Boothbay Harbor Windjammer Days and Tall Ships festivals

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    VictoryChimes-2012-FredLeBlancPhoto.jpg

    VICTORY CHIMES returns for Windjammer Days after almost two decades!  Courtesy of PenBay Pilot/Fred LeBlanc photo

     

    Welcome to the Tall Ships Festival – June 25-27 – what a lead-in!

    Boothbay Harbor’s 59th Windjammer Days – June 27-July 3

    Find times and dates for contests: lobster eating, codfish relay races, the youth pageant competition Boothbay’s Got Talent, rock skipping (virtual for spectators); kids activities, Artists Alley; Blessing of the Fishing Fleet, Antique Boat Parade, Lighted Boat Parade, the Gathering  of the Fleet in the harbor; Pirates of the Dark Rose; fireworks; Haunted, Maritime and Historical tours by Red Cloak Tours – choose  your own teletour(s); the all new Porch Parade; pancake breakfasts; and tours of the Tall Ships!

     CLICK HERE FOR THE CALENDAR OF EVENTS

     

     

    Celebrating the Bicentennial one year later, Friends of Windjammer Days is bringing the Tall Ships Festival, planned for 2020, to Boothbay Harbor June 25-27 in partnership with Tall Ships of America.

    The Tall Ships are Spirit of Bermuda, Privateer Lynx, Nao Santa Maria and Alert.

    There will be deck tours of all ships except Alert; however, custom charters are being offered aboard Alert.

    Tickets are $20 per person for the deck tours and available to buy only through eventbrite:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/boothbay-harbor-windjammer-days-tall-ships-festival-tickets-154249072127 fbclid=IwAR2D2u70006U2akTlI4yOU2axgnq97emqN8H-iHCDoqrPIapvW6Que_TKDk

    There are 1,500 tickets. Only 20% will be available during the Festival at the Friends of WJD information tent in Whale Park. So, if you really want a deck tour ... don’t wait!

    For more information, read the article below, or just click the tickets link!

    Tall Ship Spirit of Bermuda

    Capt. Alex Peacock

    Built in Rockport

    Sparred length is 118’ with three masts

    Spirit of Bermuda has provided life-changing experiences to more than 4,500 young people. Captain Alex Peacock will be at her helm. Alex is the son of Don Peacock, captain of the Tall Ship Privateer Lynx.

    Captain Don Peacock
    Homeport Nantucket Island, Massachusetts
    122’ long
    tallshiplynx.com

    Lynx was the largest shipbuilding project ever undertaken by Rockport Marine in Rockport, and was the first square-rigged vessel built in the area since 1885.

    Docked at Public Landing after Gathering of the Fleet

    Tall Ship Nao Santa Maria

    Homeport: Seville, Spain

    Sparred length: 95’ - five decks, four iron masts

    In 2018, a spectacular replica of the Santa Maria was launched off the coast of Spain by the non-profit Nao Victoria Foundation. Nao Santa Maria is a full-scale replica of La Santa Maria, the largest of the three Spanish ships Columbus used in his first voyage. Nao Santa Maria has been adapted with innovative systems for greater maneuverability and durability. Below deck is a museum about her.

    Tall Ship Schooner Alert

    Captains Bethany McNelly-Davis and Perry Davis
    Homeport Bailey Island
    70' long

    The Schooner and Tall Ship Alert is a 70’ traditional wooden plank on frame design.

    Designed and built by Paul Rollins with a team of shipwrights in York. In 1992, she was christened Tall Cotton and sailed between Florida and Mt. Desert Island. She was later converted into a commercial fishing vessel and renamed Alert.

    Visit the website or Alert Boothbay Harbor Sailing Schedule

    Docked at Boothbay Harbor Oceanside Golf Resort after Gathering of the Fleet. Custom tours are available.

    Captains Sam Sikkema and Cara Lauzon
    Homeport Rockland
    127.5’ long
    victorychimes.com

    Victory Chimes is a three-masted, gaff-rigged Chesapeake Ram schooner. Originally designed for and used as a general purpose cargo hauler, she was converted to a passenger cruise vessel in 1946.

    She has not been to Boothbay Harbor for Windjammer Days in almost two decades!

    Welcome back, Victory Chimes!

    Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Schooner Ernestina Commission
    Homeport New Bedford, Massachusetts 
    156’ long
    In restoration at Bristol Marine, Boothbay Harbor

    Shipwright Ross Branch will speak at the shipyard on Monday, June 28, 4-5 p.m. No tickets are necessary. All are welcome. Donations will be accepted and 100% of the proceeds will go to the Schooner Ernestina-Morrissey Association.

    Captains Tom and Jennifer Smith
    Homeport Boothbay Harbor

    65' long
    schoonereastwind.com

    Her home is Pier 6, Fisherman's Wharf Inn, where four trips are offered daily.

    Captain John Foss
    Homeport Rockland
    122' long
    schooneramericaneagle.com

    Schooner American Eagle was launched June 2, 1930 and was the last fishing schooner built in Gloucester, Massachusetts. By 1983, the years of fishing had taken its toll. She was taken to North End Shipyard in 1984 where Captain Foss, assisted by five other schooner captains, completely restored her. Foss launched her in April 1986.

