Whaler Charles W. Morgan Hauled

Ernestina Returns Home

The historic fishing schooner Ernestina is returning to its home port of New Bedford after a nearly yearlong restoration project.
The 115-year-old vessel will leave the Boothbay Harbor Shipyard in Maine on Tuesday and travel under engine power to Gloucester and Boston, before arriving in New Bedford Harbor on Saturday May 9, 2009, where a welcoming ceremony is planned.
The state-owned vessel spent 11 months in Maine having planking and decking in the bow section of the hull above the waterline replaced. The restoration was funded by $500,000 from a Save America’s Treasures grant, $500,000 from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, and private donations.
The Ernestina was built in Essex in 1894 as a Grand Banks schooner.

Windjammer April Newsletter

Maine Windjammer Association April 2009 Newsletter

Tall Ship Duchesse Anne

On 7 March 1901, the sail ship Gross Herzogin Elizabeth is launched as German navy school ship. After WWI the instruction start again on board in 1921 until laid up in 1932. Seized in May 1945 by the Royal Navy, she is given to France as war damage compensation, renamed DUCHESSE ANNE and tug to Brest where she is abandonned until 1980. She was saved from scrap by the City of Dunkirk in 1981 and is currently an exhibit at Musee Portuaire Dunkerque

Princess Taiping Sinks

A replica 16th Century junk has sunk off Taiwan, one day short of completing an epic voyage to the United States and back.
The Ming dynasty-style Princess Taiping was trying to prove that China's greatest admiral, Zheng He, could have reached North America 600 years ago.
After surviving several storms during its 10-month voyage, the junk broke in two and sank after it was rammed by a freighter just off Taiwan's coast.
All 11 crew members were rescued after being found adrift on the wreckage.

Whaler Charles W. Morgan

Schooner Mary Day

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

Schooner Mercantile

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

Schooner Thomas W. Lawson

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.

Schooner Life

Schooner Life, a film documentary about legendary sea captain Zeb Tilton of Martha's Vineyard, and his iconic sailing vessel the schooner Alice S. Wentworth.

Schooner Lewis R. French

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.

Rebuilding Charles W. Morgan

New Maritime Art Prints

FOR THE REST OF THE STORY CLICK HERE

Tall Ship Juan Sebastián de Elcano

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.