''Mar'' is a sailing

tour boat Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed b ...

based out of

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

and known for its literary and film associations. ''Mar'' was built starting in 1957 and launched in 1959 at Frederikssund Boatbulding in

Frederikssund Frederikssund () is a Denmark, Danish town, seat of the Frederikssund Municipality, in the Capital Region of Denmark, Region Hovedstaden with a population of 17,583 (1 January 2025).

, Denmark. She was built for author

Ernest K. Gann Ernest Kellogg Gann (October 13, 1910 – December 19, 1991) was an American aviator, author, sailor, and conservation movement, conservationist. He is best known for his novels and memoirs about early aviation and nautical adventures. Some of his ...

, author of several works including ''"Song of the Sirens"'', ''"Twilight of the Gods"'' and ''" The High and the Mighty"''. She was then bought by Charles Tobias owner of

Pusser's Pusser's Rum is a brand name of rum produced by Pusser's Rum Ltd., based in the British Virgin Islands. Nine years after the Royal Navy discontinued the daily rum ration in 1970, the company was founded to produce the rum from the original Royal ...

Rum Company and he used her in the filming of the 1976 film ''The Way of the Wind''. The ''Mar'' was then purchased by Mar II Sailing Tours Ltd. based out of

in 1982 and she has been sailing there ever since, with the exception of some seven-day sailing excursions around the Caribbean in the 1980s. The Mar has not only sailed to the Caribbean, she has sailed extensively around the tropics and also to the Arctic. She has a sturdy design which has also allowed her to complete two circumnavigations of the globe when owned by Charles Tobias.

General characteristics

She is a traditional wooden

ketch A ketch is a two- masted sailboat whose mainmast is taller than the mizzen mast (or aft-mast), and whose mizzen mast is stepped forward of the rudder post. The mizzen mast stepped forward of the rudder post is what distinguishes the ketch f ...

constructed of

teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panic ...

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

and

mahogany Mahogany is a straight- grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Universit ...

. She has one auxiliary diesel-fueled engine with a maximum speed of 10 knots. She is 17.47 meters long (23.16m with bowsprit), 5.49 meters wide and draws 2.9 meters.

Notable passengers

'' - Author ''Charles Tobias'' -

Rum Company ''

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter, actor and radio broadcaster. He was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band the Stooges, who were formed in 1 ...

'' -Musician ''2012-2013

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

Basketball Team'' Hughie Lewis, in the 1980s while on tour in Halifax The Irish rovers in 2016

References

Sailing ships of Canada Ships built in Denmark {{ship-stub