On a cool Sunday afternoon in July, I had my first encounter with the Schooner J & E Riggin. Docked on the Rockland waterfront behind the Coast Guard station, at first glance she was certainly a beauty. I stood there on the dock for a while just to take her in, realizing that this was my destination and sole purpose for one week. After a 1500 mile drive from Charleston, SC with two pets in tow, it was difficult to believe the moment had truly arrived. As the magic of the ship to swirled around me, I began to see why people refer dreamily about the coast of Maine. Sailing on the coast was no longer a pipe dream, for it was manifesting before me as if brought forth from Merlin’s wand.

As introductions were made and baggage taken aboard, the ship seemed to grow in size and stature. All growth came to a screeching halt upon entering my cabin, originally built for two. Originally an oyster dredger built in the 1930’s, it was easy to imagine her crew aboard this historic vessel. Although each cabin was more than cozy, one learns to adapt in the space given. After a week in a compact SUV, with a dog and a restless kitten, the cabin seemed like a mansion.

Captain Jon Finger went over the short list of dos and don’ts for the week. By far the most important ones focused on water conservation and the use of the head. Sharing 2 bathrooms (heads) and one shower among 30 people can be done if everyone observes the strong recommendation of 6 squares of tissue per flush. There is an uncomfortable silence until the reasons become apparent. Marine toilets are “objects of torture” to dismantle and repair, so the last thing this vessel needs is having to rebuild one while we are on vacation. Enough said.
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The first night aboard is to help everyone get used to the accommodations – which are cozy but comfortable and functional. Each cabin is equipped with a tiny sink and a mirror, so it is easy to get up and make sure one looks presentable before climbing on deck to the head. It is important to remain presentable, even here.

Monday: Set Sail
The lingering effects of the all night drive from Baltimore were tough to shake off Monday morning. I’d just opened my eyes when I heard a soft knock at the door. It was Toni, the galley hand. She was there to ask if I’d like for her to save some blueberry pancakes and sausage on a plate for me. When I got to the galley, the plate held 2 huge poppy seed pancakes, 2 large sausage links and some orange and grapefruit. A pitcher of Annnie’s Maine blueberry syrup adorned the pancakes. Plenty of coffee to help open the peepers and keep them open. My tummy was happy with the introduction to the week’s cookstove fired cuisine.

After breakfast, I’m just in time to watch the process as sails are hoisted and we are under way. The entire crew is on deck for this, and as the Captain calls out, “Ready on the Fore?” the crew sings back, “Ready!” The hoisting begins as Tori sings out a sea shanty to raise the sail. Cries of ‘two, six, heave!” are heard on each side, as it takes 10 people to get the sails up on each side.

We hoisted the sails and headed out into Penobscot Bay. The calm waters of the bay reflected deep blue, as everyone pitched in to the count of “Two, six, heave!, two, six, heave!”

Soon enough, we are sailing under the clear blue sky on the crystalline waters of the Penobscot Bay.

The first lighthouse of the day is the guardian of the harbor: the Rockland Breakwater Light.

Perched on a near mile long stretch of rock that was built to shelter the harbor from storm surges. An automated light, since the early 60’s it’s now open to the public. As we sailed by, there were people walking out to the light house along its huge boulders along the breakwater. It’s a challenge trekking out there, but the view of Rockland harbor is worth the effort.

Lunch was a hearty, stick to your ribs lamb stew over couscous with a salad of field greens and oranges. Feta cheese and homemade dressing topped it off. After being on the road and eating a lot of pb& j, this cuisine was heavenly, and worth having second helpings of. I knew this week would be excellent in the dining department.

We sailed 26 miles to Castine on that first day of beautiful weather. In all directions, islands jutted out from the coastline topped with verdant green grass and towering fir trees. Along the edges of the rocky coast, wildflowers grew with the reckless abandon intended by Nature. Other vessels sailed by in the distance, mirroring back to us how breathtaking we were on the water. Cameras snapped, and the wind whipped a cooling breeze out on the bay.

It was a beautiful introduction to the rapture of the Maine coastline. It so captured me, I’d worn out the camera battery already. Luckily a savvy passenger brought along an inverter to charge it to the boat’s batteries. I recharged and was good to go.

