Maine Windjammer Cruises
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Stephen Taber Day 3:
Stonington to Broad Cove, Owls Head
Ben McCanna
Stephen Taber.
(page 1 of 3)
In the wee hours of the morning, I had a peculiar dream. I dreamt I drove the Stephen Taber down the middle of a hilly street in Rockport. When I noticed a narrow bridge lying ahead, I panicked and woke up.
After breakfast, I tell Captain Noah about my dream. He seems surprised, but only because I’m a passenger.
Dreams like this are typical among captains. Captain Noah, for instance, has a recurring dream that he’s tacking from 9th Avenue onto 42nd Street in Manhattan. He usually wakes up when he realizes he’s going to collide with the yellow cabs that are backed up at the next intersection. His father, Captain Ken Barnes—previous owner of the Stephen Taber—used to dream that he was driving the vessel down the steep, rocky face of Mount Battie, terrified that he wouldn’t have enough momentum to drift all the way to Camden Harbor. Garth Wells, captain of the Lewis R. French, dreams about driving the schooner up and down the aisles of a grocery store while picking out canned goods and produce. Adam McKinlay, first mate on the Heritage, once dreamt he was sailing alongside the Mary Day on I-295 when a cute deckhand suddenly roller-skated between the moving vessels to give him her cell number.
Apart from the last one perhaps, these are anxiety dreams. After all, schooners don’t have brakes, so it makes sense that visions of tight corridors and heavy traffic are the stuff of nightmares.
When we sail off the anchor in crowded Stonington Harbor, it’s easy to see where the anxiety comes from. A thick fog blankets the coast while we sail westward toward Penobscot Bay. The Stephen Taber is equipped with GPS and radar, but these aren’t failsafe. The GPS can lead us around shoals and shores toward our destination, and the radar can keep us clear of oncoming traffic, but the technology isn’t perfect. Depending on the strength of the signal, a GPS receiver might have a 30-foot margin of error—an unnerving potentiality in the shoal-strewn waters off Deer Island. Plus, a lost kayaker paddling through fog or a partially submerged log won’t appear on the radar. To overcome these modern, technological blind spots, the schooner bums resort to a foul-weather tradition as old as sailing itself: the bow watch.
Jane Barrett Barnes.
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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.
Berth of the Cool:
A Maine Windjammer Journal
Motoring Through Casco Passage
Aboard the Lewis R. French
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Videos in this channel
Aboard the Lewis R. French
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Jan Czasak laments the passing age of sail.
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Lewis R. French and a sunset over Lincolnville.
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Alex Hardt plays the blues.
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Aboard the Lewis R. French for the Great Schooner Race.
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The Heritage wows the crowd in Boothbay Harbor.
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A smooth passage through Townsend Gut, courtesy of the swing bridge.
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The Heritage crew shakes it all about for their lobster bake tradition.
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Cozying up to half the Maine Windjammer fleet's not a bad way to spend a day.
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All hands on deck to crank the Stephen Taber's anchor and set sail....
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There's more than one way to tie a knot aboard the Mary Day.
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Windjammer passengers sing the darndest things...
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The mechanics of a wind-powered windjammer can lead to ....winded deckhands on the first sail of the season.
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Before the sailing season begins, the Nathaniel Bowditch is hauled ashore for a fresh coat of paint. Read the entry here: www.downeast.com/Berth-of-Cool/May-2008/Spring-FIt-Out-North-End-Marine/
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Day 2 aboard the Mercantile: Passengers get their sea legs on a calm sail and settle in.
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It's the end of March and signs of activity aboard Maine's windjammer fleet are hard to ignore. It's like a chick cracking its shell: Another sailing season is about to be born.
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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).
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Reader Comments:
We are envious. You are doing in one season what we hope to accomplish in a lifetime. We have a goal to sail on each of the windjammers in the fleet. We have sailed aboard the Angelique,Grace Bailey,Isaac H. Evans,Timberwind (she was a member of the fleet at the time)and last year the Stephen Taber.Hearing your audio from the Taber was bittersweet. Unfortunatly we will not be able to sail this year but look forward to hearing more about your trips and some of the people we had the pleasure of meeting on ours.
Fairwinds, Mike and Teresa.