Guildive Cruises Blog

Well it is here, the best sailing on Penobscot Bay all year.  September is the time I remember most fondly from my time at the Maine Maritime Academy.  It is now that the days are still warm, and the wind steady and full.  Kate and I both welcome every chance to be out sailing as Guildive loves this time of year and great sailing.  The leaves are going to begin changing soon, even some on Nautilus Island have started already and also down by the British Canal at the isthmus on Castine neck.  Anyway we have good company to sail with as the Academy has begun full session again and all the students and boats are out sailing almost every afternoon.  Our most favoured sailing companion Bowdoin is out more frequently with the Schooner Club and Kate’s brother Patrick caught us together earlier this summer from the Dyce’s Head lighthouse.

In other news the Castine Harbor is busily getting ready and prepared for Hurricane Earl.  The State of Maine has set out more dock lines and exercised her ground taykle while Eaton’s boat yard has cleared the dock of boats and Castine Kayak has moved there kayak storage across the harbor in preparation for strong Easterly’s.  The predicted path will produce strong winds beginning in the SW and moving through the Eastern Compass to North East.  We are going to be vigilant on our dock in front of Dennett’s Wharf Restaurant and will most likely move last minute if we need.  There are plenty of good anchorages and a few strong moorings we can use but we will wait to see how the weekend shapes up.  Maybe we will get some good stories or pics as the Hurricane approaches.

all the best,

zander and kate

August is wrapping up quickly with September is just a few days away.  With the beautiful fall colors we have decided to offer speciality bird watching sails!  Every Thursday and Sunday mornings from 9:30 to Noon we will be taking Guildive into the beautiful Holbrook Island Sanctuary to soak in all the sights and sounds nature has to offer.  Sunday mornings we are joined with a naturalist who will be able to answer questions and further explain the nature around us.  Our maximum is 6 passengers (5 on Sunday) so book early, the cost of $45.oo per person.  

Call 207.701.1421 or e-mail castoff@guildivecruises.com for further information

Check out this link to our poster

birdwatchingsail

Guildive was bathed in a splendid sunset with a stellar array of reds and oranges on the blue background of Penobscot Bay. These photos were taken by a new friend to Guildive Andre Betz. We were thrilled that he captured some great photos and wanted to share them with everyone.

Sunset Sail aboard Guildive on Penobscot Bay

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Hells bells we have had a good response in Lincolnville Beach this summer.  With only two Mondays before September Kate and I have looked forward on a weekly basis to going to Lincolnville Beach.  Our routine is as follows:

0530 wake up and prepare the boat for transit.  To do this we have our small boat and Jacob’s Ladder which we newly built this summer especially for Lincolnville.  We had borrowed the Bowdoin’s ladder for our first two trips but our ladder has worked out well since then.  So with the ladder and small boat we usually leave Castine by 0700.  Two weeks ago we had a party join us and we delivered them two Islesboro for the day then sailed with them under private charter around Islesboro through the Gilkey Harbor Thorofare.  We enjoyed making the full day with our guests.  Well anyway back to our routine: most times it has been flat calm so we have motored to the mooring which takes about 2 hours.  We have been sailing off the Whale’s Tooth Pub mooring and recommend them for a great meal and good drinks.  Next comes getting the boat ready which is our usual routine in Castine.  We meet our guests on the dock and use our small boat to shuttle everyone out to Guildive.  So far and keep your fingers crossed we have had some really happy people including a group that sailed straight through last Monday’s rain and fog.  Once done our sails Kate and I have taken Guildive right back to Castine though sometimes we have shuttled into the dock and had a great dinner at the Whale’s Tooth Pub.

That’s all for now check in later.

We are offering Full Moon Sails on Guildive Sunday (tonight) Monday and Tuesday night from 9-11 pm.  Come enjoy the silence of the night with the moon as your light.

Call 207.701.1421 for details and reservatons

Also check out the photos we have been posting on facebook (Ketch Guildive) throughout the summer!

Life is great right now.  The weather is perfect – beautiful warm days and cool evenings (with some incredible sunsets too).  Zander and I have been having a blast with everyone who has come sailing.  The last few weeks we have had tons of kids come on board, great positive energy from all of them and it means some help setting the sails and driving… here are a few shots from their trips.

Setting the sail

Investigating the deckbox! Serious binocular action...

We asked for his best pirate impression, awesome!

Just the other day we had a wedding proposal on board, and she said YES!  Unfortunately we do not have any pictures to show but it was a very special evening for everyone and she was SUPER surprised.  The whole day was overcast with not much wind but the minute they stepped on board the clouds parted and the wind picked up and it turned into an unforgettable evening for everyone!  That was the first wedding proposal Guildive has seen since we have owned her.  Then just last night we had two big TV/ movie stars sail with us, I won’t mention any names but I will say one of them was in my favorite TV show growing up…. Zander and I thought it was pretty cool that they wanted to sail on Guildive!  

