The documentary film NY40 Marilee: Restoring an NG Herreshoff Classic follows the two-year restoration of the Nathanael G. Herreshoff-designed New York 40 sailing yacht. The talent of the artisans at French & Webb in Belfast, Maine; the ingenuity of engineering and design from Herreshoff experts; and the vision of her current custodian were brought together to restore Marilee, which was built in 1926, to perfection.

This was not your typical restoration of a wooden classic. With access to the original Herreshoff Manufacturing Co.’s building plans, documents and images archived at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Hart Nautical Collections and the Herreshoff Marine Museum, this project pushed the envelope in both perfection and ingenuity.

The NY40 class was originally designed in 1916 as a gaff-rigged yacht for the New York Yacht Club. While combing through the plans at MIT, an original Herreshoff drawing of Marilee’s Marconi rig was discovered, penned by Capt. Nat himself. This sparked the unique idea of building two separate rigs for Marilee — both a Marconi and gaff. Reinforcement of the hull structure was designed and engineered to accommodate the different loads these rigs would have on Marilee’s hull, plus the ability to switch out the rigs within a day or two was realized.

From interviews with the builders, designers, archivists and team members to footage of the artisans at work, the film captures moments where modern innovations and engineering were combined with meticulous craftsmanship to achieve extraordinary results. Paired with onboard and aerial racing footage of Marilee, this is a must-see documentary for classic yacht lovers.

The film is scheduled for release this month. For more information, visit langleyphoto.com/blog.

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Over the years, I have been to many boat shows, and I’ve enjoyed all of them. From a business perspective, they are the perfect setting for marine manufacturers and retailers to showcase their wares and innovations. From a consumer’s point of view, they draw enthusiasts from far and wide into a critical mass of kindred spirits. No matter if you are strolling the docks on a beautiful autumn day or crowded into a convention center, sheltered from a brutal Chicago winter, the atmosphere becomes one of fun, fantasy, inspiration and education. Good things happen.

Until visiting the Australian Wooden Boat Festival last February, however, I had never been to a “boat festival,” and did not quite understand the difference. While boat shows are essentially driven by profit, festivals are driven by passion. A boat show is about the future of yachting; a boat festival is about its past. A focus on the future tends to be individual, the past collective, thus a special bond seems to develop between festival participants. But there is another difference: uni­directional cellulose fiber, aka wood. Wooden-boat people are more than mere enthusiasts; they are true believers, adherents to an ancient religion. Their flame of faith may have flickered historically, but it has never been extinguished. Their connection to wooden boats and the tried-and-true ways of yore grows beyond a hobby to become a holistic lifestyle intertwined with elements of reverence and respect.

Thanks to a host of volunteers and perhaps some local municipal sponsorship, most festivals are free to the public. The “displays” are mostly the treasured vessels of amateur wooden-boat owners with no other incentive to attend than the pride of ownership. Somehow, the shared dedication of preserving elegant icons of an age past combines with every sailor’s need for a grand ol’ party to create a palpably friendly atmosphere.

There are three major and many minor festivals worldwide. Brest, in France, hosts Europe’s largest every four years, the next being in 2020. Because of its proximity to major European ports, this festival boasts the attendance of numerous historic Tall Ships plus a large complement of traditional recreational vessels. The docks hold an eclectic crowd, the Celtic music is loud and the food and wine are of the best French standard.

Port Townsend, Washington, which years ago might have been considered a hippie holdout in nautical terms, has matured into a vibrant sailing town, and is now recognized as the epicenter of traditional boating for the entire West Coast. From humble beginnings 40 years ago, the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival has grown into a world-renowned event. With more than 300 vessels on display, top-quality music, food, lectures and other family-friendly events, the annual September show bustles to overflowing. The early success of the Wooden Boat Festival gave birth to the Northwest Maritime Center, which has served more than 150,000 students of all ages in areas such as boatbuilding, sailing, maritime safety and community activism.

