Maine Adventure Sails Blog

Happy 4th of July from your Maine Windjammer Captains

2008-07-04T14:24:06-04:00

As we are sailing out on beautiful Penobscot Bay we wanted to wish you a very Happy July 4th and hope you are enjoying the company of family, friends and loved ones!

Captains Jon & Annie, Schooner J&E Riggin
Captain Bob & Dawn Tassi, Schooner Timberwind
Singing America the Beautiful on our lovely Maine coast

Riggin Contest Update - Houston

2008-07-02T10:00:00-04:00

Nan modeled her specially ordered pink ladies polo shirt in Houston, Texas this winter while we up here in the North East froze off body parts.

She sent us this picture as an entry in the "Where in the world is the Riggin?" contest. You've got until October of 2008 to send us your pictures of you or your buddies in Riggin gear. We want to see how far we can travel even if we aren't there ourselves!

The contest will run October through October ('08) so you have four full seasons to travel with your Riggin gear. Send us a photo of you on vacation wearing the Riggin logo. Next November we will announce two winners, one for the furthest traveled and the second for the most unusual place. The winners will get to choose 5 items from the Riggin bakery. Yum!

Click here to view the original e-newletter on the contest. While you are there go ahead and subscribe.

Annie
Dreaming of Sailing

Talkin' Travel for Families - Thanks, Lynn!

2008-06-13T12:38:00-04:00

Lynn O'Rourke Hayes gave us a mention in her blog, Travel Talk. We should also be in her Dallas Morning News column next Sunday as a great Family Travel destination. All of you Dallas folks be sure to watch for it. Send us a clip if you have a minute, we'd love to see it.

Annie
Enjoying my own memories of family vacations.

Valuable Lessons

2008-06-03T10:43:00-04:00

Each year we have at least one new crew member and half a dozen apprentices that we train over the course of the summer. And while we all like to consider ourselves individuals and not terribly predictable, sometimes the same conversation can be heard year after year or from household to household, and for that matter boat to boat.

It's a bit like having children, you think YOUR children 1)won't behave like that in a restaurant, 2)will always know where their shoes are and never ask you to find their personal items that are RIGHT there in front of them 3)would never try to flush a pair of slippers and rain pants down the toilet at school. And then they do, and you realize that at the same time that families can be very different, they have so much in common.

Its the same thing on boats. Captains have been having similar conversations with their crews for decades if not centuries. One this trip went something like this. Captains Jon asks Toni as she's sitting in the peapod filled to the brim with lobster bake items that we are taking ashore for our island feast, "Do you know how to row?"

"Yes."

"Do you know how to row an open oar lock boat?"

"Yes, it's the only kind I've rowed." (This is said with firm confidence.)

"Okay, Julie, cast Toni off."

And then we see Toni (insert any new crew member's name here) drift off away from the schooner toward the lee shore and in the opposite direction of the bake island. She (or he) does the spastic spider routine with the oars more in the air than in the water for a while as the peapod drifts further and further from the desired destination and finally, after giving ample, safe and valuable learning time in the peapod, Captain Jon comes around to give her (him) a tow with the yawl boat to the island.

THEN, when they DO get the hand of it, they are so proud - and so are we. This is a picture of Toni after she's made her return trip to the schooner - with lots of determination and effort but no assist at all.

Annie
Good for you, girl!

Riggin Contest Update - Exumas

2008-06-02T10:00:00-04:00

"Where in the world is the Riggin?" contest. You've got until October of 2008 to send us your pictures of you or your buddies in Riggin gear. We want to see how far we can travel even if we aren't there ourselves!

Here Harold sports his denim shirt and Eileen shows off her Riggin fleece while cruising in George Town, Exumas in the Bahamas in March.

The contest will run October through October so you have four full seasons to travel with your Riggin gear. Send us a photo of you on vacation wearing the Riggin logo. Next November we will announce two winners, one for the furthest traveled and the second for the most unusual place. The winners will get to choose 5 items from the Riggin bakery. Yum!

Click here to view the original e-newletter on the contest. While you are there go ahead and subcribe.

Annie
Dreaming of other shores

Maine Sailing - There Might Not Be Anything Else Like It

2008-05-29T08:04:00-04:00

In the midst of the intense pace of the last week of outfitting after a full winter of reconstruction work, it's easy to forget why we love what we do.

And then its all done and we go sailing. And we remember.

The sea air filled with either the scent of pine or moist brine still wafts over the deck and is a balm to the skin and mind. The sunrises' silent awakenings are just as beautiful and standing on the deck of a 120 foot schooner catching the wind in her sails is just as exhilarating.

It's good to be back on the bay!

Annie

Thank you Glen & Pinky for sharing this photograph with us.

