.What should a mariner know about what’s going on in the sky? Captain Elliot Rappaport, a professor at Maine Maritime Academy with wide experience on large and small sailing vessels, wrote “Reading the Glass: A Captain’s View of Weather, Water, and Life on Ships.” On April 17 he spoke to coxswains from Castine Rowing and Blue Hill Community Rowing, whose job is to give rowers enjoyable exercise and, sometimes, racing – but whose main task is taking crews out and bringing them back safely, whether the clouds are puffy and pleasant or something big and back is building in the western sky.

Text, photo – Mark Baldwin