A replica 16th Century junk has sunk off Taiwan, one day short of completing an epic voyage to the United States and back.
Mary Day was built in 1962 by Harvey Gamage of south Bristol, Maine for Captain Havilah ( "Bubs" ) Hawkins. The Mary Day was the first vessel built specifically for the Maine windjammer passenger trade; also she is the only schooner with double topsail rig in the windjammer fleet. Today the Mary Day is owned and operated by Captains Barry and Jennifer King and is home ported in Camden, Maine. Length: 90' , Beam: 23' 6", Draft: 7' ( 15' centerboard down ), Displacement: 90 tons, Sail Area: 4500 sq. feet
Mercantile was built in 1916 by the Billings family of Deer Isle, Maine. She was built as a shoal draft centerboard two masted schooners to transport cargos of barrel staves and firewood to the lime kilns along the Maine coast. Mercantile also carried cargoes of salt fish from Frenchboro and Swans Island Maine to Gloucester, Massachusetts. In 1942 joined Frank Swift's fleet of windjammers in the passenger trade. Mercantile has also been designated as a National Historic Landmark. Today she is home ported out of Camden, Maine owned and operated by Captain Ray Williamson. Length: 80', Beam: 22' , Draft: 6' 7" ( 10' 7" centerboard down ) ,Sail Area: 3015 sq. feet
The Thomas W. Lawson was a seven-masted, steel-hulled schooner originally planned for the Pacific trade, but then used primarily to haul coal and oil along the East Coast of the United States. Built in 1902, the ship holds the distinction of being the largest schooner and the largest pure sailing ship (without an auxiliary engine) ever built. The Thomas W. Lawson was a seven masted steel schooner designed by Bowdoin B. Crowninshield and built by the Fore River Ship & Engine Building Co., Quincy, MA, she carried 25 sails in all, 7 gaffsails, 7 topsails, 6 staysails and 5 jibs, with a total area of 43.000 sq feet and with a weight of 18 tons. The sails were made by the sailmaking firm E.L. Rowe & Son of Gloucecester, MA. In 1907, the Thomas W. Lawson was lost on December 13th, off Britain’s Scilly Isles, while riding out a gale, the anchor chain broke and the schooner foundered on Hellweather Reef with the loss of 15 of the of the crew. 
Lewis R. French was launched in April of 1871 at Christmas Cove, Maine. She is the oldest commercial schooner in the United States and is the last remaining of thousands built in Maine during the 19th century. She freighted cargos of bricks, lumber, firewood, granite, fish, lime, supplies and Christmas trees. In 1971 the Lewis R. French was totally rebuilt for the Maine windjammer passenger trade and has been designated a National Historic Landmark. Today Lewis R. French is owned and operated by Captain Garth Wells and Jenny Tobin, she is home ported in Camden, Maine. For the rest of the story CLICK HERE.
The Spanish navy’s four-masted tall ship Juan Sebastián de Elcano is returning to Galveston, where it is due to dock Friday 4/3/2009 for a five-day public visit. The 81-year-old sail-training ship, named after the Spanish sailor who was the first man to circumnavigate the world in 1522, is on its second visit to the island, having berthed in the port in 2005.The topsail schooner, which has a crew of 223 and 20 sails covering 3,151 square meters when fully set, will dock at Pier 21, next to the home of Texas’ own tall ship, the three-masted Elissa. Juan Sebastián de Elcano will set sail April 8 for ports in Colombia, Cuba and Mexico before sailing into Pensacola, Fla., on her way back to Spain. 
