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Retired publishing executive ecstatic with the idea of spending most of his time on the coast of Maine

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Outward Bound


I haven't seen the Outward Bound boat in our cove yet this year. Usually it drops anchor in the early evening and leaves early the next morning. The boat is small (maybe 30 feet) and open and is packed with teenagers, not quite like sardines but close. One year I counted 14 of them, miserable-looking in their yellow slickers (granted, it was rainy and foggy that night). I suppose during the day they are kept pretty busy with the sails and the sights, building teamwork, trust, and appreciation for the elements, but I can't quite imagine being stuck for a week or two in approximately 25 square feet per person. Even the spirit of adventure must quail before such conditions.
We did see them just off Marshall Point last week. They had just dropped anchor in the fog - too far away to judge their mental health. It is a beautiful spot, near the lighthouse and Port Clyde harbor and lovely Hooper Island (where Chief Justice Roberts took sick last year), and a sunny day or a clear night, or even just a couple of hours of partly cloudy, would go far to ameliorate the 25 sq ft and the pork and beans for dinner. If I were 17 again, I'd do it in a flash.

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