Back In Time At Rockland Harbor.

Stephen Taber Passing Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse.

 I think I have the best job in the world. On Saturdays during the summer and fall I guide a Tall Ship Photo Safari on the breakwater in Rockland, Maine, at the lighthouse where my grandfather, Albert Mills, was keeper 100 years ago. I often wonder what this harbor must have looked like then. The lime trade was at it's height and Rockland was the center of lime production for the whole of the east coast of the United States. Millions of barrels of lime per year ware manufactured and shipped by schooner all up and down the east coast. The Lime industry in Rockland alone employed more than 200 schooners to move its product to market. In the early 1900s the schooner was the most efficient way to move any product up and down the coast and to the islands and river towns. Along with the lime industry and the moving of freight, lumber and stone, the Rockland also had a sizable fishing fleet. By the 20s and 30s most of these schooners had been replaced with steam and motor driven vessels.

Early Morning At Rockland Harbor.

Today of the thousands of these vessels which filled the harbors and waterways at the start of the 20^th century there are only a handful remaining. Rockland is now home to seven of these historic vessels. On this overcast Saturday morning we are expecting 5 vessels including the 141 year old Stephen Taber. The rain has passed and the air is fresh and cool. There is very little breeze today and the water is calm and reflective.

On our way out the nearly mile long breakwater we are treated to the sight of local fishing boats ,lobster fishermen and sea birds. Each step seems to take us further and further from the fast paced modern everyday and deeper into a world ruled not by time and deadlines, but rather ruled only by the wind and the tide.

Today it is the Stephen Taber who is first to arrive. When this ship was launched in 1871 the Civil War had only been over a few years and the infamous Dodge city was only a sod roofed trading post on the edge of the west. The Taber was built as a coasting schooner in 1871 on Long Island, New York. The 68' schooner is the oldest documented sailing vessel in continuous service in the United States, and she was designated as a National Historic Landmark.

Stephen Taber Sailing for 141 Years.

Soon the Isaac H. Evans and the Nathaniel Bowditch round the point at Owls Head and make for the harbor. The Evans was built in Mauricetown, New Jersey in 1886 and spent many years oystering on the Delaware Bay. Completely rebuilt for windjamming in 1973, she now specializes in kid-friendly sailing adventures; families with children as young as age six are welcome on any cruise. She also is a National Historic Landmark. The Nathaniel Bowditch was built as a racing yacht in 1922 in East Boothbay, Maine. The 82' schooner won special class honors in the Bermuda Race in 1923, and served in the Coast Guard during World War II. She was rebuilt for the windjamming trade in the early 1970's.

Isaac H. Evans and Nathaniel Bowditch Pass The Owls Head Lighthouse.

As we watch American Eagle and Heritage appear out of the mists. The American Eagle was built in Gloucester, Massachusetts in 1930. For 53 years she was a working member of the famed Gloucester fishing fleet. She is also a National Historic Landmark. Our last ship of the day is Heritage,built in 1983 by her owners at the North End Shipyard in Rockland, Maine. Designed for the comfort of her passengers, the vessel was built in the tradition of a 19th century coaster.

Amarican Eagle

Another weeks safari has passed and now it is time to return to my world of computers and cell phones. But refreshed from the few hours I was able to spend in the past, now ready to face my fast paced modern life and looking forward to the time when I will once again be able to step back into the past for a few hours.

Stephen Taber In Rockland Harbor.

Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse.

Looking South To Owls Head

Lobsterman Checking His Traps.

Nathaniel Bowditch

Isaac H. Evans As Seen From The Lighthouse Lantern.

Bowditch and Evans Enter Rockland Harbor.

Rockland Working Boat.

Heritage

Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse's "Pea Pod"

Home To Rockland.

Living History:The North End Shipyard In Rockland

Living History:The North End Shipyard In Rockland

By Maine Author Doug Mills

There was a time when sail was king on the coast of Maine. The lime trade, granite & marble, lumber from virgin forests, ice and the fishing trades all employed sailing craft to move their products. The lime trade alone employed over 200 two masted schooners in Rockland and the surrounding coastal Maine towns.

Steam powered vessels were making some of the longer trans-Atlantic runs and the passenger trade up and down the coast. However, for coastal trade and the hundreds of islands located just off the coast of Maine sail is still king.

On any given day, the coastal waters would be filled with these two masted schooners delivering cargo to and from all the coastal towns. They are the lifeline for those living on the islands, delivering everything from lumber to butter and even your grandfather’s new Sunday suit.

