Islesboro to West Palm Beach: Three guys, a barge and a Winnebago
Riding the waves between Monhegan Island and Provincetown, Mass. yesterday is a 1987 Winnebago American Cobra camper aboard a 1966 steel barge called ‘Clam.’ (Courtesy Steve Pixley)
The barge ‘Clam’ is loaded up and ready to depart for the Bahamas late Sunday morning. (Courtesy Steve Pixley)
Camden Harbormaster Steve Pixley at the wheel of the barge ‘Clam.’ (Courtesy Steve Pixley)
The sun goes down Monday on the Camden sailors, their Winnie bunkhouse and the barge ‘Clam,’ tied up at a dock in Provincetown, Mass. (Courtesy Steve Pixley)
Eric Scott brings the ‘Clam’ through the Cape Cod Canal Tuesday. (Courtesy Steve Pixley)
Another shot, sailing through the Cape Cod Canal. (Courtesy Steve Pixley)
And back out into the bay, Buzzards Bay, most likely. (Courtesy Steve Pixley)
Riding the waves between Monhegan Island and Provincetown, Mass. yesterday is a 1987 Winnebago American Cobra camper aboard a 1966 steel barge called ‘Clam.’ (Courtesy Steve Pixley)
The barge ‘Clam’ is loaded up and ready to depart for the Bahamas late Sunday morning. (Courtesy Steve Pixley)
Camden Harbormaster Steve Pixley at the wheel of the barge ‘Clam.’ (Courtesy Steve Pixley)
The sun goes down Monday on the Camden sailors, their Winnie bunkhouse and the barge ‘Clam,’ tied up at a dock in Provincetown, Mass. (Courtesy Steve Pixley)
Eric Scott brings the ‘Clam’ through the Cape Cod Canal Tuesday. (Courtesy Steve Pixley)
Another shot, sailing through the Cape Cod Canal. (Courtesy Steve Pixley)
And back out into the bay, Buzzards Bay, most likely. (Courtesy Steve Pixley)
CAPE COD, Mass. — For those who are Facebook friends with Camden Harbormaster Steve Pixley, you know there have been some high seas shenanigans going on since Sunday, but in an effort to make light of a tough and dangerous job. For those that are not on Facebook, or who have not yet friended "Pix," let us fill you in.
Having just finished getting the harbor ready for the first waves of spring activity in Camden, Pixley took a few days off for a little adventure with his good friend, Eric Scott, and Scott's son, Nick. The three men agreed to deliver the Clam, a 1966 steel barge, from Islesboro to the Bahamas.
"We took off Sunday at 11:30 a.m. out of Camden Harbor," said Pixley. “It was rough, rougher than I imagined and we got beat up pretty good.”
In addition to the three hardy, experienced sailors, a 1987 Winnebago American Cobra camper was tethered to the deck. Many of his Facebook friends have opined why they didn’t just drive the camper to its destination, but little did they know, it wasn’t the camper that needed relocating.
"It's quite comfortable quarters," said Pixley, speaking on his cellphone from somewhere on the water just beyond the Cape Cod Canal.
Pixley said he agreed to sail the Maine-to-New York leg of the trip, and once he arrives in the Big Apple, a college friend agreed to pick Pixley up and drive him back to Maine, and then stay and visit the Bold Coast for a while.
The Scotts plan to take the Clam and the Winnie from New York to West Palm Beach, Fla., where they'll drive the camper back to Maine and sell it.
"It's got 72,000 miles on it now, and Eric has a $500 buyer lined up when he gets back," said Pixley.
Pixley said the barge's unidentified owner plans to sail the Clam on the final leg, from West Palm to the Bahamas, and put it to work in the Caribbean.
Pixley said the start of the trip was pretty rough, as the weather and time of year made for rough seas.
"Fun and rough. Changed the fuel filter 16@$(!& times between monhegan and p town," posted Pixley on his Facebook page Monday afternoon.
He said that all that had changed after they spent an overnight tied up at the P-Town docks.
Tuesday has been spent motoring across Cape Cod Bay, through the Cape Cod Canal and out into Buzzards Bay.
"The Cape Cod Canal operator hailed us at one point and said, 'Vessel Clam, I have seen a lot of rigs come through here, but you take the cake.'"
Pixley said that if all goes as planned, which often times means just rolling with the waves, the Clam should be in the Bahamas in a couple of weeks and life in Camden Harbor should be back to normal.
Reach Editorial Director Holly S. Edwards at hollyedwards@penbaypilot.com and 207-706-6655
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Cape Cod Canal
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