Rockland, Maine — Cruising the Diamond Coast

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, the “Diamond Coast” is how our Maine poet, Robert Tristram Coffin describes the Maine Coast. I got a chance back in July of 1972 to see the Maine coast up close and personal when I took a one-week cruise on the Victory Chimes. The venerable old schooner is the largest passenger sailing vessel under American flag. More on its history later.

Long a believer in enjoying and discovering new points of interest in the country I live in, The United States of America, I decided at that time to see my own state from a new perspective—aboard the Victory Chimes. I had seen her sailing Maine’s waters many times and always wished I could spend some time on her. My dream came true and I had a wonderful time despite the fact that we had a lot of fog and rain that week.

Herewith are my recollections of that week as described in a story I wrote about that trip and from the log I kept while I was onboard. Hopefully you will decide to cruise our Maine waters on one of the many schooners that regularly run trips from our local wharfs. Look for a list of them at the end of this blog.

First of all, I must mention that I was the only “Maineiac” on board. I was an unofficial tour guide even though I was seeing much of what we viewed while we sailed for the first time—the same as they were. Most of the passengers on board with me were from other New England states, but they got a kick out of my Maine dialect anyway, especially Sunday night before we sailed as we went into town to pick up some things. I met some people I knew and the passengers with me got a kick out of our conversation with each other.

When we sailed Monday morning, my father, Ted, wished us all bon voyage from the wharf and waved goodbye to us. He was the only one who saw us off. Some of my family and friends couldn’t quite understand why I wanted to make the trip. All you doubters pay attention here.

The captain and owner at that time was Frederick Guild. He renamed the schooner, Edwin & Maude, a working schooner since 1900, to the Victory Chimes, in 1954. He named it after a Canadian coastal schooner he admired as a boy that had been launched on Armistice Day. By the way, I have heard these ships referred to as schooners and also as windjammers. I guess technically you could say that these Maine schooners are part of the famed Maine windjammer fleet. My friend and fellow southender Maynard Bray, an expert on wooden ships, calls the Victory Chimes a schooner in his book, The Guide to Wooden Boats. Since he is a respected expert on the subject, I’ll go with schooner here. The cover of my log book also says “schooner.”

Monday morning came off sunny as we set sail for destination unknown. Where we ended up each day depended on the weather, the tide, and where Captain Guild had an urge to go that day. We used to take bets on where we would anchor for the night. You never knew till the last few minutes because the captain could change his mind and decide to anchor elsewhere.

My three roommates, Betty, Barbara, and Maureen were very nice and we took to each other right away. We explored all the places we stopped at and enjoyed sitting on deck catching the sun when there was some and enjoying the sights along the way. The food was fabulous and rivaled anything you might enjoy on a large cruise ship. It featured New England fare including lobster, clam chowder, strawberry shortcake, and baked beans. We had beans for breakfast one morning and the captain was appalled when I asked for catsup to put on them. “You’re putting catsup on these beans?” he said. Our cook was Chinese and at one meal he made us the best pork chops I ever ate. I have yet to eat one better. Of course we ate about 15 times a day. I remember the popovers we had that melted in your mouth.

I will try to highlight some of the places we visited. There were many. Pulpit Harbor comes to mind. We anchored there the first night, off North Haven. We passed that huge osprey nest coming into the harbor that has been there for 300 years. I hope it’s still there. We walked around most of North Haven and I put two post cards I’d written into someone’s mailbox and put the flag up. I can’t remember if the cards ever got to their destination.

We also stopped in Castine where we explored the Maine Maritime Academy. I knew a few of the guys there when I was in college downeast. There was also a delightful older lady who showed us through her beautiful garden. We even had some night life in the form of a piano player at the Castine Inn. We had drinks there that night.

There were nights when we had our own entertainment onboard. One of the crew members played the guitar and we would sing along with him up on deck if the weather was nice. As I said before, we had quite a bit of fog and rain. We had to get out our foul weather gear a lot; however, that’s Maine isn’t it. It didn’t put a damper on our great adventure. Needless to say though, the Diamond Coast didn’t shine back on us much that week.

I was hoping we’d get to anchor off Monhegan because I’d never been there. The captain considered it but ruled against that destination because of the weather mostly. It’s a ways out there. I have an historical map of the coast of Maine which I keep on my office wall. According to this map, Monhegan was visited by early explorers Verrazano, Gomez, Champlain, Waymouth, and John Smith, among others. There were settlements there as early as 1605 and the island was also used as a base for pirates. It was permanently settled about 1720. Oh well, that’s a trip for another time.

I also have relatives off Southeast Harbor on Cranberry Island. We didn’t get to go there either, but we did anchor at Swans Island. I went to school for a year with half the kids on that island. As it happened, the day we went ashore I was able to scare up one of my old classmates, Lucinda Sprague. She proceeded to give me and my bunkmates a tour of the island. She was visiting from her home in Connecticut. Her baby fell asleep in my arms that day. A beautiful sunny day on a beautiful island.

We also passed Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s house on North Haven. Her family used to summer there before she married Charles Lindbergh. He used to land in a field on the island to visit her. We anchored off Stonington one night and went into town to see “Love Story.” It cost us all of $1.25. The man at the box office opened a little door where we bought our tickets and we could see the movie playing behind him.

Those are just a few of the highlights we enjoyed on our cruise up the Diamond Coast of Maine on the Victory Chimes. I urge you to see Maine in this unique fashion. Here are some schooners that run short and long cruises off Rockland’s wharves. Try looking them up on their websites or ask the Penobscot Regional Chamber of Commerce for more information. This may not be a complete list, but the Chamber will certainly be able to help you out. All of the ships listed here are also listed on the Chamber’s web site:

Nathaniel Bowditch; A Morning in Maine (out of Owls Head); the ketch, Prudence; American Eagle; Heritage; Isaac H. Evans; J & E Riggin; Stephen Tabor; or look into Summertime Cruises Inc.

The Victory Chimes is now owned by Richard “Kip” Files and Captain Paul DeGaeta. They purchased it in 1990 from the corporation they worked for saving her from foreign ownership and being converted into a restaurant in Japan. She left Maine waters for several years but is now back where she belongs, in Rockland. By the way, the Chimes is featured on the State of Maine quarter coin.

I hope that someday you too can say, “I cruised along the Diamond Coast.”

Thanks for listening.

UPDATE: I have recently learned of the exact route Judy and Woody Post are taking on their boat, the Osprey. The itinerary includes Maine to NY; up the Hudson, (this part I’m not sure of completely); around the Great Lakes; down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico; around Florida; and back up the East coast and home to Maine. Last I heard they were in Canada. I wish them a good journey.

SAVE THIS DATE: August 10, noon to whenever. Sandy Beach Park in the South End. Bring your picnic lunch and a chair and come and visit with me and your blogger friends. My 2009 Blog CD will be available for those who want one. See you there!  The CDs are now available. If you would like to purchase one before then, please email me at KitKin007@aol.com for ordering information.