The Maine Lobster Bake

The highlight of the week for many of our passengers is our traditional Maine lobster bake. It’s an all-you-can-eat feast; seven whole lobsters eaten by one person, a girl scout!, in one sitting is the record (please do not try this at home). After anchoring near an undisturbed island in the early afternoon, the yawl boat ferries us ashore and we hop across the granite rocks to the beach. Everyone wanders off in a different directions – exploring inland, walking the shore, swimming- some even help set up for dinner.

Maine Lobster Bake - Photo by Jim Karg

The crew has already rowed ashore and brought everything we need to the island:

-          Firewood (we bring it with us instead of collecting driftwood so we make the least impact on the island’s ecosystem)
-          Fire pan (we build th eifre on top of this pan)
-          Galvanized steel washtub
-          Lobsters
-          Fresh Corn on the Cob
-          Baked Potatoes
-          Melted Lemon Butter
-          Snacks
-          Watermelon
-          Lemonade (passengers often bring beer and wine with them)
-          Sausages and chicken (for the non lobster fans)
-          Chocolate bars, marshmallows and graham crackers for S’mores

A fire is lit below the high tide mark, corn is shucked, various goodies are put out to tide us over until the lobster is ready. Once the fire is really going the lobster pot- a huge steel tub- is filled with 2-3 inches of salt water and set on the fire to boil. While we wait for the water to boil, several armloads of seaweed are gathered (we are careful to leave some seaweed at each spot so it can grow back). Once the water is boiling we layers the lobsters, corn, mussels and clams in the pot, cover it with a “lid” of seaweed, wait for it to come to a boil and rotate the pot for even cooking on the fire. When the water comes to a second boil we’ll pull some of the seaweed aside and check to see that the lobsters are red all over. When they are done, the pot is carried away from the fire, the seaweed is arranged on a flat rock and everything is placed on the seaweed bed, ready to eat (the crew does the lobster dance).

S'mores By Ben Krebs

Once everyone has had their fill of lobster, the watermelon is sliced and the makings for S’mores are laid out. There’s always a lively discussion over how to make the best S ‘more, and the proper way to roast a marshmallow – golden on the outside and soft and gooey inside or  burnt to a crisp on the outside and just warmed on the inside.

Now how can you beat that?!

A Week at Sea on a Maine Windjammer Cruise – Day Six

Day Six:

Saturday morning we raise anchor early and head back home.  Last minute group photos are taken, addresses exchanged, and a hearty brunch is served to tide everyone over on their way home.  We tie up in Rockland amid relaxed, revitalized smiles and see everyone ashore hugs and goodbyes.

Home to Rockland- Photo by Terry Fagan

This post wraps up our A Week at Sea series and we hope they have helped give you an idea of what it is like on a Maine windjammer cruise aboard the Schooner J&E Riggin. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to call us or send an email. We are ALWAYS happy to chat with you about sailing!

 

‘Day Six’  is excerpted from Annie Mahle’s At Home, At Sea: Recipes from the Maine Windjammer J. & E. Riggin

A Week at Sea on a Maine Windjammer Cruise – Day Five

Day Five:


As the week goes by everyone relaxes more and more and rises later and later.  But coffee is still ready at 7 for early risers, and several passengers take our peapod out for a quiet row.

Sunrise - Photo by Rocky Coast Photography

By Friday everyone is an ol’ salt and is ready help get the Riggin underway; the Captain calls out “Heave out!” and “Raise your headsails!” and we’re off for our final full day of sailing.  We head westward, back towards Rockland.  Sailing off the anchor powered by wind alone. No sound of an engine, no smell of diesel fumes, just the water lapping on the hull.  With a brisk wind, we sail through the Fox Islands Thoroughfare, a picturesque passageway between Vinalhaven and North Haven Islands and then tack out to the east side. We turn north and, as the afternoon sea breeze fills our sails, shoot up the coast of North Haven to our final stop for the trip, Pulpit Harbor.  Records of the osprey nest that stands as a sentry at the entrance of Pulpit Harbor on the island of North Haven go back over 200 years.  It’s a real treat to sit at anchor and watch these majestic birds fish for their dinners.  It’s been an exciting week!

‘Day Five’  is excerpted from Annie Mahle’s At Home, At Sea: Recipes from the Maine Windjammer J. & E. Riggin

Great Maine Schooner Race

Every year the Maine Windjammer Association (MWA) hosts a Great Schooner Race. The race is always held the week of July 4th and happened today!

