Star Stories of the Summer Sky Aboard the Schooner Huron Jewel

We’ll set sail with the First Quarter Moon of the Summer, where she adorns the night in the company of Spica, the star of abundance. Not to be outdone, the star Antares will glow deep and red from the region of Scorpio stars to the south, where the giant Jupiter holds sway over the sunset scene, while Saturn hovers nearby, in the region of Sagittarius stars. Such a configuration of Moon, planets and stars is the perfect set up for sharing stories of the night, with the great lake doubling as a mighty mirror, casting the sky up from below as we ponder its majesty above. The onset of July also brings the onset of the meteor season, for late night stargazers that want to stay on up on board to catch the rise of the thickest part of the Milky Way and the bold meteors that race on ahead of their peaks later in the month. Guests on the Star Stories cruise will have opportunities to engage by day with star maps and ancient star knowledge, in preparation for entertaining guidance into the night when the Sun goes down.

Once on board, we’ll cast off the dock lines and have you participate in the tall ship experience by helping hoist the sails. Once underway star lore historian, Mary Stewart Adams, will fill us with stories and information about how to read the stars of the nighttime sky. We’ll spend the afternoon sailing and learning then find a nice anchorage that will provide us with an unfettered view of the nighttime sky for Mary’s stories to continue as night drops her curtain over the sky.

You”ll wake the next morning to fresh brewed Huron Jewel breakfast blend coffee and a delicious made from scratch meal. We’ll then weigh anchor and haul on the halyards to raise sail again for the day’s voyages. Mary will continue to tell us stories and teach us about star maps to make our star gazing fun. After another delicious dinner again on board, we’ll learn about the different stars and planets that begin their performance as they journey across the nighttime sky.

In the morning of the third day, after breakfast, we’ll make our way back to the dock and you’ll be full of fabulous memories from your trip.

The star stories and night sky guidance will be provided by Mary Stewart Adams, star lore historian and founder of Michigan’s only International Dark Sky Park. A celebrated and award-winning speaker, Mary travels extensively advocating for dark skies and teaching a humanities-based approach to understanding the celestial world around us. From her home in Northern Michigan, Mary hosts the weekly public radio program “The Storyteller’s Night Sky” on IPR, where you can access over five years of star story archives.

Crescent Moon photo by Robert DeJonge