Maine Windjammer Cruises

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Aboard the Grace Bailey
Day 2: Holbrook Island Harbor, Castine to “WoodenBoat Harbor,” Brooklin

Ben McCanna

<I>Aboard the Grace Bailey</I> <BR> Day 2: Holbrook Island Harbor, Castine to “WoodenBoat Harbor,” Brooklin

(page 1 of 2)

Alison Jones does more before 8:00 a.m. than most people do all day.

Rain is pattering heavily on the deck when Alison, the cook, wakes to her alarm clock at 4:00 a.m. She gets dressed and fires the galley’s woodstove by 4:30. It’ll be another hour before the stovetop is ready for cooking. In the meantime, she begins souring 10 cups of milk for the blueberry pancakes on today’s breakfast menu. For the batter, Alison combines the buttermilk, a dozen eggs, 10 cups of flour, a pound of melted butter, and many, many blueberries. The griddle has only enough surface area to make 6 pancakes at a time, but this morning Alison will make 120 pancakes. She’ll start pouring batter at 6:30. The messmate, Laura Dodd, will help her cook bacon, slice fruit, put out coffee, and set the tables. By 8:00 a.m., when Alison has enough warm, golden-brown pancakes to serve 34 people, she’ll climb the companionway ladder and ring the ship’s bell to announce the start of breakfast.

A half hour later, after the passengers have eaten seconds and thirds, the deck crew will clean the dishes and the galley crew will begin preparing lunch, and, after that’s eaten, they’ll prepare an afternoon snack and later dinner.

Think about the number of people and resources needed to prepare meals in a similar-sized restaurant. I once worked as a dishwasher in a fine-dining joint that served 30 for a prix-fixe dinner. The staff included a chef, sous chef, two servers, a host, and me, the lowly Hobart administrator. Back then, purveyors would truck ingredients to the restaurant and stock our shelves. Bakers would deliver bread. A steady flow of LNG would provide instantaneous, reliable, and adjustable heat for cooking. We had an endless supply of water—both hot and cold—and could dispose of limitless quantities of wastewater. Electricity provided bright light to work under and refrigeration for our food stores. We worked six days a week from 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 and we were amply bushed each night after six-hour shifts.

Then imagine the daily feats of galley crew. To cook, they must build their own fires and keep them dutifully stoked throughout the day. With two people they prepare and serve food that, at any other enterprise, would require twice as many people, if not more. And they do it for nearly 14 hours every day.

Consider, too, that once the Grace Bailey leaves the dock, the supply line has been cut. If the holding tanks run out of fresh water, there’s no more water for drinking, cooking, or cleansing. If the batteries run out of electricity, there’s no more light to work under. If the wood is all burned, there’s no more heat for cooking or heating water. If an ingredient is used up or forgotten, there’s no purveyor to supply it. If the ice in the coolers melts, the meats and dairy will spoil.

No sleep til Brooklin.

Posted on Thursday, July 24, 2008 in Permalink

Views expressed in this blog belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect either Down East's editorial stance or the views of Down East Enterprise. We ask that comments be civil; anyone who refuses to self edit runs the risk of being banned from commenting on Down East.com content.

Reader Comments:

Jul 22, 2008 09:48 am

Posted by Anonymous

In the eyes of the green boat crew, ben is one salty dog. You bully boy you.

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There are twelve traditional tall ships in the Maine Windjammer Association; this summer I'm sailing on all of them.

For many, a windjammer vacation represents the perfect Maine getaway. Each day is filled with the sights that have become shorthand for Vacationland: lighthouses, lobster pots, and loons.

But life at sea isn’t pure leisure for everyone. To keep these antique vessels shipshape, the men and women who sail them must first endure a season of hard labor during spring fit-out. Then, in summer, these schooner bums will work long days at the helm or in the galley, only to bed down for a short night’s sleep in a humble crew berth.

Over the next six and a half months, I’ll learn what makes these trips so special for the passengers, but I’ll also find out what it is about the cool waters of Penobscot Bay that keep these schooner bums coming back for more.