We know not everyone is on Facebook, where we’ve kept fans up-to-date as information comes in, so we thought we’d share today’s events in a post so you don’t miss out on all the fun! Below is a breakdown of posts from the MWA and photos from Capt Annie (that she took and sent in between cooking for everyone!) The race is made up of 4 classes – Coaster, Leeward, Windward & Visitors and has 15 participating vessels this year:

- MWA boats – American Eagle, Angelique, Grace Bailey, Heritage, Isaac H. Evans, Lewis R. French, Mary Day, Merchantile, Mistress, Nathaniel Bowditch, Stephen Taber, Timberwind, Victory Chimes
- Visiting boats - J&E Riggin, Spirit of South Carolina, Koukla

The race starts

Race has started and we are all off to a low wind meander!

  • The race began today at 11 am off Western Island (near Castine) and will race to the Northeast tip of Butter  Island (with a slight variations based on class).
  • By 1pm Captain Kip of the Victory Chimes was reporting they were leading the 3 masted race… they are the only 3 masted vessel participating :)
swimming

Swim call during the race - not a good sign, but SO fun!

  • 3pm – The association reports in-  ”The Schooner Mary Day has won the Windward Class. Congrats Captain Barry! Currently the Stephen Taber‘s out in front for the Coaster Class, but it’s still too early to tell. Leeward Class could be a close finish. Current conditions: 12 knot breeze out of the SW”
Angelique

Getting really close to the Angelique as we begin to round the first mark, the R2 bell off Green Ledge.

wind

Got some WIND! Passing Great Spruce and headed toward Butter and the finish line... and, um, in the lead!

  • 3:30 – the association reports in again – “The Angelique has won the Leeward Class and the J&E Riggin has won the Visitor’s Class. Congratulations Captain Mike and Jon, respectively! Meanwhile, the Coasters are still battling it out…”
happy dance

Capt and crew doing the happy dance after crossing the finish line FIRST! Love to all of those who were unable to be with us this year.

Update: When we made this post live yesterday the results for the Coaster class had not been decided yet. At 6pm it was announced that the Stephen Taber took the honor for the Coaster class.

 

A Week at Sea on a Maine Windjammer Cruise – Day Four

Day Four:

It’s early morning yet, but excitement starts to build as Cap’n Jon returns from an early trip with a crate full of fresh lobsters.  After breakfast Pearl ferries us ashore to Stonington.  Stonington, on the southern tip of Deer Isle, is aptly named.  There is abundant evidence in town and on the surrounding islands of granite quarries, a mainstay for the town in the 19thcentury.  Nowadays the residents of Stonington earn a living from lobstering and a few craft shops.

Jan & Evelyn Kok by Denise Remfert

The oldest kids we know, and a magical couple, Jan & Evelyn Kok have been welcoming and entertaining windjammer passengers for decades in their tiny, eclectic shop, the Gallery of the Purple Fish, in Stonington. Both are artists – Jan a music director and Evelyn an illustrator. Their shop is full of fascinating artwork and knick-knacks. Very little of it is for sale, but Evelyn makes beautiful bookmarks featuring all the schooners as well as a number of beautiful line drawings. It’s wonderful to poke around while Evelyn hand-letters passengers’ names on the bookmarks and it’s not at all unusual for Jan & Evelyn to break into one of their songs – it feels like you’ve walked into a pixie’s tea party.

After a leisurely morning ashore we weigh anchor, raise sails, and we’re off, cruising among the islands of Merchant’s Row.  We see a school of porpoise appear among the waves – cameras and binoculars are quickly pulled out. We anchor early near the sandy beach of Lindy Cove for our lobster bake. There’s no rush as we have plenty of time to explore the island before we settle down to all the lobster we can eat. The last boatload returns to the Riggin at dusk.  We got a little extra sun today and everyone is happy and full.  We watch as the stars come out, and have an impromptu star-gazing session, pointing out the Big and Little Dipper, Cassiopeia and the Summer Triangle.

 

‘Day Four’  is excerpted from Annie Mahle’s At Home, At Sea: Recipes from the Maine Windjammer J. & E. Riggin

A Week at Sea on a Maine Windjammer Cruise – Day Three

Day Three:

Wanting to explore a bit, several of us go ashore and walk out to Burnt Coat Harbor Light on Hockamock Head, admiring wildflowers and seashells on our route.  We take pictures and leave the wildflowers and seashells for others to appreciate as well. Singing to raise the sails, the cadence is easy to adopt and the sails go up quickly.  Annie is in the yawl boat Pearl pushing the schooner out of the harbor.  Capt. Jon built her a few winters back out of local oak, brown heart and silver baly.  She is our tugboat and our launch; she helps us get where we need to go when we don’t have enough wind and ferries us ashore for walks and shopping.

Wednesdays are one of our favorite days of the week.  It is on this day that shoulders relax, laughter is easy, conversations meaningful, and even moments of silence are noted and appreciated.  There is a simpler appreciation of our surroundings.  This day is the turning point as the magic and slower tempo of being on Penobscot Bay really seeps in and the hectic pace of our lives on shore falls away.