Day 2 Castine

We awoke in the historical harbor of Castine. Because of the strategic placement on Penobscot Bay, Castine has been under 4 different flags since she was settled by Europeans. Castine’s deep waters allowed for ships to get in and out with the same tide, an enticing asset to any ruler wishing to regulate commerce from the port. Once the bay was controlled there, trade could be regulated from Rockland to Bangor.

The weather pattern this morning has changed considerably. Yesterday’s pale blue sky and deep azure seas were replaced with the fuzzy grays of fog and rain. It’s the flip side of the weather coin: cold, wet, and difficult to see more than a few feet ahead. As passengers gather round the coffee and home made cinnamon rolls on deck, we discuss the prospects of sailing in such weather. After all, if one is on a boat and planning to not get damp, there is a huge problem.

Annie has a suitable breakfast ready. A hearty, simple and filling bowl of steel cut oatmeal topped with granola and garnished with dried fruit. After a lifetime of instant oatmeal, this is the creme de la crème. I’m hooked.

After breakfast, we hopped aboard the yawl and set about to explore the town. Some went to the lighthouse, others wandered in and around the shops. Before long, locals suggested places I should visit, and things I should see while in town. The Maine Maritime Academy is stationed there, and our first mate, Lance is a student. Castine was such a pretty spot that I had to drive back to it after our trip to get better shots in the sunlight.

After everyone returned to the vessel, we set sail for Stonington after a fabulous lunch of fish chowder and chick pea salad with tiny biscuits and ginger cookies for dessert. Ginger is good for seasickness, so today’s unpredictable forecast, it’s good to take a precaution. A steady dripping rain hovers over us as we yawl toward our next destination. It’s too wet to sail, but the small yawl has an outboard motor that propels the vessel along for times such as these.

After a much needed nap, I went to the galley to help with dinner. Therein is where Chef Annie and her two helpers Toni and Jules conjure up their cuisine magic on a real wood stove without assistance from modern electric appliances. Proving that real food is as wonderful to eat as it is simple to prepare, tonight’s dessert is a strawberry, rubarb and peach shortcake, and the heavy cream needs to be whipped. I’m placed in charge of this task, of rumplstilskening it from a liquid into a yummy, delectable solid fit for topping the cobbler.

I listen as she teaches her galley hands as she is working. Cooking gourmet meals on a wood stove takes creativity and planning. Annie is a stickler for obtaining the freshest ingredients, from local CSAs, farms and butchers. She cultivates her own garden and picks from it every Sunday before sailing Monday morning. She is the auhor of a fabulous cookbook whose images are as beautiful as the recipes are tasty. She published it and sells in the company store and online.

Dinner tonight is Corned beef, onions, fennel, carrots, potatoes, and dessert is a strawberry rhubarb and peach shortcake.

It’s warm in the galley, conversation is light, as everyone is tucked into the nooks and crannies of the room. Like a big family over the meal, there are 10 different conversations going simultaneously, ranging in topics from politics to child rearing to home schooling to Waldorf schools. As dessert is passed around, the laughter an jokes continue. It reminds me of thanksgiving dinner or a family reunion with relatives you like.

Over dinner, Captain Jon and I have a chance to talk for the first time. I ask him about the return rate, and am not surprised to learn that it’s a high 63%. With the warmth, camaraderie and gentle teaching ways of the crew, it’s no wonder that returning guests feel like family. Flowers adorn tables as kerosene lamps add warm glow to the room. Guitars come out, and the harmonies begin as Captain plays his guitar, Toni plays her newly acquired ukulele, and Scott picks on his acoustic bass guitar.

Song Night
Warmth continues, instruments come out, harmonies begin. Most of passengers are gathered here: the warm light, camaraderie, timbre of voices joins together and the light from the lamps illuminates the room. A lullaby puts us in a sleepy mood. The day is ending on a peaceful note – voices carry harmonies together as the last notes end and we adjourn.

I fall asleep to the rain patering on the hull. Tonight I am using a wool blanket on the top layer – it’s brisk out here!

Day 3

Still raining – up a t 7:30 am.

It gets light here early
At noon – condensation is still on the glass from wine the night before.

