This morning I find myself bent over the kitchen table in the
process of matting and framing my latest watercolor of the Riggin
sailing past a snow-covered Owl's Head Lighthouse. This was the
painting we used for this year's holiday card. As I was standing back
to adjust the level of the painting in the frame, I was told that
Andrew Wyeth had passed away. Although it saddens me he is gone, I
will always remember him for the wonder, joy and inspiration he has
given me.
Annie and I met Andrew and Betsy Wyeth while running a
charter yacht prior to owning the Riggin. The charterer had grown up
in Chad's Ford, winter home of the Wyeth's, and the families were good
friends. The guest list for the week proved to be very interesting
with the Secretary of State of New York, a writer from the Washington
Post and a well known cartoonist among the travelers.
After sailing around Penobscot Bay the first afternoon, we headed down the Muscle Ridge Channel
and over to Benner Island for the night. It was low tide at our time
of arrival and it took me a while before cautiously picking up the
mooring in a creek of a thoroughfare between Allen and Benner Island.
Andrew and Betsy Wyeth had been invited for dinner and we were now
smack dab in front of their beautiful Cape Cod-style home. As our
dinner guests were arriving, Annie was below preparing the requested
dishes. At three months pregnant, she was nauseously adverse to almost
any strong odor and dinner was prepared that evening between frequent
trips to the head.
After one such trip, Annie quickly recovered and with and empty
stomach rose up the companionway with a warm smile and a friendly hand
extended. To which Mr. Wyeth remarked, "My God, I didn't know they had
a blond aboard!"
After a fine meal and all kinds of flirting from Mr. Wyeth, our
guests transferred ashore, inviting Annie and I to tour the island in the
morning. Our time on the island follows this post and Annie's account of the same event is on her blog.
Captain Jon
