Captain Brenda Thomas

Captain Brenda Thomas of the Maine Windjammer

Schooner ISAAC H. EVANS

Schooner Stephen Taber

Stephen Taber was built in 1871 on Long Island, New York to transport cargoes of brick, coal, lumber, oysters and a variety of other cargoes. From 1871 thru 1920 Stephen Taber hauled freight around Long island sound and up the Hudson River. In 1936 she was brought Downeast rebuilt and used to haul lumber on Penobscot Bay. Stephen Taber was finally in 1946 once again refitted for the Maine windjammer passenger trade. She has become known as the "Good Luck Vessel" because of the caring attention she received from a series of owners through her many decades of service. The Stephen Taber is the oldest documented sailing vessel in continuous service in the United States and has been designated a National Historic Landmark. In 1980 the Stephen Taber was bought by Captain Ken Barnes who sailed her in the Maine windjammer passenger trade for 25 years, today his son Captain Noah Barnes sails her home ported out of Rockland, Maine.

Schooner WAWONA

The once-elegant schooner WAWONA ( three massted 165' ) will embark on its last voyage Monday, leaving its South Lake Union moorage for a nearby dry dock to be dismantled, Seattle, Washington. A badly deteriorated Wawona, once powered by four huge sails in Pacific coastal waters, has been moored for nearly 30 years near the Armory, awaiting a financial rescue that never came. Public-private fundraising efforts have been ongoing for decades in hopes of saving one of the largest three-masted schooners ever built on the West Coast. The Wawona once caught more cod than any other member of a 400-member Pacific schooner fleet -- and is now one of only two surviving fleet members. The Wawona's sister ship, the C.A. Thayer in San Francisco, years ago received federal, local and nonprofit support to undergo a historic renovation estimated to cost $13 million. But such funding did not come the Wawona's way, in some ways hurt by the federally funded effort in San Francisco.

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Damaged Spirit of South Carolina

The Spirit of South Carolina went into a Newport, R.I., dry dock Monday for inspections and repairs after lightning struck near the boat July 27 while the ship was sailing just off Block Island. Coast Guard and insurance inspectors found no signs that lightning actually struck the boat — no charring, no melted wires. While the anti-lightning equipment on the boat prevented a direct strike, it appears the charge hit the water and traveled up the propeller shafts. Just about everything electronic on the ship was fried. The damage is going to be well past $100,000, maybe twice that.

Wind Power

Sometimes it takes an energy crisis to make us realize the value of old technology. As oil prices soar, tall wind-powered ship are looking like an increasingly viable alternative.
A British schooner docked in Penzance yesterday carrying 30,000 bottles of wine on a voyage that enthusiasts believe will herald a return to wind power in merchant shipping.
The first commercial cargo of French wine to be transported by sail in the modern era is due in Dublin this week after a six-day journey, which is being touted as a green and ultimately cheap alternative to fuel propulsion.
The 108-year-old, wooden, triple-masted Kathleen & May has been chartered by the Compagnie de Transport Maritime à la Voile (CTMV), a shipping company established in France to specialise in merchant sailing.