''Appledore II'' is a traditional two-masted wooden

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

, currently privately owned and operated out of

Camden, Maine Camden is a town in Knox County, Maine, United States. The population was 5,232 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The population of the town more than triples during the summer months, due to tourists and summer residents. Camden is ...

and

Key West, Florida Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida, at the southern end of the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Sigsbee Park, Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Islan ...

Construction

Launched on August 22, 1978, ''Appledore II'' is the largest of her four sister ships, ''Appledore'' I, III, IV, and V. ''Appledore II'' was the last schooner custom built by the Harvey Gamage Shipyard in South Bristol, Maine, which had previously built the tall ships '' Mary Day'', '' Harvey Gamage'', '' Shenandoah'', '' Bowdoin'' and '' Spirit of Massachusetts'', among others. Designed by Bud McIntosh, she was structured to endure heavy weather and the open ocean. ''Appledore II'' is

gaff rig Gaff rig is a sailing rig (configuration of sails, mast and stays) in which the sail is four-cornered, fore-and-aft rigged, controlled at its peak and, usually, its entire head by a spar (pole) called the ''gaff''. Because of the size and sh ...

ged on both her masts, with a hull speed of 10.5

knot A knot is an intentional complication in Rope, cordage which may be practical or decorative, or both. Practical knots are classified by function, including List of hitch knots, hitches, List of bend knots, bends, List of loop knots, loop knots, ...

s and a length of

overall Overalls or bib-and-brace overalls, also called dungarees in British English, are a type of garment usually used as protective clothing when working. The garments are commonly referred to as a "pair of overalls" by analogy with "pair of trousers ...

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Maiden voyage

Her maiden voyage was an 18-month

circumnavigation Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical object, astronomical body (e.g. a planet or natural satellite, moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first circumnaviga ...

, which commenced in November 1978 from

Portsmouth, New Hampshire Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census it had a population of 21,956. A historic seaport and popular summer tourist destination on ...

and concluded there after the ''Appledore II'' visited many ports of call around the world. This voyage has been chronicled in two books, ''Dreams of Natural Places, A New England Schooner Odyssey'' and ''Sailing Three Oceans'', both authored by Herbert Smith.

Today

Since that time, ''Appledore II'' has sailed extensively throughout the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

, conducting educational and private tourism. For a number of years she served as the SEAmester vessel for

marine biology Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms that inhabit the sea. Given that in biology many scientific classification, phyla, family (biology), families and genera have some species that live in the sea and ...

majors from Southampton College. For the past 20 years she has been offering day sails from her home ports of

and

. Twice a year, ''Appledore II'' makes a offshore voyage between these destinations. As a prime example of a historical wooden schooner, the ''Appledore II'' is regularly featured in books, movies, advertisements, and post cards evoking traditional coastal Maine sailing. The ''Appledore II'' regularly participates in the Key West Wrecker's Cup Race (a regatta she has won on numerous occasions) and is a mainstay of the annual Windjammer Weekend in Camden, Maine.

References

External links

The Schooner ''Appledore''{{'s Website
Schooners of the United States Tall ships of the United States Transportation buildings and structures in Knox County, Maine Individual sailing vessels 1978 ships Ships built in South Bristol, Maine