Hard tack is the nickname for a simple type of biscuit made from flour and water, and sometimes salt. Soft tack is another name for bread baked at sea.

Hard tack is a long-lasting cheap biscuit that was used in the absence of perishable food, most commonly during long voyages at sea and in the military. Other names it goes by include pilot bread, shipbiscuits, sea bread. Some of the more amusing names it’s called include tooth dullers, sheet iron and molar breakers. Today it remains a common pantry item in Hawaii and in Alaska is still a part of the normal diet. The G.H. Bent Company in Milton Massachusetts still makes hard tack and is sold to Civil War re-enactors. In 1801 Josiah Bent began the company selling ‘water crackers’ that would last during long sea voyages from Boston and then used as a food source for gold prospectors who made the journey to California in the last 1840’s.

Should you find yourself wanting to try hard tack here is a recipe to one from Company A, 3^rd Maine Regiment Volunteer Infantry – a nonprofit dedicated to preserving the memory of Maine’s role in the American Civil War.

Soft tack is the opposite of hard tack – fresh bread meant for consumption in a short period of time.

If ships back in the 1800’s had Chef Annie Mahle in their galley there would be no complaining of any kind! I can’t imagine that she would not have found a way to make even hard tack taste good. And soft tack? Have you had her Roasted Red-Pepper Bread, Irish Soda Bread or Focaccia?!

The book, The Visual Encyclopedia of Nautical Terms Under Sail,  had been gifted to Captain Dave Allen and his wife Sue, the previous stewards of the J&E Riggin. On the title flap are 24 signatures, a note that reads ‘To Dave & Sue 7/23/82′ and song/poem:

Roll out the Riggin
We’ll have an Ocean of fun
Sail out the Riggin
We’ll have the fleet on the Run
hoist up the Anchor
And when the great Race is done
We’re sure glad we sailed the Riggin
Cause She’s Number One

To me it reads like a sea shanty written by the passengers on the July 23rd 1982 cruise, a cruise that may have been the annual race week…..and dare I say the Riggin won? Given the sea shanty nature of the song/poem, what better word to get us started with nautical terms than ‘shanty‘?!

A shanty or chanty is a song sung on board to help hands work in unison, for instance  while pulling on ropes or heaving at the capstan. Usually included in short solo verses and hearty choruses.*

While hauling lines to raise the sails in the morning or while you’re on anchor duty there is nothing better than hearing Annie sing a shanty like “Rollin Down to Old Maui” keeping cadence to the work. You may have also heard this particular song sung by former crew member Susan Hickey on Water Meets Sand or on our Music Week trip with singer/storyteller Geoff Kauffman. (The CD’s for both Susan & Geoff are available in our ship’s store.) For an audio example check out this version by Stan Rogers.

*Definition from  The Visual Encyclopedia of Nautical Terms Under Sail by Basil w. Bathe, 1978

As office meetings happened this fall we talked about doing another year-long contest. What we came up with is a series of contests with one common theme,  ”Where Have You Seen Me?” This one came to us unexpectedly from a post on Annie’s blog.

“Where Have You Seen Me?” will feature a photo of something from, on, or around the boat but not limited to just the boat itself  but also around our home port of Rockland and possible even some of the places we anchor most often.

Everyone who guesses correctly will be entered in a drawing for a little something from us. Guesses will be accepted for 1 week after the posting on this blog. Once a name is drawn we will post the correct location and winner here and in the next month’s e-newsletter.

Our contest begins this month with a post on Annie’s blog. Last week she wrote about an upcycled project she made as a Christmas gift using fabric previously seen on the boat. Tell us where you have seen this fabric before and we’ll put you in the drawing. The winner will win a set of 12 Riggin post cards including 2 new designs you have not yet seen. Guesses can be left as a comment on Annie’s blog or on Facebook.

Starting next month we’ll have the photo for the contest here but this month  you’ll have to go over to At Home & At Sea to make your guess!

This year we are happy to have 6 designs available including the newest addition of “Autumn Moment” showing the 1927  built wooden boat hauled out on a late fall afternoon. Also two of our best sellers are back - “Evening Colors” showing the  Maine windjammer sailing toward the snow-covered hillside of Owls Head Lighthouse and “Rounding the Mark” with the schooner whimsically sailing around a Christmas tree. Each set of 10 cards is printed on recycled paper using wind power and comes with white envelopes.

The full list of available cards including “Sailing Toward Unity”, “Santa’s New Ride”, and “Winter Solstice” are available on our website.

The weather this fall has been crazy warmer temps than usual mixed with a snow storm before Halloween and the day before Thanksgiving. Rockland didn’t see much snow action for either storm. However if you drove just 15 minutes inland last Wednesday you’d see 8+ inches of snow – most of which was gone Thanksgiving day.

We’ll take it though. We are still getting cold weather crops like spinach and kale from the garden and are still able to harvest carrots, beets, and leeks from the not-yet-frozen ground. And it won’t be long til we are up to our eyeballs in snow drifts and freezing temps, so for now, we’ll take the unseasonably warmer weather.

How has your fall weather been? Let us know in the comments section.

New brochure by Mimi Steadman & Co and Tim Seymour

After tweaking language and going through hundreds of photos we had Mimi Steadman & Company put together a design we love. (If you are looking for a new brochure or print material give Mimi a call!)

The photos used in new design we feel really captures what it is that happens aboard the Riggin. This would not have been possible without wonderful photos from Kip Brundage, Frank M. Chillemi (the Riggn’s photography instructor), Dana Degenhardt, David Delperdang, Ben Krebs (of BK Photo), Carol Latta (of Amazing Maine), Elizabeth Poisson (of Rocky Coast Photography), and Edward Riggin.

Here are a couple of the photos that appear in the new brochure!J&E Riggin New Brochure

Carol Latta (www.AmazingMaine.com) - Owls Head Lighthouse

Ben Krebs (www.benkrebs.com) - Breakfast

As an added incentive for booking a charter in June or September this early in advance we’ll give you a 25% discount off the listed price or 10% in July and August. Just give us a call before September 30^th to reserve your windjammer charter.

A trip on the Riggin be the perfect place for next year’s family reunion, a birthday or anniversary celebration. Why not charter the Riggin as your venue? Our schooner charters are not limited to just family get-togethers. We also do class reunions, team building, weddings, class trips and themed trips w/any kind of focus such as food/cooking, fishing, wildlife/nature, inspirational or crafting (knitting groups). Give us a call and we’ll help you come up with a plan for your next get-together!

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,
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull’s way and the whale’s way, where the wind’s like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.

“Sea Fever” is from SALT-WATER POEMS AND BALLADS, by John Masefield, published by the Maxmillan Co., NY, © 1913

What is your favorite poem, limerick, song, quote about the sea and sailing?

Maine Lighthouses from Maine Office of Tourism on Vimeo.