Thursday - Day 2

We got under way about 10:00, after breakfast. I don't remember exactly what we had, but during the cruise, we had good homemade granola, fruit, eggs, bacon, freshly baked sticky buns...

There wasn't much wind, so the yawl boat pushed us most of the time (Victory Chimes has no engine). For entertainment, we stood or sat around talking, watching the islands go by, and watching the other 'traffic', including several of the boats from the Maine Windjammer fleet. All of the schooners are beautiful and graceful, especially watching them approach through the mist. Binoculars in hand, we watched for eagles and seals, and thoroughly inspected - from afar - some the modest little... mansions! along the coast.

When the crew has some free time, they socialize with the guests, sometimes while they're doing traditional sailor things like securing the ends of the lines to keep them from fraying - with some enviably precise and beautiful stitching. Never mind that the cut ends of the lines could have been sealed with a bit of flame. They did it the proper way, just as if it was real rope instead of the modern synthetic version. And they practiced their knots, both practical and decorative. The whole crew was always happy to stop and demonstrate, explain what they were doing, sometimes including a history of why it was (or is still) done, and answer any questions.

I felt very much at home for another reason: after all the years I spent doing community and semi-professional theatre, the rigging all looked very familiar, just like the rigging backstage! What fun!

I've raved a lot about the crew, but haven't said much about the Captain. Kip is terrific. Weird and wild sense of humor, and an unbounded joy in and enthusiasm for what he does. He's friendly, approachable, and easy going, but runs a tight ship. He sets the mood and had selected a crew that reinforced it beautifully.

At some point - I think it was Thursday - one of the other schooners pulled alongside us and fired on us. We got out our cannon and fired back, of course, killing three of their guests (or so it appeared from the over-acting going on on the deck of their boat).

We put in at North Haven and went ashore for a brief visit. North Haven has a lot more to offer than Buck's Bay: a gift shop! Actually, I understand that a little later in the season, there's also a shop that sells handknit garments. The gift shop that was open had some beautiful knits, for about what you'd expect to pay for such things. They also had a variety of gift items and pretty things I would happily have taken home with me.

Dinner Thursday: pot roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, homemade rolls... Very good. And, of course, a couple of different kinds of dessert, all equally good and too plentiful. Thank goodness for all that exercise hoisting sails!

After dinner, we had a hootenanny. The second mate, Robert, plays the guitar and sings sea chanties and Irish tunes, mostly just a tad off-key, but with enormous enthusiasm. The first mate, Jeff, is the proud possessor of 4 harmonicas, which he used to accompany Robert, sort of... He's very clever about it: he watches Robert intensely to see what chord he's playing, then finds the appropriate note on his harmonica. The outcome of this technique is that the harmonica, while playing the correct note, is always a half a beat behind the guitar. Almost everyone joined in singing whichever tunes they knew. Bebe had to do her Rasputin song, which was well received. And... a good time was had by all.

Part of the special mood at night on this trip was the result of the weather: we didn't see the sun, not so you'd notice, for the entire trip. Much of the time, it was misty, so even during the day there was a sort of mystical quality to the whole thing. Islands appeared to be floating in the mist and the schooners slowly materializing from out of the fog were simply spectacular.

Night, especially with several schooners anchored in the same harbor, was also beautiful. I could see the dim glow of the lanterns hung on the masts to show each boat's location and could almost make out the boat's 'shapes' - a circular one signals that the boat is at anchor. The fog horn sounds muffled and, at the same time, both friendly and reassuring, and infinitely sad.