Sailboats – RDZ Photography

Virtual Travel – Maine

History, Museum, Nature, Sports, Transportation, Water Features

It is 1600 miles from New Orleans to Portland, Maine, but virtually we can be there in 10 seconds. It is off to ‘Downeast’ Maine.

Speaking of Downeast, I never understood the term since Maine is in the far northeast corner of the country. This term comes from the nautical term referring to direction, rather than location. During the summer sailing season the winds along the coast of New England blow from the southwest, therefore you went downwind to go from most of the country to Boston, and New England – hence going ‘Down East’

Speaking of nautical, we start our tour with lighhouses.

Lighthouses – Featured on the Maine State Roadmaps of 1959, 1974, 2002, 2010, 2016

West Quoddy Head Light. Featured on the 1959 map, West Quoddy is the furthest point northeast in the United States. Just across the Quoddy Narrows is New Brunswick, Canada. This light dates from 1858.

Lobster – 1968, 1982

Throughout the state are hundreds of small restaurants that serve fresh lobster.

Countryside – 1970, 2005, 2011, 2015, 2016

Maine is the least densely populated east coast state, with about 1.3 million people scattered over 35,000 square miles. Most of those people live in a small stretch of land from the New Hampshire border to Augusta.

As a result there are huge tracts of undeveloped land, dotted with lakes and mountains. Outdoor activities draw people from Boston, New York and beyond.

L L Bean has epitomized that outdoor style in Maine for more than 100 years. Founded by Leon Leonwood Bean, they started out selling ‘Maine Hunting Shoes’. As people came into his shop in Freeport to buy them he would note which ones were not from Maine, and subsequently sent them catalogs of new merchandise.

The flagship store in Freeport is open 24 x 7 x 365. (photos from Pintrest)

1972 – State museum

1973 – Transportation

1976 – Bicentennial

1977 – Watercraft

The Maine Maritime Museum is located in the town of Bath, Maine. Bath has been a shipbuilding center for years, as shown in this vintage postcard

2003 & 2011 – Canoeing & Kayaking

2004 – Skiing. There are 18 ski resorts in Maine. The largest is Sugarloaf, with almost 3000′ of vertical drop.

2009 & 2013 – Acadia National Park & Cadillac Mountain

Acadia National Park is located near Bar Harbor. Together they make a perfect vacation spot.

Olivos, Argentina – November 2019 – The Sun, The Sky, and The Sea

Nature, Transportation, Water Features

The Argentina National flag features a sun, which is appropriate as the sun shines quite often here. The official presidential residence is in the suburb of Olivos, and the small, but well kept park on part of the grounds features a number of sculptures depicting this Incan sun from the flag.

Olivos is situated along the Rio de La Plata, which is called a river. It is a 30 mile wide river near Olivos and Buenos Aires, widening to 150 miles at the mouth at the Atlantic.

Olivos has a small harbor full of sailboats.

It is also in the landing path of Jorge Newberry Airport.

With the ‘river’ comes great sunrises, with this photo an interesting mix of clouds, sun and ‘sea’.

Cleveland – September 2018 – US Sailing Championships

Festival, Nature, Sports, Transportation

A late September sunny, cool & breezy Saturday was the perfect setting for the US Sailing Championships in Cleveland. Held near Edgewater Beach, the event features teams of 6 competing together in 3 boats.

The headquarters for the event was the Old Coast Guard Station at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River.

We had visited this location before, but never had the chance to go inside. The boathouse was fantastic, and on this day actually being used as a boathouse.

The action took place inside the breakwater.

As they would sail around the harbor, the boats would tip steeply, forcing the crew to quickly jump to the other side to balance them out.

There were a variety of great backgrounds to shoot. From this view the Edgewater Marina sailboat masts framed the small crafts.

A freighter was offloading coal nearby.

The apartment buildings along the Gold Coast in Lakewood is directly across the lake from the Coast Guard Station vantage point.

While we watched the Nautica Queen passed by.

At times it appeared to be more like roller derby than sailing.

Their routes around the harbor took them near one of the lighthouses at the mouth of the river.

Clearly having the boats pitched side to side was the fastest way around the course.

They race identical boats provided by a local sailing group known as the Foundry. Most had sails with a giant Cleveland logo on them.

The Chamber of Commerce moment number 1 – Sailboats with Cleveland sails going past the art deco Coast Guard building.

Most of the teams were male/female, which is apparently how you get to the ideal maximum weight of 290 pounds for the crew.

The Chamber of Commerce moment number 2 – Sailboat with a Cleveland sail going past the lighthouse.

The racing was continuous with numerous heats constantly coming and going.

More close action. Amazingly nobody went into the water, but these are some of the best sailors in the country, as the teams came from all over for this event.