Boat Prep

Summer 2025

The date of departure for St. Pierre was set for Thursday, August 28^th. The crew was set as Denise and Burke Munger, Rockport ME neighbors; William Hill Harmon, Riverside California; Brimmer Sherman, Huntsville AL neighbor; and I.  That date was selected based on multiple, sometimes competing, objectives.   I wanted to delay the trip until the end of Summer to allow for sailing time in Penobscot Bay  before the boat was put up for the Winter. However, I also wanted to avoid Newfoundland in late September, having learned in 2014 how blustery the weather could be off the coast of Newfoundland that time of year.  We didn’t want to leave before the 28^th because  Kay and I had friends visiting from Europe through the 27^th , while Denise Munger, as Chairman of the Select Board, needed to jump ship from St. Pierre on the 5^th of September in time  to get back for a meeting. Meanwhile, Burke was still undecided as to whether to head back with Denise, or spend more time on board and  depart from Port aux Basque NL on the 13^th of September. In addition to Denise’s Board Meeting, they had a first grandchild on the way, with a due date of mid-September.  Hill also wanted to head home around the 13^th to get back to his university to complete a grant proposal. By comparison, to use one of my favorite and overworn expressions,” Brimmer and I had no plans and intended to stick to them.”

The fact that the departure date was late Summer made for more relaxed  preparation for the departure. In 2021, we were scheduled to  leave for Scotland at the  beginning of Summer, literally on the Summer Solstice. This early departure date made for a frantic couple of weeks in getting the  boat and supplies ready and, in truth, the boat was not fully ready but, none-the-less  we waved good-bye to our friends and relatives  on Rockport Boat Club dock on the scheduled departure date and then slid over to Hurricane Island to finish up the preparations.  For this trip to St. Pierre, with an August 28^th departure date, everything went as scheduled. Lillian was on the town dock the night before, with clothing, fuel, food, water, and off-shore equipment on board. Kay and I had a nice dinner with our friends and then early the next morning I drove down to Portland to pick up Brimmer and Hill.  After “not-so-quick” last minute food shopping at Hannaford’s,  we did the final loading and then cast off  shortly after 3 pm, bound straight for St. Pierre, some 600 km away.