Sailing in a Northeast Paradise, Day 4

Day 4, Searching for Shade in all the Wrong Places

By Wednesday I was sick of sunscreen, so decided I'd simply find the shade all day. Unfortunately we were heading South, so there was very little shade to be found on deck. Also, we tacked a lot (see the zigzag line I added to today's map), so the shade kept switching sides of the boat... as did I.

JJ (see day 2, the bride) makes jewelry, and makes her own lovely glass beads for earrings, pendants, bracelets, etc.... On the 3rd and 4th days of the trip, she spent much of her time making jewelry for every passenger and crew member on the Chimes. We got to choose beads from several bags of her glasswork that she had brought on board. I chose a pair of green earrings, and then JJ took another bead that I found remarkable and made me a pendant. It was fun watching the jewelry show up on passenger after passenger (and crew) as the trip went on.

I brought three books to read, and only read 1 page. I brought notebooks, and wrote one poem. I did some puzzles to pass the time, but other than that, mostly spent my time talking with friends or watching the horizon.

At the end of the sailing day, we came in to Pulpit Harbor. A few of the braver passengers and crew went swimming in the frigid Maine water, while the rest of us watched with no envy.

There were a few houses on the hills around the harbor, and another sailboat and a yacht joined us. We brought the flags down as always, round about 8PM, with the same solemnity as when they were raised that morning. We watched the sunset over one hill, with a lone pine tree silhouetted at the top. (Thanks to the Maine Windjammer Association, you can see a photo of Victory Chimes in Pulpit Harbor at sunset.)

After the sun had set, and the Irish music had again set in, we found ourselves being serenaded by a small party standing outside one of the hill houses. They sang "The Mermaid Song" to us, and we joined in on the chorus with "while the landlubbers lie down below below below, while the landlubbers lie down below!" Then we all faced out towards their house, and sang "South Australia" (see below for lyrics) at the top of our lungs and got tumultuous applause in return. Well truth be told, only one person sang all of it -- Paula, who was with the Irish musicians and has the most amazing and hearty voice -- the rest of us sang the chorus lines and did our best to stay on tune.

We played games below deck again before bed. Several people decided to sleep on deck, throwing sleeping bags and pillows into likely trample-free spaces. There were a few stars out, and the harbor was still. We let the boat rock us to sleep one last time.