Don Ramsay

Don Ramsay of Lincoln, Maine, retired from the family business, Ramsay Welding and Machine, in 1993. He and his wife, Joanne, soon began cruising the East Coast in a 35-foot trawler, the Ram-Sea. After Joanne died in 2002, Don resumed cruising, joined by a close friend, Betty Pickering, and others.

Somewhere on the Water, generously illustrated with photos from the author’s collection, is comprised largely of articles he wrote for the Lincoln News. It is Don Ramsay’s touching memoir filled with anecdotes, history, discovery, and much more that he wrote about while cruising up and down the near-shore waters between Maine and Florida on his 35-foot trawler, the Ram-Sea.

His observations and advice are pertinent for boaters of those same waters for generations after Don, Joanne, Betty, and friends made their own journeys, for the waterways, weather, fellow wayfarers, and ports of call change little over time.

And it matters that Don, with much to mourn at first while Joanne was at his side – and later, with Betty, as their combined losses mounted — found two unique ways to bring value and solace to their later years: touring the East Coast on their own live-aboard boat, and writing about it. While no one escapes disheartening sorrows and losses during their lives, some of us enduring more than others, there can be much yet to live for. That’s what Don and those closest to him sought to fulfill. May their example serve as inspiration to us all.

See Don’s author page at Amazon.com.

To get in touch with Don, send a request for contact to damnyankee.com@gmail.com.