Splash “We’re clear” – words I haven’t spoken in about nine months. As the mooring line slipped clear of our bow, a weight slipped clear of my soul. We motored out the channel and past the scattered lobster traps, then rolled out the jib for a lazy sail to Castine. There was patchy fog – […]
After a long winter, Windara finally launched on May 12. I couldn’t wait for her to be back afloat, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t feeling at least some conflicting emotions. What would it be like to transition back to boat life after a long period of shore life? Would I still […]
It’s now spring – almost all the trees have their leaves, and the flowers are all in bloom – we’ve officially survived our first winter ashore in three years, and almost seven months on land. I was worried I’d hate it, worried that my seasonal depression would take hold. I didn’t anticipate enjoying experiencing four […]
I’ve been sailing for most of my life. I started out sailing sunfish on Lake Wequaquet on Cape Cod, later graduating to faster, more tender boats like the Sidewinder 16 that Melissa not-so-affectionately named Miss Manners. Eventually we bought our first keelboat – a 1974 O’Day 23 Sorcerer’s Apprentice – named for the many buckets […]
We knew when we bought Windara that a refit was in her near future. Now that we’ve had a couple years on the boat and know her systems and how we use her, we realized it was time. It was SO hard to make that decision, especially since it was one we had to make […]
We’ve talked about taking Safety at Sea for years, and this offseason presented the perfect opportunity to finally do it. This past weekend, we completed a session hosted by the Cruising Club of America at Roger Williams University in Bristol, RI, and it was a fantastic experience. Prior to our in-person session, we had to […]
2023-2024 Season Stats October 25, 2023 – September 18, 2024 (or October 10, if you count the time we lived on the boat in Belfast) Since we started tracking our miles in September of 2022, we’ve recorded 5,150 miles, and we estimate that since we started living aboard, we’ve sailed at least 6,500 miles. It’s […]
We’ve been living in this odd limbo – not quite cruising, but not quite land-dwellers. After the excitement of dealing with the shaft issue, we spent the weekend on the dock so we could begin preparing to move off the boat. I packed up a bunch of summer clothes that we don’t need, bedding and […]
With provisions secured, we had a wonderful sail through the Deer Isle thorofare, past the lighthouse on Mark Island and over to Calderwood Island. We anchored between Calderwood and Burnt Islands just in time for golden hour. There were more boats there than we were expecting, but we found a great spot to drop the […]
Anchored off Hells Half Acre in the Merchants, I realized I’ve run out of adjectives for the beauty of this place. Hells Half Acre is a small, granite island with a little forest, wild flowers, wild raspberries and a surprising number of birds. The Maine Island Trail Association maintains three primitive camp sites, and small […]