The 24th annual Downeast Gam will kick off on Friday afternoon, August 1 with a dinghy raft-up cocktail party. The gam will be held at Dick and Kathy de Grasse’s cottage on Broad Cove, Gilkey’s Harbor, Islesboro, Maine. Come ashore Saturday at 11:00 and bring your contribution to the potluck lunch.
After lunch, Downeast Pilot Captain Skip Strong will talk about piloting merchant vessels and cruise ships downeast. (Members may remember that Skip is the captain who risked his 688’ loaded oil tanker to save a disabled tug and NASA barge from drifting onto the Bethel Shoal on the SE Florida coast. His book, In Peril, tells the story.) On Sunday Pam MacBrayne and Dennis Moonan, s/v Glide, will talk about cruising Norway and the Artic. Following Pam and Dennis there will be a bus tour (nominal cost) of Islesboro.
Coordinates 44º16.9’N, 068º 55.9’W will put you in sheltered Broad Cove in front of the cottage. There’s plenty of room to anchor in all-weather Gilkey’s Harbor. Dinghies can land on the seaweed beach in front of the cottage or tie up at the town dock (free) and walk the half-mile to the cottage. SSCA members and non-members are welcome. Sixty-three boats anchored in the harbor last year. For more information go to www.ssca.org.
Seven Seas Cruising Association, Inc. is the oldest and largest non-profit organization of voyaging cruisers in the world. The goals of the original founders are still the goals of SSCA today: sharing cruising information, camaraderie, and leaving a clean wake. For more information, go to www.ssca.org.