    At anchor inner harbor after Gathering of the Fleet.

    Captain Levi Johnston of Boothbay Harbor
    Homeport Blue Hill
    46’ long
    Built in 1945 Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

    Docked at Fisherman’s Wharf after Gathering of the Fleet

    The Lewis R. French is 150 years old this year!

    Captain Garth Wells
    Homeport Rockland

    101' long, with four lower sails and two topsails
    schoonerfrench.com

    Built by the French brothers and named for their father, the schooner Lewis R. French was launched in April, 1871, in Christmas Cove. She is the last schooner remaining of thousands built in Maine during the 19th century. The French is still operated much how she would have been during the age of sail. She has no inboard engine, relying on 3,000 square feet of sail to propel her.

    Schooner and Tall Ship Harvey Gamage 

    Homeport Portland

    Built and launched in South Bristol in 1973, she was restored in summer 2015. The SSV Harvey Gamage is a U.S. Coast Guard-certified tall ship that hosts experiential learning programs at sea for teens. The programs are run by Sailing Ships Maine of Portland

    In 2019 alone, tall ship Harvey Gamage took more than 200 teenagers to sea on five-day voyages in the Gulf of Maine. In summer 2020, Harvey Gamage was the sole sail training schooner able to operate with students in the U.S.

    Captain Harold Burnham
    Homeport Gloucester, Massachusetts
    58' long pinky schooner

    Named for the captain’s grandmother, Ardelle is constructed almost entirely from recycled material and much of her timber came from trees discarded by local arborists and tree companies.

    schoonerardelle.com

    Docked at Boothbay Harbor Marina Monday and Tuesday

    Captains Sean Grimes and Ben Welzenbach
    Homeport Rockland
    95' long - 165 tons
    schoonerheritage.com

    Built and designed in 1983 by former longtime owners Doug and Linda Lee who modeled her after a 19th century cargo-hauling coaster.

    At anchor inner harbor after Gathering of the Fleet

    Captain Will McLean
    Homeport Castine
    88' long
    bowdoin.edu

    The Schooner Bowdoin was built during the winter of 1920-21 at Hodgdon Brothers Shipyard, now Hodgdon Yachts, in East Boothbay. The ship is a two-masted auxiliary schooner, double-planked, and double-framed with white oak.

    Bowdoin arrives in Boothbay Harbor July 1-3.

    Captain Colby Pearson
    Homeport Tenants Harbor
    37’ long, one-of-a-kind, custom-built traditional wooden gaff-rigged ketch
    sailjennyives.com

    Jenny Ives was built in Boothbay Harbor in 1981, a collaboration by Maine boatbuilder Hall of Famer Roy Blaney and Naval architect Thomas C Gillmer of Annapolis, Maryland. Roy Blaney built boats in Boothbay Harbor for about 25 years before he got the chance to build a boat of his own, the Jenny Ives, his 24th boat.

    Docked at Boothbay Harbor Oceanside Golf Resort after Gathering of the Fleet

    Captain J. B. Smith
    Homeport Bath
    73' Long

    Built in Bath in 1906 by Thomas E. Hagan, Mary E was his last vessel on the property where Bath Iron Works is located.

    mainemaritimemuseum.org

    Docked at Public Landing after Gathering of the Fleet

    Captain Fred Bowers
    Homeport Wiscasset
    52' long

    The Sycamore is a steel, two-masted schooner built by Fred Bowers over 16 years. It is a steel representation of a pinky schooner, one of two vessel designs originally used in Maine's fisheries in the early 19th century. She is named after sycamore trees that surrounded the builder's home growing up.

    Docked at Lobster Dock after Gathering of the Fleet

    Captain Andrew Grainger
    Homeport Boston, Massachusetts
    Summer Home Pemaquid

    56’ overall

    Built in 1939 by Goudy & Stevens (now Hodgdon Yachts) in East Boothbay, True North is an Alden Schooner. She is one of approximately 45 of the original Alden Schooners left in the world.

    Captain J.R. Braugh
    Homeport Rockland
    82' long

    Launched from Hodgdon Brothers Shipyard, East Boothbay

    Formerly the Nathaniel Bowditch, Ladona has been known for her beauty, swiftness, and strength since the day she was christened in 1922. Elegantly designed by William Hand, she was commissioned by Homer Loring as a private yacht.

    The Friends of Windjammer Days will have an information tent in Whale Park. Shuttle maps. Windjammer Days guides produced by the Boothbay Register and Wiscasset Newspaper; a portion of tickets for the Tall Ships deck tours of the Privateer Lynx, Spirit of Bermuda and Nao Santa Maria. Commemorative T-shirts, the student-designed 2021 T-shirt, caps and masks.

    The tent is also the location to sign up for the lobster eating contest – the first 10 – and cod fish relay races. Teams of four for the relay races must be intact at sign up.

    WindjammerDays-e-Edition