''Appledore II'' is a traditional two-masted wooden schooner, currently privately owned and operated out of

Camden, Maine Camden is a resort town in Knox County, Maine. The population was 5,232 at the 2020 census. The population of the town more than triples during the summer months, due to tourists and summer residents. Camden is a summer colony in the Mid-Coas ...

and Key West, Florida.

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 shap ...

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

knot A knot is an intentional complication in cordage which may be practical or decorative, or both. Practical knots are classified by function, including hitches, bends, loop knots, and splices: a ''hitch'' fastens a rope to another object; a ' ...

s and a length of

overall Overalls, also called bib-and-brace overalls or dungarees, 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". Overalls were ...

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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 body (e.g. a planet or moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first recorded circumnavigation of the Earth was the Mage ...

, which commenced in November 1978 from Portsmouth, New Hampshire 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, conducting educational and private tourism. For a number of years she served as the SEAmester vessel for marine biology majors from

Southampton College Stony Brook Southampton is a campus location of Stony Brook University, located in Southampton, New York between the Shinnecock Indian Reservation and Shinnecock Hills Golf Club on the eastern end of Long Island. History Southampton College, L ...

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

and Key West, Florida. 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