Bar Harbor -
If you have an idea for an upcoming "Take This Job and Love It" email me at canderson@wabi.tv
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Carolyn: Chelsey Anderson was Bar Harbor bound for tonight's "Take This Job and Love It."
Jim: She hopped aboard a schooner, the Margaret Todd, not as a customer but as a crew member.
Chelsey: It's a lot of work to get a 4-masted schooner sailing, but the rewards are the friendly faces and beautiful sites. So i took this job and loved it.
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Adam, Crew: "When people come on board a lot of times they are a little unfamiliar about the water, about things that are moving, so you want to give them a hand on deck."
Chelsey: "Hi. How are you?"
Chelsey: "We're going to watch our step going across here." "You guys can have a seat on any of the green benches. If you could just stay seated until the captain says you can get up."
I left my post when a passenger requested life jackets for his toddling grandchildren.
Adam: "How many do you need?" Passenger: "Just 2."
Adam gave me a quick lesson before I had to demonstrate how to correctly put one on.
Chelsey: "We're going to go ahead and put this right over your head." "Bring it around. Clip it right on." Passenger: "Good job Sadie!" Chelsey: "Now we're all safe."
Adam went over some of the Captain's commands with me, because during our trip I would be helping point out some of the scenery.
Adam: "This is starboard. This is port. This is fore. This is aft. The bow. The stern." Chelsey: "Ok. Fore. Aft. Starboard?" Adam: "Starboard is right. Port is left. P-o-r-t. L-e-f-t. Same number of letters in each word. So he's going to say there's bar island at 3 o'clock or there's the Bar Harbor Pier at 12 o'clock, and you're going to point to these things." Chelsey: "Ok, maybe you don't want to follow me." (laughter)
Captain Pagels said a word before we left the dock.
Captain Steve Pagels, Margaret Todd: "The Margaret Todd is the only four masted schooner working up here in New England. She's 151 feet in overall length." "There is some block and tackle in the middle of the schooner that we want everyone to be careful of when the sails are up."
The crew began bringing in the after spring to spring away from the dock. I would be bringing in the stern line.
Captain Pagels: "Bring in the stern over the rail."
Adam: "Bring it up and as quickly as possible. The object is to not get it caught in the propeller."
Then I coiled the rope, prepared the sails,"GRAB RIGHT HERE AND PULL", and eased the sheets-- this prevents the sail from catching the wind before we're ready to sail.
Adam: "Alright we could use about 4 to 6 volunteers up here. Anybody that wants to try raising some sail come right up."
Adam: "So we're going to grab this halyard with 2 hands. I'm going to say heave ho. When I say heave it's to get ready and ho is to actually pull down on the halyard."
Captain Pagels: "And go ahead whenever you are ready."
Adam: "Casey whenever you're ready. Let's go. Heave ho. Heave ho."
Adam: "Heave ho. Alright. That's good. Thanks guys."
Adam: "Alright Chelsey. Ready to do it all over again. Come on up here."
Adam: "Heave ho. Heave ho. Heave ho."
We coiled down the halyards and it was smooth sailing from there.
Captain Pagels: "Right now we've got 4,000 square feet of sail set and the Margaret Todd weighs 150 tons. So it's just going to be wind power moving us through the water."
Now that we were on our way I was able to point at what Captain Pagels was telling the passengers about.
Captain Pagels: "Porcupine Island at 3 o'clock. 12 o'clock we've got Schoodic Peninsula up ahead of us."
On our trip we saw a harbor seal watching us and porpoises frolicking in the sea. The rest of the time we relaxed in the afternoon sun, but at the end of the day I had to find out if I got the job or not.
Adam: "Well Chelsey. I'm glad you were here. You're a hard worker and I think you've got a lot of potential. You can work on the Margaret Todd anytime." Chelsey: "Thank you!"
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If you'd like to go sailing on the Margaret Todd you can find them at the dock next to the Bar Harbor Pier. You can't miss them. You can also find more information at downeastwindjammer.com
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