Through the generous help of the Maine Windjammer Association, freelance editor/writer/videographer Ben McCanna booked himself into 12 trips one fine Maine summer. Finally, after four years of learning about sailing as an editor with a nautical book publishing company in Midcoast Maine, he would have an opportunity to put this esoteric knowledge to good use... and make a true adventure of it.
Over the next six and a half months, he followed the schooner "bums," an affectionate name given to crew members and the deserving passenger(s). He got to know the captains and crew during spring fit-out. He met the passengers when the trips began in late May. He sailed the cool waters of Penobscot Bay aboard all 12 of the ships within the Maine Windjammer Association, and he acquainted himself with each ship's unique personality. In the fall, he followed the crews as they prepared the ships, stowed gear and ultimately put the boats "to bed" for winter. Along the way, he pestered the schooner crews with endless questions. What's it like to cook meals for 20 on a wood stove? What's it like to douse a topsail while teetering precariously from ratlines 60 feet off the deck? What's it like to compete against two dozen other captains during the annual Great Schooner Race?
Twice each month from March to mid-October, he answered these questions and many more by posting stories, videos, and photos to www.downeast.com.
Following are his collection of blogs, called "Berth of the Cool: A Maine Windjammer Journal." We hope you'll enjoy them as much as Ben did creating them.
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