Maritime Preservation - One Grant to the Plus

2008-05-21T13:53:40-04:00

WHY are government sites so NON intuitive? On most any site from which you'd like to purchase something, the principles have figured out how to make it easy. Good on them. But woe to the poor sole who has to pre-enroll for a TWIC card, look up a Coast Guard regulation, renew an FCC license, or apply for a Federal grant. Might as well book an appointment with the massage therapist before getting online. You'll need it.

I now, as Vice-President of Association for Maritime Preservation, have obtained a DUNS, CCR, received a confirmation number, then a MPIN, TPIN, AOR, password and username, not necessarily in that order or that quickly. I've filled out two 52 page forms with numbers for titles and questions such as "Who is the Authorized Organization Representative?" What is that? Why can't they just say "the guy who signs everything?"

And miracle of all miracles, I've just submitted and received confirmation that the 19-step grant process I've just traversed is, hallelujah, completed.

And now we wait.

I think I might have grown some gray hairs in the past few weeks. Clearly, applying for a large grant while getting ready for the sailing season are not compatible. Someone please remind me next year....

You may have seen this picture before. Here's that funny story about the Portland Press Herald.

Annie
Penobscot Bay, take me awaaay!

Rhubarb-Raspberry Crisp with Pecan Streusel

2008-05-16T10:00:00-04:00

Recipe by Anne Mahle.

Click recipe title for printable version or At Home with Annie for an archived copy of the e-newsletter.

This dessert includes one of my favorite fruits – maybe it’s really a vegetable – foodies are still haggling over which. Whatever it is, I love it and I have great family memories of rhubarb growing behind the garage at my childhood home. My mom wasn’t much of a green thumb, but she couldn’t kill the rhubarb. I’d love to eat the stalks raw and was a little bit titillated by the fact that the leaves were poisonous to eat. We’d make small houses, boats, hats, wings and clothes with the leaves and they were fascinating because they were so big to us. Rhubarb is great on it’s own or combined with other fruits like strawberries, apples, blueberries and here with raspberries.

Rhubarb-Raspberry Crisp with Pecan Streusel

Filling:
6 cups or 6 stalks rhubarb, chopped into 1/2 – 3/4 inch pieces
2 cups raspberries
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2-teaspoon cloves
1-teaspoon cinnamon

Streusel:
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2-cup pecans, chopped
1 stick butter
3/4-cup sugar
1/4-teaspoon salt

Vanilla ice cream

Preheat oven to 350º. Combine all of the filling ingredients and spread evenly in an ungreased, non- reactive (enamel or stainless steel) 9x13 pan. In a separate bowl, combine the streusel ingredients and coarsely blend. Mixture should be crumbly. Spoon streusel mixture evenly over filling mixture and bake for 1 hour. The edges should be bubbly and the top golden brown. Serve with vanilla ice cream or vanilla flavored whipped cream. As a garnish you could chop a few more pecans or grate some fresh nutmeg over the ice cream or whipped cream.

Serves 8

These Boats Just Get Into Your Blood

2008-05-15T10:36:23-04:00

As a very few of you may know, the boys who vandalized the Riggin this winter have been down working on the boat this outfitting season helping us get ready to sail. Many of you who called with support or wrote your wonderful letters thought this would be a fitting consequence for the deeds done and we thought so too.

We offered this possibility early on in the process and have now been asked to participate in the Restorative Justice program with the boys and their families. The boys have been down every day after school and on weekends. They show up, on time (most days), push up their sleeves and do what we tell them to do with a good attitude. They've been doing a good job. It's been really a pleasant surprise for us all.

I just got a call from the D.A.'s office concerning one of the boys. It seems one of them brought something "inappropriate" to school (for what seemed like a good reason, but right now there is no slack in this line) and he was at court reporting the issue to the authorities. Best case, he was going to be late, worst case, he wouldn't be there today.

The D.A.'s assistant let me know the situation and then said that this boy was clearly enjoying what he was doing with and for us because, as she put it, he was "in the D.A.'s office have a COW because he might be late or not show up at all. He's seriously having a COW!"

It's a funny story AND I see responsibility there. A pride and ownership of work. Exactly what we were aiming for. It's not perfect, just better than it was before.

Annie

Chef Annie cooks on 207 tonight!

2008-05-14T10:47:53-04:00

Chef Annie is going to be cooking on "207" once again tonight with Rob Caldwell of WCSH - our local NBC affiliate. She is making Asparagus and Pesto Lasagna and since asparagus is in season and is coming up in her garden, this was a great recipe to do.

She first created this lasagna recipe as a Riggin Work Week lunch a few years ago and "Wow" was it good. I remember several volunteers asking for the recipe as they left. I've never been brave enough to attempt making lasagna, but if I ever do - and there's no time like the present - it would be with this recipe.

After the show airs tonight at 7pm the recipe will be available online at the WCSH website and we will post it here with a video of the episode. You will also be able to see the show at Chef Annie's YouTube channel - where you can see some of her past episodes and other projects she is working on.

~Elizabeth
Loving all the green!