Ben McCanna is a freelance writer, editor, and videographer. He lives in Rockland.

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Sailor Lingo

A glossary of nautical terminology

A companion guide to Berth of the Cool, a Windjammer Journal

about (coming about)— the process of turning the boat through the wind from one tack to another.
beating— sailing upwind on a series of tacks. (Also known as sailing close-hauled.)
berth— a place to sleep on a ship.
bow— the front end of the ship.
bowsprit — a large spar that projects from the bow of the ship.
cabin sole— belowdecks flooring. The sole can be removed to expose the bilge.
close-hauled— sailing into the wind with the sails trimmed in as close as possible
coastal navigation— using two or more shoreline landmarks to chart the ship's location.
companionway— a doorway and stairs leading from the deck to below.
crew berths— bunks in the bow of the vessel. These are typically quite small.
downwind run— sailing with the wind directly astern.
fisherman anchor (yachtsman's anchor)— a type of anchor. Fisheman anchors are more traditional in design and used primarily for heavy-duty applications.
fit-out— spring maintenance of a ship. Includes painting, varnishing, replacing planks, re-caulking seams, rigging, and bending-on sails.
following sea— waves that are moving in the same direction as the boat’s course.
forepeak— the forward-most portion of the deck.
foresail— the sail attached to the forward mast of a two-masted ship.
galley— a boat’s kitchen and belowdecks gathering place for passengers and crew
halyard— a line that hoists a sail.
haul-out — towing the boat out of the water so hull work can be done.
heeling— when the boat leans to one side from wind pressure
headsail— any number of sails that are forward of the foremast (includes the jib, staysail, and jib staysail)
holding tank — tank that holds either freshwater, wastewater, or, in some cases, fuel.
hook— anchor.
jib— the forward-most headsail.
jibe— the act of swinging the sails from one side of the boat to the other while sailing off the wind.
lee (in the lee of)— a flat calm area of sea where the wind has been buffeted of blocked by a large object such as an island
mainsail— the sail attached to the mainmast (aft mast) of a two-masted ship.
NOAA— National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. A scientific agency that provides detailed forecasts on weather and sea states.
peak— the upper part of a four-sided sail that resembles a peak when full hoisted.
quarterdeck— aft portion of a tall ship (typically the upper deck). The helm is located here.
raft— a collection of two or more boats tied together at an anchorage or mooring
ratlines— ropes that form a ladder leading from the side of the boat to the top of the mast.
"reading from both pages"— idiom for sailing "wing and wing." When sailing on a downwind run, the foresail is "wung out" such that it is trimmed on the opposite side of the mainsail. From the helm, the two sails resemble pages of an open book, hence "reading from both pages."
rigging — (noun) ropes or cables that are broken into two general categories: 1. standing rigging supports masts; 2. running rigging allows crew to hoist or trim sails. (verb) Setting ropes, cables, spars, and masts into place.
schooner— typically a two-masted ship where the mainmast (aft mast) is taller than the foremast.
staysail— a headsail that is rigged directly forward of the foresail
spar — a hefty length of rounded wood that serves to support rigging

stern— the rear end of the boat.
tack— (noun) a leg of a journey in which there are no significant changes to the boat’s course or its sails. Once the course has been changed and the sails trimmed, a new tack has begun. (verb) Sailing a zigzag course to windward.
throat— the forward part of a four-sided sail; the part that is attached to the mast.
transom— the ship’s rear-most panel as viewed from behind. Stern describes the general rear-end portion of the ship, while transom describes this particular area. (Typically, a boat’s name is painted on the transom).
topsail— a sail that is set above the foresail on a schooner- or square-rigged vessel.
trimming sail— adjusting the position of the sail for the best presentation to the wind.
windlass— a winch that raises the anchor.
yawlboat— a small motorboat that’s used to push a tall ship during calms or anytime sailing in untenable (such as in tight harbors).