Heritage, Day 3: Linekin Bay to Boothbay Harbor
Ben McCanna
The Heritage under sail.
(page 1 of 4)
Last night during the lobster bake, I overheard two captains reviewing their plans for today’s windjammer parade in Boothbay Harbor.
“So the parade is at 2:00?”
“Yep.”
“So we get to sail around for a few hours before we line up?”
“Yep.”
“My crew is going to love that.”
Captain Doug.
And so it is for the crew of the Heritage as well. This morning we woke up in Linekin Bay--just a few short miles from our destination in Boothbay Harbor--so there is literally nothing to do today but sail aimlessly in the Gulf of Maine.
And sailing is best when it is aimless.
Today the skies are bright blue, the sun is warm, and there’s a steady breeze pushing us along at a smile-inducing 8 knots. Best of all, weather conditions were calm last night, so the Gulf hasn’t yet developed a chop.
As one of the learned passengers aboard the Heritage points out, “It doesn’t get any better than this.”
Abaft, the Nathaniel Bowditch crew bends on a fisherman sail, sheets it in, and gives chase off our port quarter. For a time, the Bowditch gains on us, but when the Heritage fetches around the ledges on the southern tip of Damariscove Island, she forces the Bowditch into a turn. The Bowditch crew begins the laborious task of tacking the fisherman sail, and thus loses any ground she’d gained on us.
Whether this forced tack was a strategic error on the part of the Bowditch or a bit of chicanery on the part of Doug Lee is anybody’s guess, but it’s clear that Doug is delighted by this sudden turn of events, and the Heritage crew laughs with genuine admiration for their captain.
Today we were rejoined by the mate, Adam McKinlay. Adam had missed the first two days of the trip while at a wedding, but was driven to the shore of Linekin Bay this morning, and Captain Doug retrieved him in the yawlboat shortly after breakfast.
I was worried that the return of the mate might spoil the crew’s easygoing dynamic—that Adam would somehow restore order to the Heritage’s seemingly lawless foredeck.
I needn’t have worried.
The only perceptible change in attitude comes when Harry Sandler, a messmate from Massachusetts, contritely admits to Adam that the crew hasn’t been performing their sit-ups and push-ups during his absence.
Morgan Parmenter shows off her tattoos.
Posted on Wednesday, August 6, 2008 in Permalink
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Reader Comments:
I love this series on the Heritage, can't wait to see your write-up on the Isaac H. Evans! It's the schooner closest to my heart!
Mr. MacNcheese,
I'll be aboard the Isaac H. Evans later this month for their Pirate Days trip. The stories should be posted in mid-September. In the meantime, be on the lookout for the Lewis R. French, Angelique, and Victory Chimes stories.
It's a tough job, but someone has to do it.
Thanks,
Ben