Conference unifix::sailing

1168.0. "Maine Easy Cruise" by MSCSSE::BERENS (Alan Berens) Sat Apr 01 1989 10:00

From THE MAINE TIMES:

At a press conference in Augusta yesterday, the Maine Tourism Council
announced an ambitious new program to attract cruising yachts to the
coast of Maine. This program, Easy Cruise, is intended to make Maine
cruising enjoyable and worry-free for both novice and experienced
sailors and powerboaters. The pilot program is expected to be
implemented by the 1990 cruising season. 

After extensive interviews with both experienced and new yachtsmen and
yachtswomen, the Tourism Council identified a number of issues 
concerning cruising in Maine. A spokesman for the Council, Capt. Silas
Waterman, a master mariner with fifty-one years of coastal and deep
water experience, explained how the Easy Cruise program will address
these issues and described the services to be available. 

The major area of concern is the lack of convenient overnight
facilities. There are few marinas in Maine, and the cost of developing
new ones is prohibitive. The Tourism Council found that many
yachtspeople view anchoring as physically demanding, dirty and
anxiety-inducing. To eliminate virtually all need for anchoring the
Tourism Council has decided to develop an extensive network of guest
moorings which will be located in the most popular cruising harbors. The
Council's studies indicate that the number of moorings planned will
provide greater than a 95% chance of getting a mooring even without
advance reservations (except during July 4th week). Initially, these
guest moorings will be established in Pulpit Harbor, Buck Harbor, Roque
Island Harbor, Boothbay Harbor, Camden Harbor, and among the islands of
Merchant Row. 

There will be two types of moorings -- basic and deluxe. The basic
mooring will be just that and cost $15 per night. The deluxe moorings,
for which reservations will be required, include shore power, telephone,
and running water connections right on the mooring float. Cable TV will
be added if there is sufficient demand. Mooring reservations can be made 
through Camden Marine Radio. The price for these deluxe moorings is
still under discussion, but will probably be in the range of $50 to $100
per night. The availability of these moorings will make Maine cruising
much more attractive to powerboaters who often are dependent on marina
shore power for cooking, refrigeration, drink mixing, TV, VCR, air
conditioning, etc. 

To address the problem of the lack of restaurants and other entertainment, 
the Tourism Council has contracted with a number of Maine lobstermen.
Every day between 1200 and 1800 these lobstermen will tour the mooring
areas selling lobsters (fresh and boiled), clams, mussels, fresh fish,
cold imported beer, Perrier Water, French wines (including properly chilled 
champagnes), milk, the Wall Street Journal, brie and other fine cheeses,
gasoline, diesel fuel, etc. They will also rent video tapes and provide
minor repair and boat cleaning services. (After much heated internal
discussion, the Tourism Council decided that, to promote family values
and a kinder, gentler America, only G-rated video tapes will be 
available.)

Should the first mate or guests desire a day ashore, there will be
morning and evening bus and water taxi service available in each mooring
area. The bus service will provide convenient access to major shopping
(Camden, LL Bean's, Dansk Design, etc). It will be possible for the
skipper to contact the bus service through Camden Marine Radio to let
his first mate or guests know where the boat will be for the night.
Thus, the skipper can spend the day cruising to a new harbor without
worrying about meeting his first mate or guests. This service will also 
provide a convenient way to meet arriving guests and to speed departing
guests on their way without unnecessary worry or delay.

To ensure that Maine cruising is as enjoyable and worry-free as
possible, the Tourism Council is arranging for cruise insurance through
Lloyd's of London. This insurance, available for a nominal fee, will pay
any unexpected expenses incurred due to fog, rain, missed travel
connections, hitting ledges, etc. 

Capt. Waterman concluded his presentation by outlining future Easy
Cruise plans. These include changing various place names to reduce
confusion (for example, seven of the eight Ram Islands will be renamed
as will the Fox Island Thorofare separating North Haven and Vinalhaven
Islands), aids to navigation useful to the cruising yachtsperson will be
established (for example, a large navigational buoy with a radar
reflector, a fog signal, and a 12 mile light will be positioned outside
Pulpit Harbor which is today completely unmarked), and various
navigational hazards will be removed to increase the safety of Maine
cruising (for example, the nasty ledge just outside Camden Harbor will
be dynamited). The Tourism Council would also like to provide cruising
yachtspeople with a sense of the history of the Maine coast. Audiovisual
interpretive displays will be established wherever appropriate (such as
by the wreck of the schooner in the cove across from Castine).
Participation in traditional and modern Maine coastal activities such as
lobstering, herring seining, lighthouse keeping, and drug smuggling will
be available for the more adventurous cruising yachtsperson. For the
nature lover, it has been proposed to import puffins from Greenland,
build one hundred more osprey nests, and establish seal breeding
colonies in some of the more popular anchorages (although there is some
concern about the possible negative effects on small children of this
last proposal). 

