Penobscot Bay, Maine, Part I: In which I Attempt to Learn how to Become a Sailor

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Author’s Note:

Part of my research on this trip was spending 6 days aboard a working, sail-only schooner. I had an absolutely amazing time and would go again (like now after I have showered and washed clothes), BUT I would say that if you just want to sail around and look at things and sip drinks and be nothing more than a passenger, sails with this company are probably not for you. You are never forced to help, but it is a working ship with a small crew. But, if you like camping and have a sense of adventure and actually feel like you are part of sailing the ship – go now! It should also be said that there are other windjammers (as they are called) in the area - a lot - with varying levels of "roughing it," so find the one that fits you. Alright, now: what follows is a daily log of my maritime adventures.



Sunday June 18, 2017

I arrived in Camden yesterday and explored the town a bit before getting a last good night of sleep ashore.

I hauled my luggage down to the office of Maine Windjammer Cruises where I was so glad to leave it all until boarding time at 5:30 this evening. I then settled myself in the Camden Public Library – open on Sundays! – and spent a pleasant afternoon reading. Their library is beautifully housed with a Reading Room upstairs and the stacks downstairs. On the walls downstairs are painted quotes and it is light and spacious and the Children’s/Young Adult sections looked awesome! I had not known before arriving that Edna St. Vincent Millay had moved to Camden when she was 8, and in the park sloping down from the library to the waterfront is a statue of her overlooking the harbor.

At 5:00ish, I retrieved my luggage and headed down the dock to meet the captain (Christopher), our crew (First Mate Becky, Alex, Cook Tyler, and Mess Mate Claire), stow our luggage, and get some first night instructions (dinner on our own and come back to sleep). Our ship for the week is the Mercantile, a 101-year-old schooner once used as a cargo vessel. She is 115 feet overall, 80 feet on deck, two masted and engineless. In the galley stands a wood burning monster of a stove that was made – Tyler thought – sometime between 1890 and 1900. It keeps the galley nice and toasty. I was expecting to share a cabin with someone else, but to my surprise, I have my own bunk (see photo) right next to the head (see picture). Dinner in town and back on board for the night.

As I explore the ship, I am trying to imagine her with 20 feet less deck space – as the Hancock 0one of the ships in Washington’s Navy) is listed as being only 60 feet long – and with twice as many people aboard her. Granted, it would not be fitted out with modern comforts, such as individual cabins and three hot, gourmet meals a day, but still. Those would have been some crowded quarters... No wonder Washington’s captains complained about the size and quality of their quarters.



Monday June 19, 2017

Last night I learned my first lesson: not only does sound carry well over water (a fact I knew), but it also carries well through a ship. When the Captain said last night that there are no secrets on a ship, he meant it. Let’s just say that having a berth next to the head makes for an...interesting night. Just like camping, I was up bright and early – not long after sunrise – and headed over to the galley where Tyler was already at work making breakfast. As people slowly woke, we started to get to know each other. I learned that some of our passengers would be leaving us on Wednesday, and we would get a new group. This makes me sad as it is always more difficult to get to know people once a trip is already underway than it is when you are just starting.

Anyway, we were docked against/tied to the Grace Bailey, so we didn’t have to do anything other than cast off to get going. To get out of the harbor, a motorized yawl boat pushed us. Before engines, this would have been done by people rowing and probably pulling the boat. I am very glad that we did not have to do that. Once we were out of the harbor, we hauled up sails and got underway. I, of course, was ready to do anything that was asked or even suggested and it seemed that most of the other passengers were, too. I am reminded of traveling in Kosovo with Jane and Deb in that most of the passengers – okay, all of the passengers – are significantly older than me. In the spirit of learning all I could, I helped Alex pump out the bilge. The pump brings out somewhere between a half and full gallon at a time and takes somewhere between 15-20 minutes to pump out. I was just glad that the bilge was no longer used as an emergency head – as I had read it was in one of the many things I’ve read in the last year or so.

