What Does Down East Really Mean?

Clinker Built - 6"x8" oil on canvas panel

Each summer we take our boat down east from Yarmouth, ME, for a 10-12 day voyage. We visit harbors that we love and try to find someplace new to visit each year.  Often we meet up with friends on their boats. It’s an idyllic time if the weather cooperates, and somewhat of an adventure if not.

Clinker Built, the painting above, was a tender to a lovely sailboat that we saw in the harbor at Isle au Haut, at the bottom Merchants Row, south of Deer Isle. I’ve drawn and painted this boat lots of times, she’s such a classic.

Ruby - 5"x7" oil on gessobord

We split our time between harbors with villages, restaurants, and shops, and out of the way anchorages with only birds as companions. And of course, we see lots of other boats, both working vessels and pleasure craft. I love to draw and paint both types, and they were my chosen subjects for the holiday paintings for my galleries this year. These are at the Drawing Room in New Bedford.

Ruby is moored in the little harbor that houses Billings Marine, near Stonington on Deer Isle. I don’t know the boat’s name, it was too far away from our mooring, but I loved the color, which gave me a name for the painting.

Sailing Dinghies - 8"x10" oil on canvas panel

Just outside the inner harbor at Christmas Cove, we often see a sailing class. The kids bop around in their Optimist prams, a very popular boat for teaching children. I had to put together a few photos to create this painting, making sure to get the sizes right to make some farther away than the others.

And back at our neighborhood dock someone had left the nice dinghy in the painting below tied up at the float. I was able to get a few good photos before they rowed it away.

Dinghy Color - 6"x6" oil on canvas panel

But what about the whole down east thing? We say we’re sailing down east when we go up the coast of Maine because the coast goes in an easterly direction. The wind is generally from the southwest, so we sail down wind. Thus it’s called heading down east. And down east Maine to me is the area starting at Penobscot bay, and beyond towards Canada.