You can expect all these things from a cruise aboard one of the ships in Maine's famous windjammer fleet, but it may come as a surprise that you will also enjoy some of the most delicious food you have ever eaten.
Who would expect that such excellence could be achieved from the galley of a sailing vessel, usually from an old black cast iron woodstove? Breakfasts may be blueberry pancakes with real Maine maple syrup, or bacon and eggs with fresh homemade biscuits. Lunches often consist of homemade stews or chowders, sandwiches, fruit, freshly baked breads or biscuits, and pastries or other desserts cooked fresh daily onboard. Almost every cruise includes a Maine lobster and clam bake on the shores of a deserted island.
If you can't experience a Maine windjammer cruise firsthand, you can recreate some of the popular seafood recipes and other delicious dishes from a number of these wonderful sailing vessels by buying a Maine windjammer cookbook.
Stephen Taber
I can personally vouch for the food served aboard the Stephen Taber, the oldest sailing vessel in the US in continuous service. The black cast iron woodstove in the belly of the ship produced the most amazing food! Luckily, Ellen Barnes, who was previously co-captain with her husband Ken, has produced a cookbook in which she's shared some of her best recipes, from seafood recipes to decadent desserts. I recommend trying the bread recipes. You can buy a copy of the cookbook in the ship's store on the Stephen Taber Web site.
Lewis R. French
"French Cooking" is a small spiral-bound cookbook filled with over 80 Maine recipes, from muffins (apple, banana streusel, banana rum, blueberry, bran/raisin, gingerbread, maple bran, orange chocolate, rhubarb maple, and more) to soups (try Kathy's Corn Chowder for a traditional Maine chowder) and desserts (the Raspberry Crisp recipe sounds like a winner). The cookbook is available from the Lewis R. French Web site or from The Traveling Bag.
Victory Chimes
The Victory Chimes is one of the most stately of all the windjammers. The only original three-masted schooner in Maine's famed Windjammer fleet, she is depicted on Maine's state quarter. Her owners have come out with the 100th Anniversary Edition of their cookbook, beautifully designed, which includes all the old favorites from the cookbook's first edition, plus many new dishes used aboard, on the dock, or at their home, including popular seafood dishes. If you're a soup lover, choose from 19 soup recipes, including five different chowders. Love desserts? There are 78 dessert and cookie recipes. Other recipes include breakfast, breads, salads and salad dressings, appetizers, maine courses and side dishes, and Italian favorites. Notes about the ship's history, nautical terms, poems and quotes about the sea are scattered throughout the 182 pages.
Angelique
The 17-year veteran cook of the Angelique produces mouth-watering meals using the ship's Beaufort model Dickinson stove. She now shares her recipes in this 102-page spiral-bound cookbook, which you can purchase on the ship's Web site.
J&E Riggin
The captain of the J&E Riggin windjammer, Annie Mahle, also a professionally trained chef, and a food columnist for the Portland Press Herald, has written a cookbook called "At Home At Sea." The cookbook contains authentic Maine recipes perfected on the antique cast iron woodstove in the ship's galley. The more than 150 recipes include such mouth-watering dishes as Lobster and Sun-dried Tomato Fettuccini, Cinnamon Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Curried Lamb and Lentil Stew, and Whole Wheat Walnut Bread. While you're waiting for the cookbook, sign up for "Wind and Water," Annie's email recipe newsletter.
Mary Day
Mary Barney of the Mary Day has written a cookbook called "Ring That Bell: Cooking in the Sea Breeze," a reference to the dinner bell that is rung to announce each meal aboard the Mary Day and other schooners. The cookbook is a small, spiral-bound, 139-page book with illustrations. In it you'll find recipes for New England fare, including Pumpkin Pancakes, Dint's Doughnuts, Dill Cottage Cheese Bread, Steamed Brown Bread, Baked Parmesan Haddock, Crab Cakes, Capt. Barry's Lobster Bake, Blueberry Pudding Cake, Rangeley Cake (Capt's Favorite!) and more.