Welcome to the 2025 Season

For those of you who joined us last season, you know we sailed Fregata from Florida to our home port in Camden, Maine, where we put her “on the hard” (on land)  for the winter in Camden.

A few off-season sailing highlights… Dan continued to sail on Lake Geneva. He also had the opportunity to crew for friends sailing from Palermo, Sicily to Olbia, Sardinia, about 250 nautical miles taking 2.5 days. We met with various sailing friends over the year, all with that look in their eyes saying, “I can’t wait to be back on the water.”

Anyway, back to Fregata. You may recall that there were numerous technical issues needing attention when we first bought the boat. Many were fixed underway, and we had the Lyman-Morse boatyard in Camden handle those we didn’t have the time (or the skills) to address ourselves.

Lyman-Morse is a very impressive boatyard, with excellent mechnical, electrical, carpentry, rigging, sailmaking, fiberglass, and metal working capabilities to name a few. The yard also features lodging, restaurants, laundry facility, and lounges.

We’re pleased to report that everything is working (for now), nothing is leaking (for now), and she’s in top shape for the season.

Camden itself is an idyllic if somewhat touristy town, nestled below Camden Hills State Park, and looking out onto the Penobscot Bay with its archipelago of deserted and inhabited islands, including a number quaint lobster fishing port towns like Vinalhaven and Stonington. Camdon is also home to one of the largest fleets of classic-rigged windjammers.

Dan’s son, Alex, is on his way to Maine as we write to join him for the shake-out sail. This is a short cruise to test everything and make sure all systems are “go” before straying too far from land.

Sandy arrives the following week and we head off.

After two seasons covering nearly 4,000 nautical miles (New York to Maine, then Florida ot Maine), requiring long days and keeping more-or-less to a tight schedule, we decided to take it easy this season and stay in New England, enjoying its beautiful cruising grounds, quaint coastal towns, and secluded anchorages. There’s plenty here to discover.

We’re also looking forward to having friends join us, both from Europe and N. America.

We hope you’ll continue to follow our adventures on this blog, and look forward to your comments, questions, and even free advice! If you’re already subscribed, you’ll get our weekly recap email. If not, feel free to hit the subscribe button above.