Hello Shipmates,
Hope you're enjoying our fine winter weather. It just decided to snow all day long yesterday, January 30th, different from the weather forecast. At morning coffee break, the tide was very high, a 12.3 foot tide, and it was calm. The cove was "full" and the many eider ducks and several loons were quietly enjoying it. Here's one loon who was playing to the camera.
The Heritage is enjoying her time at the dock. She'll be ready come late spring!
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We had some interesting questions from some of our guests last season. We thought everyone might enjoy hearing the answers. We actually put off answering them around our busy time in December with soooo many Holiday calendars to send out and so much more to do then.
The questions are:
1. Circumference of the mast by cabin 6?
We measured the foremast about 4 1/2 feet up from the cabin sole (floor) by Cabin 6 in the center of the forward compartment.
It's 59 3/8" which indicates that it really is close to 19" in diameter, as we always say. Pretty big!
2. What all happens when one climbs to the crows nest?
Great view!, but we don't have a crow's nest.
When we go aloft, we stand on the crosstrees, (those black cross pieces in the picture) to set and furl the topsail, to repair something, to clear a tangled flag, or to lower the topmasts to go under the Deer Isle/Eggemoggin Reach Bridge. Two crew are needed aloft to rig and unrig the topmasts and all the other gear as we hoist them aloft in the spring and lower them in the fall to lay them horizontal on deck for the winter. In this picture the topmasts are still stowed on deck.
3. Is there a story about the schooner's wheel?
Yes! Capt. Doug built the wheel with two helpers. It was a very intensive challenging project which he worked on in the evenings of the spring of 1983. We were really busy then as the launching of the Heritage was April 16th, 1983, and we had two very young children at the time, our daughters Clara who was 2 1/2 years old and Rachel who was 2 1/2 months. I guess we were young and foolish.
The wheel has ten spokes and is made of ash and mahogany. A friend said he wanted to make the wheel. We later found out he'd never built a wheel but he did make the pattern for the hub and was one of Doug's helpers. A local artist sand cast the hub in bronze with "HERITAGE" in the casting. The hub weighs 72 pounds! The wheel is quite heavy and takes two of our very strong young crew to carry it off the schooner in the fall and back aboard in the spring.
Captain Linda varnishes the wheel each year. That's a big project, too. At least three coats of varnish are required and she doesn't sand between coats so it's a real challenge to make the finish as smooth as glass.
The wonderful part of the wheel is that it is big enough and solid enough so that we can control the Great Windship.
4. Any history to the dinner bell?
Oh, yes! The same artist cast our wonderful ship's bell in bronze, again with "HERITAGE" in the casting. He brought the bell aboard the schooner on launch day, just an hour or so before launching. We were waiting for him!
The mold was made using the bell of the last East Coast 4-masted schooner launched, the Josiah B. Chase. A friend of ours owns that bell and lent it to us to make the mold. The bell has a very pleasing tone and can sometimes be quite loud.
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From the Galley
Rosemary Olive Bread
We call it "2 Lady Bread"
(Olive and Rosemary)
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Thank you Sean for the lovely bread and photo
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Whisk in a small bowl:
2 T. yeast
2 t. sugar
1 c. luke-warm water
Set aside until foamy.
Mix together:
2 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. olive oil
2 t. salt
1/2 c. mixed chopped olives -- calamata, green, black, etc.
1 1/2 c. water -- use water drained from olives and add tap water for rest, if needed
1 T. chopped garlic
2 T. rosemary
1/2 t. olive paste or paté if you have it.
Add:
yeast mixture
Add:
7 - 9 c. white flour
Knead until no longer sticky and will not accept any more flour. Cover and let rise.
Punch down. Let rise.
Dump dough onto counter. Knead until elastic.
Divide dough in half. Shape into loaves. Put in greased bread pans. Cover with towel. Let rise.
Bake @ 350°F for about 30 minutes.
Bread is done when you 'knock' on top and it sounds hollow. You can check to see if the bottom is done by carefully dumping the bread out of the pan then putting it back in the pan if more baking is needed. Bottom of bread will have signs of baking -- golden lines, etc. if done; if not done, the bottom will be very light. When done, remove from pans and set loaves on sides to cool.
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Just a couple of months until we start getting the schooner ready for the 2018 season. Hope you plan to join us for a trip.
