Finally warm enough to take my cap off
and we’re getting some wind

yes, it’s all atmosphere

haze-infused grays with tinges of green forests
and bluish mountains

pulley block rasping behind me

the advantages of a cloudy day
without sunscreen
for a bald guy

sitting motionless
apart from a slight roll
in a nearly dead wind

how calming

am still surprised the tiny yawl can push this big boat

a porpoise here, a porpoise there
a bald eagle flies past

the chains to even the tension
on the bowsprit with jibs

Jesus was a carpenter, after all, surrounded by fishermen and their boats. Maybe he built a few to float, too.

the curve of the deck – sheer
ours noticeably higher at the bow
than even the stern

while the crown with its sides
for water runoff

a dutchman
a piece of wood
cut in
to replace a rotten section

ditto in our home

if not a schooner
a ketch

Technically, a ketch rather than a schooner.
the Angelique a beautiful ketch

at anchor nearby
rust-colored sails
quite distinctive

yes, ketch that

everyone else went ashore in the yawl
to the boat school etc.

Brooklin

just me and the crew left aboard

someone in a white sweatshirt

jumping rope on the dock
the sound of the slapping rope
across the water
caught my attention

finally wearing my new hoodie
with its kangaroo pocket

learned that phrase yesterday

Joe bought the E.B. White democracy book while ashore
after hearing us discuss the author
(the son became a famed boat builder)

boat school temp tattoos stamped
on other passengers, crew

we’re leaving the Angelique at anchor

Long, thin wedge in the bay
Hollywood stars summer palaces
Somebody’s mansion and grounds all alight

Phosphorescent water
stirred up into tiny fireflies,
sparks

plankton summer

a summer home
on an island in Maine
is here
and there, too

that was the ferry in front of us
miles ago

that’s the ferry
heading back

Wooden sailing vessels traditionally had only one fire onboard, the cook’s stove. I can’t imagine how cold sailors, much less passengers, were through most of the year.

Windjammers hew to that tradition.

a wooden sailing vessel
with a wood-fired cook stove
and kerosine lanterns

two iceboxes

Smoke from the cookstove goes
into a T-shaped chimney vent

don’t get too close

“Smokestack,” not “chimney”
maybe “noble Charlie”

cruise ship off Rockport
glare against haze of blue

Camden Hills a thousand-plus feet

other schooners out of Rockland

Eagle Island light
Mark Island light
Saddleback Ledge light

too far off to photograph

American Eagle
full sail

after a nap