Traveling on a Windjammer

 Did you ever feel the call of the sea? Or, feel the need to do something different? I did and you can, too.  This is the time of the year to plan your summer adventure.  Think out of the box. 

Somewhere in my distant educational past I had to memorize – and never forgot - the first few lines from John Masefield’s “Sea Fever:” 




I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by…

John and I booked a five-day sail on a windjammer. I wanted the experience to be as authentic as possible so I chose the Grace Bailey, a windjammer that is a National Historic Landmark. In Camden, Maine, my husband and I boarded the ship and were shown to our cabin. The double bed took up the most of the room save for a small space by the door. Accommodations were small but then it was just for sleeping. 

“Rattle those pots and pans…” is not from Masefield’s “Sea Fever” but from the song, “Shake, Rattle, and Roll.” It was the first thing that came to mind when I work up at 4:30 a.m. the first morning.  Our cabin was near the kitchen and since the Grace Bailey is true to the era, meals are cooked on a big cast

iron, wood burning stove. All that banging in the kitchen ended up in an excellent, hearty breakfast. After breakfast, with the help of a push boat we put out to sea and learned that passengers are really the crew!  Divided into two groups, we were instructed in the way to raise the sails. “Ready on the Throat. Ready on the Peak. Haul Away. Two-six heave. Two steps toward me. Drop the line.” 

The first night we “rafted up” with other windjammers, which

allowed us to go from boat to boat meeting other “sailors.”  One day we docked at the quaint little town of Stonington.  Gotta’ love Maine humor.  One sign on the dock reads: “Two Hour Birthing Limit…” and the one next to it, “No Sea Sextions.” 

It was a real learning experience. Flushing the toilet was like driving a stick shift car. Foot on the floor pedal and keep shifting!  We got our exercise in the shower by using the floor pump to make the water flow.  Raising and lowering the sails

became a routine part of the day. During the heavy morning fog we took turns blowing the conch shell – the early foghorn. Masefield wrote, “And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.” Sailing in the fog was an ethereal experience.

One evening we anchored near Hen Island and went ashore for the most awesome lobster bake cooked on the beach. Never has lobster and corn on the cob tasted so good.  The days took on a sublime ambiance. No cell phones, no computers, no Internet, no television - just a wonderful sense of freedom and adventure. The days slipped by too fast. We were lucky because the weather was incredible.  There was plenty of time while sailing to

be mesmerized by the sea. Leaving the Grace Bailey I remembered another Masefield line, “I must down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life…” 

Give it a try, it is only five days.  It will be an adventure you will never forget. 

For lovers of Lighthouses

Aficionados of lighthouses will find them just about everywhere. Not only are they along the coast but also along lakes, rivers, and canals. There are about 1000 lighthouses of various designs in the United States with Michigan having the most with over 150. Some are now automated, others are museums, and some even offer accommodations to the public. The oldest working American lighthouse is the one on Sandy Hook, New Jersey. When it was lit in 1764 it was only 500 feet from the tip of Sandy Hook. Due to changes in the shoreline it is now nearly 1.5 miles from the tip.

1. New York: Tibbets in Cape Vincent is located where the St. Lawrence meets Lake Ontario. The Lighthouse features the only original working Fresnel lens in Lake Ontario. In 1991 the Lighthouse Quarters became part of Hostelling International.
2. Maine: The Nubble Lighthouse in York is a complex of several buildings. Next to the 88-foot tower is the two-story, six-room lighthouse keeper’s house, a workshop, generator building, and the boat house. One unique aspect on the island is the Trolley – a basket on a cable – that allowed goods to be transported to the island.
3. Connecticut: Mystic Seaport Lighthouse is located on the grounds of the Museum of America and the Sea. It is a replica of the Brant Point Lighthouse on Nantucket. The original was built in 1746 and was the second operative lighthouse in New England.
4. New Jersey: Barnegat Lighthouse is known affectionately as ‘Old Barney.’ The name derived from the Dutch word, ‘Barendegat,’ which means ‘inlet of breakers.” It was operational for nearly 100 years. Today visitors can see the original Fresnel lens.
5. South Carolina: The Hunting Island Lighthouse is South Carolina’s only publicly accessible historic lighthouse in the state. At 132 feet high it rewards those willing to climb its 167 steps with breathtaking views of the Hunting Island State Park, the sweeping Lowcountry marshland and the Atlantic Ocean.
6. Florida: Visitors who are more than 44-inches in height may climb the Crooked River Lighthouse. The iron and steel structure guided fishermen and oystermen through the treacherous pass between Dog and St. George Islands, and along Florida's Panhandle for nearly 100 years. The keeper’s house is now a museum.
7. Michigan: Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse was established in 1892, and is located at the southeast end the Mackinac Bridge. It was originally constructed in 1890 to signal fog, with the light being added in 1892. It was deactivated in 1957, and currently serves as a maritime museum.
8. Wisconsin: The Cana Lighthouse was built in 1869 and lit in 1870 and is now a museum. Step inside the Keepers' House where, beginning in 1869, the first of a number of lighthouse keepers tended to the light, which guided sailors and protected them from the dangerous shoals extending out from the island into Lake Michigan.
9. California: The Port Hueneme Lighthouse in Oxnard was established in 1874 to guide shipping through the Santa Barbara Channel which runs between the California coast and the Channel Islands. The two-story Victorian building has a twin at Point Fermin with both being lit on the same day in 1874.
10. And more: There are many lighthouse associations. Some protect one specific lighthouse, others list all those in an individual state, and others are organized by area. The United States Lighthouse Society’s web site, www.uslhs.org, list many of the associations.