schooner

Masts, Bowsprit, Anchors, Oh My!

In the fall, we removed the masts and bowsprit so that we could get at the deck up forward and replace deck planks and any deck beams that needed tending.  While we were at it, we also removed the anchors and three out of the four spars.  Now that the winter deck project is complete, it was time to put all of those sticks back in place so we could look like a schooner again.

Early yesterday morning, we set out to North End Shipyard where the masts and spars were stored. With the help of a masterful crane operator, we had everything back in place by lunch time.  What a difference a couple of hours make!

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Early morning pow wow with Capt. before leaving the dock. (Yes, that’s Justin making a guest appearance for the morning!)  We lured him with Willow Street doughnuts.
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Our crane operator extraordinaire.
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What’s missing from this schooner picture? Why masts and a bowsprit, of course.
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Guiding the foremast into place.
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All stop for a second to check everything out and then lower away. As tradition goes, we placed a silver dollar under the mast for good luck.
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Main mast goes next.
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Over she comes.
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Almost there!
Down easy, slow and steady.
Down easy, slow and steady.
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Now to get the shrouds laced up…
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Go teamwork!
What do you do when the lift line gets caught on the mast collar? Why send a Justin up the ratlins to free it of course.
What do you do when the lift line gets caught on the mast collar? Why send a Justin up the ratlins to free it, of course.
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Hold on tight! And clip in too, please.
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The bowsprit and the anchors were the last to go on and before the tide got too low to stay in this spot, we were back to our home berth looking a whole lot more like ourselves.
Annie
Happy to have the ole’ girl back together in one piece.

Welcome to Our Fleet, Schooner Timberwind!

Merry Christmas to us!

All summer long Jon and I could see the Schooner Timberwind from the deck of the Riggin.  We would say to each other that someone should buy that boat.  She’s so pretty.  She deserves a new life.  But when we said “someone” we were NOT meaning us.

However, life had other plans and within a short time after our season ended, we found ourselves on another schooner adventure as the owner of not one, but two Maine windjammers!   We are the proud owners of the Schooner Timberwind.

There is still a lot to figure out, but we do know that she’ll be run as a daysailer from a Midcoast town by our former Mate, Lance Meadows.  The rest is yet to be confirmed and we’ll look forward to sharing more, when we, ourselves, discover it!

Schooner Timberwind by Rocky Coast Photograhy

JERandTW1

Annie
Our fleet expands yet again

Iolaire – We Bought a Tiny Schooner

We’d like to introduce you to the newest boat in our fleet.  Meet Iolaire (pronounced yawl’-a-rah), which means “eagle” in Gaelic. She is a Scottish sixern, a Shetland Island fishing boat.  The sixern is descended from the Norse seksæring, meaning six-oared boat – ancestor of the schooner.

Iolaire only has four oars and is a standing lug-rigged schooner.  Her masts are nearly equal in height and both are removable for easy storage.

Built in 1984 for Dr. Kenneth Leighton, author of Oar and Sail (Creekstone Press, 1999), she was also once owned by Maynard Bray’s grandson.  We found her in Vermont and she made her way to us this fall.

Our hope is that she’ll be a more stable small boat that we can launch once the big schooner is at anchor – for those who didn’t get enough sailing during the day.

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photo smAnnie
Isn’t she pretty?!

Dawn’s Raspberry Squares

When E needs a little chocolate pick-me-up, this is one of the recipes she turns to.  I never knew.  Until last week.  The combination of buttery shortbread crust, tart raspberry jam, crisp almonds and rich chocolate is an unbeatable one.

Great, now I have another chocolate recipe to turn to as well.  Oh sigh, what’s another mile or two of running in the whole scheme of things?

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Dawn’s Raspberry Squares
This recipe is inspired by Dawn, a former schooner chef, who got it from the Brown Bag a long while ago.  This is my own iteration of this deliciousness.

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
Pinch of salt
1 egg
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup raspberry jam
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 9×13 pan with parchment paper.  In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together and then add the egg.  Mix until well incorporated.  Add the flour and mix using your fingers until the dough is a coarse crumble.  Transfer 2/3rds of the dough to the pan and press flat with your fingers.  Spread the jam evenly over the dough and then sprinkle the remaining dough over top of the jam.  Layer with the chocolate chips and then almonds.  Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown.  Cool in the pan and lift out before cutting.

Makes 24 squares

Annie
You’ll be happy you tried them