The coast of Maine in August. Usually my vacations entail hard core backpacking, river rafting, or how to get through Europe on $5/day. The East Coast on a boat for 5 days? Unless your idea of adventurous means the morning rush hour in Boston on a bike, it sounds pretty tame. But Ok, I’m game for anything.

Fast forward to Camden, Maine: We got to the harbor in time for Captain’s Call which started with Capt Ray. He put out minds at ease with such issues as the food is great, we have a shower, participate as much as you like, and “you can just come here and relax”. Once Capt Joe came aboard, he told us the real story, like how not to fall over, the decks are slippery, and how to use the Head. As he went on about safety and rules and such, I looked at the people I would be spending the next 5 days with.

The people on board are important, because it can really make or break the trip. There was such a variety of people on board, at first I was a little concerned. Some of them had been on larger cruises before, and there were the people like me and my friend who had no idea what we were doing. At least it should be interesting!

 

The first night on the boat we are docked in the harbor. Luggage is being strategically placed in the cabins. Packing light is a bonus, I must say! This was a night of getting to know everyone and starting to get a vibe for what was in store, as well as using the public bathrooms on shore. (We are safe for another evening).

 

We woke up the next morning to a gray Maine day and tons of fog. No problem says Capt Joe, we can still sail and we will sail out of it. Sure enough, the Capt is always right and we did sail out of it. Within the hour we would have our first experience raising the sails.

Of course, it’s the first day and everyone is eager to help “2-6 HEAVE, 2-6 HEAVE, 2-6 HEAVE” and lots of grunts is all you hear until all the sails are up and we are actually sailing in the Bay! The fog definitely put an eerie tint on everything, and the bells from the lighthouses were an added bonus.

Then, it’s breakfast! Now the food on this boat was unbelievable. I can not give enough credit to Lydia, our extremely talented cook. She cooks every meal on a wood burning cast iron stove in the galley. Even with me, “the food snob” when it comes to food, she pulled it off every meal for 5 days! First, there was an early morning snack set out around 6:30 am. This usually consisted of a baked item (muffins, scones, biscotti), coffee, juice, and tea. Breakfast was at approximately 8am, and always included fresh fruit plus a plethora of other things like eggs, sausage, bacon, blueberry pancakes, oatmeal, an French toast! Then it was time to relax and enjoy the views until lunch time.

Lunch was usually around noon or shortly after, and that was also no disappointment. Chili, nachos, salad, fish chowder, ham slices, lobster bisque, lasagna, pasta complete with garlic bread are just a few of the examples of what we had to look forward to. There was also always a dessert, such as lemon squares, brownies, or cookies. That would hold you over until appetizers which was at 4-5:00 daily. Lydia would make appetizers for us to munch on as the afternoon tea, coffee, or your adult beverage of choice was consumed. Dinner was served around 6 or 7pm, depending on the day and the activity.

Now the dinner was always a treat. We had everything from stuffed baked fish with broccoli, chicken with beans, rice and salad, a huge BBQ with chicken, ribs, and pork, to a lobster bake on the beach. I was so amazed at what came out of that kitchen! The lobster bake was the only meal we ate off of the boat, and that was at Warren Island State Park. The sunset behind the Grace Bailey was an incredible view. We lit a bonfire for the steaming of the lobsters, covering them with seaweed from the beach. We also had appetizers such as fruit salad, crackers, cheese, and sliced veggies. Once the lobsters were done everyone got to pick their favorite and enjoy it with corn on the cob. As with all beach bonfires, we also made smores before we headed back to the GB.

About day 2 is when you can start to feel the stress of the “real” world leaving your body. I can’t exactly put my finger on it, but it would be sometime between the whale breaching and the crazy ghost stories by Ed. No phone (ok, a tiny bit of phone), no electricity, no newspapers – the real world ceases to exist! And the truth is, I didn’t care. I had no idea if Y2K was making a surprise re-entry, or if the US finally had a fair election but it didn’t matter. I had not a care in the world.

This photo is from the day Ian tried to lose a few of us in the yawl boat. Someone suggested it would be a great idea for Ian to drive us around the GB at full sail, so we could take photos. I volunteered to take everyone’s camera, and then climbed in the tiny yawl boat to do a fly by. Looking like a billboard for a camera conference, I tried to get great shots with about 16 cameras, while trying not to fall out of the boat. I guess it was worth it:

The showers and the Heads were very interesting. Even though it was a challenge to use the shower and definitely took some getting used to, everyone still enjoyed them. The heads were a different story. If you have never used a marine head before, it takes a bit of coordination. I had to take the written instructions in with me, and it still took me 3 days! You must have a practice run first, and then it’s a syncing of the hands and feet to get it to work properly. Now it’s like riding a bike – I’ll never forget it.

Did I mention how great the food was?

Lo and behold, it’s dishes time! Other activities on the boat included seal and porpoise watching, and bothering the captain with things lots of questions. Stupid tourist questions like “ Can you sail in the fog?” to “can I drive the boat?” were I’m sure among his favorite. I guess some of it worked, because we did get to drive the boat! Here’s the captain, looking very professional……

 

I think everyone would agree that it would not have been the same trip without the crew we had. Eric, Andrew, Lydia, Ian, and Capt Joe really made the trip special. Now that they are all in therapy after our group, we can remember them for the fun boat people they were.

Here’s another one of Capt Joe and Lydia’s favorite times: our self proclaimed Cocktail Hour. This is timed just perfectly with the onset of Lydia’s afternoon apps, and about 1 hour before anchor. It usually lasted into the wee hours of the a.m., which I am sure was very pleasant for the people sleeping in the cabins below us (namely, Capt Joe – sorry :))

It’s a difficult thing to describe an experience, but if you want to do something to make you feel like a true pirate, this is the place! AArgh!

The only question left to discuss is: What’s your favorite cereal?

HUGE Thank you to Capt Ray and Ann for their hospitality this week!

If you want to schedule a Maine Windjammer cruise, please click here.

See all the photos (password: Maine)

Michelle's other adventures:

Alaska

Europe 03

Olympics