Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Home from Maine

I love Maine! I love arriving by rental car, or regional bus, or nine-passenger Cessna. Especially in the late summer, when we sometimes go on a six-day schooner cruise. That happened last week.

We board on Sunday night. We set sail on Monday and arrive back at the dock the following Saturday. In between, we sail, and eat, and visit small towns, and have lobster on a "desert island". At night, we climb into narrow bunks in our tiny room.  We share a marine head with 10 other people, and we use the hand-held shower in another head. We sail under blue, blue skies and in summer storms. We get sunburned and then tanned. We relax, and we talk to new friends, and we relax some more. And then eat again. And maybe nap, or help sail, or read a book.

We had a 17-hour travel day on Monday: six hours on a bus from Searsport to the Boston airport, a four-hour wait for our flight, and nearly six hours in the sky. I love Maine! But it was great to see our beautiful Seattle out the window of our descending plane.

Here are a few pictures sent to us by a new friend. You can find out more about our sail on www.schoonerheritage.com.



Art helping to tack
Waiting for the picnic

The crew dances behind the cooked lobsters



Captain Doug Lee with Pirate Art

New friends

16 comments:

Tom said...

Sounds fantastic! We're headed off to Cape Cod for a few days; hope we have half as much fun (without the wait!).

Terra said...

The schooner sailing sounds like a fun adventure.

Out on the prairie said...

I would have a hard time getting tired of the lobster, lovely time it sounds

#1Nana said...

I like the idea of sailing much more than I like the reality. Know anyone who wants to buy a 28 foot sailboat?

Olga said...

Sounds like a successful trip. Funny, I dreamed last night about friends I met on a vacation and woke up thinking, "I have to call Diane." I kwould probably have forgotten, but now I am reminded.

Linda Reeder said...

It does sound like a fabulous vacation. And then there's no place like home to return to.

DJan said...

How fantastic! And it's also wonderful to see our home from the plane. I've done that, too: smiled when I saw the Space Needle. And I'm a recently transplanted resident! :-)

Nice to have you home again, safe and sound, with lots of adventures behind you.

Rosaria Williams said...

That's most interesting! I guess both of you do not mind such tight quarters.

Grandmother Mary said...

I lived for 5 1/2 years in Maine and agree with you re: its beauty. If not for the winters…Sounds like a fun time.

Ms Sparrow said...

Sounds like you had a real nice time.

Sally Wessely said...

This sounds like an awesome trip. I think I would love being on the water, but I must admit I am not sure of the sail boat.

Maine sounds wonderful! I have got to get up there sometime.

Teresa Evangeline said...

It sounds like another great vacation in Maine for you guys. It's such a great place, particularly along the ocean. I still fantasize about spending a summer, maybe even a year, on an island off it's coast.

Friko said...

Looks like you had a whale of a time!

Deb Shucka said...

I'm struck by how happy you and Art look in these pictures. And by how simply joyful your words are. So glad you had this time. I can hardly wait to hear about it in person. :-)

Jenn Flynn-Shon said...

Great pictures! Glad you had a fantastic time in New England and I'm soooo jealous of your seafood bake. Did you cook right out on the beach? Man there is really nothing like a big pot of steamers and some potato salad with a side of salt air to put me in the best mood ever :-) Glad you had fun!

Galen Pearl said...

A good time, by the looks of it!