Required Reading for ALL Wine Sail PASSENGERS
Congratulations, you got your wine sail reservation! Please read this page in its entirety (and forward it to everyone in your party so they have all of the necessary information) to be on time and adequately prepared for your wine sail. Below you will all find important information about arrival time (no later than 20 minutes before departure time), location, attire, temps, and weather.
Add your Wine Sail to your calendar
Arrival time is 20 minutes before departure time.
Location
Here is the location on Google Maps. We are sailing on the beautiful Frances at Maine Sailing Adventures, located on the Maine State Pier at 56 Commercial Street (where Commercial Street meets Franklin Street). The signage from the road is not so great. Casco Bay Lines is right there as well. You'll walk down the paved road to the pier with the Whale Wall on your left and the Casco Bay Ferry Terminal on your right. Keep walking on to the Maine State Pier (past gate 5 of the Casco Bay Ferry Terminal). On the pier, to the right, you will see two sheds for two sailing companies. Please wait by the Maine Sailing Adventures/Frances shed.
Arrival/Departure Time
Please arrive early to be in line no later than 20 minutes before departure time. You do not need to check in at the shack. The Captain or I will come to get everyone and bring you down the gangway to the boat 15-20 minutes before departure, escort you from the pier to the dock, and you'll check in with me as you board the boat.
Traffic/Parking
We cannot stress this enough ... traffic in to Portland has reached an all-time high. Plan on it taking 2-3 times longer to get into the city and find a place to park. For three reasons ... traffic coming in can be quite heavy, road and highway construction projects are in full swing, and in the Old Port vehicle and pedestrian traffic is a major challenge. I would avoid driving on Commercial Street ... it is usually at a crawl because of pedestrian foot traffic.
Here is a google map of parking garages and lots. Plan extra time to find parking. Beware of the garage on the corner of Fore and Pearl streets, as it closes at 6 pm sometimes. And the Casco Bay Ferry Terminal Parking Garage at the Pier is usually full this time of year with cars from island residents. I do not recommend driving your car down there. It is highly likely you will be stuck in traffic.
Late Arrivals
If by chance you do arrive late, and if we are still at the dock, here's where you can find us; immediately in front of the second shack, you will see the gangway to walk down to the dock. Proceed down the gangway to the dock and walk to the end of the dock to The Frances and ask for me. We will be leaving the dock at our stated departure time.
Food/Water/Other Beverages
Please bring your own water bottle. We will provide each attendee an individually boxed selection of cheeses, charcuterie, nuts, fruits, crackers. Due to the nature of our events, we are not able to accommodate any food allergies, omissions, or substitutions. Feel free to bring your own snacks, you are more than welcome to do that.
Attire/Temps
Chances are that it will be warmer on land, so please bring a warm sweater, jacket, or something to wrap up in, with you. The Captain also asks that non-marking flat shoes or sneakers be worn. She also asks you to not wear high-heel shoes for safety reasons and to maintain the beauty of the boat deck.
Inclement Weather
We will not sail in the heavy rain. If there is a chance of heavy rain, we will send an email out to everyone in the morning to touch base. If by chance, the sail is canceled due to inclement weather, we will reschedule you on another sail or issue you a refund, whichever you prefer. The Captain will keep an eye on any weather issues and make the call roughly an hour before departure time or sooner if it appears that rain is imminent. This is the nature of Maine weather and the nature of sailing.
Cancellations/Reschedules/No Shows
Due to our size, cancellations and rescheduling requests affect us significantly. It’s not always possible for us to see your correspondence on the days we have events. With this in mind, we have updated our policies for the 2024 season regarding cancellation and rescheduling requests. We are not able to accommodate cancellation or reschedule requests 24 hours before the start of the event.
Please note, once you have purchased your tickets our policy requires that to refund or reschedule Wine Wise must first be able to resell your tickets which includes a cancellation or rescheduling fee per ticket. We recommend reaching out as early as possible if you need to cancel or reschedule to allow ample time to resell your tickets. The sooner we are aware, the better the chances. You are always welcome to send a friend or family member in your place or sell your tickets yourself, just provide us with the new ticket holder's name and email address so we can send them the event notifications, location details, and any day-of weather-related notifications. There are no refunds or rescheduling for no-shows or tickets we cannot resell.
Cancellation Requests: If you can contact us before 24 hours of your scheduled event, and we can resell your tickets, we can refund your ticket price minus a $30 credit card transaction and cancellation fee per ticket. When reaching out to make a cancellation request, please include your order number.
Reschedule Requests: If you can contact us before 24 hours of your scheduled event, and we can resell your tickets, we can reschedule you to a different date with availability for a $15 rescheduling fee per ticket. When reaching out to make a rescheduled request, please include your order number and the event you would like to be rescheduled to. Please note that if an event displays that there is only one ticket available or the event is sold out, that is accurate.
Questions?
Please refer to our FAQ page at winewiseevents.com/faq for immediate answers to frequently asked questions.
This is going to be an amazing wine excursion.
Cheers!
Erica