Ahoy there, readers! Welcome aboard today’s nautical-themed blog post! With the help of our spyglass we can just begin to make out the end of the summer like a mirage on the distant horizon, but there’s still plenty of fun left to be had this season! Today, each intrepid Apogee crew took to the high seas in search of adventure. Though no pirate’s booty was actually pillaged during the day’s events, those sailing under the Apogee flag discovered that working together as a team, having fun, and forging friendships of a lifetime was the real treasure all along!
Skip to a Specific Trip: MCJ, CI, NEMCA, NEMCB, MCCE, MCP, DEXA, DEXB, VLCA, VLCB, CMC, GSA, AKMC, NWX, PC, ACC2
Maine Coast Junior (MCJ)
Avast – that watermelon is as big as a cannonball! It’s already day 4 for our MCJ landlubbers! The day was spent bicycling along Acadia’s famous carriage roads and sipping hot chocolate grog in the drizzly weather. Though a little rainy, nobody had to look hard to find views so worthy they deserve to be carved into a coffer of gold!
Cape Cod & the Islands (CI)
Today, the stalwart CI crew of sea roving marauders took to their bikes yet again for a smooth ride under cloudy summer skies. With the wind at their backs and the salty smell of the briny deep in their noses, nothing could stop the mariners from raising their metaphorical mainsails and cruising during the 14 mile-long ride.
New England Mountains & Coast A (NEMCA)
Today marks the last day hiking in the White Mountains for this band of scallywags! And it looks like they made the most of it! It’s sad to say farewell to the mountains, but tomorrow the crew will turn broadside and make a run towards the coast. Let’s hope tomorrow’s community service project in Maine isn’t swabbing the decks!
New England Mountains & Coast B (NEMCB)
Batten down yer hatches, mateys, and get a good eye on this! The fearless NEMC crew summitted Mt. Washington today! This is a gritty feat, even for the saltiest and most-experienced seafaring buccaneers around. Hearty kudos and silver doubloons for all! Yo, ho, ho!
Maine Coast College Essay (MCCE)
It was all hands on deck today as the fierce and lawless MCCE crew brought a spring upon ‘er and set the compass for the local community garden for a service project in the soil. Once there, it was “fire in the hole,” and the whole gang jumped to work without hesitating at sweat or mud. Of course, there was also time to workshop topic sentences and debate the use of the oxford comma. Who says pirates can’t work hard AND be grammarian scholars?
Maine Coast Photo (MCP)
Arrgh, it’s Cap’n Hannah and Cap’n Donny with a crewmate in the crow’s nest! These roguish oceangoing scallywags spent the morning–you guessed it–behind their lenses, snapping photographs from the deck to the mizzenmast and everywhere in between. The crew then teamed up with the Boothbay Harbor Land Trust for an afternoon of community service. They swabbed the forest and put their backs into some trail maintenance. Heave ho!
Maine’s Downeast Explorer (DEXA)
Blow me down, and call me Jack – the day is finally here! Today, the unflinching DEX A crew–notoriously daring as they are–disembarked off the coast of Harpswell in a fleet of kayaks and are clipping towards their island campsite! As they paddled, the crew sang shanties that echoed across the unceasing waves of azure and prepared for a mystical night under the stars at the island.
Maine’s Downeast Explorer (DEXB)
Blimey handsomely, and fly the jib! DEX B swapped their sea legs for hiking legs and is making a run for Katahdin today! Towering at 5,269 feet (that’s 1,606 meters for all the metric buccaneers out there) of elevation, this sea monster of a mountain is the highest in Maine. We didn’t receive DEX B’s message in a bottle with their photograph yet, but the tide should be in our favor to get the picture to us tomorrow!
Vermont & Lake Champlain A (VLCA)
Today, VLC A’s Captain’s Log read something like this: “Twenty-eight more miles under our wheels this day, and the crew is in high spirits. The white whale still eludes us, but merrymaking and shanty-singing is undeniably fun for all. Tomorrow, we shall weigh anchor in Burlington, the port city that has assuredly stood on the horizon of our journey. Yo ho!”
Vermont & Lake Champlain B (VLCB)
VLC B cruised 31 miles of Vermont roads as if the pavement was the tufted whitecaps of a glistening sea. There is a peculiar similarity between billowing rugs of farmland grass and the undulating rollers of the Atlantic. Each picturesque barn, a whaling ship; each quintessential covered bridge, a whale. How the mind is free on both the open ocean and the expansive New England field. Avast, ye hearties, avast!
California Mountains & Coast (CMC)
Blimey, how the time on my pocket watch goes ticking by! It seems like just yesterday the wee California Coasters were setting a sail, joining their new crew mates aboard the ship of friends. Today, sadly, they headed home once more. Fair thee well, CMC!
Golden State Adventure (GSA)
She may not be a grand vessel, but the kayak is a valiant ship for any pirate. Today our Golden State sailors heartily paddled their kayaks out to sea. Afterwards they took a ferry, a slightly larger galleon, to Ventura where they will camp for the night. Here here, GSA! *Note: They are not smiling in the photo below because they are concentrating so very harrrrrrd on the treasure maps before them. Do not worry, mateys!*
Alaska Mountains & Coast (AKMCA & AKMCB &AKMCC)
Thar she blows! Look at that breaching swordfish on the wall! It’s been an incredible two weeks for this undaunted crew of swashbuckling heroes, and now it’s almost time to say farewell and godspeed. Celebrations are certainly in order, and each AKMC crew found hearty grub and hardtack in Anchorage for the occasion last night. Today our sailers left us, we send them luck on their voyages! Here are photos from the AKMC A and AKMC C final dinners last eve.
Northwest Explorer (NWX A & B!)
Shiver me timbers – the trip is coming to a close! After 20 days on the expansive seas, these bearded crews of audacious sailors finally settled in Seattle to celebrate nearly three weeks of camaraderie, congeniality, and consort together. Though tomorrow they set sail for different horizons, they’ll spend one last night trading stories and reflecting on shared adventures. Farewell, NWX (A & B!) !!! May the wind always be at your back!
Pacific Coast (PC)
After a journey of more than 600 miles (that’s 521 nautical miles, folks) and finally crossing the Golden Gate Bridge yesterday, the resolute PC crew took time today to weigh anchor in San Francisco and explore. Grog and grub flowed aplenty at the celebratory dinner, and all mariners made merry with glee. Tomorrow, the crew will part to chase different horizons, but they’ll always have their memories to bond them all together. May you always have fair winds and following seas, PC! Farewell!
America Coast to Coast 2 (ACC2)
After a journey from one sea to another, the bold young ACC crew took a well-deserved day of recuperation in San Diego, the birthplace of California. One final dinner was shared together as the crew swapped stories of the trip and cemented the bonds of friendship forged on the deck of adventure. Tomorrow, they depart; we wish you nothing but full sheets and a rolling sea, ACC! Farewell, me hearties!