Happy Passengers - Photo by Frank M. Chillemi

By late afternoon we’ve dropped the “hook” (anchor) in Stonington.  Lobster boats cluster around the harbor and houses seem to protect the hill.  This is a true lobstering village.  From the deck we can see one building painted with huge letters, spelling out “Opera House”.  It’s nearly time for dinner; but there’ll be plenty of time to go ashore tomorrow. After smelling dinner all afternoon long, we finally get a taste.  All hands sit in a galley made cozy by the light of kerosene lanterns and fresh flowers on the table.

‘Day Three’  is excerpted from Annie Mahle’s At Home, At Sea: Recipes from the Maine Windjammer J. & E. Riggin

A Week at Sea on a Maine Windjammer Cruise – Day Two

Day Two:

It’s a sunny morning and this is the warmest harbor we will be in all week long.  My girls know it – so they talk me into going swimming with them.  This convinces a few adventurous folks to give it a try also.  Some are in and out – you almost wonder if they got wet!  Others discover that it’s refreshing and stay in to swim around the boat and maybe wash their hair (we have a shower onboard but many passengers still prefer to wash their hair with fresh seawater). While we are swimming, the crew is busy readying the boat for sail.  This is the first morning to raise the anchor – it’s all done by hand and is a real team effort!  What satisfaction to sail off the anchor under our own power and through the efforts of those on board.

Maine Sailing Adventure

It’s one of those meandering days so we turn southwest to head down Eggemoggin Reach. There is a high suspension bridge that connects Little Deer Island to the mainland.  We sail under it calling “Ollie, Ollie oxen free!”  Once, we saw three deer here — swimming from one island shore to another. Folks settle in fairly quickly today, finding a favorite spot on a cabin top for reading, or on the bowsprit quietly looking out to sea. Many are on the quarterdeck by the wheel, listening to Captain Jon answer questions and tell a few stories.

After a leisurely day we find ourselves anchored in Burnt Coat Harbor (on Swan’s Island), a snug and pretty harbor that boasts an historic lighthouse and residents that can trace their family roots on the island back to the Boston Tea Party.  Jon pulls out his guitar and soon we’re singing favorite songs of the sea, and of the ships and people that make the ocean their home.

‘Day Two’  is excerpted from Annie Mahle’s At Home, At Sea: Recipes from the Maine Windjammer J. & E. Riggin

A Week at Sea on a Maine Windjammer Cruise – Day One

Day One:

Too excited to sleep, most everyone’s up early Monday morning. The crew is bucketing down the decks, packing ice and loading wood.  A week’s worth of provisions is carefully loaded and packed in ice, and arranged in the order of when they will be used. Annie has been up since 4:30; coffee is ready and on deck by 7am. After a hearty breakfast of pancakes and bacon, passengers go ashore for any last minute items – foul weather gear, extra film and batteries for their cameras, soda and beer.

Breakfast is over and cleaned up.  Some folks, already eager to help, work with the crew to take down the awning and prepare the Riggin for departure.  Finally it’s time.  We cast off lines, everyone helps to raise the sails, and we’re off. The moment that the sails are raised and the yawl boat engine is turned off there seems to be a collective sigh – of relief, happiness, peace.  A favorite place on the boat once the sails are up is at the bow; one passenger of ours can always be found there at this time “clearing my head.”  There’s a joy to being back out on the bay – our motto at this point is, “If we don’t have it, we don’t need it.”

Sailing Into the Bay - Photo By Norman Lampton

We aren’t alone – other windjammers are leaving their homeport as well.  It’s a majestic sight. As we pass both the Rockland and Owl’s Head Lighthouses and looks south across the sparkling water, all we can see is open space – sky and water. To the north and west are the legendary Camden Hills and all of the splendid islands of Penobscot Bay. The breeze is brisk so we have time to play. As we race up to Camden to see the boats entering the bay, we’re feeling the wind on our cheeks, the exciting motion of the schooner, and the sound of the waves lapping against the bow.

After a magical first day, we ghost into Buck’s Harbor.  A talented steel band frequently performs by the General Store and tonight is no exception.  After dinner we all go ashore to explore, walk around and listen to the music. Robert McCloskey wrote about Bucks Harbor in his renowned children’s book One Morning in Maine.  He was a two-time Caldecott Medalist —Make Way for Ducklings won in 1942 and Time of Wonder in 1958.  He also wrote Blueberries for Sal, our family’s favorite.

