Sailing Schooner School in Session

As students locally return to school, we see the Harvey Gamage getting its final preparations before it picks up the new students in mid-September for Ocean Classroom's fall Semester at Sea.

The Harvey Gamage was recently launched after a summer of repair for a major plank and frame replacement renewal project. The focus for this year was the mid-ship. As part of a five-year cycle, the shipyard replaced around 64 futtocks (ribs of ship) and 22 planks in the midship area.

This fall term, Proctor Academy students from Proctor, New Hampshire board the traditional schooners, Harvey Gamage and Spirit of Massachusetts and embark on an open-ocean adventure: sailing down the east coast...through the Bahamas...south to Hispanola...and finally into San Juan Harbor. Along the way they gain full academic credit for their studies in maritime history, maritime literature and writing, navigational mathematics, marine science and seamanship skills in collaboration with Ocean Classroom Foundation.

In a year, the Ocean Classroom ships will visit between 12 and 16 countries. They cover between 4,500 and 6,000 miles under sail while the students serve as ship's crew and are regularly attending classes. The Ocean Classroom Foundation has programs for students from middle school up through college.

Watch the VIDEO on the Harvey Gamage at Boothbay Harbor Shipyard.

Boothbay Sailmaker Receives Award

Nathaniel S. Wilson, Boothbay Harbor Sail maker will receive the NMHS 2010 Distinguished Service Award from the National Maritime Historical Society. Nat will be honored for his thirty-five-year career as a sail maker and rigger, recognized as the pre-eminent sail maker of traditional sails in the country, if not the world. Some of the ships and yachts that Nat has made sails for have been built or refit here at Boothbay Harbor Shipyard such as: Alera, Valora, Harvey Gamage, Belle Aventure and Discovery.

The Society salutes his extensive record of helping to keep many of the historic and replica ships sailing, such as USS Constitution, USCG Eagle, Sultana, Clearwater, Spirit of Massachusetts, Pride of Baltimore II, American Eagle, Lettie G Howard, Mayflower II, Godspeed and Discovery. Nathaniel Wilson sails are sought after for vessels large and small, from performance and classic yachts to hearty working craft. The vessels that hoist his sails span the history of water navigation, from replicas of Viking ships to modern vessels, and are true-to-form in look, materials, construction, and performance. The Society also salutes Wilson’s support of sail training and maritime heritage educational programs. His reputation of generosity in sharing his craft and its history precedes him: be it for visiting ships, school groups, or middle and high school history teachers, or the impromptu demonstration for the interested visitor who comes by his loft. Click arrow on right side of the following booklet to turn pages.

Open publication - Free publishing - More sails

Ocean Classroom Schooners

The Ocean Classroom Foundation moved to their new home port in Boothbay Harbor. Our shipyard hosted the official welcome on October 1, 2007. With the move came the three schooners, The Spirit of Massachusetts, the Harvey Gamage and Westward.
Ocean Classroom Foundation moved because Boothbay Harbor is home to one of the finest plank-on-frame shipyards on the East Coast. These ships will travel with upwards of 24 youngsters on board during a school semester and they will range more than 4,000 miles away from their new home.
Students are taught ocean sciences, history (local, American and development of sea craft), literature, (poems by important authors of the sea; such as Conrad, London, Melville, Dana, etc.), manual skills such as rope work, rigging, sailing, celestial navigation.

Time to Go Sailing

There are few more delicious places in the world than in Boothbay Harbor, Maine in July, August and September . The crisp evenings and warm days allow the locals and visitors to enjoy the activities and the coastal waters to their fullest. Since you can't all be here with us to enjoy this experience, we want to share some images and video with you.

One special event in June is Windjammer Days, which includes a great view of tall ships, mostly two-masted schooners as they sail into Boothbay Harbor in the parade of sail. This year some of the schooners included: Alabama, American Eagle, Eastwind, Fame, Heritage, Lazy Jack, Lewis R. French, Nathaniel Bowditch, Rachel B. Jackson, Spirit of Massachusetts, Friendship of Salem and Spirit of South Carolina.

Here at the Boothbay Harbor Shipyard, we get pleasure from seeing many of these ships up close while they receive yearly maintenance. We have had many of these Windjammers here at the shipyard such as: Gazela of Philadelphia, Sherman Zwicker, Victory Chimes, Harvey Gamage and J&E Riggin.

As we gaze out at the harbor from the end of the dock, we often see magnificent yachts sailing like the Alera, which was restored here at the Boothbay Harbor Shipyard. The extensive six-month rehabilitation of the Alera began the day after the yard celebrated the yacht's 100th birthday on January 3, 2005.

The following clip was taken of the Alera by MPBN. You can watch the complete Emmy award winning video on a local sailmaker, Nat Wilson from the Maine Experience called Carpe Diem.