“Ease that foresheet. Watch the main sheet,” Captain Steve Pagels barked to his crew. Yard by yard the crew, assisted by a dozen tourists, hoisted aloft the bright red sails of the Margaret Todd. The sails caught a brisk September breeze, billowing smartly outward and gliding the schooner into Frenchman Bay.
We set sail from a slip in Bar Harbor, Maine on a sunny afternoon in late summer. The seaside resort, teeming with tourists throughout August, now seemed peaceful and at ease.
The Margaret Todd’s young, mostly female crew had welcomed us aboard with big smiles and promises of a good sail. Captain Pagels, on the other hand, got right down to business, directing us where to sit to ensure our safety and prevent us from interfering in the crew’s work. All aboard, he ordered the dockhand to untie the ship’s moorings from the cleats. The captain then gently eased his giant vessel from the dock and turned her bow toward the bay.
The 151-foot schooner Margaret Todd, operated by Downeast Windjammer, sails three times daily from mid-May to mid-October. First launched on April 11, 1998, she is the first four-masted schooner to work New England waters in over half a century. Broad and stable, she sliced so gently through the choppy waters we hardly felt her move.
During our afternoon run, Ranger Melinda McFarland from Acadia National Park joined the crew to give visitors an overview of local history, wildlife, and geographical points of interest. “We’re on the highway of the past,” she told us. “This is how people experienced Maine in the past.”
Inspired by the lush landscapes depicted in works by the Hudson River School of painters, tourists began flocking to Mount Desert Iland and Frenchman Bay in the mid-19th century. The indigenous Wabanaki people led the summer tourists on canoe trips around Frenchman Bay and the Cranberry Islands. The wealthy travelers began building large, luxurious summer “cottages” along the shore. Soon larger vessels, similar to the Margaret Todd, guided hordes of tourists around the bay.
During the 19th century, fishing competed with tourism as the region’s economic mainstay. Initially, cod was king. Overfishing led to a sharp decline in the size and quantity of cod. Lobster, once considered a nasty bottom-feeder unfit for human consumption, now takes center stage in Maine’s maritime industry. Few tourists leave the region without a lobster dinner.
With global warming, Maine’s lobster population has surged despite the dramatic rise in lobster fishing and consumption. Cold waters fed by a Newfoundland current attract cold-loving lobster from warmer waters further south.
All across Frenchman Bay, we saw fleets of lobster buoys bobbing in the waves. To protect this great asset, Maine restricts the number of fishing licenses given out and sets strict standards for lobster catches. Lobster fishermen can keep those that measure 3-1/4 inches to 5 inches, but must throw back the rest. Those over 5 inches are considered brood stock. Similarly, they throw back pregnant females, notching their tails to mark them as breeders. Ranger McFarland told us, “Sometimes you’ll see lobsters flying off the lobster boats as fishermen throw them back.”
As our cruise winded down, the crew quickly lowered and secured the sails. The captain turned his vessel homeward. Back at the dock, we watched the crew ready the ship for the sunset cruise. They moved with the same efficiency and joy as we’d observed on our cruise hours earlier.
From shore, we watched the schooner skim across the bay on its final sail of the day. Soft strains of music from aboard the ship drifted toward us. As the globe of sun sunk into the sea, golden light illuminated the bright red sails of the Margaret Todd. The refrain of an old song came to me, “Red sails in the sunset way out on the sea, oh carry my loved one home safely to me. She sailed at the dawning, all day I’ve been blue. Red sails in the sunset, I’m trusting in you.”
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Downeast Windjammer Cruises (https://downeastwindjammer.com/). Tickets for all sails:
Adults $42
Seniors 65+ $39
Children Age 6-11 $32
Toddlers Age 2-5 $7
Infants and pets free
The website also offers for $20, Young Marine Engineer’s Coloring Book by Peter S. Zimmerman, an educational coloring book that introduces children to the ship’s layout, rigging, and sails and some of the basics of navigation on the seas.
https://youtu.be/EM21nx3LEJc
Thank you, Paul. Lovely.
Very Nice Clay! Makes me want to be on the sea.