Perhaps it is my age, or maybe it is the fact that I spend a good deal of time taking care of boats, but generally speaking, I don’t find myself lusting after boats. What I do yearn for is not boats so much as boating experiences. And the fact that I am unlikely to ever be able to fulfill these experiences doesn’t discourage me in the least. Also since I have a fascination with how things used to be done, it won’t be surprising that my longed-for experiences are probably irreproducible – a time machine will be necessary.
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Steve Stone says:
test message from steve stone
Maynard Bray says:
Hi Charles,
That schooner list looks like a real good one. Thanks for the heads-up.
Charles Zimmermann says:
There is a useful list of schooners at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_schooners. One thing to remember is that 100 years ago (and of course 130 years ago) Maine was famous for coastal schooners, including lumber schooners. My grandmother told me that she saw many, many Maine schooners when she was a child, during summers in Middletown RI. When she grew up she missed the sight of those schooners on the horizon. Schooners were just part of life 100 years ago.
Nathanael Bray says:
Gloucester Schooner loaded down with Cod! I’d love that too! Those old-timers would have been such great sailing companions and seamen. I wonder how the schooners handled loaded down like that… and the smells and sounds and sense of gritty purpose would be something to experience. As would be a Pilot Cracker, damn shame about them being killed by Nabisco.
Havilah Hawkins says:
A long time ago now coming back from Halifax on an Alden sloop@50 feet, Rodger Taylor said something I will never forget, “Never own a boat You can’t row away from”. I am still plumbing the depths of this simple statement.
Ben Fuller says:
I once had the privilege of teaching aboard Quiet Tune for a couple of years. And I knew Barry Thomas pretty well who owned her for a while. I remember beating up one of those tricky passages north of Swans into the current in almost no wind. Engine was misbehaving, rocks all around. The anchor did come on deck, but not needed. A remarkable job of ghosting. Then there was the high speed graduation pass into the anchorage at Center Harbor, jib and mizzen weather in enormous comfort and control, sailing along with a new Spirit of Tradition boat who was double reefed and wet.