Change of Plans

This is neither here nor there at this point, but I've left the boat. It just wasn't the right thing for me to be doing right now. I have processed my thoughts and processed them some more and I really feel like this was the right decision for me to make. I feel relieved and happy. I have not crossed sailing off my list of things to do ... I might return. I feel very strongly that the crew makes all the difference in the world. If I had a different crew I think it would have been an entirely different experience. Based on talking with other people from different boats I think there's is a possibility of returning and working for a spell on a different boat. Sailing is still very much something that I am interested in. So we'll see!

I am currently in Freeport, Maine and am taking things one day at a time. I stayed another night on Friday with the two women that I met in the shipyard, which was wonderful. It really gave me a chance to process my decision to quit and talk with them about options. Having connections up here makes me feel so much more comfortable, even just knowing that they're here. And Scott came up for the weekend and we went camping here in Freeport. It was glorious! The campground was great and the weather was awesome. It was nice to wander around Freeport Village and I collected and turned in lots of applications for jobs here. My hope is to stay in Freeport, or at least in Maine. It is so beautiful up here!

[Note: the name of the boat is Crayon Ponyfish ... love it!]

[Down by the water ... low tide ... at the campground.]

So here I am. The last couple of days have been a relief. I'm going to be in Kennebunkport for a little bit as well waiting to hear back from people about jobs. I'll be staying with Scott's grandparents! I love them! And this blog is going to be/has been turned into a log of my adventures here in Maine. Hopefully I'll be able to get my foot in the door with a job and move up here! I'll keep the blog as up-to-date as I can and update on my adventures!

Cheers!

Angels

The last couple of days have gone by with lots of working. I've been scrubbing out cabins, the galley, the galley bunks, other bunks, etc etc. I've been painting the stove, whose name is actually Berma (I called her Bertha in the last post ... woops!) and painting other things. Today I scrubbed splattered rust off of the forward house, which might need to be painted again. Good thing I'm good at painting! Though I'll probably be scrubbing some more wood in the passenger cabins. I'm glad I have my iPod to keep me company while I'm down there scrubbing. My arms are semi-permanently covered in paint ... which sort of makes me look like I'm turning into a dalmatian or something. Fun!

Yesterday I met two of the most amazing women in the world. Angels! I was having a bit of a rough morning and was scrubbing stove paint off of my glasses and these two sisters came over and we started talking. One of them is the cook on another boat and the other was helping out for the day. They invited me to come to their house and sleep on an inflatable mattress, take a shower in a real bathroom instead of the one in the shipyard, and wash my clothes. Needless to say, knowing that I was going home with them made the rest of the day much easier.

I discovered that Maine is beautiful pretty much everywhere and I really enjoy driving around and seeing everything. I feel like a human being again after staying at their house, and they really are amazing people. What a gift to have people like that to take you home and give you the hugs that you need and have been missing for the past week! Phew!

Tomorrow will be more scrubbing, I'm just sure. I'm getting to be a pro scrubber! And hopefully we won't be working again on Saturday ... I'm told we usually don't, but we did last Saturday. Who knows! It'd be nice to have a couple of days to relax a bit!

Cheers!

Tiny Wannabe Sailor Girl

Today we put on some of the sails, which was pretty neat. They are wicked heavy and it took all six of us to carry them from the storage bins in the shipyard to the boat one at a time. We didn't get them all on, but we got a few! I learned a little bit about where things go and what different parts are called. Don't ask me to tell you now - I've forgotten. I've also learned that it is handy to carry my knife with me everywhere so as to cut things that need cutting, and that I need to tie a rope to it and fasten it to my pants so as not to lose it. Important things. I also learned that sometimes it's just better to let other people handle the heavy-lifting. Basically I'm really little to be trying to hoist sails and holding large pieces of canvas tight while someone else ties them down, and my knots don't stay because I can't tie them tight enough ... bummer. So I've been painting instead! Lots. Oiling this some more ... one more coat tomorrow makes five coats of Teak Oil on the main cabin. Sanding, priming, and painting this so that it's nice and white. As white as it will get. And trying my best to follow directions and hold onto things while the wind tries to rip them out of my tiny wannabe sailor girl hands. I would prefer petite, but let's just face it - I'm not a very big person. This makes a lot of things on a schooner difficult and cumbersome, but I just try to stay out of everyone else's way as best as I can.

