Windjammer Celebration - 75-years-old and counting

by Sail-World Cruising on 16 Jul 2011 To celebrate the 75th anniversary of windjamming in America, the Maine Windjammer Association pulled out all the stops this week to give windjammer guests and spectators an event to remember!

On July 15 from 2:00-4:00 pm, in Rockland, Maine, one of the great homes of classic ship building in the USA, more than a dozen windjammers participated in a Parade of Sail past the mile-long Rockland Breakwater.

The afternoon event included close-up views of the entire fleet, tours of the Lighthouse, a flyover by the Owls Head Transportation Museum and free shuttle service between Harbor Plaza (behind Machias Savings Bank) and the Breakwater Parking area.

For spectators who need help distinguishing a ketch from a schooner or a coaster from a pilot boat, Captain Jim Sharp of the Sail, Power and Steam Museum narrated the parade over a PA system at the Lighthouse.

Immediately following the Parade, the windjammers anchored off Sharp's Point South, adjacent to the Sail, Power and Steam Museum at 75 Mechanic Street in anticipation of the 7:30 pm concert by Gordon Bok, folklorist and singer/songwriter who grew up in Maine, and some of his Friends.

Gordon Bok was deemed by Time Magazine the 'poet laureate of those who go down to the sea in ships,' and people watched from the grassy auditorium

Today, (Saturday, July 16) from 2:00-4:00 pm, the Rockland windjammers in the Maine Windjammer Association will host Open Houses.

Visitors can stop by North End Shipyard and Windjammer Wharf (off Tilson Avenue) for tours of the American Eagle, Heritage, Isaac H. Evans, Nathaniel Bowditch and Stephen Taber.

For more information visit www.sailmainecoast.com.

About Windjammers: (wiki)
A windjammer is the ultimate type of large sailing ship with an iron or for the most part steel hull, built to carry cargo in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Windjammers were the grandest of merchant sailing ships, with between three and five large masts and square sails, giving them a characteristic profile.

The windjammers were cargo ships designed for ultra-long voyages. They usually carried bulk cargo, such as lumber, guano, grain or ore from one continent to another, usually following the prevailing winds and circumnavigating the globe during their voyages. Several of these ships are still in existence — either as school ships, museum ships or restaurant ships.