Everything is damp or dripping from the rain. It drips off of the lines in a steady stream. Thank goodness for the canvas over the main mast area of the boat. After breakfast, Annie opens up the ships store and proceeds to allow passengers to shop for warmer clothes and fleeces. I want one, but don’t dare get one. With $7 in my pocket, that won’t cover it. So I watch and look through the cookbook of items and read the story of how Annie and Jon met.

After lunch the girls Chloe and Stephanie jump in for a swim. The adults stand around and marvel at the toughness of youth, we’re all cold and wet and no way are we swimming.

Diner is linguine with 3 different sauces and salad afterwards. I did card readings for Teri, Scott and Lori and George. Interesting how goosebumps covered me at different times for each one. Could this be a way to bring in income as I go? I did not charge for it, but asked people to get a card or shop in the basket.

Day 4 Thursday

Breakfast is home made granola & yogurt, then a walknon shore @ the Wooden Boat magazine complex and school. Beautiful verdant green grounds lush with fir trees above and moss below. Boat building in the old stable – 2 classes – one for kayaking and one for pea pods. (tenders) Out behind the stables wood is stacked in a triangle teepee formation to dry. Three buildings hold boats in various stags of doneness. One building looks like upsidedown hull. Following the path to the pond, I discover Anne, Donna and the girls. Chloe Ella and Stephanie are having a great time discovering and rescuing the tiny toads that abounded on the road. At last count there are 65 toads saved from death by car. They are no longer thatn a pinky fingernail. The girls switch gears and discover a pathway through the woods. “It might lead to a fairy place,” Annie says, as they enter the woods. It looks like a Hansel & Gretel pathway. Donna & I join them as we walk along. Moss covered tree trunks, thick with verdant green life line either side of the path. Underfoot the moss grows thick and lush along the forest floor. Tiny new fir trees spring up from the ground – shimmer with light from above. Yes this is obviously a fairie realm.


After the trip

A trip on the Schooner J & E Riggin is a magical thing. To hoist the sails of a historic vessel, a two masted, gaff rigged schooner and catch the winds that whip creamy white crests on an endless sea of deep ultramarine blue is the very essence of the stories of childhood imaginings.

The experience is fascinating to watch and ultimately to become a part of. The perfect way to steep oneself in the wonder of living history and now presence, reaching back to days when human interaction meant more than the beeping pocket monsters that enslave us to the busy-ness of non-events. In a world of priorities that place things over people, a ride on the Schooner J & E Riggin is a refreshing taste of people before things.

Captains Jon Finger and Annie Mahle are at the helm of the Riggin. From garden row to chicken coop, from stern to masts to bow and all points of sail and management in between, these two have a knack for providing a personally engaging experience that thrills the heart with childlike wonder, refreshes the eye with new vistas to behold and warms the spirit with the effervescent joy.

The alchemy begins from the combination of 22 strangers and 4 crew, each from unique places, different backgrounds and each with a share of valued experiences. Place them for a week of close but comfortable quarters, guide them in making conscious choices in the use of resources, and provide opportunities for both warmth and laughter shared in the summer sun and near the galley woodstove. Sail the deep ultramarine, confetti lobster float scattered sea of Maine’s Penobscot Bay, allow their eyes to alight on towering emerald Christmas trees that reach viridian hued fingers to boulder strewn beaches and periwinkle covered shores.

Let them sample the wonder of fresh locally harvested comfort food prepared on a woodstove in a galley filled with love and song, yet appropriately absent of modern conveniences. Invite them to taste succulent, fresh caught lobster, baked in a tub with corn and covered with furry green kelp from the sea. Let them dip toes (and whatever else can withstand it) into icy clear waters of the shore, feel the brisk salt spray breeze of the sea and the chilly drizzle damp of a rainy day. Provide a place where fun is made on the go and experienced in the right now, where working together to hoist sails is a valuable team effort with an instant reward of seeing the beauty of canvas filled with wind, and the result is so much more than a vacation. It’s a delightful knitting of close friendships and sharing, of becoming the extended family of our hearts choosing, an experience that is nearly impossible to repeat again because it happens anew with each sail.

And yet repeat, the experience, they do. Captains Jon Finger and Annie Malley have a 63% return rate for passengers who want to repeat the experience. Some marry on the vessel and return for an anniversary. Others are grandfathered in, having sailed so many times and years that the counting of them is lost. Even the crew are former apprentices some of whom vacationed on the vessel being their first exposure to the experience of being on board.