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Burnt-Harbor

Day 20 8/11 Burnt Harbor Lobstermen

We upped anchor at Buckle Island where we had spent two lovely evenings, and headed to Stonington and Burnt Harbor. We had  been without full internet and without access to news for the most part for two weeks. With All Star Guitar Night coming up, I had some files to download  and to send so […]

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Day 19 Mon 8/10 Photo op

We stayed anchored in the same place and spent the day catching up on projects including creating a virtual ensemble of harp guitarists from around the world playing “The Water id Wide” for the upcoming All Star Guitar Night, slated for Sat Aug 29 on Allstarguitarnight.com. It is challenging putting together all different sorts of […]

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Day 18 Sun 8/9 Destination

In the morning we reconvened with esteemed folklorists and musicians for breakfast, jokes and stories in Michael’s porch. Doug had many stories about his life in the folk boom of the 60s-70s. We have a number of mutual friends from the Chicago folk scene. Dillon Bustin Had an interesting story of how a joke was useful […]

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Day 17 Sat 8/8 Swan’s Island

The first lobster boat sent its waves in our direction at 3:55am, but after traps were checked and re-baited, there was a period of calm for us to catch a little more shut eye. Later in the morning we rowed to the beach for some more climbing about, and I sat on a rock with my guitar […]

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Day 16 Fri 8/7 A Cold Swim

We arrived at a most beautiful spot in a series of islands called Merchant Row, and anchored in front of Coombs island. A small inlet connects two pine-covered islands, edged by weathered granite ledges with green ground cover that hangs just over the top as though designed by an expert.   We rowed to the […]

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Day 15 Thu Aug 6 Great White

Bryan climbed up the mast to take a photo. I saw a big splash in the otherwise calm ocean, and a little while later I saw a small seal floating by with a bite taken out of it. We learned today that there is a Great White cruising around the bay, unfortunately for a lady […]

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Day 14 Wed Aug 5 Fog

The previous night’s tropical storm left us with some cool weather and a fine sailing breeze. From Long Cove we went to North Haven, and snaked through the lobster pots and lobster boats on the Fox Island thoroughfare. We had a beautiful sail to Stonington at 6.5 knots and were heading towards Coombs islands when […]

While Bryan moved the boat from our borrowed tie-up and anchored, I joined in a weekly jam session in front of the Sail, Steam & Power Museum. It was hosted by Captain Jim Sharp, a true salt who sang and played charming old tunes and shanties. We bought his book on his sailing adventures. Gordon Bok returned to his floating dock where we had tied up, and we had a short visit on the deck of his houseboat that he designed to accommodate his wife who has lost the use of her left side due to a stroke. He’s 80 years old and still plays the occasional show with his wife on harp. It was poetic because we ended up visiting Rockland through a series of circumstances beginning with a guitar student, Bob, who who only wanted to learn Gordon Bok tunes. 

We are following the progress of hurricane Isaias, so we set off to find a hole in the long cove in Vinilhaven, where there are many islands to break the wind. I sat on the bow to direct around the many lobster pots while Bryan took the tiller. When we sailed into Bryan’s chosen spot, we found another boat had also taken anchor there, a beautiful 1871 wind-jammer charter schooner, the Stephen Taber. It seemed like a lively crew onboard, so after anchoring nearby we rowed over with guitar on back and announced we were taking over the ship. Captain Noah seemed happy to be relieved of his duties temporarily, so invited us onboard. I gave him a CD as a ship-warming gift, and after playing a couple tunes, he divulged that he is a player also. He took out his guitar and we jammed on blues and old jazz tunes, well spaced apart on the breezy deck. We rowed back, cooked a late spaghetti dinner with a glass of wine, and slept well.

Day 13 Tue Aug 4 Gentle Storm

In the morning I rowed out to the wider bay where we had been previously anchored, to see if any texts had come in about the progress of the hurricane as it moved up the east coast. In the center of the bay I can occasionally get a few seconds fo signal, enough to receive […]