‘Day One’  is excerpted from Annie Mahle’s At Home, At Sea: Recipes from the Maine Windjammer J. & E. Riggin

A Week at Sea on a Maine Windjammer Cruise – Boarding Night

Our sailing season has been underway for a couple of weeks now and it’s been wonderful to be back out on the bay. Most of our June schedule is made up of 3 and 4 day trips with only one or two 6 day trips.  These shorter trips are a great way for those who have not had the pleasure of a Maine windjammer cruise on the J&E Riggin before to get out and ‘test the waters’. What we tend to see is by the morning of the last day on these shorter trips passengers are wishing they’d booked a longer 6 day trip. We get it and feel the same way. An amazing thing that happens on a windjammer cruise – you settle in with the calming movement of the ocean, your shoulders drop and you relax,  you’ve made new friends, the scenery can’t be beat, and the food nourishes your tummy and your soul. It’s wonderful.

Over the next few weeks we will be doing a series of posts giving you a glimpse into what a week at sea with Captains Jon & Annie is like. If you’re on the fence about booking a whole 6 day trip we do have a series of 4 day cruises in August that still have space and we’d love for you to join us.

Boarding Night:

It’s just before boarding; there are a few last minute touches of polish on the brass, one more check of the deck to make sure all the lines are flemished and coiled and at 5 pm the first guests start to arrive. We greet them warmly – some first-time passengers, some are repeat passengers who return every year. One returning couple tells us that the trip on the Riggin starts when they get in the car to leave their house; off comes the watch and it doesn’t go back on until they hit the dock after a week on board.

Everyone stows their gear in their cabins, then are show around the deck and galley by one of the crew. They pause to help themselves to hot coffee or tea and homemade cookies then start meeting their fellow passengers and crew. Annie is meeting passengers as she arranges the flowers and herbs she’s just picked from the garden behind their house. A harbor seal pops his head up and eyes us curiously.

At 6 pm Captain Jon gathers everyone ‘round for “captain’s call” –introducing them to the ins and outs of shipboard living and talking about what to expect for the week. Except for the hottest days of the summer, the wood stove is a welcome source of heat as the air cools; folks gather in the varnished pine galley to read or get to know each other.

‘Boarding Night’  is excerpted from Annie Mahle’s At Home, At Sea: Recipes from the Maine Windjammer J. & E. Riggin

Experience a Maine Sailing Vacation

Have you been going over your bucket list and seeing that line where it says “do a windjammer cruise”? Did you read an article in a magazine or online talking about Maine windjammer cruises and found yourself thinking “that sounds like fun”? Were you in Maine at some point and looked out over the harbor and saw a majestic two masted wooden boat sailing by and thought to yourself “that might just be the best way to see the Maine coast”? If you answered yes to any of these questions then all we can say is – what are you waiting for?!?! There’s no better time like the present to join us for a sailing vacation on a historic wooden schooner on the Maine coast!

If you are nervous about doing a week long trip we do have several shorter 4 day windjammer cruises that still have space this August. Or if you’re looking for a 6 day trip we have some great trips scheduled in September.

*

* Want to sail as a family? Our August 8th – 11th Kids & Family cruise is just the thing you want. Whether you sail as mom & dad, grandma, grandpa & grandchildren or aunt, uncle, niece & nephew – everyone is sure to have a great time.

* Are you a foodie who loves to improvise in the kitchen, cook with local ingredients and loves to be around others with the same interest? Then you’ll love the All About the Food Cruise August 22 – 25th with a focus on local food and cooking instruction.

* If seeing Maine from the best vantage point is something that peaks your interest you will want to book our Maine Lighthouses & Lobsters cruise,  either a 6 day August 1st – 6th or August 26th – 29th, with a focus on, yep you guessed it, lighthouses and lobster! We’ll do our traditional lobster bake and have lobster in various other ways as we sail past the myriad of lighthouse that dot the Maine coast. On the 6 day trip, Aug 1-6, we will be making a stop at Swan’s Island for the annual Sweet Chariot Music Festival – so much fun!

* Are you looking for plans for Labor day weekend? We’ve got just the thing the Camden Windjammer Festival! Join us for a 4 day cruise August 31st – September 3rd where we will sail into Camden Harbor for the start of the Windjammer Festival Friday night. We’ll be there to see the other windjammers in the Maine fleet, watch the Schooner Talent show and fireworks. Extend your trip and book a bed & breakfast for Saturday and/or Sunday night to enjoy the other events of the weekend including a Chowder Challenge, build-a -boat contest, lobster crate race and a Maritime Heritage Fair.

If a longer 6 day trip is more your style, check out our schedule for September with a Maine Knitting Cruise, Wooden Boat Week (with a Full moon), Maine Lighthouses & Lobsters, and a Fall Photography Cruise (where we might see the trees showing their color).

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