And in a galaxy far, far away, there is the aforementioned Australian Wooden Boat Festival held every two years in Hobart, Tasmania. Admittedly, this is down under even by Australian standards. But distance notwithstanding, with 455 vessels featured in its 2017 festival, it is certainly the largest “wood only” event and perhaps the largest in any terms. All claims of size aside, the AWBF is a world-class extravaganza. Any sailor with caulk in their seams should make this pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime.

Feature Vessels, Parade of Sails, AWBF 2017, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

I finally did so and was thrilled with what I found. It all starts with authenticity. The Dutchman Abel Tasman first laid eyes upon this glorious island 375 years ago (more on that to come). It languished in European terms until the British established a colony on the banks of the Derwent River in 1803 and named it Hobart Town. It is Tasmania’s remoteness that has made it so significant in maritime history because, by nature, everything happened by ship.

Early settlers discovered massive groves of trees in the nearby Huon Valley. Huon pine (Lagarostrobos franklinii) is one of the oldest living organisms on Earth, with one tree calculated to be 3,462 years old. It is very slow growing, with a tight grain, and oozes with insect-repelling oils. It is said that the only thing slower than the Huon pine’s growth is its decay, making it the perfect ship-building wood. It gave birth to a massive ship-building industry, the legacy of which survives to this day.

Hobart has retained much of its historically quaint architecture. Fortunately, old taverns feature prominently. It is the perfect stage for celebrating the glorious era of sail. The entire waterfront became a floating beauty contest, simply open to the public without charge. Dozens of musical groups rotated between strategically placed amplified stations. The smell of ethnic cuisine wafted out from rows of food stalls. Wood chips flew at several boatbuilding demonstrations next to grizzled lobstermen handcrafting old-fashioned lobster pots from a native cane. Seminars included a host of local luminaries as well as international speakers, such as yacht designer Ron Holland, author Lin Pardey and photographer Benjamin Mendlowitz.

The main docks were dominated by gargantuan square riggers, such as Tenacious, the largest wooden ship built in the United Kingdom in over a century. After a little controversy involving a wooden “ship” that actually sits on land and serves as a restaurant in Dubai, at 213 feet overall and carrying 13,000 square feet of canvas, Tenacious now holds the official record of being the largest wooden ship afloat. The midsize square riggers and schooners included Yukon, Windward Bound, Lady Nelson and, arguably the prettiest of them all, Julie Burgess.

The floating docks shimmered with national flags, burgees and pennants. The docks glistened with hand-rubbed varnish and polished brass. My head and heart got turned in every direction. Fashion and function were not mutually exclusive; these were sailing sculptures. They were art you can leave out in the rain.

Here was the George Luckman-­designed-and-built Terra Linna, circa 1880, the oldest racing yacht afloat in Tasmania. But by no means is it the oldest design. A replica of the Aboriginal cork-weed-and-strip-bark canoe, lashed together with over 1,600 feet of handmade rope, paddled by. Its origins reach back an estimated 42,000 years. It is named Rrala, which means “strong” in the Palawa kani language. It serves as a humbling reminder that we contemporary sailors were not the first on the water.

Rrala passed under the elegant stern of Holger Danske, an Aage Nielsen 41, winner of the 1980 Newport Bermuda Race. I eavesdropped on the language of the aficionados as they perused the spectacle and heard adjectives more frequently reserved for wine bottles: sassy, sultry, robust, supple, approachable…

There were plenty of personalities to go with these unique vessels. On the diminutive Cape Stormy, I met the indomitable 89-year-old Peter Maussey, who in 1953, with his beautiful wife, Lesley, became the first Australian couple to circumnavigate. He is known as the “Million Mile Man;” between his cruising and yacht deliveries of many decades, he has logged up an incredible tally of trips and tales.

The docks were full of long sprits and high spirits. With close to a quarter million people in attendance, shoreside accommodations were tight. Problem solved: Bring in the cruise liner Ovation of the Seas, with 5,000 passengers treated to a bird’s-eye view of the show below, the highlight of which is the Parade of Sail. All the vessels gathered in the bay in front of Hobart and formed an exquisite sail-by for cheering crowds on the shore. If you love the sea and all that sails upon it, this cloud of canvas is almost a sensory overload.

