings of a beautiful day here. I am hoping to get the maple taps out. A few locals say they have sap running but it is on the early side of the season yet. The kids are down with some kind of bug; long night up with the poor urchins. We have a potential crewmember coming to interview for the messmate’s position. And I am on call on the ambulance. Another slow day here in the woods.

I received an email the other day, curious about ARNO, the schooner’s yawl boat. Where did that name come from? Arno Day was Mary Day’s brother. He has passed on but he was a very well know and loved boat builder from Sedgewick, Maine on the Benjamin River. Arno also designed boats and shared his knowledge freely with any one interested. As I have it, and this may not be completely accurate, Arno built his own yawl boat namesake from a design drawing we have a copy of done by Havilah “Buds” Hawkins. Ronny Hawkins, one of Buds’s and Mary’s sons showed me the original carved model. I have also been told that Arno helped build the interior of the schooner after she was launched. The curious question that wasn’t asked was the derivation of the word “yawl”. Many of you know this as a sailing rig with a small riding sailing aft of the main mast. Originally a fishing vessel rig designed to keep the bow up in to the wind while tending gear and in modern times a sailing rig popularized by the racing rating rules of the late 50s, the term comes from several possible corruptions of the middle German word “jolle”, or the French word” yale”, or Dutch “jol”, all meaning “utility”. Today, 10 of the Maine windjammers carry yawl boats and no internal propulsion giving Maine the largest concentration of pure working sailing vessels in the country. Pretty cool if you ask me.

Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

Photos by Fritz Shantz. I have to say the one of Jen in Arno makes my heart go pitter patter, two strong and beautiful women gently nudging me to explore new places.

Diggin' Out

Good Morning Everyone. What a wild day yesterday was. The wind just howled here and a new 10” of snow piled up before it all stopped with a drizzly rain that sealed the top with a skim coat of ice. Although we shoveled twice yesterday to keep ahead of the inch/hour blizzard conditions we will be at it again this morning. I am getting ready to head out to plow the remainder of what I did not get on the first round yesterday for the neighbors and ourselves. The “Full Worm” moon made an appearance after midnight casting shadows of the trees across the newly fallen snow. I think the full moon and the snow are nature’s cure for seasonal affective disorder.

So today’s photos tell the story… the apple does not fall far from the tree. Sawyer has his own Fisher yellow plow that we put together on his trike, the Dirt King. He usually rides in the truck with me but that never seems to be enough. He has learned to back drag and maneuver the snow off the edge of the deck all by pedal power. He has learned that a gentle controlled nudge of the bank breaks the icy mounds so that they can get pushed back a little further. Sawyer’s dexterity and skill is all a little much for these proud parents to witness so thanks for bearing with us. The rising sun, still well below the ridge, is casting a pinkish glow across the western sky telling me it is time to get busy.

Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

Pelagic Magic

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 land, and the offshore islands at that, during June and early July. Unless one makes a concerted effort to sail offshore, seeing them is highly unlikely. Here is a shot Jen took last June during our annual “Pelagic Magic” cruise and I found a cool website about puffins that can give you some more information. The Maine Audubon Society camp at Hog Island is another great place to go to learn more about puffins and ecology.

Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

You sail with this guy?

Good Morning Everyone. Yesterday was just about the most glorious day yet. Temperatures soared in to the 30s in Camden, a beautiful spring day by any standard. So a couple friends and I took advantage of the warm still air to celebrate, work on the base tan, and take a dunk in the crystal clear waters of Camden Harbor. The only question you need to ask is, "You sail with this guy?" Talk about being a couple of biscuits shy of a dozen.

Have a great day. Be Well. Do good.