I lived on the coast most of my life. My memories of places, people and events frame these stories. I always start with something true…but, I sometimes wander off a bit.
Seasick
Temporarily homeless, the Jones’ boat was the best I could do. Spinney had promised to shift me to something more suitable ASAP. But for now, I was “boat sitting” for the Jones family, and they had allocated the dusty forward berth for the sitter.
Up In Smoke
My favorite time at the tidepool was the change of tides. But my repose was marred by the acrid stink of a cigarette.
A Seaman’s Primer
My maritime education began at about age nine as I started to assist my father on jobs aboard the large party fishing boats in New York’s Sheepshead Bay
Figurehead
Most of the ship’s figureheads that have come down to us are anonymous.
Funereal
As a folksinger, I had to perform some odd gigs. At the coffeehouses, you knew what to expect at two in the morning from the drunks.
TOW
I love to watch the inexperienced motor out of the river mouth and into the ocean.
Boot Stripe
The origin of the boot stripe is lost in time but probably dates back to some Viking bosun who needed to find an occupation for the crew between raiding sessions, cow tipping, and drinking. It’s a picky job
Despair
This city boy became acquainted with working in the woods while living in coastal Maine. Specifically with cutting wood for the woodstove in my in-law’s living room. I had been a Boy Scout, so I was familiar with saw and hatchet. But gathering wood for a scouts campfire or cookout was the limit of my exposure.
Haste Makes Waste
My in-laws had a Biblical quote for almost everything. Funny, in a family of nonchurch goers. They employed Biblical quotes as a sort of cake topper on arguments.
The Golden Zapf Chancery M ©
For about six years, I made an annual pilgrimage from Massachusetts to Maine to teach marine carving at the WoodenBoat School.
Kedging
The slight sway and swing of a boat at its mooring and the very first blush of the morning those have to be among any sailor’s happiest memories.
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