The Maine Tourism Council welcomes comments and suggestions for
improving Easy Cruise! Write to Easy Cruise, Maine Tourism Council, PO
Box 4189, Augusta, ME, for additional information and details on the 
services to be available.

    Very good, Alan!
    I read this three times before I caught on. Must have been the vision
    of 1800 lobstermen selling brie that gave it away. That, and the date.
    
    J_R

    Did anybody else notice the box number of the department of tourism?
    Great job!  I'm in Hong Kong right now, and with the time zone
    difference I didn't see this until the 3rd.  First thoughts were
    along the lines of "he's lost his mind".
    
    Dave

    Excellent Alan, but you forgot to mention the cloud seeding program
    to rid the coast of fog.
    
    Bob
    
    
    

    Hell of a job AL ---
    
    	But, PLEASE - even in Humor - DO NOT SUGGEST ANYTHING to attract
    	Power Boats with Air Conditioners & Drink Mixers to Main.
    
    	I love the peace & quite... of the Gosslings, Jewell Is, etc..
    
    	Might work if they didn't allow the Air Cond to run between
    	say 0100 & 2330.
    	
    	Also perhaps some logs strung on toggles between the moorings
    	as Speed Bumps??
    
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------
    Seriously --
    
    	Maine might be a nice spot to try an set up a noters rendezvous
        say some time the mid-end of Aug??
                        
    	If there is any interest perhaps we should start a note on the
    	topic.
    
    	It would also be a good chance to see how much JCR is willing
    	to travel to see us.
    
                                  Take care,
                                               Lou
                                                  
    

    RE 4:
    
    Yes I would be interested in a Maine cruise in August.
    The wife and I will be on vacation during the first two weeks in
    August and would like to sail with and meet other DEC sailors. This
    will be our first full season of sailing as we bought our Pearson
    last October and only got to sail it three times before we stored
    it for the winter.
    
    Maybe a new note should be opened for an August Maine cruise. How
    about it Alan, you want to play Commodore?
    
    Paul

re .5:

Given the vagaries of wind, fog, and tide and the length of the Maine 
coast, gathering a number of boats in any one place on the same day 
might be surprisingly difficult. 

Our cruising plans for this summer are totally uncertain due to Julie's 
job hunting, so I would be reluctant to be responsible for organizing a 
gathering. A nice idea, though. By the way, I think early September is 
a better time to cruise in Maine than early August.

Maine Easy Cruise (the base note) was published (without credit to me as 
author and without my knowledge) in a recent issue of Messing About in 
Boats. According to the editor, it "came to us through one of those 
computer 'billboard' networks via a friend". 

While I mostly do not mind that Easy Cruise was published (though my ego
grumbles about it being done so anonymously), I am concerned about a
couple of things. 

First, in my view, what is in SAILING should stay in SAILING and not be
circulated outside Digital without the permission of the author(s). In 
this sense I am not at all happy about Easy Cruise being published. I
have always assumed that the discussions and opinions expressed in
SAILING are only for the participants in SAILING. I do not think it
should be otherwise. 

Second, where did the editor's friend get Easy Cruise? From SAILING, I
hope. If from somewhere else, there may be a network security problem
(unless a Digital employee posted Easy Cruise elsewhere). What is in
SAILING should not be electronically accessible to anyone not employed
by Digital. 

Alan

Alan,

I am the person responsible for giving this story to Bob Hicks, the Editor of 
Messing About In Boats. I so much enjoyed the article, I printed it out and
gave it to Bob the day it appeared on Notes.

From the lead in to the base note 'From the Maine Times' I assumed this was a 
story originally printed there, and Alan had simply re-typed it to Notes. I did
not suspect it was an original piece. I sincerly apologize for sending it on
without permission.

Since all notes are potentially accessible to some 125,000 DEC emplyees, I 
would assume anything posted here was of an open and public nature. I dont 
see it as a private conversation. 

I think this was one of the best bits of writing Ive read in a long time. 

Ron

        I agree with Ron, One of the best bits of writing I've seen.
        
        I agree with ALan, What is in this file should remain within DEC.
        
        That said, I also printed it out and shared it with my wife and
        a close friend newly interested in sailing. AND I am not sure I 
        would have remembered to get Alan's permission if I had thought
        of Bob Hicks and BOATS. (but I would now)
         
        Again, great job Alan, and I look forward to meeting Ron who so 
        quickly raised his hand.
                
        Fred    
        

    Funny how these things work out. 
    
    I was talking to a friend about a cruise to Maine last week.  Turns
    out somebody has placed about ten new visitor moorings at Matinicus
    and comes to collect each day.  

    Could be some benefit has come from your work, Alan.
    
    Ron