Each biennial festival centers on a specific theme. This year’s was the celebration of the 375th anniversary of Tasman’s famous voyage. The local museum created a comprehensive historical display of Tasman’s journey replete with authentic memorabilia. The Dutch ambassador opened the ceremonies. A contingent of Dutch sailors came over with several historical designs, such as the 20-foot shoal-draft Tjotter class. A team of Dutch boatbuilders constructed a Regenboog (rainbow)-class boat from old celery-top pine and ultimately raced against a local Tasmanian crew in a Gnome-class sloop. Special Dutch food, music and classic vessels completed the celebration of that nation’s rich maritime history.

Why is this important to us? Because the theme of the 2019 Australian Wooden Boat Festival is Americana! This is an opportunity to share our amazingly rich maritime heritage with sailors from around the world and forge special ties with our antipodean brothers and sisters of the sea. Historians, boatbuilders, designers, speakers, musicians, authors and just plain intrepid tourists, take note. Here we can showcase and celebrate the graceful designs of John Alden, Nathanael and L.

Francis Herreshoff, Olin Stephens, William Atkin, Philip Rhodes, William Tripp and too many more to mention. (Who is your favorite?) And what of our mighty Tall Ships and schooners? Oh, Roseway, you still hold my heart. America has a deep and abiding connection to the sea, and that is so wonderfully preserved by our many fine maritime museums, such as Mystic Seaport, Maine Maritime, Peabody Essex, New Bedford Whaling Museum and so on. Imagine the contributions to this marvelous event they could make.

Pacific cruisers can start planning an itinerary now that will land them on Tasmanian shores by February 2019. They will find Hobart a safe and welcoming harbor. After the festival, they will experience almost limitless pristine cruising grounds offering spectacular geography and unique flora and fauna.

My wife, Diana, and I stayed aboard the Radford-designed, cedar-strip-planked Bindawalla courtesy of longtime sailing friends and circumnavigators John and De Deegan. I so enjoyed being smack in the middle of the action that I plan to sail our own Roger Henry over there for the next festival. I want to be downwind of all that pine tar and simply soak up all that tradition.

Upon its conclusion, I hope to explore the wilder southwest coast of Tasmania, enjoy the increasingly famous culinary delights and fine wineries, and perhaps sample a wee dram of what has been voted “the best whiskey in the world,” produced in a little distillery nearby. We are often told that life is a journey, not a destination. In a sense, the Australian Wooden Boat Festival in Hobart is a bit of both.

– – –

Contributing editor Alvah Simon is the author of the critically acclaimed best-seller North to the Night.

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With 40 ships, five months, six countries and 7,000 nautical miles, you have the ingredients for one heck of a regatta!

The Tall Ships recently visited the historic city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, on the last leg of their trans­atlantic summer tour. The event, Rendez-vous 2017, started in April, appropriately in the port of Royal Greenwich, England, ground zero if you’re talking longitude. From there, the fleet sailed to Portugal before making the hop across the Atlantic Ocean to Bermuda, also host to the 35th America’s Cup. Then it was on to Boston and up the coast to Canada, where the Tall Ships ventured into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, up the river as far as Quebec City, before turning back east.

While in Canada, the fleet, made up of historic replicas, sail-training ships and working original vessels, visited more than 35 ports in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, Quebec and Nova Scotia as part of their Guest Ports Program. Their arrival coincided with summer celebrations marking the 150th anniversary of the confederation of Canada, making both events extra special. The Guest Ports Program allows the public to board and explore the vessels, meet the crew and, in partnership with Sail Training International, even sail on board one of the Tall Ships as a trainee.

While in Nova Scotia, the Tall Ships were greeted by the newly restored Bluenose II, a replica of the original 1921 Grand Banks schooner that was built in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. The original Bluenose went on to racing fame, holding the Fisherman’s Trophy for 17 consecutive years, earning a place on the Canadian dime and in the hearts of Nova Scotians. After a long restoration, Bluenose II was launched in time to lead the fleet in the annual Parade of Sail around Halifax Harbor. The Tall Ships Regatta will race back across the Atlantic to La Havre, France, arriving at the beginning of September.