As we left Camden behind, fog and chill increased, and I started layering up. I also learned very quickly that below and I do not agree, and if I wanted to keep my meals, I need to stay up on deck while we are underway. It may be a bit chill, but it is better than being sick. Besides the Captain always has a good story, and I can listen to all of the orders and such, which is good for research. We were flying along pretty good – Captain said that at one point the wind was right around 20 knots. I should mention that the ship did have a battery (or two) to power a few electric lights below deck and a navigation system. We passed the town of Castine and dropped anchor in Smith Cove. Now, when I had arrived in Camden and realized that it was on Penobscot Bay (somehow I hadn’t put this together before), I got excited. Lieutenant Henry Mowat, the antagonist in my work-in-progress, had also been against the American forces in the naval disaster (for the Americans) that was the Penobscot Expedition in 1779. I could so easily imagine the ships sailing out of the fog, the flash of cannon fire, the screams and clash of battle.



Ghost Ships on Penobscot Bay



We sail on fog,

silent as ships of bygone ages,

Penobscot Bay our highway.

In the fog bowl that surrounds us, I see

shapes loom ‘round,

sprung from my imagination and

too much nonfiction.

Tall masted ships,

square-rigged,

rigged fore-and-aft,

schooners and sloops,

brigs and brigantines.

Soldiers well-turned out,

smart in scarlet uniforms.

Soldiers ragged,

determination their only cover.

Cannon and muskets

spiting fire,

belching smoke into fog

we sail on.



Once we were anchored, the sails furled, and the awning raised, we had an excellent dinner of stuffed haddock. Tyler is pretty much amazing – what he can get that wood stove to crank out! I don’t think I have ever eaten better on vacation.



Tuesday June 20, 2017

When I woke – bright and early of course, though I slept better – 2 seals were playing in the bay, so I stood and watched them for a bit, despite the fact that I could see my breath as it added to the fog around us. Since we had actually dropped anchor, it needed to be raised before we could sail out. The anchor is somewhere around 460 pounds and is – of course – raised by hand. I manned one of the foresails (pronounced fore-s’ls), but I cannot wait to help haul that anchor up.

Once again it was cold and foggy and the waters were choppy as we sailed out back past Castine and down to Pulpit Rock, where an osprey nest has been occupied for at least the last 500 years. The weather cleared as we sailed, though it was still windy (which is good for sailing, of course). As we went, we saw two other ships (sail ships), and I tried to determine which we would be able to give chase to. You know, if we were privateers in the American Revolution. There was one that seemed to be following us, and if we had turned, the wind would have been on our side and we totally could have taken her. Anyway, by the time we put in at Pulpit Rock it was absolutely beautiful. We had a surf and turf dinner on deck. There was almost disaster when the grill fell in, but the grill was quickly hooked and brought back aboard. Luckily, it hadn’t been loaded up with steaks yet. Down in the galley, Tyler was boiling (steaming?) the lobsters. I was not adventurous enough to help un-band the lobster claws and throw them in, but I took a few pictures of Tyler and Janet (one of the other passengers) doing so. As dinner cooked, the J.& E. Riggin – another all-sail schooner – put in near us, making for some great pictures as the sun set. This was also the schooner I had determined that we would have been able to attack with the wind earlier.

Back to dinner. I have never eaten lobster before tonight, but Megan – another passenger – was happy to show me how. The food was – as noted earlier – excellent, though I find there really is only so much I am willing to fight for my food once it is on my plate. We watched a gorgeous sunset and called it a night.



The Way Life Should Be*



Sunset

slow and easy.

Bay

golden and dusk

shadowed by pines.

Mist encroaches

on the rock were ospreys nest,

have nested for over five hundred years,

watching the land change,

listening to the human sounds:

luff of sail,

slap of water on hull,

soft singing slipping into sleep.

The way life should be.





*This is a phrase that my ghost tour guide kept using, and it seemed appropriate tonight.

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Photos

Looking in
My berth from the outside

The Head
I know it looks like just a toilet, but the system is a bit different.

Sailing!
Our captain (center), crew (Alex, left), and a passenger at the helm.

Lobster Pot
The bobber marks where a lobster pot is. Each lobster boat man has his own set of colors.

Me at Sea!
Well, okay, on the bay as it really isn't the open sea.

J. &. E. Riggin
The J. &. E. Riggin comes in to Pulpit Harbor

Furling Sail
The J. & E. Riggin brings down her foresail

Lobster Attack!
Swampy really isn't sure about this...

Rigging in the Sunset
Mercantile's rigging