Jen, Barry and the Schooner Mary Day
Donation protected
The COVID pandemic has touched all of our lives.
If you have ever sailed with us, you know that Jen and I consider ourselves temporary caretakers of your schooner. We are just passing through, have been for almost 30 years now. Hopefully, we will be here for a while longer. Captain Barry doesn’t really know how to do anything else.
Pulling the plug on last summer was a choice we made to protect you, our crew, our family, community, and our business. By the end of June, we were running out of options even though we had been an active part of creating the state guidance by which we were ordered to operate. We just couldn’t, knowing the risks, take guests sailing.
Asking for help is a challenge. We have worked hard, kept our fares as reasonable as possible, and always found winter jobs to make ends meet. Asking for help feels like we have somehow failed. We are afraid to find out what we do and who we are are somehow not worthy of support during these challenging times. The reality is that no amount of hard work could prepare any of us for this kind of setback. Such are the risks in business. But, operating mary Day is not just a business. We are confident that Mary Day has positively touched the lives of everyone who has been connected to her. We believe that giving folks an affordable chance to get away from it all, unplug from their cares and recharge their souls makes the world a better place.
Our involvement has been a long love affair with you, our guests, our crew, our community, and people along the coast of Maine. As we hoisted the tree aloft for the holiday season, we did so with humility and gratitude to all of you who have kept this dream alive. Every year we receive comments about how beautiful the schooner looks under sail, how proud people are that Maine is home to the largest fleet of commercial sailing vessels in America, how much that Christmas tree at the masthead fills the harbor, and many hearts with joy, warmth, and light.
The annual costs of preparing the schooner to get underway each spring are formidable. We rewrote our refund policy to reflect the compassion required and the uncertainty we all faced during the early months of the pandemic. While some guests we able to apply their deposits to the upcoming season we felt strongly about providing refunds to those whose lives were filled with as much uncertainty as ours. We dedicated the small amount of federal aid we received to keep the crew employed through the end of August. As we approach the end of the year and have exhausted federal aid, including a substantial Economic Injury Disaster Loan, we find ourselves still filled with some uncertainty about our future.
The advent and approval of several covid vaccines show us a light at the end of the tunnel. But, here we are, still in the tunnel. And we will most likely just be emerging from the tunnel at the beginning of next season. As a result, we will dedicate several additional 2 person cabins for single travelers on a first-come, first-served basis. Unless they feel totally comfortable, we will not be asking guests to share with someone unfamiliar to them. The result will be a substantial reduction in our potential revenue. We make these decisions given what we know and with the same dedication to everyone's welfare and safety that caused us to pull the plug on last season.
With these thoughts in mind, we are opening ourselves up to the many offers of help we have kindly received from so many of you. And we continue to ask that you keep us close in your good thoughts as we keep you close in hearts. We send you all our best wishes throughout the year but especially during this holiday season.
Our heartfelt thanks to all of you for your continued kindness, compassion, and resolute determination to support each other during these challenging times.
Best wishes and happy holidays,
Jen and Barry, Sawyer and Courtney, Colby and Tucker...and Alpine, the cat.
If you have ever sailed with us, you know that Jen and I consider ourselves temporary caretakers of your schooner. We are just passing through, have been for almost 30 years now. Hopefully, we will be here for a while longer. Captain Barry doesn’t really know how to do anything else.
Pulling the plug on last summer was a choice we made to protect you, our crew, our family, community, and our business. By the end of June, we were running out of options even though we had been an active part of creating the state guidance by which we were ordered to operate. We just couldn’t, knowing the risks, take guests sailing.
Asking for help is a challenge. We have worked hard, kept our fares as reasonable as possible, and always found winter jobs to make ends meet. Asking for help feels like we have somehow failed. We are afraid to find out what we do and who we are are somehow not worthy of support during these challenging times. The reality is that no amount of hard work could prepare any of us for this kind of setback. Such are the risks in business. But, operating mary Day is not just a business. We are confident that Mary Day has positively touched the lives of everyone who has been connected to her. We believe that giving folks an affordable chance to get away from it all, unplug from their cares and recharge their souls makes the world a better place.
Our involvement has been a long love affair with you, our guests, our crew, our community, and people along the coast of Maine. As we hoisted the tree aloft for the holiday season, we did so with humility and gratitude to all of you who have kept this dream alive. Every year we receive comments about how beautiful the schooner looks under sail, how proud people are that Maine is home to the largest fleet of commercial sailing vessels in America, how much that Christmas tree at the masthead fills the harbor, and many hearts with joy, warmth, and light.
The annual costs of preparing the schooner to get underway each spring are formidable. We rewrote our refund policy to reflect the compassion required and the uncertainty we all faced during the early months of the pandemic. While some guests we able to apply their deposits to the upcoming season we felt strongly about providing refunds to those whose lives were filled with as much uncertainty as ours. We dedicated the small amount of federal aid we received to keep the crew employed through the end of August. As we approach the end of the year and have exhausted federal aid, including a substantial Economic Injury Disaster Loan, we find ourselves still filled with some uncertainty about our future.
The advent and approval of several covid vaccines show us a light at the end of the tunnel. But, here we are, still in the tunnel. And we will most likely just be emerging from the tunnel at the beginning of next season. As a result, we will dedicate several additional 2 person cabins for single travelers on a first-come, first-served basis. Unless they feel totally comfortable, we will not be asking guests to share with someone unfamiliar to them. The result will be a substantial reduction in our potential revenue. We make these decisions given what we know and with the same dedication to everyone's welfare and safety that caused us to pull the plug on last season.
With these thoughts in mind, we are opening ourselves up to the many offers of help we have kindly received from so many of you. And we continue to ask that you keep us close in your good thoughts as we keep you close in hearts. We send you all our best wishes throughout the year but especially during this holiday season.
Our heartfelt thanks to all of you for your continued kindness, compassion, and resolute determination to support each other during these challenging times.
Best wishes and happy holidays,
Jen and Barry, Sawyer and Courtney, Colby and Tucker...and Alpine, the cat.
Organizer
Barry King
Organizer
Union, ME