For more information about the regatta, the route, and participating Tall Ships, check out the event’s website www.rdv2017.com.

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Longtime Newport, Rhode Island, sailor Bob Morton was telling war stories to his grandson, Ty, this past winter, and just like that, with a click or two of a mouse, the two were staring face-to-face at an old family friend.

Bob comes from a racing family that spent the 1970s and ’80s tearing up the waters of Newport and Annapolis, Maryland, with Brigadoon III, a 57-foot Sparkman & Stephens raceboat that was launched as Equation in 1968 and bought and renamed by Bob’s father in 1972. She was the first S&S design after Intrepid, which, with her revolutionary split keel and rudder, won the 1967 America’s Cup.

Brigadoon had a similar underbody, and she was fast. “We won every day race we entered,” Bob recalls of that first summer. The good times were short-lived, however. His father soon became gravely ill, and the family, fearing it couldn’t afford to maintain the boat, sold her in 1974.

They shouldn’t have. Mr. Morton recovered, and the clan wanted its boat back. Finally, in 1980, after Bob had finished a career with the Navy and started a new company, he used his pension payout and the Mortons bought Brigadoon back. She quickly returned to her winning ways. They campaigned her up and down the East Coast, and in 1982, she took home top honors at Newport Bermuda, beating thoroughbreds such as Nirvana, Carina, Kialoa III and Ondine on corrected time.

A year later, she was chartered for the Miami-Jamaica race. Bob remembers watching The Today Show when news broke that two yachts — one his — had been seized by Cuban gunships. It took intervention by Ted Turner and Sen. Claiborne Pell to get Brigadoon sprung.

Through it all, the boat became part of Morton family lore. Then in the mid-’80s, Bob’s father died and the family sold Brigadoon once again, which, in hindsight, triggered her slow, agonizing decline.

Once, in Key West, Bob spotted the boat’s distinctive 15/16th rig and found her unkempt and tied to a run-down pier. His last encounter was in Antigua. All the wood was stripped off her, the interior was gutted and the mast had been replaced with a spar made from a utility pole. Bob figured that was the end.

But then Ty clicked away. On YouTube, he found a video about a Sparkman & Stephens raceboat that had just been restored for cruising by its new owner, Pieter Schram, at the Dutch yard Ventis. She was bound for Croatia with the name Nicole Maria on her transom. More details were discovered on Facebook, and in no time, Bob was in touch with Pieter.

In March he shared the good news with sailing friends, concluding, “It sure is nice to see her back on the water because she truly is a classic and an important part of our family’s history.”

If things go according to plan, that history might someday soon include a Croatian charter and reunion with his old flame. Stranger things have happened.

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Held in the pristine waters of Penobscot Bay, the Camden Classics Cup celebrates maritime heritage with classic and spirit-of-tradition yachts. With exhilarating racing, a parade of sail, and lively onshore parties, this video showcases the spirit of the event. Visit www.camdenclassicscup.com for more information on next year’s event. Category

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British Classic Week 2016 Ph: Guido Cantini / Panerai / SeaSee.com

The opening day of Panerai British Classic Week 2016 featured a spectacular Parade of Yachts in which Jonathan Perry, Rear Commodore Yachting of the Royal Yacht Squadron, took the salute as the yachts streamed past the Royal Yacht Squadron. The programme required the yachts to form up in their classes and motor in line past the Squadron, which almost all of the 61 entries did. The only exception was the nine metre gaff yawl Cormorant, who at 105-years young and in “as original” condition does not have an engine so took part under sail.

With the Parade over it was down to the serious business of yacht racing and Royal Yacht Squadron Racing sent the fleet off down tide into the Western Solent for a lovely round the cans race in a west-south-westerly which gradually built from around 6 to just over 10 knots.