Today only a handful of the sailing vessels remain. Many of them were simply used until they were worn out and replaced by a new one. During the Great Depression, thousands of these boats were just abandoned where they stood and left to rot.

There is, however a place where during the summer and fall you can still see these historic vessels sailing the clear blue waters the Atlantic much the way they have for the past 200 years. Penobscot Bay is located on the coast of Maine and on any given day in the summer you may be able to see as many as 15 or more of these proud sailing vessels, known as windjammers. Many of these boats have been sailing for over 100 years! They are truly living history.

Keeping these boats in “ship shape” is no easy task as many of these boats are over 100 years old. In Maine the winters are hard and long. The schooners spend the winter at the dock covered in a plastic cocoon. As spring approaches and the air starts to warm it is time to ready the boats for the sailing season. Each schooner is hauled out of the water for a complete inspection and a new coat of paint. Before the season starts every wooden part must be refinished and sealed from the weather and the effects of the salt water. This process takes about four to six weeks every year depending on how much repair work needs to be done.

In the town of Rockland is the North End Shipyard. The marine railway for hauling out boats has been operating for nearly 150 years. In the early spring they start to haul out the schooners for their annual inspection and refit. Between the first of April and the end of May there will haul as many as 12 of these historic boats, where they are lovingly taken care of and returned to the sea ready for the upcoming sailing season.

From up and down the US coast they have come, coastal schooners, scallop draggers, Grand Banks fisherman and racing yachts all have come to call Penobscot Bay home. If you come in the spring of the year you can see these beautiful boats as they are hauled out of the Atlantic waters for their new suit of paint and thrill to the sight of them sliding back into the sea.

A very big thank you to those dedicated men and women who keep these ships sailing into the future. 

2012 Windjammer Parade

By Maine Author Doug Mills

Mary Day

Once again I find myself on one of the tall ships of the Maine Windjammer Association.  Today I will sail on Angelique from Camden to the 2012 Windjammer Parade in Rockland Maine.  As we push off from the dock and head out into Penobscot Bay we pass the Mercantile and the Grace Bailey, two of the original windjammers.  Here in Rockland and Camden we tend to take these grand old sailing ships for granted.  All summer long they sail in and out of the islands of Penobscot Bay. But, if it had not been for the efforts of one man most of these historic boats would be nothing more than a fond memory in the minds of a few old men
“Summer "windjamming" on the Maine coast began in the 1930s when Frank Swift of Bucksport observed the rapidly vanishing sailing coasting trade and conceived the idea of carrying passengers for hire during the summer months. It was a concept similar to the "dude ranch" concept in the American west and was the first time "the concept of operating, adaptive use of a historic vessel was applied to maritime preservation."[48]

By the time Swift began his operations with the 1881 schooner Annie F. Kimball, sail on the Maine coast had "all but lost its commercial viability,"[49] but by 1939 Swift had a waiting list for his fleet of three schooners and by 1948 had nine vessels operating out of Camden.[50] In the late thirties he advertised one or two week cruises:
These schooners are not yachts--just picturesque down-east sailing vessels, clipper-bowed and able, with billowing sails and hempen rigging. Each Monday, from July 4th until September 10th, the Annie Kimball and the Lydia Webster will sail from Camden, Maine for a week's cruise-- not to follow an exact itinerary but to use the winds and tides to make the cruise most interesting.[51]

Maine Windjammer Association Windjammer Parade 2012

There are now some eighteen schooners operating in Maine waters during the summer months. Seven of these have been designated National Historic Landmarks, and like Victory Chimes and a few other historic vessels, are an "adaptive re-use" of a vessel. Some, like the schooner Heritage, built in Rockland in 1983, are a modern version of a traditional type, carrying "the only cargo that loads and unloads itself." [Schooner Victory Chimes National Historic Landmark Study by Nicholas Dean and edited by Kevin J. Foster, 1997 Designated September 25, 1997]

Front row seats for all.

 Today was a day to celebrate Frank Swift and the legacy that he has left us.  Today the industry that Frank Swift started in 1935 is not only still around but a thriving industry!  Oh that Frank could see what has become of his idea.  Today nearly 20 of these graceful ships met and preformed a ballet like no other!  Words can not do this event justice, so, enjoy this photo gallery.

Heritage and Nathaniel Bowditch

Nathaniel Bowditch off the bow.

Harvey Gamage