Maine Windjammer Cruise – Episode 779
categories: USA TravelHear about a Maine Windjammer as the Amateur Traveler talks to travel writer Sharon Kurtz about her recent experience sailing the coast of Maine on the Lewis R. French.
Sharon says, “This is a tall ship in Maine along the coast that travels only by the winds. There is no motor at all on this cruise. I was invited by the Maine Windjammer association to take this one-week cruise with the Lewis R. French, the oldest Windjammer sailing vessel in America, and I jumped at the chance. It is a vacation experience unlike any you have probably had. You enjoy the beautiful scenery of Maine’s unspoiled coastline. It’s not your average cruise vacation. It’s more like camping on a boat anchored in the ocean.”
The Lewis R. French had 20 passengers. It is one of the smallest Windjammers in the fleet and it’s the oldest, it’s 150 years old this year. There are five crew members with the captain, cook, and 3 deckhands.
Sharon sailed from Camden, Maine. The Maine Windjammer Association represents nine different historic schooners in Maine, and some depart from Camden and some depart from Rockland. They sailed all around Penobscot Bay. You’re always in view of the shore in its rocky shoreline and beautiful pristine waters and sea life and eagles.
Because this is a sailing ship, there is not a specific itinerary since they are dependent on wind and weather. Each morning the captain looks at the winds and decides where the ships going to go. Sharon’s cruise sailed around Deer Island. At night they anchored in secluded coves and harbors. Every evening they would travel by the little rowboat to the shore to explore that island. Sometimes it was a little village and sometimes it was a secluded island.
This is a different kind of Amateur Traveler episode and a different kind of cruise.
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Show Notes
sharonkkurtz.com
Maine Windjammer Sailing Cruises
Camden Maine Vacation Guide
Deer Isle
Schooner Lewis R. French
Castine, Maine
Women Only Solo Travel
Camden Maine: Going Down to the Sea in a Schooner
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2 Responses to “Maine Windjammer Cruise – Episode 779”
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Tags: audio travel podcast, cruise travel, maine, podcast
Jim McDonough
Says:November 28th, 2021 at 12:29 pm
Listened to this while walking this morning. My wife and I have taken four windjammer cruises, with a fifth planned for 2020 which didn’t happen and we now plan for 2022. We sailed on a different boat (note – these are boats, not ships) called American Eagle, 92 feet long, out of Rockland. The captain, John Foss, was a shipmate of mine in the Coast Guard. He used to own the Lewis R. French. The American Eagle has an engine, so she goes to some more distant itineraries than the French. She has a new captain beginning this year. The passengers help raise and lower the sails and help with meal distribution and cleanup. The lobster bake is as your guest described it, but there’s also pie made with wild Maine blueberries. The cabins are tight. Fresh water is precious, so if somebody takes a long shower every day it runs out. (Don’t ask how I know this.) Most of the Maine coast is privately owned, and the only way you can see it is from a boat like this. You have to bring a good attitude, no high heels or golf shoes, and be flexible (physically and mentally).
Chris Christensen
Says:November 29th, 2021 at 8:28 am
Thanks Jim! and… pie 🙂