First off the line were the International 6 Metres. Robin Richardson’s Modern 6 St Kitts, which was built by the Elephant Boatyard to an Ian Howlett design and won the Seawanhaka 6 Metre World Cup on her first outing in 1987, is still regarded as one of the fastest Sixes in the World and lived up to that reputation by winning her class by nine minutes from Thistle, the 1947 David Boyd designed Classic built by Alex Robertson on the Gareloch and owned by Tom Richardson, owner of the Elephant Boat Yard. Third place went to Jonathan Brech’s Maida.

Murdoch McKillop’s 1931 William Fife designed Saskia, which represented Britain in the 1936 Kiel Olympics, got a terrific start in the 8 Metre Class and went on to win by over four minutes from David Myatt’s 1949 Bjarne Aas designed Erica, which won the Sayonara Cup in 1953. Peter Wilson’s 1929 built If took third place.

It was a case of David v Goliath in Class 1 for the Modern Classics, where the diminutive Strega, a Spirit 37, showed the way to win by over two minutes from Sean McMillan’s Flight of Ufford with David Grylls’ Helen of Durgan third. Back ashore Sandy Fielding, who co-owns Strega with Martin Whittle, was delighted with their result. “We had a great day. Usually the bigger Spirits get away from us, but for once the tidal gates worked in our favour, so much so that we didn’t want it to end.”

Giovanni Belgrano’s 1939 Laurent Giles designed sloop Whooper won this event overall in 2014 and declared her intentions for this week by winning Class 2’s opening race from Gildas Rostain’s Volonte, a 1968 RORC One-Ton Sloop designed by Olin Stephens. Third place went to Lawrence Wride’s 1967 Sparkman & Stephens RORC One-Tonner Sunmaid V, whose various claims to fame include being the yacht on which the legendary Owen Parker developed twin pole gybing.

British Classic Week 2016 Ph: Guido Cantini / Panerai / SeaSee.com

Michael Briggs’ 1904 William Fife cutter Mikado sailed exceptionally well to win Class 3 by over four minutes from Andrew and Mary Hales 1950 eight Metre cruiser/racer Freyja, with Martin Thomas’ Charm of Rhu third. Class 3 also includes a special race within a race featuring three matched 1959 Morgan Giles Bermudan sloops, Leopard, Pegasus and Gryphis, which have been chartered for the event by The Classic Yacht Association of Australia (Leopard and Pegasus) and the Classic Yacht Association of New Zealand (Gryphis). Today Leopard finished fourth in class to lead their group with Pegasus fifth and Gryphis eighth – a very good performance from three crews who had never even seen their boats before this regatta.

In Class 4 the two smallest boats in the fleet, Liz and Mark Rushall’s Ragdoll, a 1950 Balfour designed Honey Bee, and John Mulcahy’s Estrella, a lovely example of one of Kim Holman’s Stella Class, both got terrific starts with Ragdoll leading the fleet off down the Solent. Both sailed well but ultimately they struggled to save their time in the light conditions with Ragdoll finishing fifth and Estrella third. Victory went to Jonathan & Scilla Dyke’s pretty 1938 Robert Clark 10 Tonner, with Robert Veale’s 1958 David Cheverton Bermudan Sloop Danegeld second.

Tomorrow’s racing is sponsored by EFG and the original schedule was for the Around The Island Race to start at 08.00, however the forecast is for very light winds making this impractical. Instead racing will not begin before 13.00 with the Race Committee planning a long Solent race instead. Looking ahead the forecast for the rest of the week is not conducive to running the Around The Island on an alternate day, so that race will not take place this year and is replaced by tomorrow’s Solent race.

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After the success of the 11th edition, the eagerly-awaited Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge returns in 2016. The leading international classic and veteran boat circuit will once again be promoted and sponsored by the Florentine luxury sports watch-maker Officine Panerai in celebration of its inextricable links to the seafaring world.

The Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge brings together many of the world’s most spectacular regatta venues on two separate international circuits, spanning everything from the crystal-clear waters of the Antilles to the stunning sea and landscapes of the Mediterranean. The magnificent classic and veteran yachts it attracts, vie for, amongst other prizes, the exclusive Panerai watches presented to the winners of each stage, which last year numbered Moonbeam IV, Il Moro di Venezia I, Manitou and Siren.

The Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge calendar kicked off in April with the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta (13 – 19 April), which has been closing the Caribbean sailing season each year since the 1960s with a dazzling gathering of boats in English Harbor. Janley, a 1948 Bermudan sloop prevailed over 40 of the world’s most beautiful vintage yachts to be named overall winner and took home the coveted Panerai watch.

In June, the racing moves to the back to Europe and the Mediterranean Circuit gets underway on the Cote d’Azur with Les Voiles d’Antibes (1 – 5 June) before continuing in Italy with Argentario Sailing Week in Tuscany (16 – 19 June). The 2016 calendar also includes Le Vele d’Epoca di Imperia (7 – 11 September), which is held every second year and draws dozens of historic craft to compete off the Ligurian coast. The season wraps up with Les Régates Royales at Cannes between September 20 and 24.

Four regattas are scheduled for the North American Circuit, the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge’s twin circuit across the Pond: the Corinthian Classic Yacht Regatta in Marblehead (12 – 14 August), the Sail Nantucket Regatta, for the first time on the American calendar (19 – 20 August), the Opera House Cup in Nantucket (21 August) and the final round at Newport in the form of the Newport Classic Yacht Regatta (2 – 4 September). The legendary Isle of Wight in Great Britain provides the backdrop to the only non-Mediterranean European regatta: the Panerai British Classic Week at Cowes (16 – 23 July).

2016 Calendar

Antigua Classic Regatta: April 13th – 19th, 2016

Les Voiles’ Antibes: June 1st – 5th, 2016

Argentario Sailing Week: June 16th – 19th, 2016

Panerai British Classic: July 16th – 23rd, 2016

Marblehead Corinthian Classic Yacht Regatta: August 12th – 14th, 2016

Sail Nantucket Regatta: August 19th – 20th, 2016

Nantucket Opera House Cup: August 21st, 2016

Newport Classic Yacht Regatta: September 2nd – 4th, 2016

Vele d’Epoca di Imperia: September 7th – 11th, 2016

Cannes, Les Regates Royales: September 20th – 24th, 2016

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The Maine coast twists, turns inward and outward, and spills offshore, creating one of the world’s most interesting destinations to explore by sailboat. The largest of the many sounds and bays, Penobscot Bay, presents a panorama of islands large and small, winding passages, tight harbors and quiet towns.

On a scintillating day in mid-October, we steered our Mason 44, Frances B, across the mouth of Blue Hill Bay and turned northwest toward Eggemoggin Reach, the eastern border of Penobscot Bay. In the clear fall air, a crowd of islands stood sharp against the mainland, their forested shores bright green against misty blues of distant hills. For centuries artists have come to Maine to paint seascapes of wild waves, jagged islands and sailing ships. Afraid to lose the particularly inspiring light of the changing seasons, many stayed to live here. Jerry Rose, a friend of ours and a painter of exceptional talent, settled on Benjamin River, which side-steps from Eggemoggin Reach. He lives across the bay from WoodenBoat magazine’s school of boatbuilding — a very fitting neighbor, since some decades ago Jerry built himself a Herreshoff-designed double-ender to sail to the Bahamas. For many years he painted Bahamian sailing smacks, their sailors and their families — a career reminiscent of Maine artist Winslow Homer’s.

From Benjamin River, Frances B headed northwest again, beating against the cool northerlies over smooth waters in the lee of dense forests of fir, spruce and birch. Steering with light finger pressure on the wheel, I leaned back and relaxed with my wife, Nancy. There was no particular need to keep lookout, as the lobster-trap buoys that litter most of Maine’s waters had vanished. The crustaceans, so ubiquitous everywhere else, don’t like the muddy bottom in the Reach. But let’s not forget that lobsters are the main crop here. In Castine Harbor, with its strong currents and great depths, we picked up a mooring off Eaton’s Boatyard. Kenny Eaton took the money for the mooring, then surprised us with a gift of live lobsters — the best deal of the season.