I did, however, learn that I can keep a wood stove going! I started a fire in it all by myself this morning and kept it going all day! This is just the beginning. Tomorrow we paint the stove ... why? Because it looks pretty that way. Funny, you say ... yes, I agree. It's a blessed wood stove named Bertha, but evidently she wants to look her best for the passengers, so I shall do my best to paint her since that's what I do best on this boat! Painting!!! Oh, and oiling too.

Here are some pictures of the Schooner Heritage ... it's not finished being re-painted/oiled/etc for the passengers, but she's a pretty boat!

This is the side of the boat ... Keith, one of the deck hands painted the name on the side.

One of the smalls boats that we carry along with us ... I don't remember her name.

The top of the main cabin - the galley is pretty much directly below this - and I've oiled the heck out of this thing ... one more coat tomorrow!!!

These are the steep ladder-like steps that I climb up and down to get to where I'm sleeping. Fun!

First Days

Well my first couple of days have been a bit rough. It's really hard to be in a new place that is almost entirely foreign to you and to not know anyone. I'm adjusting to living on a boat in a temporary cabin that is actually one of the passenger cabins. It's tiny and has a tiny sink and a bed and a really small amount of storage space, but it's livable. I am, however, a bit worried about moving into the super-tiny bunk that I'll be living in once the cruises start. Not sure how that will work out, but I'll just wait and see instead of spending time worrying about it. The captains of my boat are nice and the crew is nice enough. I don't know anything about boats and feel very much like I am in the way, but that's life. I wish I had known to wait and arrive right before the first cruise goes out, but that's life too. I'm learning, right? I'm putting myself outside of my comfort zone and trying something new. It's an experience, that's for sure. The shipyard is big and there are a couple of other boats here that are also schooner cruises. Everyone is working hard on the detailed stuff getting the boats ready. I've been painting this and sanding that, oiling this, and painting some more. We launched the little boats that go along side the schooner yesterday, which was neat. Monday we're putting the sails on ... at least that's what they tell me. It's a pretty boat and I hope it's even prettier once we've finished outfitting it to be ready to sail. I'm eager to meet the mess mate and the cook as I'm the only galley hand here right now. The rest are all deck hands. I'm the assistant cook on the Heritage so we'll see how that works out. I wish I were cooking now rather than painting and sanding, but that will come soon enough.

Rockland is a really cute little town. There's a nice little downtown area with a wonderful little coffee shop/bookstore that I spent some time in this morning. It's a coffee roastery and coffee shop and bookstore all rolled into one. There are lots of other cute little shops that I've mostly just peeked into, but will probably explore more as time goes on. There's a big grocery store - thank goodness - and some other little chain restaurants/fast food places that are familiar to me just for comfort's sake I suppose. Otherwise I haven't really had much of a chance to explore. Oh, but I did find the public library - it's wonderful. It's a beautiful building with lots of great books, nice places to hide, and free wireless!

For now I'm focusing as hard as I possibly can on the beautiful weather and the neat little area that this is rather than worrying about what's to come. Things could be a lot worse ...

I'm going to go continue enjoying my day off and my relaxing in the library.

Tomorrow's the Day!

Here I am, sitting at Scott's house after a long two days of driving and I'm eagerly/anxiously awaiting tomorrow when I will drive up to Maine to meet my new friends and see my new temporary home!

I'm excited, but also nervous. I miss the family already, but time flies when you're having fun. More to come once I know what I'm getting myself into!

Pre-Departure

So I've been packing and packing and sorting and sorting all day today ... after running around doing errands yesterday. It's been a whirlwind last few days, that's for sure!

Graduation on Saturday, left on Sunday to come to Chapel Hill, ran errands on Monday, packed on Tuesday ... and we leave tomorrow! Scott and I drive to Pennsylvania tomorrow, then to Massachusetts on Thursday, then I'll be in Maine on Friday to meet my captains and see the boat!

Back to packing!!!

Cheers.