We are going to be offering full moon sails this Sunday, Monday and Tuesday night from 9-11 pm cost is $45.00 per person.  Please call 207.701.1421 for reservations and come enjoy and relaxing and peaceful evening on Penobscot Bay!

So all in all life is good.

We are starting to feel the summer push, which feels great!  We are running multiple trips a day now and just loving every minute.  A few rainy days have slowed down the momentum of guests wanting to go sailing, but we use those days to travel further afield to deliver our brochures.  We just hope the phone keeps ringing.  However, we must say that the passengers we have had so far have been awesome, and a few returnees from last year!!  Two couples drove about 2 hours just to come sailing with us again… and they were there by 10 am!!!!

A few days ago we had the opportunity to take our small boat out with Guildive and get some photos of the boat under sail by Dyce’s head lighthouse…. great fun and now we have some Sweet Shots of Guildive! Here are a few, the rest you will just have to wait to see some of our printed advertisements!

So the coolest news that we have (from the last year – really) is Guildive was spotted from about 1.5 miles away from a man who had crewed on her in the 1960′s.  He was 18 at the time and sailed her when she was working as a charter boat in St. John’s.  He said that every boat he sailed on after that he would compare to how Guildive (at the time Sixpence) was, because Sixpence was a 10 in his book.  He had not sailed her in 41 years and we had the pleasure to sail the boat with just him and his partner Lolly on a nice windy day.  Not only did we get tons and tons of stories from him but some great photos that we had never seen, photos of the boat from the ’60′s, and hopefully more to come (of all places they live only about an hour away…. with fingers crossed, hopefully, there will be more visits to come)!  Zander and I have been on cloud 9 a since that day knowing that the spirit of the boat is with us and everyone else who has sailed her!  Now we just cannot wait to meet Dmitri (the previous owner to us).  Cool things happen….

We have been posting tons and tons of photos of our trips on our facebook page (Ketch Guildive) with some Sweet Shots taken by our passengers!  Check it all out….

Harbor Master Ben helping us out

Raul and Rafa looking out!

Trips are on a roll and it feels SO good to be sailing with passengers again.  We just started the other day and have had a few trips already.  Its still slow here in Castine as the summer crowd is just getting here and schools have just let out – but we are getting a few people.  The Maine Maritime Academy, located here in Castine, hosts a huge Guild school where people from all around the world can come and take classes on miniature art.  There are about 250 people in town for the school and a few escape between classes and check out the rest of Castine so the other day we had 2 ladies from South Africa, 1 from England, 1 from Canada, and 1 from San Diego come sailing with us!  During these days while trips are slow Zander and I have been filling our time with boat projects (a few we just didn’t get to this winter) and some restaurant projects.  One day we spent the entire day gardening, it was great to play in the dirt, something we normally do not get to do!  Our fingers are crossed that this week we will have a bunch more charters as our schedule is starting to fill in with booked trips – and our fingers are doubly crossed that the rain will hold off this summer and the sun will shine so people will want to go sailing.

by Haley Chutz, transit crew

           I’m honored to be posting on the soon-to-be-renowned guildivecruises.com/blog! I wrote this yesterday as we were approaching the harbor. 

           Guildive with her crew of five made it to Maine today and, after a stop in Lincolnville for lunch at the Whale’s Tooth, are making our final transit over to Castine. Even though it is raining, I can still see how beautiful Penobscot Bay is – deep blue water surrounded by lush hills, old wooden schooners and brightly-colored lobster pots abounding. 

           The transit came to a close this morning with Kate and I in the cozy wheelhouse at daybreak, cracking jokes as we played “Frogger” through those lobster pots in the dense fog. It was a surprisingly fast trip; we made it in five days! Instead of hugging the coastline as I have on past voyages to New England, we cut straight out across the North Atlantic and steered essentially the same course all the way from Delaware Bay to Penobscot Bay. This saved a lot of time and it was great to be out at sea, to shut down the engine and sail.

           Well, it was great for most of us. Parts of the ride were pretty rolly and poor Maggie was stricken with horrible sea sickness! In an attempt to share my love of sailing with my sister, whose previous experience  involved me prodding her onto a few harbor daysails, I convinced her to come along on the voyage. I probably should have known better, and this resulted in her feeling like she wanted to die and me feeling guilty. But we had a lot of laughs throughout. 

“Imagine our relatives doing this on the boat to America, but for months!” I teased. 

“Mamma Mia! Why did I leave Italia!” she retorted in a thick Italian accent as tears trickled from behind her sunglasses.

           Overall the trip was everything you could ask for – good weather, good sailing, beautiful sunrises and sunsets, good friends and conversation. (A few whales would have been nice though!) After living with Kate as she and Zander went through process of selecting and buying Guildive (then Sixpence) and seeing the incredible amount of work they have put into her, it was awesome to get to sail and see her fare so well at sea. It is clear that this lovely old boat has found its perfect owners, my friends have found the perfect boat, and in Castine, they are home.

Kate and Squiddy steer us across the bay.