The modest town of Castine is old, predating even Plymouth Colony. First a fur trading post, it later expanded as a source of timber for navy ships. The British, French and even the Dutch battled for it. During the Revolutionary War, a confrontation between the British Navy and the U.S.’s Penobscot Expedition cost America 41 vessels, the worst U.S. Navy loss until Pearl Harbor. In the 19th century, Castine became a shipbuilding town. However, only a stone marker remains of the Noyes shipyard, which between 1835 and 1872 launched more than 60 vessels, clipper ships among them. State of Maine, the large freighter that now sits along the Maine Maritime Academy waterfront, is used as a training ship for students. Bowdoin, a schooner moored nearby and also owned by MMA, stirred our memories. Twice in northern Labrador we have sought shelter in Bowdoin Harbour, so named to celebrate over 20 Arctic voyages the schooner made under the command of Capt. Donald B. MacMillan.

Much as Castine was quiet, Camden, on the western shore of Penobscot Bay, was humming. Although the inner harbor was packed tight with yachts, traditional schooners still came to their customary wharves, many without auxiliary power, helped only by the small yawlboat they tow. With the end of commercial sailing in the 1950s, several schooners, some launched in the late 1800s, began taking paying passengers for recreational sails. Today a dozen of them are busy chartering, their sails — some tanbark red — turning Penobscot Bay into a canvas from the past.

Considering the small size of the town, the number of vessels that have hit Camden’s waters over the years is staggering. Some 70 boats were launched from just one yard owned by Joseph Stetson, which opened in 1816 and carried on for 40 years. Faced with labor problems (shipwrights who took swigs of rum while banging timber with adzes), he introduced the “coffee break,” now a hallowed employee perk the world over. Many of the ships built in Camden were big. In 1905, Holly M. Bean’s yard launched a five-masted schooner, and had 64 vessels to its credit before closing in 1920. Today, on the same site, yachts are still serviced at Lyman-Morse Boatbuilding Co.’s Wayfarer Marine campus. At one point Tom Watson of IBM was one of the yard’s three owners. An active sailor, he probably thought the best way to keep his yachts shipshape was to own a repair facility. He owned a fleet of Sparkman & Stephens-designed beauties all named Palawan, which he sailed to northern Greenland, across Hudson Bay, and to Antarctica, among other destinations, earning the Cruising Club of America’s Blue Water medal in 1986.

Camden still attracts legendary yachts. At the Wayfarer docks we saw Sumurun, a 94-foot Fife ketch from 1914, and another Fife, the 52-foot 1912 yawl Dione, preparing for the Northwest Passage. We swung by right when Seminole, a 58-foot yawl designed by W. J. McInnis and built in 1916 by Lawley & Sons, was tying up after the last trip of the season. Seminole is owned by Elizabeth Meyer of J-class fame. Spectacular modern classics turn up here, too. The Bill Langan-designed 130-foot Huckleberry (formerly Victoria of Strathearn), built by Alloy Yachts, is a regular.

We had our mind set on a visit to Monhegan Island, about 10 miles off the mainland. It figures prominently in the history of both exploration and art history. Monhegan’s anchorage is untenable in southerly winds and swell, so while waiting for fair weather, we sailed to the Fox Islands. With a forecast of strong northeast winds, we sheltered in a bay in the islands’ Thorofare, a passage separating North Haven and Vinalhaven. In the afternoon we had a bleachers view of the trimaran Flying Fish, a Chris White-designed Hammerhead 54, which in the rising pre-frontal southerly literally flew over the smooth waters of the Thorofare.

The next day the northeasterly dropped to 15 knots, and Frances B took off toward the west coast of Penobscot Bay, on to Owls Head and a squeeze through Muscle Ridge Channel. Hundreds of lobster boats dotted the coves along the western shore. Ahead on the clear horizon, Monhegan appeared, recognizable by its whaleback silhouette. The slot between Monhegan and the smaller Manana Island, which passes for a harbor, receives some protection, but even the larger Monhegan is only 1.7 miles long. The bottom is rocky, and the junk of centuries makes for uneasy anchoring. We gratefully picked up one of the moorings reserved for visiting yachts.

