Return to Bluewater
Fall 2024
As planned, in the Summers of 2023 and 2024 Lillian stayed near home, taking week-long cruises along the coast of Maine. Meanwhile, Willian Hill Harmon (Hill) had been working on midlife dreams of ocean voyages. In 2022, Hill had joined for the last leg of the Atlantic circumnavigation, sailing from Bermuda to Rockport and in 2023 he joined for a week in a dense fog as we carefully navigated around the islands up towards Bar Harbor. Upon returning to California from the Bermuda trip, Hill had started looking at boats and taking US Sailing courses ranging from Beginning and Intermediate Dinghy Sailing to obtaining his US Sailing Keel Boat Certification in forty-foot boats.
Hill was hungry for opportunities for off-shore sailing but it was his step-father, Brimmer Sherman, frequent crewmember on the Lillian B over the years, who suggested we sail to the island of Saint Pierre, France. Saint Pierre is a French Territory not far off the south coast of Newfoundland. It was to be a stopover in 2021 on our way from Maine to Scotland, but COVID intervened, so we passed the island by. In that regard, sailing to St. Pierre was unfinished business and Brimmer would occasionally throw out the suggestion that we return. Like many inspirations for long voyages, the suggestion was offered as if in jest, perhaps to soften me up and avoid immediate rejection. And, like many a jest, it started to acquire momentum and a life of its own as Hill agreed that it would indeed be a very good idea.
What finally broke down my resistance was my asking Burke and Denise Munger if they would be interested. Burke and Denise have often surprised me with enthusiasm well beyond my expectations. This first happened back in 2017 when they had just bought a unit in our condominium association. At that time, the sum of my knowledge about them was that they seemed nice and had a sailboat. In the process of talking condo business, I threw out the offhand suggestion that they help me bring Lillian B up from the Liberty Marina in New York harbor, not expecting they would. I don’t think they even asked any details about the trip before they immediately said something to the effect of an enthusiastic “Yes.” Together, with their son David, it turned out to be one of most enjoyable trips in memory, starting with zipping past downtown New York City in the currents of the East River, followed by a peaceful night sail through Long Island Sound under clear sky and a full moon. Since then, Burke and Denise have “served” as crew on several ocean passages on the Lillian B including from the Canary Islands to Cabo Verde, across the mid-Atlantic, and up through the Caribbean.
When I asked Burke and Denise if they were interested in sailing to St. Pierre, Burke replied that sailing to St. Pierre’s and neighboring Newfoundland had been a long-time ambition, and Denise sounded very excited at the prospect of real French pastries. So that was it. I hadn’t planned a voyage and then looked for crew. The crew found me and we were now set to head out to St. Pierre and Newfoundland in the Summer of 2025.