Windjammers

One of the common sites along the coast of Maine is the windjammer. These are historic vessels which were once fishing schooners, coasting freighters, oyster dredgers and pilot schooners. Today there are about 20 windjammers which take paying passengers out. At Swans Island we had a couple windjammers spend the night at anchor with us. The one pictured close by Ariel is the Nathaniel Bowditch. Designed by William Hand, the Schooner Nathaniel Bowditch was built in 1922 in East Boothbay, Maine as a private racing yacht. In 1923 she was entered the Bermuda Cup under her original name, Ladona. She won the race in 1927. Her second owner renamed her Jane Dore after his daughter.

In 1942 she was commissioned by the US Coast Guard and assigned to Offshore Patrol to search for German submarines off New York Harbor. During this time she received two citations by the Commander of the Eastern Sea Frontier US Coast Guard for seaworthiness in poor weather.
After the war she got into the fishing industry as a commercial dragger out of Stonington, CT.
This schooner has a captain and a crew of five. They looked to have about 20 guest on board spending almost all of their time on deck. Below deck are sleeping accommodations and the heads. The meals were served up on the main deck.

It was very interesting watching them come into the anchorage. They sailed in, turned into the wind to slow the boat and at the right moment let the anchor go. We enjoyed watching the guest get involved in activities on board, jumping in for a swim, or climbing the rigging.