My prized photographic memory of our trip aboard t...

My prized photographic memory of our trip aboard the Mary Day is that of my daughter Virginia McLane, her hair adorned with a scarf turned out to make her every bit the jaunty pirate as she took a turn at the wheel of this amazing vessel on a bright, Autumn day. That image stays alive in memory as I recall the joy of three days spent before the mast in the loveliness of Penobscot bay.

From the first time we spotted the Mary Day, moored in the beauty of Camden harbor, to the sad moment when we disembarked after our vacation, everything about the experience defies description for its soul-restoring magic. Imagine cruising to the sound, not of engines and prop wash astern, but to the sound of the breeze in the rigging, and marveling at the rush of pristine waters rushing alongside as a proud vessel heels beneath your feet in response to a masterful crew's touch- the stuff of which many a romantic novel brings only the faintest image to mind, by comparison.

The opportunity to unwind as you watch the dock and lively harbor slip away, to become acquainted with a wonderful variety of fellow shipmates as the waters soothe the soul, or to be reinvigorated by more personal and solitary reverie if that is your bent- all the possibilities are in abundance as the islands drift by.

Food? Outstanding, and more than amazing given the skill brought to bear by a chef making the best use of basic shipboard galley facilities. Being able to do as much or as little as your inclination takes you in lending a hand with routine shipboard work makes for the sort of engagement that truly restores one's sense of humanity. Lying topside and marveling at the black vastness of the Maine night sky festooned with more stars than you ever knew existed can help you indulge the sense that you truly have found the very center of the universe...