Good evening,
WW is over, and I lost one lb..........that's good compared to what I have been doing. We had 5 new people tonight and had to do inventory, so we were a little harried, to say the least.
A Windjammer is a sailing vessel.........the Maine Windjammer fleet is composed of about 22 vessels of varying sizes.....anywhere from 60' to 75'. They are all antique working boats which were used on the Atlantic Seaboard to transport supplies primarily between New York, Boston, and points north into Canada. They have all been lovingly restored, and most are registered with the Historic Landmarks Commission. A few of the boats were used for offshore fishing, but not many. If you want a good idea of what it's all about, go to the website for the Maine Windjammer Assn., click on Timberwind, and take a look at the photos from last summer. We're sailing on the Stephen Taber, which is also on the list. It's a great, relatively inexpensive vacation. You can be as involved as you want to be in the actual sailing of the boat. Our owner/captains, are a husband and wife who at one time were college professors! They are really special people, who make all their guests feel like family. People come from all over the country, and one man comes yearly from Denmark........he's in his 80s
So far, I've met folks from California, Texas, Florida, NY, Mass, PA, Washington DC, Virginia, Alabama, and of course, WV............those are just the ones I can remember. They come from all walks of life as well, from retired lobstermen, to journalists, to a pediatric neurologist, to an Episcopal Bishop, a lady who runs Elder Hostels in FL, you name it. They cook on a woodstove down in the galley, and the food is scrumptious. The only thing you need to take are your clothes and any beverages you desire( I load up on my Diet Coke). One meal is a New England Boiled dinner, one is Lobster, one spaghetti(?) Breakfasts are to die for, with blueberry pancakes practically every morning. All of the bread is home made on board......amazing! In terms of clothes, all you need are jeans, shorts, t shirts, sweatshirts, rain gear and deck shoes. I take a sleeping bag in case it gets cold, and this year polar fleece will feel good. It's not the sort of vacation that appeals to people who want to be waited on hand and foot and entertained with lots of glitz. you make your own entertainment with singing at night, reading or talking during the day, not to mention the sight seeing. Most people have heard of the Barefoot Cruises in the Bahamas, but those boats are much larger, and have more glitz. I, personally, would much rather be in Maine than in the Islands, but then I was raised in Florida, so that's nothing new for me. In ME, you may get hot, but you never get the grungy sticky feeling you get in FL........I don't know why, I just know that it's true. The first two times we sailed, there wasn't a shower onboard. IF anyone had told me I could go for a week without showering, I'd have told them they were crazy........but we did, and didn't feel itchy or dirty. You have a copper sink in your bunk, so can take a "spit bath", but that's it. They since have rigged up a shower on deck to be used in the evening after dinner when it's getting cool.........I just stay dirty..........I don't know how they ever get warm after taking a cold shower in the cold air......that's too much like roughing it for me. The shower does feel good when you get in to port, I must say. The windjammers have no motors, so you're completely at the mercy of the weather and the winds as to where you're going and how far you go in any given day. You never leave Penobscot Bay, but it's a huge body of water, filled with lots of little islands and coves, so you never feel as though there are as many boats on the water as there are.
I've probably told you more than you wanted to know
, but I just love it.
Happy Hump Day
Bubs