For a couple of centuries, the few families that lived on Monhegan did well fishing cod, once fabulously plentiful. The island was also safer than the mainland settlements, which suffered from Native American raids. In the mid-1800s, two roaming artists happened upon Monhegan. Ocean swells pounded the high cliffs facing the Atlantic, spray flew, and low clouds tore through gnarly forests — inspirational drama was at hand. The word spread, and eventually big names of the art world followed. Robert Henri, Winslow Homer, Rockwell Kent, Edward Hopper and multiple generations of Wyeths all painted here, producing ­exquisite work.

Today, day-trippers arrive, some motivated by nostalgia, others to explore the galleries of the resident ­artists. Less than a dozen local boats continue lobstering. We went off on some of the 18 trails that cross the island from the village to the Atlantic shore. The terrain felt wild as up and down we traipsed from one rocky point to another through tangled woods. Now and then we picked apples off the trees marking the site of a homestead long since gone.

Reading tall tales from exploring scribes can actually get you to ­interesting places. Capt. Weymouth’s expedition from England arrived on Monhegan in May 1605. They went ashore to get firewood, feasted on wild fowl, cod and haddock, and then crossed to the mainland and sailed into a river that the ship’s clerk compared to the Orinoco, Seine and Loire — a case of false advertising. It’s now called St. George River, and only 10 miles from the entrance, we reached the end of navigation at the waterfront of Thomaston. The view ahead seemed to belong more to Newport, Rhode Island: a bright red Swan 100, a 29-meter Frers, a Hinckley Sou’wester 70 glowing in varnish like a Stradivarius violin. We arrived at Lyman-Morse’s Thomaston campus, and it looked impressive.

The old Morse Boatbuilding Co. of Thomaston built a lot of Friendship sloops and Alden schooners. Then, in 1978, Cabot Lyman, fresh from sailing across the Atlantic and cruising the Med, burst on the scene, bought the place and brought in new ideas. Very soon the yard was building S&S-designed Seguin 40s, 44s and 49s — a series of high-end, semicustom, good-looking, fast and yet supremely seaworthy bluewater sloops. To prove it, Lyman took his wife and three very young sons on a circumnavigation. By 2013, when we visited, Lyman-Morse had launched almost 100 boats, sail and power, and Lyman himself had cruised and raced over 150,000 miles, surely a record among boatbuilders. As we toured the ­facilities, we learned about the SCRIMP resin-­infusion system that the yard employs, and which is said to produce immensely strong yet light structures with virtually no pollution. Designs built at Lyman-Morse have come from Frers, Chuck Paine, Sparkman & Stephens, Reichel/Pugh, Bruce Farr and even Morrelli & Melvin, which specializes in wave-piercing catamarans. Whereas new ships once slid down a muddy riverbank, here the emphasis on cleanliness and quality working conditions has led to well-lit, climate-controlled, environmentally friendly buildings. The structures are big — one of them opens to admit a 40-foot-wide 110-ton Travelift that can accommodate a 150-foot boat.

Up a gentle hill from the boatyard, we walked through the streets of old Thomaston, carpeted with fall leaves and lined with perfectly tended homes from the 1800s. The census of 1840 listed seven millionaires in the whole of the United States, two of them boatbuilders from Thomaston; the town still looks comfortably well-to-do.

If there are any ugly boats in Maine, we didn’t see them. What we did glimpse were Friendship sloops, schooners, yachts from robber-baron days and the Roaring 20s, and racing sleds large and small. And they all spread their wings in these waters nature surely crafted for sailing. On this coast, especially between Mount Desert Island and Muscongus Bay, a sailboat will always find free wind over smooth water to let her rip along. And at the end of the day, there will always be a calm cove with a fragrant forest to windward.

Tom Zydler and his wife, Nancy, are preparing Frances B for their third trip to Greenland and Labrador.

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